Earthquake in Haiti: The Pornography of Poverty and the Politics of Development

Six weeks after Haiti's 2010 earthquake, onomatopoeically known by Haitians as the "Goudou Goudou," cultural anthropologist and filmmaker, Julian Vigo, went to Port-au-Prince in order to volunteer her skills in the relief efforts. Within three weeks of her arrival in Haiti, Vigo discovered three separate child trafficking schemes-from the illegal adoption schemes of a children's hospital to Haitian NGO entrepreneurs who traffick children across the border of the Dominican Republic to a Haitian clergy member who stands outside the MINUSTAH offices with pictures of children "for sale". Working between permaculture projects, child advocacy NGOs and United Nations agencies such as UNICEF, Julian Vigo chronicles what she witnessed in Haiti's communities, the various UN agencies, the Cluster meetings held between NGOs and UN offices and her work in the field. This book describes the monumental failure of development policies and practices which instead of helping to alleviate misery and poverty are actually instrumental in creating both.