General Feelings/Reflections-Aaron Richardson

After my second night in Haiti, I've finally collected my general feelings toward Haiti. Arriving alone was hard due to the sweltering heat and because I could not speak Creole. We first went on a car ride to Walls International Guest House and from there to Na Sonje, a cultural and educational non profit organization. Throughout that ride we observed the markets, and the housing, and small businesses run by the Haitian people. Dealing with the heat along with the extremely bumpy ride, I had no time to reflect upon how I felt from simply seeing everything during the car ride.

The interesting thing about that was that I essentially put all of those feelings off, mentally, until they affected me directly. Specifically when I realized that where I'd be sleeping was extremely hot, and did not provide much privacy. Of course it was then, when I thought about everyone else who had to live in Haiti, who had to deal with this constantly. This didn't stay on my mind for too long, I knew I could deal. It wasn't until the morning when I actually got hit with such an awareness. I went to take a shower and as Mark said, the water would be cold. I showered but for me, the water was too cold, I was shivering and couldn't quite guess how I'd be doing that for about a week straight. Now I wasn't upset after thoroughly thinking about this situation, or any other extremely uncomfortable situation for that matter. Instead, it made me feel more full-filled, having the more mentally/physically straining experiences are greater for me.

 Every time I'm in a situation I'm upset with while I'm here, whether it's climbing hills or having to eat something I don't like the taste/smell of, I say to myself "good". This is because I believe that we should not be sheltered in any way from the life of the Haitians. The fact alone that we have filtered water to drink from is a bit unsettling to me because there are kids here who I've met who should just as well have clean water to drink from. I don't believe we should put our lives in danger purposely, but given the comforts we have even here in Haiti, restrict us from fully acknowledging the problems both in Haiti and within ourselves. This, of course also applies to the feelings we had when making a decision to come to Haiti. I'm not completely sure but I feel as if many people and or their parents instantly decided not to go on this trip after just hearing about the medication we'd have to take, or the conditions in Haiti. If trying to make some sort of positive change, I believe you can't have this sheltered mindset we're so used to having. If there's something you do or eat that doesn't match your normal life, that's the point, I believe, and I'm glad this group is so good at embracing this concept.