Fishing

Three of the large lakes on the island of Hispaniola/Quiskeya are growing. Two of them are in Haiti, one in the DR. The lake on the Dominican Side of the border, Lago Enriquillo, is heavily salted and supports mostly crocodiles.

However on the Haitian side of the border Lac Azuei supports tilapia. When I last saw the lake, a few weeks ago, there was only one boat on it. It was perhaps 20 feet and piled high with bags of charcoal that the residents of the other side of the lake had prepared by cutting down green wood and baking it.

Should there be interest in aiding Haiti, it would be very useful for some of the fine polyester boats that are made in the Dominican Republic be given to Haiti.

Then they could indeed fish.

I cannot help but chuckle a bit at the irony of the motto of all the big NGOs "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day but teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime." Of course, few of the development workers know how to fish. They know how to administer grant money, do studies, and write reports.

That the model that "we" are using for "development" is not a success is most clearly seen by the fact that

No one is fishing in Lac Azuei.......