On Haiti

Just over ten years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti with a group of people from our Diocese in Milwaukee. As a junior in high school, you can imagine it was difficult to anticipate what the country would be like. Everything about Haiti was nothing like the world I lived (or still live) in was like. As I am sure you know, it is hard at this point not to, Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, and there was great evidence to that all around.

On the other hand, I remember in Haiti there being many wonderful people - happy people and lively people. We spent time in Port au Prince and in a smaller town about a five hour drive south called Jeannette. In Port au Prince we visited a school and an orphanage - the orphanage remaining particularly clear in my mind. I remember that in this orphanage there were many children, small and very young and many sick. I can't remember how much time we were there that day, although I can tell you it didn't seem like enough. We played with the kids a little, helped feed some of the babies, and I found myself amazed. I remember distinctly that many of them were crying, crying and the moment you picked one up - they would stop crying. It makes me sad now to wonder what happened to that orphanage in Port au Prince, and what will happen for all of the people there. People talk of hope for a recovery, and I wonder to myself - what will they recover to? I hope that through this awful disaster a new beginning will give Haiti a new promise. Maybe now with the help of the world community it can be built up in a more sustainable, more livable way. I am deeply and continually grateful to have had the chance to go to Haiti. My visit there has at least given me a greater sense of how awful the current situation there now is. If I could go again, I would.

I know it's been said a million times in the last week, but please donate towards the relief efforts in Haiti: Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders are just two of the reputable agencies that are helping.

I've posted some of my pics from our trip in 1999 below. I'm only regretting that it took this massive tragedy to prompt me to pull them out of storage.

At the school in Jeannette.


This is one of my favorite photos from our trip. While we were in Jeannette we had a steady entourage of the village children that stuck by us. They were so animated and happy. They held our hands as we walked around and were always wanting to play. This picture is of my older sister Mariam near the school house with a group of the kids.


This is a photo with Mariam and a girl named Bri that came along on the trip as well.


This is such a great photo - this kid in the front getting ready to box...


I was looking at this photo and I remember the little boy in the blue pants being one of my favorite kids. I think he had some developmental delays - and he was also the sweetest little kid.


This was by the giant cistern in the village of Jeannette. It was used to gather the rainwater for use in the homes.


This is a photo of the school/church yard. You can read about St. Marc's here.


A couple of photos taken while walking around the rural village. In the bottom one you can see the group that followed us around. This is half because we were strangers, and half because they knew we were bringing supplies around to the houses.



Photos in and around Port au Prince:










There are a few more photos on my flickr stream as well.

I end this post with the hope that many other people share - that Haiti will be able to rebuild and come away from this disaster with a stronger country than they had before. I know it will take decades, but I am sure it can be done...

A sunrise over the valley...