Travesty in Haiti: A true account of Christian missions, orphanages, fraud, food aid and drug trafficking [Paperback]

Timothy T Schwartz Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 5, 2008

TRAVESTY is an anthropologist’s personal story of working with foreign aid agencies and discovering that fraud, greed, corruption, apathy, and political agendas permeate the industry. It is a story of failed agricultural, health and credit projects; violent struggles for control over foreign aid; corrupt orphanage owners, pastors, and missionaries; the nepotistic manipulation of research funds; economically counterproductive food aid distribution programs that undermine the Haitian agricultural economy; disastrous social engineering by foreign governments, international financial and development organizations--such as the World Bank and USAID-- and the multinational corporate charities that have sprung up in their service, CARE International, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, and the dozens of other massive charities that have programs spread across the globe, moving in response not only to disasters and need, but political agendas and economic opportunity. TRAVESTY also chronicles the lives of Haitians and describes how political disillusionment sometimes ignites explosive mob rage among peasants frustrated with the foreign aid organizations, governments and international agencies that fund them. TRAVESTY recounts how some Haitians use whatever means possible try to better their living standards, most recently drug trafficking, and in doing so explains why at the service of international narcotraffickers and Haitian money laundering elites, Haiti has become a failed State. TRAVESTY reads like a novel. It takes the reader from the bowels of foreign aid in the field; to the posh and orderly urban headquarters of charities such as CARE International; to the cold, distant heights of Capitol Hill policy planners. The journey is marked by true accounts involving violence, corruption, appalling greed, sexual exploitation, disastrous social engineering, and the inside world of drug traffickers. But TRAVESTY it is not a novel. It is founded on 15 years of academic and field experience, research, and hard data. It entertains the reader with vivid first hand accounts while treating seriously the problems inherent not only in international aid, but the sabotaging effects of the drug war on economic development in remote and impoverished areas of the hemisphere.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Timothy T Schwartz earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida and then went to live and work in Haiti for six years. His research included 15 months living with impoverished Haitians in the thatch-roofed huts of a remote fishing hamlet and three years residing in agricultural settlements and villages. He worked as a consultant for international aid agencies, including the German foreign ministry (GTZ), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), French ID (Initiative Developpment), and CARE International, the world’s largest international charity. Since leaving Haiti he has been living in the neighboring Dominican Republic where he works as an international consultant specializing in Haitian-Dominican relations and coordinates social impact assessments for private companies. His studies have been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Curtis Wilgus Foundation and the University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Recent publications include the Haiti entry for an encyclopedia of world cultures, Countries and Their Cultures (Macmillan Reference USA: Yale University), an article in the refereed Journal for Research in Economic Anthropology entitled Pronatalism and the Economic Utility of Children in Jean Rabel, Haiti, and an article published in the Caribbean’s oldest and most prestigious journal, New West Indian Guide, entitled Subsistence Songs: Haitian 'téat' performances, gendered capital and livelihood strategies in Jean Makout, Haiti.

Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (July 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419698036
• ISBN-13: 978-1419698033
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Public Affairs & Policy > Non-Governmental Organizations

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book--should be read by all concerned about Haiti, foreign aid and the continued oppression of the poor April 25, 2009

By momma j

Format:Paperback

This is a truly outstanding book, not in the least because of the humility of the author, Dr. Schwartz, as he portrays his own naive wading through the morass of confluent shadows of poverty, culture, oppression, aid and his search for meaning over a 10 year period of work in Haiti. The book raises the consciousness of the reader even as the author and protagonist of the book's consciousness is being raised.

This book is significantly more scholarly and interesting than Dead Aid, by Dambisa Moyo which received a huge amount of attention. Both books make the point that aid as it is currently constructed is ineffective. But while Moyo's book is far less honest and nuanced about the organizations she has worked with--like the World Bank and Goldmann Sachs, Schwartz is critical of himself, people he considered friends and organizations he has worked for, such as CARE and USAID.

Pointing out that aid is dead is hardly interesting...naming names of who is responsible for not only the dead aid but the stream of humanity left dead in the wake of at best misguided aid, more accurately, purposefully malignant projects, is revolutionary. Read this book.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done! March 30, 2010

By TropicalDoc

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I must admit that I expected not to like this book. I felt compelled to read it. I expected a cynical and arrogant review of Christian missions. I expected a self-righteous, omniscient review of well-meaning aid activities in Haiti. What I read was a thoughtful, honest and fair review of all subjects touched upon. I have worked in Haiti over the past 25 years and I have seen a lot of good things happen but more frequently have witnessed waste, graft and failure. The author doesn't generalize beyond his experiences. He does accurately depict events in an interesting and entertaining matter.

It seems so many books written about Haiti reek of personal agenda. Travesty in Haiti is a definite exception. I will certainly recommend this book to others!!! Well done!!!!

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for anyone who cares about international development May 20, 2009

By sarah

Format:Paperback

I've worked in Haiti for over a decade, and although I was aware of fundamental problems with international food, medical and other aid, I had no idea the problems were as comprehensive (or as widely acknowledged by people in the field). The book's major contribution is showing that the organizations involved generally know they are at best not fulfilling their stated mission, and are more often actually causing harm. They are just addicted to the money that comes from a dysfunctional system, and too cynical to think there's a better way.

The book is also entertaining, and a quick read. It is depressing, but there are antidotes out there- examples where organizations manage to actually do good work. I'd suggest Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains, anything written by Paul Farmer, and Margaret Trost's "On That Day Everybody Ate."