If you plan on going to Haiti, you must know you will be greeted by extreme poverty, unpaved roads, and an infrastructure that makes 5 o’clock traffic on I-35 look like heaven. As you are driven around the city by a man who honks his horn more than a New York taxi driver, you will see thousands upon thousands of people flocking to the markets as they try and make enough money in order to hold their stomachs over until the next day. Your nostrils will be filled with the smells of burning debris and trash that litters the streets. Your ears will listen to the symphony of buses and trucks and cars that shoot past and somehow manage not to hit one another as they squeeze through lanes and holes in the road.
For some crazy reason I decided to go and visit this beautiful island with a team of 14 young adults to partner with an organization called myLIFEspeaks. Each of us had different backgrounds and experiences traveling abroad and doing mission work in third world countries, but none of us were ready for the destitution that wrecked the island we would soon come to love.
We spent 7 days in the small village of Neply, meeting the villagers, feeding children, holding babies, praying for the elderly, and kicking around a soccer ball with the teens. We laughed and cried and sang and danced and swam in the most gorgeous piece of the Caribbean. We spent our days wanting nothing, being content in the shade that was provided by the mango trees while children would run up and down the unpaved roads chasing one another. The food that was given to us by the native staff was the most delicious cuisine I have ever tasted – even better than Whataburger Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits. My stomach was always full and my heart was always happy. Learning Creole became a daily challenge, because the more and more time I spent with my new friends, the more I wanted to ask them about the posture of their hearts and their trust in knowing that they were taken care of even if they couldn’t provide for themselves.
And then we left.
And that part sucked.
When I came back to America, I knew my viewpoint on life and trust in the unknown were changed. I had these experiences that only 14 other people from my team could even understand. I would try and explain and describe my day-to-day life to friends and family and even my boyfriend, knowing that as much as they wanted to, they couldn’t completely “get it”. No one could completely know my thought process in reconsidering my post-graduate career decisions or expectations on how to spend my finances. I had seen so much in such a short period of time that it was difficult to process. Every time I would start small talk with a person it always seemed to come back to my week with my friends, and no one seemed to understand.
The part that sucked the most was knowing that I would have to wait a long time before I could get to go back to Neply. While school started to kick back up into full swing, I would find myself journaling about my return to Haiti or checking what time it was just so I could think about what the villagers were doing at that moment. Just having the desire to go back but still being bound by my previous commitment to school was devastating. I felt like I found a place that I belonged and I wasn’t able to stay.
Going into my winter break, all I wanted was an excuse to sleep in for a month and binge watch all the Netflix TV shows that were waiting in my queue. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful experience that I was given through myLIFEspeaks and their persistent faith in creating hope for Haiti. After I came back the rest of my break consisted of my figuring out ways I could get back as soon as possible, while still realizing I had a whole semester that I had committed to before I could pack up and leave the country again.
And if you’re thinking this was another “white-girl-VBS-bracelet-giving-feel-good-bucket-list-mission-trip” then I’m sorry to inform you that you’re wrong.
In fact, if you’re interested in learning why this trip and this organization is different than many in the world, feel free to attend our informational session on February 17th and 7:30 at UT. Check out our events page for further details. Or check out the myLIFEspeaks website and learn about ways you can get connected while you’re here in the US!