The Big Truck that Went By - Essay Example

Global Study
It is for this reason that the international community bypassed the government and channeled their aid funds through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). From the time Haiti got independence, it has failed to construct proper buildings and have the efficient infrastructure and public service in place. Decade after decade, the authorities in Haiti do not have much to show in terms of developmental goals achieved, despite receiving aid from several donors as well as grants (Brooks 1). From this, I believe the government might have no development plan in the first place or, its excessively corrupt officials are drowning any national, people-oriented agendas. It follows that a government that has no development plan or is full of corrupt officials cannot have a practical means of using aid to bring down poverty. It is argued that the aid received is not sufficient. However, that hardly seems the truth, because the highest number of NGOs per capita in the world is found in Haiti. I think Haiti needs to do away with its anti-developmental cultural influences because, like Barbados, both come from oppressive histories of slavery, but Barbados is not facing poverty problems to the extent witnessed in Haiti.

Haiti is languishing in abject poverty because of the lack of a growth policy. It is true that much of the pledged money in terms of aid after the 2010 earthquake was not received, but the government did not portray the image and capabilities of an able custodian of the people’s aid. It is true that the government is by all means accountable to its people, albeit through democratically elected representatives, but NGOs are not. Yet, aid was channeled through the NGOs. In this sense, the government is doing itself more harm by allowing the international community to belittle it in full awareness of its subjects (Brooks 1). This all goes back to the lack of a growth policy. The big truck went by, yes, but the damage was more because all the aid that it brought along was pocketed by the NGOs that are not accountable to the people. Bad policies or the total lack of policies are a reflection of the agendas and qualities of a poor leader,s and, looking further beyond, it also reflects on the culture that bred them. The culture of impunity in Haiti throughout its dictatorships, coupled with the combined three centuries of French, British and Spanish rule in which not a single school was built, is the cause of the disturbing status (Brooks 1).