University Presbyterian Church - Chapel Hill, NC

 

I have an ache in my heart for the people of Haiti, an ache which I pray will never diminish. I have a longing, a yearning for this people that they may rise up out of their poverty and despair, that their darkness may be turned to light. It was my privilege to visit the beautiful country of Haiti in March of 2002 with a group from UPC on its first international mission trip. We were Kay and Sam Leaman, Sandy Alexander and his mother, Eleanor, and myself. We bonded almost instantly and we accomplished our goal - to see as much of the work in Haiti and to make an assessment of the needs there in Haiti. We have received the torch and we will carry it now for our beloved Haiti. It is my hope that after I recount our experiences in writing that my spirit will be less troubled and that there will be a fervor to spread the word about Haiti. And that along with this fervor will be an objectivity based on sincere empathy for the Haitian people. And from this objectivity will come a joint plan from which concrete ways to help the Haitian people will develop. I encourage anyone who has a real desire to share their wealth and talents to learn all they can about Haiti and to consider taking a trip there. I guarantee you that you will never look at life in the same way again.

The first heart-wrenching experience was on our arrival at the airport at Port-au-Prince. A large crowd of Haitians lined our exit on all sides. It was noisy. They were shouting at us and many came right up to us begging to carry our bags. They wanted money. Many just begged for money and it was difficult to get through the crowd to Jarrett McLaughlin and the chauffeur. Finally, they got us to the van which was to take us to the Guest House.They enlisted the help of authorized personnel-men in green and yellow shirts- to help with the bags. All the while others kept rushing us and pleading for money. It was hard not to give them money, but we had been advised against it. I'll never forget the looks of desperation on their faces.

The only description of the landscape along the way is war-zone. Remains of old houses, trash heaps, barren hillsides with starving animals-horses, goats, cows- were all we saw. On the way to Leoganne on Monday morning we saw truckload after truckload of Haitians pass us. The trucks were literally stuffed with people. Where they were going, I do not know. They had almost stone faces- faces devoid of any expression. There were traffic jams along the way. There are no traffic signs or lights and no signs of police except in an emergency. There had been a recent rain and the rain had washed all the garbage into the streets. The stench of that and the open sewers was pretty overwhelming. This was my first experience in a poverty-stricken country since my experience in post-war Korea as a medical missionary in the late fifties. The similarities were striking. The brightly decorated trucks and vans called tap-taps were a welcome sight along the way. These are the Haitian taxis, everyone has a logo on the top of the van. Many of them are Christian, the name of Jesus appeared quite often.