Back Home and a Rant

We arrived home late Friday night after a full day of travel. I got sniffed by a dog,scrutinized by Customs, partially undressed for TSA and went through their screening as my bag was whisked into something that looks like a commercial dishwasher. Passed everything this time.

Laundry is done and am partially packed for the next leg of our winter getaway which starts early Friday AM. We will be going to a Club Med on the Pacific side of Mexico with my Father and Sister.

I have been reading about tourism returning to Haiti and there is a mix of shock and disgust in view of the disaster in Port au Prince. I think this is referring to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line that resumed its normally scheduled stops at Labadee.

Labadee is a private resort beach for passengers on Royal Caribbean and sister line Celebrity. This cruise line has been stopping at this port for almost 10 years. The economic impact of this tourism in the area is huge. The company hires native Haitians to maintain the property and to set it up for the cruise ship visits. A large beach BBQ is prepared for the guests and the Haitians have access to it and to all of the food that may be left over. The arts and crafts building is filled with Haitian vendors and artists selling their crafts. All of this provides jobs and a steady income to the employees and vendors that is needed. In addition to the guest services Royal Caribbean pays port taxes and these go to the Haitian government. The bottom line here is that tourism plays a role in the Haitian economy. The current government before the quake was actively looking to improve Haiti's image and try to cultivate Haiti as a tourist destination.

In addition to the above benefits of Capitalism, there is the fact the Royal Caribbean has teamed with Food for the Poor and has in place the infrastructure in Miami and Labadee to ship and distribute much needed food and supplies to this poorest of countries. To stop tourism because of some misguided sense of propriety is just plain stupid. Haiti needs immediate aid in the form of food, water, medical supplies-the Royal Caribbean has the infrastructure in place to do this. As the country recovers from this disaster they need jobs and revenue to get their homes, schools, churches, government buildings etc rebuilt- RC provides jobs and a market for their art crafts. This recovery will take cash money to purchase the supplies the individuals and the government need to clean up the debris and rebuild- by allowing the Haitians to come to work at the resort provides cash income. To deny any Haitian a job that will help them rebuild their life and self esteem is just plain immoral. We need these people to become economically independent of relief aid. They need to become independent and productive citizens of their country. Most of all these jobs give back to the Haitians a sense of dignity that every human being deserves. So welcome to the ships and tourists to Haiti and may more cruise lines find a way to create a great vacation place that will employ more Haitians.