The Road to Hell?

Almost a month since my last post. Obviously, blogging every day, or even every week, wasn’t one of my resolutions at the New Year. Not that I would have kept it anyway, for I have been very busy with my work for The Salvation Army.

Two weeks ago the island of Haiti suffered the latest and, some might argue, the worst catastrophe in its disaster-ravaged history. The Salvation Army has been active in Haiti for sixty years as a church and social services agency, running hospitals and clinics, residences and orphanages, and a large number of schools. Most of the nine million or so Haitians are Roman Catholic, but 700 hundred are Salvationists. Quite recently, November 2009, the General of The Salvation Army visited Port-au-Prince (link). Among the Haitian Salvation Army “soldiers” receiving certificates of appreciation from the General at that time was Corps Sergeant-Major (lay leader of the Salvation Army church community in Port-au-Prince) Mesguere Anglade. He was among the Salvationists killed in the earthquake.

Despite the personal tragedies, The Salvation Army in Haiti has been valiantly working for the community, with the support of teams from Europe and North America. These teams have included nurses and doctors, as well as people skilled in relief operations. As the immediate relief operations wind down, they are being supplemented by experts in logistics and community rebuilding.

The Salvation Army is a church, and more than a thousand gathered as a congregation at the morning worship service in Port-au-Prince on the Sunday following the earthquake. They knew, perhaps more than any congregation in any church anywhere that morning, that they live in a flawed world. But like tens of millions of Christians before them, they cling to the hope of a new heaven and a new earth, where there will be no more suffering and tears, which has been promised them in Scripture. Let’s hope this new earth will be brought materially closer for Haitians by the deliberations in Montreal in the next few days.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

All we can say about the origins of the saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” is that it is proverbial. The medieval abbot Bernard of Clairvaux wrote: “Hell is full of good intentions or desires”. His preaching persuaded tens of thousands to take part in what was one of the biggest and costliest blunders of his day: the Second Crusade. Its failure sent him into a deep depression, from which he never really recovered. Had he but known that for all his good intentions history would consider the crusades ill-starred enterprises at best, and unmitigated disasters at worst, with repercussions spanning almost a millennium, he might have curbed his enthusiasm.

The intentions of the people of the developed world towards the failed state of Haiti are well-meaning and the generosity of their donations is a rich expression of their great sympathy for its people. But even so, the best of intentions by wealthy nations can lead to disastrous consequences for the people of Haiti. Will it suit most creditors to forgive Haiti’s massive debt, or must money be siphoned off to repay loans to richer nations, let alone grease the palms of corrupt officials both elected and appointed? And who is to govern Haiti? Those with constitutional powers, or those who are paying the bills and forgiving the debts? And what will be the real price of rebuilding Haiti? It’s time for me to re-read Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. I can’t wait to see what “reforms” are called for by those holding the purse strings after this disaster.

The other book I have been meaning to read for several months is Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo. She questions the value of inter-governmental aid, while endorsing charitable giving (that directed through NGOs and benevolent organisations), which can still play a valuable part in helping the poorest people in the world’s poorest countries.

Which leads me to say that if you wish to help Haitians you can’t do much better than donate to The Salvation Army Haiti Appeal.