April 2. 2010 2:39PM GMT
The quake destroyed his house, but Milot Beaubrun managed to save the little bureau that constitutes his lottery business, which he set it up in the middle of a settlement camp in Tapis Rouge. Daniel Cima for The National
January’s earthquake may have reduced much of Port-au-Prince to rubble, but one industry continues to pulse amid the devastation. Pooja Bhatia examines the world of borlette, the lottery system in which an astonishing number of Haitians invest their income and their dreams.
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COMMENT: HAITIAN-TRUTH.ORG
Prior to Jean-Claude Duvalier’s departure, in 1986, the lottery was a national lottery. Proceeds went to build schools, hospitals and provide scholarships for poor children.
After Duvalier’s departure, the government sold the lottery business to private individuals, (friends) making some new multi-millionaires…at least one billionaire, on the shoulders of Haiti’s poor, while depriving them of the benefits shared under Jean-Claude.