Bounjr everyone! So I want to give
you all look into what my life has been like these last few weeks. First
though, I want to give you guys a little background on how I wanted to come
back to Haiti
for a yearlong of service. In 2012 I had ran into of my friends on campus and
told her I had been looking for some type of mission work. I wanted to do mission
work during the summer months because my time was always consumed by softball
during the year. She immediately told me “You should apply for the Quest for
Haiti Program,” at this point I let it go in one ear and out the other. I
wasn't really sure what to think when she said “Haiti .” The first thought that came
to my mind was did she really just say “Go to Haiti ?” The days went on and I
still really had put no thought in to it, but as the deadlines for applications
were coming upon me I had to make a choice. I had decided to do some research
on the Quest for Haiti
program and one other one that took place in the Appalachian
Mountains . I first started out with the Quest program because I
wanted to see what it was all about. I Goggled the name and it was the first
group that appeared. I saw the pictures of the children and my heart completely
melted. I saw that there was a sister who was a point of contact, so I decided
to send here an email to see what she would say. She answered me pretty fast
and wanted to actually meet me at my school to talk. Meanwhile, I decided to do
the application because I knew I was interested in being involved with the
program. A few weeks had passed and during these weeks before meeting up with
the sister I decided to watch some YouTube videos on Haiti . Most of the videos that are
on YouTube of Haiti are from the earth quake. I really had no idea what video
to watch or what would even appear in it. So I clicked on the videos one by one
and began to watch. The footage of the videos were so graphic and very
overwhelming. I wanted to immediately go to Haiti right then. Some of you may
think well why didn't you go when the earthquake hit?, it was all over the
news. Well that is a good question and honestly I don’t have a good response
for it. I can say though one reason was because I was too consumed in my own
life and not worried about what was happening in other parts of the world. The time
had finally come were I was going to meet with the sister. I had no idea what
she looked like so I was wondering around like a chicken with their head cut
off. I though for sure she would be in a uniform and look like a nun, but
that’s not what she looked like at all. She was dressed in what we call “Normal clothes.” We sat down and spoke for over an hour
about the program. She told me what it would be like and how it ran. Then as
the end of the meeting approached she looked at me and pretty much told me that
I was going to Haiti
for a month. I was so excited! I immediately called my parents and told them
that I was going to Haiti .
Now, if anyone knows my parents, especially my mother, you can picture what she
said to me. Of course my parents were happy for me, but they also had a lot of
questions, which is completely normal because Haiti is a third world country.
As the
months kept passing by the time was getting closer that I would be starting
this amazing experience to Haiti .
Now, don’t let me fool you I was so beyond nervous for this experience to
happen because I had no idea what to expect. People were telling me “Oh Haiti is so
poor”, “I can’t believe you choose to go there”, “Be careful you have no idea
what you are in for”, or the famous one “ You should stay here, people need
help here.” All of these comments started to bother me because they were all so
negative, and by the end I didn't want to hear what anyone had to say I was
just ready to leave. Then on June 28th I boarded the plane from DCA
to head to PAP. I didn't sleep one bit that night because my nerves were
getting the best of me, but then when on the plane I finally fell asleep. When
we were getting ready to land the pilot came on as always and told us to buckle
up. I started to look out the window and all I saw was the beautiful blue
ocean. It was truly breathtaking, but then when getting ready to land in PAP
the only thing you saw was blue dots on the ground. This was a total surprise
because I had no idea what these blue dots were, until I stepped foot on the
ground. The blue dots were the roofs of the people’s homes. In PAP after the earthquake it became
known as the tent city because all their homes were destroyed. So could you
picture living in a tent after your house was destroyed by an earthquake? As we
begun our journey to Gros-Morne I was very overwhelmed by looking out the
windows of the car and seeing the people. I really can’t put it in to words what
it felt like. The roads were horrible still from the earthquake and because of
this I puked in a bag. Once that had happened I thought to myself how the hell
am I going to live here for a month? Once we had arrived at our home I began to
feel more at home. We had started camp and I immediately knew this was were I
needed to be. The kids were simply amazing! They had the biggest smiles on
their faces and they just wanted to be carried in your arms. I truly fell in
love with the people. The month had flown by so quickly and it broke my heart.
When I came home at the end of July I had no idea what to do with myself. I was
experiencing culture shock and honestly I just didn't want to be home. It was
miserable. I knew I had to do something so I set the goal for myself that I
would go back to Haiti
next year and fund raise. I spoke at high schools, churches, and to groups of
people, and with their generosity I raised over a couple hundred of dollars.
All the money that was raised went directly towards the summer camp. I knew
from the moment I came home in 2012 that I would go back in 2013. When I
returned in 2013 I knew I couldn't stay away, Haiti had become apart of me. I
knew from being in Haiti
in 2012 that I wanted to spend a year here but I really had no idea when it
would happen. After leaving camp in 2013 I raised the thought to my parents and
told them that I wanted to go back for a year long of service. I think my
parents were stunned, they couldn't believe that Haiti became such a huge part of my
life. Honestly, I think everyone who knows me was stunned because I was always
known as the jock nobody had really ever seen this side of me. It was difficult
for many people to hear the choice that I was making, but in the end I knew I
had their love and support. So there you have it everyone this is my story of
how I choose to come to Haiti .
There is one more thing I want to
share with you all. Everyone always thinks that they can pick their paths and
that it will always go as planned, but honestly it will change. Back when I
graduated in 2010 from a small high school in Williamsport PA Haiti for a clean water program.
I’ll never forget how she started the speech. She started off by screaming and
saying HELP ME! She was showing us how the Haitian people were screaming from
people to help them, but again at this moment I didn't really care. So as I
said don’t try to pick a certain path and think you are going to follow it
because I would have never pictured myself going to Haiti ! But honestly it has been one
of the best choices I have ever made in my life. God bless you all and I hope
you look forward to reading my next post!
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