HAITI FROM A HOTEL VERANDA

I am not a career missionary; merely a concerned person with a passionate distaste for injustice. Therefore I was appalled to read Elizabeth Hilton’s review of “The Rainy Season” (Book Review, July 16), in which she describes missionaries in Haiti as “sinister helpers.” This one-line, unsubstantiated claim appeared to be the author’s not-so-subtle attempt to inflict her biases upon yet another scapegoat.

There are more than 200 related mission organizations working in Haiti to infuse hope into a diseased land; the author’s claim that they “live well on labor” received from the people is truly a laughable statement. Haiti is not an alluring vacation spot calling people to the easy life; those who move to such a country to serve their fellow man (and woman) are, in the majority, truly self-sacrificing individuals. It is remarkable that an author who compiles her notes from the veranda of a hotel at which no Haitian would be able to afford to stay, would, under the guise of being an educated observer, attack those modern-day heroes who actually participate on a long-term basis in the lives of the Haitians.

MELINDA WALLACE

WEST COVINA