Yesterday Daphnes father, Cadeau, died. He was 42. He woke up, not feeling well and went to a clinic and died later. He was shy and had a wonderful way about him. He did the masonry work in one of our additions. Daphne, who has been part of WOZO choir since it began about 7 years ago is 18. Shes at our house frequently, helping with cleaning, doing hair etc. She has 4 siblings with the youngest one being 7 months. This is devastating to the family. In Haiti, autopsies are rare. Often, people are not even diagnosed. Decent healthcare is a complete luxury. It is not uncommon at all for people in their 20s, 30s or 40s--people who seemed to be in fine health--to die suddenly. Its usually believed that theyre the victim of a curse or poisoning by someone who is jealous of them or an enemy for one reason or another. Or, perhaps its someone trying to take their soul. A soul has power which can be directed for personal gain of another. While theres evidence that people do get poisoned from time to time by an enemy, its my guess that very frequently sudden deaths like this may be cancer or some other fatal illness that was never diagnosed. You rarely hear about people in Haiti dying of cancer. Of-course, cancer must be here. My fear is that theres something in what we eat or in our environment thats causing so many deaths. It makes me think of Libby, Montana (ted/talks/margaret_heffernan_the_dangers_of_willful_blindness.html). Theres no Food and Drug Administration in Haiti. Is there something in locally processed drinks or food thats killing people? The fact that so many people die early is horrible. Add to this the fear and distrust that each one of these deaths plants in society. Poverty is dehumanizing on so many levels. Lack of funds and/or promising markets means that research is not going to happen. No research means limited knowledge about the world around us. Without knowledge, we cant make informed decisions. Having clear knowledge about the cause of your friends or family members death is often a luxury beyond the reach of most Haitians. Imagine, being at your fathers funeral and wondering if theres someone present who killed him. Imagine, coming and going in your neighborhood--people walk in our neighborhood--wondering what neighbor might have killed your father. I wonder how this society would be different if people had clear, science-based knowledge about cause of death of people who are seemingly healthy but who die suddenly and mysteriously before their time. Fear and distrust is poison for a society. Daphne, were going to miss Cadeau. As his name communicates, he was a gift. We will be praying for you and your mother and your siblings.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 11:12:53 +0000