Freedom is Not Free

On this 4th of July weekend I washed a blanket that Baby Joseph's mom was using for him while he was in the hospital. It was very dirty and I have been trying to keep Baby Joseph in at least a semi-clean environment while he finishes fighting off his infection. Then it will be time to just send him home and hope for the best... The irony of the situation was the blanket was an American one. It had an American flag, an eagle, and the words "Freedom is Not Free" written on it. The mom probably had no idea what the blanket said (after all she couldn't read Creole, let alone English). She probably just received the blanket as a handout from a group of blan.

But what was so thought provoking to me while I sat there and washed the blanket - while many of my family and friends were probably celebrating back in the states with fireworks, buffets of food, ice cream, parties (all of the frivolous, but awesome displays that remind me just how rich we really are as Americans) - is that Baby Joseph's mom probably understands those words way better than I do, than many of us do really. Because when Haiti successfully gained its independence - back in 1805 - the French said they would acknowledge Haiti as an independent state on one condition - that they pay France for the economic loss that would result from them no longer owning Haiti as a slave colony. So while Haiti was the only successful slave rebellion resulting in a free nation in the history of this planet, Haiti also immediately became one of the poorest countries on the planet. The debt they owed France was equivalent to 21 billion US dollars today. Thus Haiti's freedom was not free at all - it literally came with a price tag.

Because of this debt (and the international politics associated with it), Haiti has suffered for the last 2 centuries from economic hardship. Many Haitians are literally born into a culture of debt/ poverty and so for them, to live in a free nation, it means they have had to pay for it. This includes Baby Joseph's mother. Baby Joseph's story comes with highs and lows. His story has also showed me how quick I am to judge mothers here. How I look at them through my American-culture lenses and ask why they make some of the choices they do. How I want to blame them for not knowing how infection is spread to their babies, for possibly choosing to not take care of some of their babies so that the babies who are already healthy can have a better chance at surviving. But then I realize I don't have the right to judge them, because I have never walked even a half mile in their shoes. I wasn't born into a life of poverty, born into a culture where the survival of the fittest isn't just an evolutionary phenomenon that you learn about in science class, but it's a way of life. I have never had to make decisions in such poverty about which of my 6+ children should live, because there would be no way to feed and cloth all of them. I have access to healthcare and family planning so if I don't want to have 10 children I don't have to. I am a female that is privileged to have an education and will have a nice job, so I didn't need to rely on marrying a man as a teenager in hopes of having some of my basic needs (like food and access to some money) met.

So this past 4th of July weekend, while I washed Baby Joseph's and his mom's blanket I realized that I don't get to judge her or other moms here in her same situation. Because while I am thankful that many men and women in the past fought hard so I could grow up in a free country like the US, I am also honest. I am honest enough to admit that my freedom is so much freer than Baby's Joseph's mom because I never had to pay a life of poverty for it.