Of all the posts I’ve written about Haiti thus far, this one is the most difficult. How do you encapsulate all of your final thoughts into one small post??
If you’ve missed them, you can read more Haiti posts here: my initial thoughts, the life story of Hugues Bastien, taking the orphanage kiddos to the beach, and finally, the Mission 29.2 Marathon.
As you all know, I have visited dozens of third world countries, so the poverty and living situation in Haiti didn’t surprise me. More than anything, my extensive traveling has allowed me to realize how fortunate I am in life. I’ve seen a family spend their monthly tea allotment on snacks and beverages for my travel companions and me, just to show us hospitality and warmth of culture. Y’all, this world doesn’t get any more generous than that.
However, the people of Haiti are what I remember the most from my visit. I have never, ever seen a culture that had so little and continued to smile so much. I visited many poverty-stricken areas in South and Central America but I never sensed that same feeling of happiness from the locals that I did from the Haitians in Ouanaminthe. Trust me, they are plenty aware of their situation. After all, how could they not be? But instead of dwelling on it or expecting assistance from others, they just acknowledge it and continue on with life, making the best with what they have been given.
As callused as it sounds, I never once felt like a “walking ATM” like I have in other countries. I never felt like I was viewed as a wealthy white girl to stare it; instead, I sensed honest curiosity and love from these people. In a few parts of South America, kiddos would sweetly request that I take their picture. Once I agreed, thinking they wanted to see it, they would stick their hands out and demand payment for the photo. Granted, this didn’t happen everywhere, but it was frequently enough that I quit snapping digital images. Because of this, I was hesitant to photograph any kids during my first day in Haiti for fear of a similar situation. However, I was pleasantly surprised once I realized that the Haitian kiddos just wanted to see their own face on the screen of my camera.
Evidence!
What you see in those snaps is pure enjoyment. The kids loved to strike a pose a la Madonna or the Karate Kid, and they didn’t care in the least that the camera was theirs or that they weren’t receiving any money. It was the joy of the moment and the amazement at the technology. It seemed so simple…yet so pure.
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I also wanted to take a second to quickly introduce you to Stephane:
He won the race two years ago and in the process, the Mission 29.2 founders got to know an incredible young man. He is thoughtful, generous, kind, and very intelligent. Once Stephane mentioned that he would love to attend college, Mission 29.2 knew they had to help him accomplish this goal. Donations have been collected, and he is currently attending a university in the Dominican Republic. However, his tuition is only funded through Fall, 2013, so we are currently looking for any possible donations to help him continue his education. If you are interested in donating, drop me a line!
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For those of you that are interested in doing a future trip with Mission 29.2, check it out! They just recently announced the first expansion to their program and will be completing a trip to Eleuthera, Bahamas in September, 2013! The cost of the trip is $1100 (all inclusive of everything) plus airfare. Additionally, I imagine you’ll be asked to fundraise $1000 for the school there, just like I did with the Haiti program. If you think you may be interested in this trip or have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an email and I can forward you onto the right person!
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Would you ever consider a voluntourism trip? Or would you rather save your vacation time for pure relaxing?
15 Comments
The little girl in the sunglasses is absolutely adorable. I can sense her attitude in the photo. Too cute =)
Oh, she was a sassy little thing! She was totally pocketing candy at the beach and then pretending like she didn’t have any. She knows how to play the game 😉
LOVED this.
I’d absolutely love to do a voluntourism trip. I’ve heard so many stories, like yours, where American’s come back with a completely new perspective. Coming from a girl that has never been over seas, I’d love to travel– to see, to do, to really learn. Exploring is on my list of things to do after I graduate, before I settle down. Actually I’m pretty sure that my college has a program over the breaks where you travel to places around the US doing volunteer work, it’ll be a start 😉 I think I’m going to look into that today!
Your posts over the last week have been incredibly moving and I’ve looked forward to reading them each day! Love the pictures also, those kids are SO darn cute.
I am so glad you enjoyed them! And you know, a study abroad program to Spain in college is exactly how I first began traveling. I think that sounds like an awesome place to get started– please keep me posted!!
This is truly amazing, girl. I’m really proud of and admire you. And your photographs of those adorable locals warm my heart. Thanks for sharing part of their stories with us.
Amazing recap, thanks for letting us share a bit of this experience with you. I haven’t done volunteerism exactly, but have done a mission trip to a 3rd world country and also thought it was an incredible experience. I hope to do more in the future!
Where do you go on your trip?
I am in love with those beautiful children! Thanks so much for being you and spreading so much good in the world. And thanks for sharing these important stories!
love this. i’m so happy you got to experience this awesome adventure!
Your pictures of the kiddos are so heartwarming and humbling. I’m always amazed at how people who have so little can still offer so much unwavering generosity. I would very much love to go on a trip like that. As a school teacher, I have all summer off so I’ll have to look for an opportunity during that time period.
I’m so glad you had such a wonderful time in Haiti. I’d love to take a trip like this some day and be able to volunteer my time in another country.
I spent last summer in Haiti volunteering with a ministry there. It was my second trip and I am totally in love with the people. For those of you thinking about volunteering for any amount of time, do it! It is one of the best experiences you’ll ever have!!
I am so glad you had such a wonderful time. The pictures are certainly precious. 🙂
Hi Heather! I’m considering applying to go on the Haiti Mission 29.2 this year which I first learned about on your blog. I just wanted to come back and read through your thoughts and experiences, thank you o much for sharing…I hope I’ll have the opportunity to do something like this one day!
Hi Danielle! So glad to hear that you’re considering Mission 29.2. I don’t know if you saw, but I’ll be coming back for the January, 2014 trip too. Let me know if you have any questions!