Debt

When I was living in Haiti many years ago, a friend's father passed away.  My friend was scraping by on odd jobs and needed to take out a large loan in order to finance the burial.  He felt that to do otherwise would be disrepecting his father's memory.  The poor, who can least afford it, are charged exorbitant rates for burial services in Haiti. What could change this?  Cultural change, such as accepting cremation or simplified burials, will take time. William Mellon (founder of Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschapelles) had himself buried in a cardboard box.  Government regulation and enforcement would help.  Below is an AP article on the hardships that burial costs place upon Haitian families.  

"Mesi" to Nicholas Kristof for his article below in defense of the Haitian people.  Development "experts" and religious "leaders" alike have put forth their own theories, ranging from fatalism to God's will, to explain Haiti's poverty.  Friends of Haiti know that Haitians are a strong, proud people who did not deserve what has happened to them.  As Kristof writes, " ...the implication of belated seismic revenge on Haitian children seems defamatory of God."  Haitians have made it through natural and man-made disasters before this.  While Haiti won't be the same, it will recover - the ultimate rebuttal to those who say it cannot.