(CNN) -- The same hands that are helping Haiti recover from a massive earthquake could cripple its long-term recovery.





That's the concern voiced by some Haitian scholars, natives and relief workers.





The world has rallied to Haiti's side since the January 12 earthquake killed at least 217,000 people and displaced at least a million in the impoverished island nation.





Yet the same groups that have lined up to help Haitians the past two months -- foreign governments, relief groups and companies pledging to rebuild  -- could hobble Haiti's long-term survival, some say.





Ronald Agenor, a Haitian-American, says he's grateful for the world's assistance. But he doesn't want the earthquake to wipe out one of his native country's most precious assets: its independence.





"We're not a country anymore," said Agenor, a former top-ranked professional tennis player. "It doesn't seem like we have a government. We're a place where people go to give money."





How aid can hinder Haiti's government





Much of Haiti's national identity is shaped around its unique history. Haitians are the descendants of the only slaves who revolted against their masters in the 19th century.





Haiti, though, has struggled since it broke away from its colonial rulers, the French. Even before the earthquake, unemployment hovered around 50 percent, and more than half of all Haitians live on a dollar a day. Ongoing political instability adds to Haiti's misery.





Western nations and relief groups have stepped in over the years to help. But some of that help has backfired, says Alex Dupuy, a native of Haiti and a professor of sociology at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.





"Haiti has been transformed over the years into an aid-dependent country," Dupuy said. "Much of the aid has further weakened the ability of the state to deliver."





In Haiti, the government doesn't provide basic services such as sanitation, electricity and drinking water, Dupuy says. Much of that is provided by non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, like relief groups, he says.





"It becomes a vicious cycle," Dupuy said. "The state is never forced to face up to its responsibilities."





Educated Haitians could stay and help their country, but many prefer to move elsewhere for more comfortable living, Dupuy says.





"There are more Haitian doctors practicing medicine in Montreal than in Haiti," Dupuy said.





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Those educated Haitians who do stay are often siphoned off into working for the non-governmental organizations stationed there, says J. Phil Thompson, an urban studies professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has traveled to disaster zones around the world to help communities recover.





Thompson says there are about 10,000 NGOs in Haiti.





"Haitians often don't want to work for the government, because the salaries can't compete with the donations various intermediaries can pay," Thompson said.





Profiting from Haiti's misery





Helping hands have hurt Haiti in the past, some Haitians say. Powerful outsiders took advantage of Haiti's weakened government for profit.





Dupuy says that in the early 1970s, Haiti was self-sufficient in its rice production. Today, it is the fourth largest importer of rice from American farmers who are subsidized by the U.S. government.





The change came about because much of the foreign aid to Haiti had strings attached. Haiti had to remove its tariffs and open its economy to foreign imports, he says.





"All of which had devastating impacts on Haitian agriculture," Dupuy said. "Haiti has nothing to show for it. Now it imports 25 percent of the food it consumes."





Haiti's impoverished condition also provides opportunity for companies that flock to the country.





"It's being used as a haven for cheap labor in the textiles and garment industries," Dupuy says. "Those industries are going to Haiti because there is an abundance of the cheapest labor in the Western hemisphere."





Even those companies that promise to help rebuild Haiti must be viewed with suspicion
What weakens ability of Haitian government to develop? What does the sociologist say aid does? What could hobble country's recovery? What is flowing into Haiti? What could powerful outsiders use the crisis for?
foreign has further weakened the ability of the state to deliver." foreign governments, relief groups and companies pledging to rebuild aid profit.
question: What weakens ability of Haitian government to develop?, answer: foreign | question: What does the sociologist say aid does?, answer: has further weakened the ability of the state to deliver." | question: What could hobble country's recovery?, answer: foreign governments, relief groups and companies pledging to rebuild | question: What is flowing into Haiti?, answer: aid | question: What could powerful outsiders use the crisis for?, answer: profit.