Haiti was inspiring, heartbreaking, uplifting, tragic, beautiful and life-changing. I type this from Gate 76B at SFO waiting for my 9 p.m. flight home to Redding. I am tired, but also a little more than sad that its all over ... and I want to go back.
There was only one disappointment on the trip, and even that is a qualified one. I did not get to Jacmel and Judy's beautiful school. Just one of the reasons I want to go back. However even Judy kindly understood why I didn't make it; as she told me before I went - "Susan, its about the kids." Yes, it is. It's about the kids, and about the Haitian people. And for me ... the kids and the people and the place I was meant to get to; the ones that were meant to tug at my heart the way Judy's children & people tug at hers and the members/supporters of her foundation - were in Cite` Soleil. I touched on this in my last post - let me re-visit it in more detail now.
Cite` Soleil has a reputation for being perhaps one of the most depressed areas in Haiti. And poor Haiti; that's saying something because so much of the country is obviously struggling. But Cite` Soleil? Is where Reg Auguste's factory is ~ it is where he's put much of his heart and sincere desire to help the people of his country. It is where he has put much of his integrity, his truth and his caring ... his time and his money. By bringing together the leaders of the community - showing respect and offering them their dignity along with opportunity - he and others have combined forces to build a school.
I saw it first on Sunday at dusk ... to get to it we walked behind Reg's factory accompanied by Marcel, the leader of his community and a man Reg calls friend. At first Marcel did not want Reg to take me to the school - to get to it we would have to walk through an area let us just say ... was not pleasant. Remember we are dealing with a world where there is basically - nothing: no water, no electricity, very little if any adequate shelter, scarce food - and certainly no toilet facilities.
But Reg assured him it would be allright. And so we went. Marcel met me with a smile and a warm handshake. He was dressed in slacks with a nice shirt; Reg tells me he is a teacher. We hurry, for it's already starting to get dark. I follow Marcel with Reg behind me. I walk deliberately and carefully, following in Marcel's footsteps. We manuever through the rubble of a building; we walk carefully on deliberately placed chunks of concrete across a grey water bog filled with debris and garbage. We slip between a small break between a steel fence and the remains of a concrete wall. We come to the tent city. Only it isn't really a tent city - it should be; these people *desperately* need tents. It mostly though - is a tarp, cardboard, plywood, whatever will maybe provide some semblance of a cover over their head - city. The children spot me - there are many - and start chattering and smiling and laughing and calling me "blan" (white). The adults glance and nod; sometimes a smile, but they're mostly engaged in trying to do - with what little they have. And it is very, very little.
If not a smile from the adults, and of course there were some, I was offered what I read as a face of sad resignation, combined with an acknowledgment of my presence. Not once was I approached for money. Not once was I looked at and made to feel like an unwelcome intruder. Reg pointed to the edge of the tent city, lined with concrete debris and tells me that as soon as it gets dark, Marcel will have to referree the distribution of that space - roughly 200 people will sleep along the edges tonight.
We walk a little ways and turn a corner. And there it is ... the school:
That is Marcel you see to the left ... the picture is not the best, as it was dusk and we were losing the light, but you can see how in a way that makes it shine a little in the dark - an apt analogy I thought.
I'm out of time, and there will be I promise ~ so much more. But let me jump ahead a little and show you a picture from when I went back in the daylight ... maybe this will tug at your heart a little too. When I get some rest and some time ~ I'll come back, and start at the beginning of this trip.................
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