“So what do you think of our Haiti?” He asked me.
Every country has the ‘first’ question that everyone asks you when they strike up a conversation with the American missionary. This question varies a bit from one culture to the next. This month’s initial quandary is usually wanting to know what we think of their beloved country.
I was sitting in the back of an SUV, waiting on a couple squadmates, when the driver hopped in and asked me what I thought of his country. He spoke perfect English, a rarity over the last nine months, so I loved the idea of having an easy conversation for a change.
Now, Haiti is one of those countries that just happened to be on my route. I’ve never had any desire to come here. It’s just another country in need. Though, this one is KNOWN for it’s need, and only it’s need; more than any other country on my route. When one hears the name Haiti, a myriad of pictures of slums, waste, sad-eyed starving children, immense poverty, and earthquake damage, all come to mind. This is how we perceive Haiti.
Those things exist here. Just as most of them exist everywhere I’ve been thus far. I even encountered earthquake damage in Nepal.
You know, I once told an Asian man that we have homeless people in America. He straight up didn’t believe me. I tried to convince him, but he was already too convinced that I was lying to him.
Outside perceptions are a funny thing. All we have is pictures…
“I love it here!” Was my sincere response to our satisfied driver.
I explained how Haiti is portrayed in America and how pleasantly surprised I am to find such a beautiful place. He asked me if I had been to the countryside yet, which I haven’t, and adamantly suggested that I spend some time there during the month. ‘Paradise,’ is how he describes his home. And I’m entirely inclined to agree.
Everywhere I’ve been, I have been surprised at what I find. Every country in the world has it’s troubles! Including my own home, which the rest of the world is CONVINCED is the one place on earth that has no troubles at all. There is no convincing them otherwise. America is nearly worshiped by Asia.
But with all the troubles and poor and hurting, you will find paradise somewhere if you are willing to see it.
Haiti is no different.
Everywhere I’ve been has varied dramatically from ‘all the pictures.’ Nearly every preconceived notion available is blown out when one physically encounters a new place.
No doubt, this is because all the pictures in the world cannot portray what an entire country is really like. They all have their ups and their downs, their beauties and their unsightliest, their poor and their rich, (yes, even Haiti has her wealthy upper class) their good smells and their stinky ones. Every country.
Paradise is found where you are willing to see it.
I am still raising the last $1000 of my mission trip fees. Could you please make a donation? I’m just so close!
And here is a picture of me holding a baby goat.
You’re welcome.
