Skip to main content

Haiti 2012: June 9

Our trip from the orphanage to the airport went quickly, but something was different about the drive. We were so overwhelmed on our first trip by the activity, poverty, and pollution of the city that we could do little more than take it all in. This was so true that I felt almost fatigued by all that we saw, though we were also tired from our flight.

This year, on the other hand, I felt like I could look more closely at the details of what we saw on our drive. I noticed the lush mountains, receding one behind the other into the horizon, and understood then why a book about a doctor's work in Haiti could be called Mountains Beyond Mountains. In Port-au-Prince, I saw the people less as one conglomerate thrust moving in droves this way or that, or working in their respective businesses en masse. Instead, I saw their faces, their desires for their respective futures. This was, perhaps, sparked by a man I met at the orphanage, Angelo. This guard wielding a shotgun and charged with protecting us allowed me to peek into his life as he talked about planning to marry his girlfriend in December. He asked me, at one point, if I could speak with him more, if I would be willing to teach him English. It would, he said, make him more marketable for employment. In short, Angelo wanted a future.

As I think about this now, I see that men like him aren't too different than many of us in the United States, or Mexico, or any other country. We all see that there is something more in life. Dreams may play out in different languages and within the confines of different cultures, but they all express our need to hope, to hold onto something-- or someone-- greater than what we see now. This is what I'm beginning to see about Haiti. It is a very spiritual country, not least perhaps because of Hatians' familiarity with tragedy. Earthquakes, flooding, hunger, poverty, and political violence remind them again and again of their circumstances; but I see now that their humanity lifts them beyond circumstance: just as the mountain behind the orphanage reaches to touch the sky, though still under the haze that covers its landscape, so the people of this place reach beyond their present to find a better future. I know, too, that there are many people here who want to be apart of that future, to hold the Hatians' arms up in their effort. I only hope, if only for a moment, we were apart of that purpose. Haiti may be a place of tragedy, but I am convinced now that it is more powerfully a place of hope.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A White Post-Christmas

I just came back from my brother's renewal of vows. He lives in Wisconsin, and this particular week, they experienced colder-than-average temperatures. I could tell because my hands began to go numb as I attempted to tie down a trailer after last night's reception. As a result, I appreciated the fact that the temperature in Stockton was in the mid-sixties when I came back. It was, however, good to take part in this, a dream of my brother and sister-in-law, after at least two years without seeing them. I saw the incredible support of their friends, who helped set up the day before, took part on the day of the event, and stayed late to help clean up. Aware of how tired everyone was late last night, one of Chris's friends even lent Chris his truck to take the last of the decorations home, a favor that allowed the family to return home before two o'clock in the morning last night. Here are some of the highlights: 1. Hearing on a plane what sounded like a baby's fi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Heroes

Although we have several examples of heroes in our day, one of the best known is of a woman named Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (“Gonja Bojaju”), who devoted her life to sustaining the “poor, sick, orphaned, and dying.” Her venue was Calcutta, India, where she served as a teacher until she began to take notice of the poverty there. Seeking to do something about it, she began an organization that consisted of just thirteen members at its inception. Called the “Missionaries of Charity,” the organization would eventually burgeon into well over 5,000 members worldwide, running approximately 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries; and caring for the orphaned, blind, aged, disabled, and poor. As her personal work expanded, she traveled to countries like Lebanon, where she rescued 37 children from a hospital by pressing for peace between Israel and Palestine; to Ethiopia, where she traveled to help the hungry; to Chernobyl, Russia, to assist victims of the nuclear meltdown there; and to ...
2 comments
Read more

The Nice Guy Fallacy

I read part of a poem recently by one of my favorite poets. It reads: I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage The linnet born within the cage That never knew the summer woods. I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time Unfetter'd by the sense of crime To whom a conscience never wakes. Nor what may call itself as bles't The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall I feel it, when I sorrow most 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. At base, Tennyson contrasted a life of risk, and consequent pain, with one of security. He sides conclusively with the life of risk, and says he fails to envy those who have faced no hardship. I agree with him; and, for good or ill, his words are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. Like then, there are those today who choose to live their lives with as little risk as...
2 comments
Read more