Haiti, part deux: outside our work site

My trip to Haiti was different in many ways from other trips I've taken-not so much having to do with the volunteering, but with the fact that there wasn't a lot of "wandering around" to be done-we worked long days, it got dark early (6:30 or 7)-and the sad reality is that many of the places I would normally explore are simply not safe. So many of the images that I have from outside our site were taken from a moving car-which definitely gives an idea of what I saw-but what I saw was limited. Other than my short (half-mile?) walk to visit the orphanage, I saw what one sees traveling between Kenscoff and Port-au-Prince airport, and between the airport and the beach we visited on Sunday.

As we drove through the city we passed several tent cities (still from the earthquake), as well as a couple parks which until fairly recently had also housed tent cities. I was told that Port-au-Prince (the city) was suited for 500,000 people-and there are currently about 5 million living there. I saw many people selling on the sides of the roads-clothing, food to cook, "fast food" to take and eat. We also passed people selling individual packets (doses) of over-the-counter meds-aspirin, cold meds, etc. I just finished reading a novel set in Ethiopia that mentioned the same thing-it hadn't occurred to me until reading it that this was indicative of the ability to buy (if one is lucky) only the meds that are needed. It is so easy to take for granted the ability to buy a bottle of pain-reliever, rather than 2 tablets.

On the day I left, we had to transport a couple (from another charitable organization based in the states) from their hotel to the airport. This was a very strong reminder to me that, as in most countries, there are different levels of living. The hotel was very upscale-made me think of being in an island inside of the city-one could easily go in and forget for a time the conditions elsewhere in the city. And, on the Sunday I was in Haiti, we had our day off and went to a private beach for the day. I am not complaining about either of these-they are simply part of the reality of where I was, and as such I am grateful to have seen/experienced them, as it gave me a more complete picture than I might have otherwise had.

One of the great things about going to the beach was that I was able to see some of the countryside out of the city of Port-au-Prince. Haiti is a beautiful country-green, mountains, rolling hills, gorgeous water. In some ways it reminded me (in looks) of other places I've visited (South Africa's eastern cape and Ireland come to mind!).

If you're interested in seeing some of the things I saw, you can see them here. Unfortunately, I don't see a return trip to explore Haiti in my future-as much as I would love to have been able to explore more of it, especially getting further away from Port-au-Prince. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be there once, and hope and pray that for this poorest of countries, the future will be more hopeful than the past.