This dissertation explores the logic underlying what can be called a ‘pronatal socio-cultural fertility complex’ in rural Haiti. At 5.9 births per mother the rural Haitian Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is the highest in the Western hemisphere and has not changed significantly in 30 years (see Table 1-1 below). Despite a foreign-sponsored national family planning program begun in 1971, only 9.5% of rural reproductive-age Haitian women currently use contraceptives (ibid). High fertility and their rejection of contraceptives by rural Haitians is associated with a variety of radically pronatal attitudes, customs, laws, and beliefs. In this investigation, conducted over a period of four years, the evidence strongly suggests that the observed high fertility and radical pronatalism are best explained by a high labor utility of children in a system where production and the satisfaction of the most basic subsistence needs are accomplished within the socio- organizational framework of the household.
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EKO HAITI Research Hub is a research and knowledge mobilization platform focused on creative, collaborative and interdisciplinary research and associated research-based learning. We aim to become the intellectual “home” for research about Haiti by creating and providing open access to the largest crowdsourced research archive dedicated to Haiti, by fostering cross-disciplinary research and innovation, and by providing support for progressive research in the form of contextual expertise and training.
“The trees fall from time to time, but the voice of the forest never loses its power. Life begins.”
Jacques Alexis, Les Arbres Musiciens (Paris, 1957)
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Oral histories are a powerful tool in developing historical understanding
Oral history offers an alternative to conventional history, filling gaps in traditional research with personal accounts of historically significant events or simply life in a specific place and time. Oral histories do more than provide charming details to dry historical accounts. In fact, oral histories help others recapture lived experiences that are not written down in traditional sources.
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" Bwa pi wo di li wè lwen, men grenn pwomennen di li wè pi lwen pase l "
The tallest tree says that it sees far, but the seed that travels says that it sees even further.
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