Haiti and the Danger of the Singular Story

Every person and every country with its unique culture has a story. To every story, there is a complex web of perspectives, characters, places, and events.

It’s important to understand that Haiti does not just have one singular story. The danger of telling one story about any person or place is that it becomes a stereotype.

“The problem with stereotypes isn’t that they aren’t always true, it’s that they’re incomplete. Show a people as one thing, and only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

When the media only covers violence, tragedy, and failure over and over again, it becomes the singular story you know of Haiti in your mind.

After just a few short weeks in Haiti, I’m beginning to see many other stories unfold; stories of survival, success, and light in the darkness. In the blogs that follow I hope to share with you stories that tell a different perspective of Haiti than what you see in the media.

There are stories here that offer hope and serve as a reminder that God is working to establish His kingdom. Please come back and look in the near future for these stories, my prayer is that they will move you to see something differently. And of course I need your prayers that I can see things here as they really are.

Thanks for your time,

In his service,

Kolton Thomas

See this video for a great presentation about the danger of the singular story: