Well Haiti is definitely going to be a trial for me. There is no doubt about that. Let’s start off with the good. I have running water. I have limited access to the internet. I have a bed. I have three meals a day. Yet I see how the Haitians live around me and I cringe every time my thoughts stray back the things I left behind: my bed, warm showers, air conditioning, Spiro's Pizza, and most importantly a washing machine.
Outside the convent it is chaos. There are children begging for water... The ones begging for money they offer to do whatever they can: wash your car, cut coconuts and search for shells for money. There is rubble, broken houses, damaged houses, and tents. I don't think any one building down here survived unscathed. By far worse thing I've seen so far are the tents. They have cities of tents here that offer little to no protection in the midst of hurricane season. I had the pleasure of seeing one of these storms in action and it wasn't pretty. Yet my words can't describe what I've seen to you and the pictures don't come with the scent of haitian sweat, the decay of the trash, or the weight of the air. Yet there is pride here, there is happiness, there are smiles that sprout as the city begins to grow again.
What am I doing? My job here is to assist in the rebuilding effort whatever way I can. Right now it’s editing proposals asking for funding to get 200 girl orphanage built. This new orphanage is to replace the devastated building which was home to 80 orphans. The 80 orphans had to be discharged to their remaining relatives where most are forced into the lowest class of Haitian society. Needless to say I'm trying to help even though I am in the stage most people call, "overwhelmed as hell."
Here are a couple of pictures of the tents and broken houses. These pictures aren't the exception they are the rule.
