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:
Stephane is on the right
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?