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Alcohol as an Important Part of Haiti Culture Essay

Updated August 12, 2022
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Alcohol as an Important Part of Haiti Culture Essay essay

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Culture shapes the foundation of how one acts and what they believe. It is a defining feature in any group of individuals. It is embedded into the minds and lives of people, and influenced by their social environments. Culture influences every aspect of one’s life including their values, customs, attitudes, beliefs, perspectives, behaviors etc. It allows people to have their own identities within a society. However, many cultures and customs across the globe differ greatly. This leads to somewhat of a disconnect between societies as well as many ethical and human rights issues in global health. One may look at a culture and notice the detriments it causes to that society, but to the people living it, they view it as a way of life. Within a culture there are many health related behaviors that can cause disease, illness and possibly death.

Haiti is a country in which culture is a significant part of daily life. After the first successful slave rebellion against the French in 1791, traditions in cuisine, health, music, dance, dress, rituals, and religion began to form. It is a beautiful country rich in these aspects of culture. Through culture, people’s health behaviors and beliefs rely upon their what they believe the probability of getting the illness is, the seriousness of the ailment, the advantages of taking part in practices that keep the sickness, and hindrances to taking part in preventive practices. In Haiti, culture shapes the views on sex education, drinking and mental health.

Sexual education is often something that is overlooked in Haitian culture. In the Western world, Haiti has the lowest human development index score. This means that they have a very low standard of living, education, welfare, and health. Things like planned parenthood, and HIV prevention are seen as unimportant. In addition, sexual violence is very common. Sexual activity is normal in children as young as thirteen years old. This is seen as typical behavior in Haitian culture. An estimate of 150,000 people (2.1% of adults) between the ages of 15-49 are living with AIDS in Haiti. This indicates a very high burden of disease among the Haitian people. Sexual violence is also very prevalent among the Haitian people.

Sexual violence and controlling behaviors towards women are considered “traditional norms”. There is little to no education on sexual misconduct causing many problems. PEACE CORPSIn Haitian culture, husbands are allowed to beat their wives and have all the power and control in the relationship. Whatever they want, they get. Female dominance is only prevalent in decision making when they are submissive towards their significant other. Women are also not educated about relationship quality and what is supposed to happen in a relationship. Power in relationships is definitely gender based and it is not believed that women should have any say.

Although women in Haiti are believed to have equal constitutional rights, as put in place by the government, socially, they are still seen as highly inferior to men. They are often very restricted in all aspects of society including, but not limited to, work, education, household duties and relationship status. They are constantly at risk for things like rape and human trafficking. In addition, condom usage is very rare. This causes people to have many children and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. As compared to the rest of the Western world, young Haitian males are 3.33 times more likely to not use a condom during sexual intercourse. Children living with adult family members are less likely to not use protection. However, children who live in orphanages and do not have this sort of guardian, are not educated at all about the dangers and consequences of unprotected sex. Due to the lack in emphasis on sexual education, these populations have been affected by disease, death, and injury due to this cultural issue.

In Haiti, it is clear that drinking is a huge part of the culture. It is normal for children to start drinking as young as 10 years of age. In addition, the legal drinking age in Haiti is one of the lowest in the world set at 16 years old. Alcohol significantly harms the developing brain in children. Drinking alcohol at such a young age causes, stunting, speech and motor problems, memory issues, and language issues. It also severely impairs a child’s hormone levels, bone density and growth. People living in Haiti are not usually educated on the effects of children drinking. Children are also smaller and more susceptible to alcohol poisoning.

During many holidays and celebrations, children and adults will heavily drink and uphold traditional and cultural norms. The World Health Organization in published a study in 2017, that found that Haiti is number 18 in the world to have a death caused by alcohol. That is about 0.44% of all deaths in Haiti. The making of sugar cane, moonshine and rum as a major source of income in Haiti has also attributed to this problem. In 2016, there was a case in which many individuals had purchased distilled sugar cane liquor, or in other words, moonshine. These bottles were unlabeled and quite rustic looking. A man named Annouis Neristil and his brothers consumed this liquor and later reported what had happened to them. These individuals took one sip of the $1.50 alcohol and immediately knew something was wrong.

Hours after they had taken the small sips of alcohol, one of the brothers had died and the others awoke in sheering pain. They were slipping in and out of consciousness and had intense pain in their abdomens. Their vision had also faded until they had gone completely blind. They spent weeks in the hospital, among many others who had tried the moonshine. Out of the 32 patients that were there due to alcohol consumption that month, 21 of them had not survived. Since then the death toll caused from bad alcohol has continued to rapidly incline. Through cultural norms of drinking across all ages, there have been many fatalities.

Lastly, culture has affected the outlook on mental health in Haiti. The culture in Haiti discusses a wide range of explanations as to why people suffer from mental illness. “Haitians divide illnesses into several broad categories, including: maladi Bondye (God’s disease, or those of “natural” origin), maladi peyi (“country”, or common, short-term ailments), maladi moun fè mal (magic spells sent because of human greed), and those of supernatural origin, maladi lwa (‘disease of God’) and maladi Satan (Satan’s or “sent” sicknesses)” (Sterlin, 2006). Imbalances in the body such as being too hot or too cold are also reasons for mental illness. Things such as wind, rain, and the sun can attribute to what the Haitians perceive as mental illness.

Many believe that mental health can either be helped through things like herbal teas and spiritual healers to restore their health to its original state. Mental health problems are also often believed to be caused by supernatural forces and spells. The vodou culture in Haiti strongly attributes to this notion. Issues in every day working and scholarly underachievement is viewed as the results of a spell, a hex, or a curse transmitted by an envious individual. Haitian individuals generally don’t think that their mental health problems have anything to do with themselves or a scientific imbalance in the brain. With this being said, they rely on their spiritual and religious beliefs to fix these problems. In addition, there is also a lot of shame that comes with having a mental illness where many won’t even seek help. Those suffering more intense mental illnesses such as schizophrenia are not helped and labeled “fou” or “crazy” within their society. They are often left to fend for themselves. Culture of mental health and health practices have caused a real problem among those affected by it and they are rarely treated by health professionals.

Alcohol as an Important Part of Haiti Culture Essay essay

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