Hope for our future: Making communities a “pa ka pa la”

This blog also appears on the Kuja website. 

Marie-Rose Romain Murphy

In Haitian Creole, “pa ka pa la” means the one that “cannot not be there.” Translated into French, it means, “l’incontournable.” In English, an “indispensable person or entity.”

USAID and similar agencies used to be seen as a “pa ka pa la” before their brutal demise that was akin to an unexpected anesthesia-free physical amputation. The aid sector lost important limbs, millions bled and died from the resulting wounds, and the collective trauma and deadly blows are still being felt by former staff members / holders of power, and former “community recipients and beneficiaries.”

A deeper malaise

Part of our current malaise in the aid sector is the realization by many Global North stakeholders that no one is “pa ka pa la.” No one is indispensable. It is a reality that Global South / Global Majority stakeholders have learnt to live with for decades. Living with insecurity and a constant sense of having no control are part of the Global South Citizenship experience. The hurricanes of geopolitical events and the trauma of climatic disasters from wars, coups, tsunamis, earthquakes and violence have shaped our lives and ensured that we cannot take things for granted. At an early age (if we survive it at all) we fast learn that control is an illusion, and that life is not fair. It just is. It is why loyalty and solidarity of family, true friends and allies are such priceless commodities in our world. We have learnt very quickly that no one can do it alone without forming communities and counting on their support for our survival. Community is essential for survival. An existential truth.

A faulty structure

If the aid sector’s dynamics and operational flow had been truly centered on communities, and genuinely making them a “pa ka pa la”, the collapse that we have been witnessing would not have happened. Think about it. If the aid sector had been focused on working with communities on ensuring their self-determination and self-sufficiency, it would have worked on transferring resources to and fostering self-governance in the Global South for decades as opposed to continuing to sustain its status quo and hegemony. Its efforts were half-hearted at best and never truly put communities in the leadership seat. As such, it reinforced their vulnerability and dependency as opposed to building their true capacity through strength and ownership. As such, it is just as responsible as the various governments shifting away from global cooperation for the crushing blows and wounds that communities have been experiencing. Just as responsible as the various national Global Majority governments that have allowed such dependencies to occur and take deep destabilizing roots.

Is this an over-generalization given the global economic structures that perpetuate rather than eradicate colonialism? Perhaps. It is however a fact that we cannot escape and a truth that we, as a sector, must face.

Hope for our future

Is there hope for our future? Yes. It is imperative that we make communities a “pa ka pa la” as they should have always been. What it means is to reinvent a sector that was never meant to end aid into one that can thrive on solidarity. What it means is to have countries and communities coming together with allies and friends to mutually heal their wounds and lead their development.

What is in the way of this new pathway? Fear of the unknown, egos, self-interest and a deep-seated compulsive need for continuing control. None of us is immune to the gnawing feelings of insecurity that keep us awake at night for whether we like to admit it, or not, we are all part of the “system.” We have choices to make between giving into our fear or choosing to reconstruct our world with hope and action. Movements and coalitions are forming and working on building better futures even as others are still paralyzed by fear and leaning into submission to fascism for the illusion of protection.

We need to learn from the past to build a stronger future. We failed as a sector as we failed communities. They are our hearts and our “raison d’être.” Moving forward with an approach that starts and ends with communities is no longer optional. It is the healthy blueprint to rebuild a global web of support and discard what never should have been.

Let’s make communities a “pa ka pa la”, for after all, “se mèm nou mèm nan” as we say in Creole: “we are all part of each other.” It is time that we recognize that we are only strong when we come together with and for communities.

By: Marie-Rose Romain Murphy, a social entrepreneur who has helped to launch several programmes and organizations including ESPWA, Inc. (Economic Stimulus Projects for Work and Action), a Haitian-led  organization focusing on the long-term development of Haitian organizations working in Haiti. She’s also the Co-Founder of the Haiti Community Foundation, Haiti’s first community foundation.