For instance in the humor dep't recently? Gotta see the amusement in finding myself getting stupidly excited the other day over finding small little dissolving sheets of shampoo and conditioner packed into little 2x3 plastic containers, because it frees me up to carry on mosquito repellent on the plane. It's the little things. And that's funny? Which is good.
But then I can go to instant non-funny? By letting my mind remember I've been told if I could bring some tarps with me, they'd mean the world to people in Jacmel ... it's what they live under. And that's so ... not funny.
Like I said, finding a balance.
Educating myself the last few weeks has been a journey in itself. There are layers of history, circumstances, and events; perspectives, past and present to work through for me. Haiti's story is a long and complicated one and I would be naive and indeed disrespectful to think I could write anything about the country or its people much less go there, without having some prior background knowledge - naive indeed also, to think I can understand it all in a few weeks.
But I am doing what I can - I read books; utilize the vast resources of the internet. I have watched countless videos; read other blogs. Hours spent, and I know I haven't even touched the surface, but a foundation is being built, one that is beginning to give me an educated place from which to interpret the experiences I am about to have. One that is creating an enormous respect in me for the spirit of the Haitian people. One that is also painfully showing me - how bad it really is.
So that said, I also have these two main people now helping me prepare for this - Reg Auguste and Judy Hoffman - in their individual ways telling me not to lose my optimism and sense of humor. My conversations with them are in themselves balanced with advice grounded in a serious, horrific reality, but also laced with a great deal of humor and hope. They are I know preparing me to see the sad - but equally telling me to also make sure I see the uplifting and the beautiful.
Speaking of which - I offer this picture from the Art Creation Foundation for Children Foundation site. Is her face - her pride in what she's created - not uplifting ... beautiful ... and hopeful?
This is Yolene. She is a beautiful young woman, one of our ACFFC members. She is a twin and Yolande is her sister. Yolene, Yolande - took me years to figure out which is which even though they are fraternal twins, not identical - something about the names. Older sister Jacqueline looks just like her. The twins and I, along with several other girls shared a tent this past week - I miss the giggling, squirming to find a place, the girls speaking in kreyol rapidly and when I said I didn't understand, in French they would say 'pas pour toi.' I miss the crawling out in morning, kind of like 25 clowns stuffed into a VW Beetle. She and all of the ACFFC members are truly the hope of Haiti.
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