For many of us, when we think about the Caribbean country, Haiti, we think back to the catastrophic earthquake that ravaged the tiny island in January of 2010. Over 100,000+ people died, and over billions of dollars in damages amounted. The 7.0 magnitude rocked the country to its core, and the sight of progress felt like a distant reality. As a result, over the past ten years, one must wonder if any change has come to the small country. However, with a global pandemic, another terrible earthquake, and the thrusting of their country into an economic and political downfall, things for the Caribbean country seem worse than ever.
Furthermore, with so much focus on infrastructure issues, some journalists have focused on the forgotten—the Children of Haiti.
With the increasing influx of Western influence on Haitian orphanages, the IBESR, the French acronym for the Institute for Social Welfare and Research, has noticed that Haitian children remain caught in an exploitive and abusive system. No matter how many orphanages are closed in an account of their horrid conditions, "new ones continued to pop up, and some that were shuttered had reopened in new locations and under new names." Thus making the classification between ones that "meet the minimum standard..., [ones that need] improvements..., [and] ones [that] require immediate closure" challenging to differentiate around the country. With the Haitian government barely paying attention to the problem, the orphanages restrict journalists on the island and block IBESR access.
Consequently, "half the population is under 25" in Haiti, which some argue is the reason for the uprising of orphanages funded by Western missionaries. As the IBESR attempts to review each of these orphanages, many expose Haitian children's harsh living conditions. Now, before reading the article in its entirety, I found myself already hooked after reading the headline. The journalist, Karla Zabludovsky, does an excellent job at gaining the reader's attention. She sets the tone for the rest of her story by using one of the most heartwrenching titles. Zabludovsky writes an eloquent article weaving logic and emotions to further her story.
Not once do you lack sympathy for the children she writes about, even going as far as including a personal account from a young adult man named Augustin Duverson. She captivates the reader by taking us along with Augustin's story while continuing her main point of interest—the orphanages housing the Children of Haiti. Zabludovsky not only appeals to our emotions but backs up her information with crucial facts and figures. As the reader, I never once question the article's legitimacy. Zabludovsky has gone through every avenue and supported each claim with irrefutable evidence.
In short, while reporting down in Haiti, Karla Zabludovsky takes readers, locally and internationally, inside a horrifying tale involving Western missionary influences and orphaned children in Haiti. She appeals to the audience's emotions while providing incredible figures to corroborate her story. It's an astonishing piece of journalism that transports the reader by honing in on their feelings detailing a subject that appeals to everyone worldwide—children.
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