My name is Regine Theodat, I’m 100% Haitian and 100% American. I grew up in the Cambridge/Everett/Boston MA area. I’m a lawyer by trade and I think like one, but I practiced as a traditional corporate lawyer for less than one year. I’m the oldest of 4 and I’ve been living back in Haiti for 10 years now. I’m obsessed with finding the most creative ways to harness our vast riches.

I didn’t have an educated opinion about aid before entering the sector, so I do think I soaked it all in with an open mind. When I first moved to Haiti, I’d say my general idea of aid was that it was typically done with the intent for good and that unless done with malicious intent, it couldn't truly be *that* harmful. Of course, being a black, woman, lawyer, I did have reservations about public-interest and white saviorism, dead aid, but I don’t think I truly did my research before coming to Haiti. It also didn’t help that I moved to Haiti on a whim, and only intended to spend 3 months here.

I moved to Haiti in 2010 to work in Human Rights work in Cite Soleil. I didn’t come to save Haiti, I didn’t come to witness, or create jobs, or do anything special. I came just to do a short term project and go back to working as a corporate lawyer in Boston.

What I witnessed really rocked my world and started to shift my perspective. I’ve seen a lot of fraud, I’ve seen a lot of waste, and I’ve seen some good. The aid sector suffers from chronic disorganization and lack of oversight. It seems unimaginable that totally unqualified persons can open up schools and raise money with the mission of educating children without the appropriate pedigree for such, that child predators can own an orphanage without even so much as a background check, or that true expertise is slighted so that waste can continue. What's even more disturbing is that this waste is so normal. The average Haitian will decry how much NGOs + Aid Organizations steal. That people are constantly “fe kob sou tet yo”

I’ve worked largely in economic development, job creation and now am moving more into tech and general project management. I think my career path thus far, has taken me as far away from toxic aid as possible, because it was such a recoil to me after my first non-profit experience. But I think over the years between my business, my work, consulting, I’ve had experiences in just about every facet of aid in Haiti.

My first “Aha moment” came when I was doing a presentation on human rights and the right to water or vote in Cite Soleil and people at the end asked me for jobs. I made the first error which was telling people what they needed rather than understanding what was needed. I also made the mistake of thinking I could just “fix” away the economic problems by focusing on the justice ones. I laugh now, but I was so ignorant coming into this unexpected Haiti experience.

One of the biggest misconceptions the international community has about Haiti’s need for aid is that the problems in Haiti can be addressed by sending large quantities of “stuff” here, shoes, medicine, clothes. That poverty and lack of formal education means that someone is incompetent and unintelligent, thus should be willing to accept anything, especially if its “free.”

One of the biggest disconnects between the goals of NGO’s and the execution of the projects in Haiti is that Haiti is very hard to execute projects in, the learning curve is a solid 5 years for someone who can speak the language and has some level of cultural fluidity. Outside entities have very rigid ways of grant making + project design. It simply doesn’t work when executed on the ground.

Programming that is holistic in its approach rather than and/or is more successful and beneficial to Haiti. Ones that are job creations + skill developments + justice oriented + social justice leaning NOT job creations without skills training, without sustainability.

The most toxic types of programming are the ones that don’t answer “ why is this problem here?” and “How can we fix the root?”. I also think cultural competency is major, and that only comes with time. Someone of Haitian descent, may have a leg up, but they aren’t going to “get it’ until they experience it.

The biggest issues that need to be decolonized within the Aid sector are how aid is distributed, who makes the decision, and how programs are developed without the input of the “poor” or the “Service population.”

Far too often in NGO’s and mission organizations, there is a harmful way of thinking that Haitians needs to be saved from themselves, that they need to be evangelized away from their own religion, that a Westernized life style is “best”. This way of thinking if harmful within Haitian communities as well. Largely, the same, we internalize racism right? So we usually just do exactly what a “colonizer” would do, but in addition to doing to others, we are also doing it to ourselves. This is why I say a decolonization is an act of self love and also an act of rebellion.

My first baby, before my human baby was my business. I poured everything into it. Like so many things in my life, I waited for it to come along. I was moving through the motions of feeling stuck doing things in Haiti that didn’t feel useful. Then I had the aha moment of, if everyone else can have a business, I certainly could. Since then, I’ve been obsessed with job creation. I had two friends starting a restaurant. I came in with way too many opinions and that's how MyaBel was founded. We are a food & beverage company transforming local ingredients into delectable bottled goods, hot sauces, cooking sauces, bottled craft cocktails, and iced teas. With a soon to be launching Kombucha + syrup line. When I resigned we had 18 employees, and 65 farmers in our network. I left MyaBel in December 2019, to pursue other Haitian passions.

If I were speaking to a white man or woman visiting Haiti about the aid industry and what they can do to not perpetuate the colonizing mindset and systems within this industry- I’d probably turn the question back on them, why are they visiting Haiti? What's the purpose, how did they come to this decision, are they aware of the work they need to do? I think we should start putting the onus back on people.

When I dream about the future of development within Haiti, I see-

Enough economic Means for people to make decisions that is best for them
Robust agricultural economy
Massive Export Market
85% employment

D.S. Series Quick Dive:

What does “decolonization” mean to you personally?

Unlearning, deprogramming, reprogramming. An action of self-love and accountability.

What are you most proud of when thinking about being Haitian and Haitian culture?

How colorfully magical we are.

If you were speaking to a group of elementary school students in Haiti about the best ways to support development in their country- what would you most want to share with them?

Their true and complete history, and the value of the resources we have here.

We may have someone reading this who has suffered much pain from the lies they’ve been told and are just kicking off their personal decolonization journey. What encouragement can you give them? Where should they seek sources of truth and inspiration?

It gets better, to take it one day at a time and make small incremental steps. Lean into your discomfort and work through any culpability you have in the system that exists. Sources of truth and inspiration are abundant in the age of the internet, I’d say look for written materials and read with an open mind. Try and put the burden on yourself rather than others to help explain things to you.

On instagram make sure to check out:

@Rachel.cargle

@TheConsciousKid

@AmandaSeales