which means i am pampered, over-priveleged, apathetic, badly misinformed on world events,
and live largely unaware of the small, beautiful aspects of life.
i am an observant person.
which means i am aware of my pampered, over-priveleged, apathetic, badly misinformed, clueless
lifestyle. which changes many things.
for instance,
when i arrived in haiti,
i am immediately struck by a stark contrast of existence between me and the way of life that is common to haitians.
the division of the haitian social class works something like this:
WEALTHY : 20% of haiti's population : political figures and rulers
educated "middle-class" (virtually non-existant)
wealthy, foreign tourists
POVERTY : 80% of haiti's population : everyone else
--
on our first day in haiti, i had to relearn my identity as a foreigner. (i've known what it's like to be a foreigner in the past, but it's been awhile.)
people stared, unabashedly, as we made our way through the airport and through the streets of port au prince.
i felt
stupid.
pointless.
immediately,
that pampered, over-priveleged, apathetic, badly misinformed, clueless lifestyle rushed to the front of my head.
i definitely felt american. (i, intentionally, rarely say that. and i don't want to say it, even now.)
__
our trip to haiti is centered around an orphanage in port au prince; maison des enfants de dieu (the house of the children of god.)
in no more than ten minutes after stepping inside the maison,
we were covered in kids.
at any point in time, jon anderson, sam burgess and i were carrying no less than two kids, while holding the hands of two more. at least.
__
many of us began individual connections with the children of the maison.
i met a little boy named Orlando, and after this afternoon, i am certain that he will be my closest connection with the children of the maison.
he refused to spend any time out of my sight (and furthermore, out of my arms.)
i refused to spend any time out of his (and furthermore, more than five inches away.)
as i was struck by the scarce and sparse everyday existence of the people of haiti,
i was also struck by the differences between Orlando and i.
he lives with no true parents.
he has little awareness of this now, but later in life, his understanding of this lack will grow.
he lives off of, and benefits solely from, the kindness of others.
he is being raised with the mindset of being grateful for seemingly insignificant things becoming instilled within him.
i live without such a lack of parental presence in my life.
i live from paychecks. now my parents' and my minimum-wage, eventually my own.
i have been raised to fight against the lack of awareness of seemingly insignificant things that plagues contemporary western culture.
but the very fact that i have to fight such a complacent and apathetic mindset says dramatic things about the differences between Orlando's childhood and mine.
__
however, Orlando has some incredible opportunities laid before him.
through the efforts of the people of the maison, and workers like them, he will hopefully be educated,
learn a trade,
and engage his own culture (or foreign cultures) with his body and mind in creative, impacting ways.
in ways that the nannies of the orphanage can only dream of.
in ways that the staring-airport-people can hardly fathom.
in ways that the people of haiti can only hope for.
but through organizations such as the maison,
they
can
hope
for
it.
thanks for caring.
-simon
p.s. please go to pih.org/pages/haiti/ for information on simple ways to spread the word for haiti. haiti is in desperate need. "partners in health: haiti chapter" is a 95% haitian-run organization. (those americans/foreigners who work for PIH-haiti run correspondence and organizing offices in the US; ie, nearly all the work done on the ground in haiti is conducted by haitians.) this means that, instead of a "handout" or "savior-complex" foreign organization, PIH provides a way for haitians to repair and impact their own culture. it's really, really good work. please go and read and tell people about it.
if nothing else, you can help others to be more aware of what haiti is up against, what is being done for haiti, and what haiti can hope for.
and the spreading of THAT word is a very good thing.
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