30667: Raber (reply) Re: 30662: Forrest (reply) RE: 30652: Kathleen (reply) 30648 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: PM Raber <raber88@zoominternet.net>

Let's see!  In the last 10 years in Haiti I know personally:
-2 five year old girls who were raped, one 18 year old, one 15 year old, one 30 
something old, 3 white missionaries (25 to 35).
-Murdedered:  my high shcool litterature and chemistry teacher, my co-worders's 
husband, an indigent lady I used to bail out at times, a high school friend's 
husband, my sister's father in law, my other sister's husband's first wife, a 
girl I played basketball with..
-Kidnapped: my 7 year old niece,  a university student friend's nephew, 
numerous other acquaintances.Some left the country forever afterwards
-Shot at: My sister above who married the guy whose wife as shot dead (hit her 
arm), a couple of cousins,The sister to the guy above whose wife was shot dead 
(her leg has never been the same), numerous other acquanitances
-Car jacked:  a colleague (twice), two co-workers,
-Pointed a gun at or attempted kidnapping : too many to count
-Armed roberry:  too many to list from little street merchant to better off 
business people


In the USA, I personally know of one person who was raped. The closest I know 
of a murder was that murder of a pregnant womant in Ohio the other day.   The 
baby who was abandonned alive about the same time was abandoned at the house of 
a nurse I know.

Another difference in Haiti is that appearing of a certain social class makes 
you a major target.   In the USA the crime is more random. Most of the violent 
crime reported in the USA has a domestic violence or gang retaliation 
component.   In Haiti many of the perpetrators are drug addicts but the victims 
are far removed from the drug culture. They are true innocent bystanders. 
There is also a good chance that perpetrators will be caught in the USA.  The 
places where criminals tend not to get caught are the inner cities gang 
infested areas where people don't want to "snitch"... 
Another difference is that dangerous areas in the States can usually be 
avoided. The Haitian roads are such that one must go through certain roads 
which are usually used as traps by criminals.   When women are hearing their 
doors being broken down at night (as the raped teenager above heard for a good 
15-20 minutes before they got in) they cannot call 911 and expect the police to 
show up.   You can live a full life if the States and never set foot on the 
Detroit of NYC streets.  In Haiti one cannot avoid dealing with Port au Prince.