Attempting to decide what kind of project to do about my experience in Haiti was extremely difficult because I knew no matter what I did, it would never truly capture what it was like to be there. Words, pictures, even videos can’t begin to explain my week in Haiti. It was so different from anything else I’ve ever done, that there’s no way to truly portray it without actually taking you there. So, I decided the best I could do was tell you what Haiti taught me and hope that you can take something away from that as well.
Going into our trip to Haiti, there was one main question I wanted answered. That question was, what is Haiti beyond the poverty, disaster, hunger, and disease that is seen in the media? This question was a difficult one, but during our time in Haiti I think it was answered. However, this answer can’t be explained in a word or a sentence, but rather, it must be felt or experienced, so I’m going to try my best to give you that feeling or experience throughout the next few paragraphs.
The answer starts at the beginning of our trip, when we got on the bus at the airport and started heading towards the PID compound. The bus rides around Port-au-Prince were one of my favorite parts about the trip because they allowed us to take a look into Haitian life without most of the Haitians knowing we were watching. The first bus ride was even more exciting because it was my first glimpse of life in Haiti. This glimpse gave me my first inkling that there was something special about Haiti. Even with all the unfinished buildings, trash along the roads, and wild animals running around everywhere, the people of Haiti were still living. What I saw on these rides was the ultimate example of people making the best of a bad situation. Even faced with all the troubles of living in Haiti, I saw people just enjoying life. I saw two children playing around while they were walking back with some water for their family, just like I used to do with my brother when my mom would send us to the grocery store.
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I saw groups of men playing dominoes along the street just trying to pass the time. I saw friends and family members hugging, talking, and excited to see each other. These are just a few of the many examples I witnessed of Haitians going about their lives in ways that would never suggest they were facing extreme poverty and hunger. I wish I could have gotten to know every Haitian and learned about their lives in depth, but, sadly, we did not have that kind of time. However, the Haitians I did meet and get to learn more about proved to me that my initial observations on that first bus ride were correct.
We got to know several Haitians during our time in Haiti. There were our two translators at the worksite, Jonas and Peterson. We got to learn a lot about Jonas’ family, his interests in music, as well as his plans for the future, among other things. We learned about his family including Esdras, his closest sibling, and his mother, who he was going to be singing a song to for mothers’ day. We learned that he’s a big fan of Justin Bieber and listened to some of his playlist, and we also learned that he wants to be a mechanic in the future. We learned a lot about Peterson as well, who has accomplished more in his 28 years than most people accomplish in their entire lives. He has three degrees in Economics, English, and Computer Science, in addition to knowing four languages (Kreyol, French, English, and Spanish) well enough that he could teach them at a school in Haiti. We got to know Jean Luc, who, though he doesn’t speak very much English, taught us all about hard work.
We met Abdias who is married to Sandra, the field director at PID. He is the head of IT and acts like a big kid. He taught us how to have fun in Haiti. We met Shody, Jonas’ brother, who is a translator at the medical clinic, leads yoga classes for the kids every Friday, and is trying to make a career as a rapper. I could go on and on about all these people, but I’m sure you’re starting to get bored. However, there is one more person who I want to talk about before I conclude this paragraph, and that person is Mr. Genios. Mr. Genios may have had the most inspiring stories of all the people we met in Haiti. He first came to PID’s attention when he was living in a cardboard shack in Cite Soleil, one of the most impoverished areas in all of Haiti. His living conditions were so bad that whenever it would rain, water would gather in his house and he and his entire family would have to stand until the rain stopped. PID got him into one of their emergency houses as soon as possible and gave him a job taking pictures of all of the children in their sponsorship program. While he was working, Mr. Genios started going to school to try to learn, but eventually had to dropout. However, he made a good enough impression with everyone at PID, that at one of their fundraisers he was named the head of social services for PID Haiti. Mr. Genios’ story, among all the others the we learned during our trip, demonstrates the significant lives all of the Haitians live, despite, or maybe in part because of, the terrible conditions they face every day. This is what Haiti taught us above everything else, how to live lives with significance.
The significance of life in Haiti was an incredible feeling. Every day it felt like we were doing something that mattered. Whether we were digging the pit for the toilet house, playing soccer with the kids, or donating our work gloves to the Haitian construction workers, it felt like we were making a difference in someone’s life.
This is the way that the Haitians live all of the time because of the circumstances they face. The Haitians have to rely on each other to survive, so they are all significant to each other. Everything that they do matters to someone else. This is something we often forget in the U.S. We believe that the only way we can help people is through huge actions that will completely change their lives, when even something as simple as entertaining someone for an hour can help them. This was the most impactful lesson that Haiti taught me; we can live lives of significance simply by being there for each other and impacting each other’s lives in small ways that we don’t even realize.