ABSTRACT
After the Haiti earthquake, key discourse actors failed to offer empowering narratives concerning the psychological, health, and spiritual needs of survivors. Portraying earthquake survivors as whole persons – who grieve, feel shock, cope, and seek out support – humanizes, acknowledges agency, and resists objectifying discourses that otherwise make Haitians easy targets of socio-economic manipulation and engineering. Silences about the mental health needs of Haitians are surprising given a global trauma industry that generates funding and expert-driven intervention programs run by non-governmental organizations and mental health professionals. This lack of consideration is a function of the historical objectification of Haitian bodies, resulting in gross neglect of human dignity and well-being beyond material-infrastructural and economic “recovery” so prominent in disaster discourse and practice. The authors counter the discourses that render local efforts and heroism invisible with extensive data that reveals the ways that Haitian disaster survivors engaged in mutual aid, community organizing, entrepreneurialism, and community solidarity. Acknowledging such strength, resilience, and innovation can facilitate a pathway towards a people’s disaster recovery.
