Haiti, Eye-Opening

It's not always been easy communicating across the miles but I have communication from Shelley-Ann and these are in her own words....

Haiti has been quite eye-opening.

I understand that I really just don't understand.

There was so much that I didn't expect. I expected the people to be beautiful, but I didn't know that they would look so much like family. They are so varied in so many ways. There are buildings that are completely untouched by the quake. Others, like the ones that are completely devastated or the ominous piles of rubble standing by roadsides that make you clutch your chest and leave your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth.

I didn't expect the country itself to be this beautiful!! Watching the news media you would think that the hot, dusty inland cities pulsing with people and teeming with piles of garbage was all there is. There is more than the scenes of the thatch roofed market places and open sewers running with dirty water.

The views here are breathtaking. The country is green and luscious and the soil has a fertility that our bustling metropolis and industrial farms could only dream of.  Our row upon row of monogenetic plants cannot compare to the beauty of these rolling hillside farms stretching upwards from gigantic yawning valleys and surrounded by fruit bearing trees.

I didn't expect to be late.  It is already business as usual.  When survival is first and foremost in your mind and when you are reminded daily that your life is your most precious commodity, you have no time for rocking back and forth on your heels. There is no time for an existential crisis. Human beings are resilient. Haitians are resilient. When you need to feed your family, you do.

Life has changed for them, yes. There are football fields full of people sleeping in tents. I am worried about what will happen in a couple of days when the hurricane season begins.

Life has changed. But life, TRUE LIFE is comprised of more than what is currently happening to you.

I will never say "Why me?" again.

Lesson Learned. Life changes, and the beat goes on.
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