Sometimes I feel like all of the stories that come out of Haiti and care for those in Haiti tend to sad and depressing. Some would say ‘obviously’ as there is so much despair, sadness and disease how could there be a plethora of happy stories. Well, as someone in the field I understand the depths of sadness and diseases here in Haiti though I also have come to love and respect the ability of the Haitian people to laugh, smile and joke around. Children with enormous smiles and the adults with their boisterous laughter, ready to lend a helping hand whenever possible. Today the pastor at the orphanage where we completed a village clinic brought all 16 of us coconuts from his tree (that he and the older children harvested and cleaned for us) as a thank you for seeing his patients. After 6 hours working outside seeing patients, fresh coconut water has never tasted so sweet. I laugh here so often that sometimes I need to remind myself that I am in a country in which 54% of the people live without sustainable water sources and less than 50% of children are able to go to school. The future is promising as there are many effective NGO groups here in Haiti that are beginning to band together with the same goal in mind; creation of organizations and other sustainable projects to help Haiti help themselves.
We know that the best outcomes occur when organizations have clear outlined goals and are of the understanding that coming into Haiti for a short period of time to “help” really causes more harm than good. What are needed are groups who are here for the long haul. Groups committed to empowering the local Haitian community to be able to stand on their own two feet. Groups who can aid current organizations or appropriate infrastructure as well those willing to find out what local communities want and need and helping them to get it. I am happy to be part of an organization that strives to reach these goals while keeping the most important goal in mind, we are here to help not to take over and run the lives of a community in need.
I will be honest, this blog has taken quite a turn as I began speaking of the joys of living in Haiti but hopefully the above rant will give a little insight into what it feels like as a foreigner living in a country with so much need, so many aid workers (Haiti has close to 10,000 NGO groups working here) and so much headway still left to make.
As my anatomy professor would say after an intense lecture, “you have a million pieces of string in your brain; you just need to figure out how to tie them together”.
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