Haitians have a term for the secondhand clothing and stuff we send to them. They call them Kennedys. In Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains( this month's book club selection) Kidder explains the term has been around since the 1960s when President Kennedy sponsored a program sending machine oil to the impoverished country.
"The Haitians tried to use the oil for other purposes, such as cooking, and concluded that the gift was of inferior quality. Ever since, the president's name has been synonymous here with secondhand and shoddy goods."
Not surprisingly many of today's Kennedys show up as left over branded clothing. From running shoes "that have seen a better day" to logoed T-shirts and baseball caps, we are providing Haitians with more than needed clothing--we are providing them with a deep insight into our branded culture.
Given the amount of branded stuff we are sending them, its no wonder that Kidder saw this
"There was a young worker at Zanmi Lasante who wore a new-looking , Haitian-style straw hat on which he or his wife had sewn a homemade piece of cloth that read NIKE."
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