Growing up Haitian American we grow up and are expected to have alot of children. It is cultural. Haitian children are greatly valued in society, someone with alot of children is considered blessed, a father of large family is automatically considered an old patriarch, a leader in the community. So on and so forth.
You've made the misguided statement, in which you said that the last thing that Haiti needs right now is more children. The last thing that Haiti needs RIGHT NOW is loose sight of who they are. They are Haitians. Their national and ethnic identity is what will keep them strong in these times.
Again, I'm firmly pro-choice, but you have to understand is, I was brought up with a reverence for family that exists within my culture. I consider the family to be the foundation of Haiti and truthfully the World, and what should be cherished and protected the most. It's apart of who these people are.
The problem in Haiti is not a lack of birth control it is a lack of natural resources, a lack of education, and the lack of a sophisticated and healthy workforce that can attract businesses and create businesses.
The truly offensive nature of this is that when you see a mother giving birth to a healthy child in the midst of chaos and tragedy you made a remark about birth control. This life that was saved and it concerns and disturbs me.
It disturbs me that you choose to ignore that my first and foremost reaction was to be glad that the woman and her child are safe and well. It seems you are looking for the worst in people. You may be offended that I recognize the grim reality this mother and child are facing. Pat yourself on the back for wearing blinders, if it makes you feel good.
Do you really think that it's a good thing for Haiti that Haitian men pride themselves on how many children they can sire? Do you really think it's a good thing for Haiti to ban abortion and rely on abstinence education as the primary form of birth control education?
It's bad enough that the women of Haiti have to deal with this terrible earthquake. Add to that are the existing utterly deplorable living conditions women must bear in this oppressive and patriarchal society.
"In 1995, a national study on violence against women was. From a sample of 14 municipalities, out of a total of 133, a total of 1,935 cases of violence were reported: violence was classified as physical (33%); sexual (37%), with rape representing 13% of the total; others (6%); and unspecified (25%). The 81% of all documented cases of violence involved women aged 10–34.
...
For the 1990–1995 period, life expectancy in Haiti was estimated at 58.3 years for women and 54.9 for men. The general fertility rate is 4.8 children per woman for women aged 15–49 years old. Most women indicated that they wanted to give birth to only three children.
....
The most popular methods of contraception were the birth control pill, female sterilization, injections, and condoms (3% each). Among sexually active women, 13% used a modern method of contraception and 4% relied on traditional methods. Among sexually active men, 17% used a modern method (6% used condoms) and 16% relied on traditional methods. "
Things are even worse for children. The new born in the OP has this challenge in front of him/her. :
"
Analysis by Population Group
Health of Children
The leading causes of child mortality in Haiti are diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections, and malnutrition. Major causes of hospitalization for children 0–14 years old in 1995 were prematurity (23%), pneumonia (16%), malnutrition (8%), meningitis (8%), typhoid (6%), and gastroenteritis (5%).
In 1991, the Center for Research on Human Resources conducted a survey in three cities in three different departments. The survey provided an overview of the plight of children (boys and girls under 18 years of age) in especially difficult circumstances, including several groups: children employed as domestics, abandoned children, orphans, incarcerated juvenile offenders, child prostitutes (male and female), abused children, and street children.
In 1991, the number of street children in Haiti ranged from 1,500 to 2,000 in Port-au-Prince. Most of them are boys, but the number of girls appears to be increasing, accounting for 18% of the children surveyed. The mean age of these children is about 11 years; 55% of them are aged 12 to 18 years old, and 14% are 5 years old or less. They are particularly vulnerable to tuberculosis, anemia, skin diseases, and sexually transmitted diseases. Many of these children are drug users (53% of the inner-city sample).
Health of Adolescents (Age Groups 10–14 and 15–19 Years Old)
A study conducted in 1992 in Cité Soleil (the main slum of the capital) by the Research, Culture, Health and Sexuality Team revealed that many young residents were sexually active by 13 years of age. The use of contraceptives is extremely rare within this age group. According to data from EMMUS-II, only 4.4% of those who were sexually active at the time of the survey had used a modern method of contraception, and 8 % of all births were to teenage mothers aged 15 to 19 years of age.
Adolescents accounted for 15% of birth-related deaths, and nearly 4% of them had induced abortions with rates higher in the cities than rural areas. Between 1991 and 1992, the Child Health Institute conducted a seroprevalence study of post-partum HIV-1 infected women, which revealed that 7.4 % was seropositive for HIV in metropolitan areas, and 4.1% in rural or semirural areas. Typhoid accounted for some 64% of admissions to the Haitian State University Hospital pediatrics ward of children aged 9–14, and meningococcemia accounted for 28%"
Regional Core Health Data System - Country Profile: HAITI
If you really do care about Haiti, time to face reality.
We have no idea of the circumstances behind her pregnancy or how she, herself is feeling about it. This woman and her child deserve compassion, not a lecture on how wonderful it is that Haitian men are so virile.
