This morning as I got into the shower I began to think of and pray for the people of Haiti. I began imagining what it must be like there today. And I began to weep. It's been 10 years since I took my first (but hopefully not last) trip to Haiti. I was 14 years old at the time and the impact it had on my life is immeasurable. I chose my college major because of the impact Haiti had on my heart. All during school I would write papers about Haiti and it's diaspora in the US whenever I was afforded the opportunity. I went to Cap Hatien on the trip - a city at the northern most part of Haiti. The people I know there are all safe as far as we know and there was little damage to the area. However Port-au-Prince is another story. If you've been watching the news you know that the city was severely damaged. Having been to Haiti and seen the quality of the building structures I can imagine the kind of damage the earthquake caused. Port-au-Prince is HEAVILY populated. Cite-Soleil is the biggest slum in the area and people live one atop the other. I haven't been able to get to Haiti in 10 years, but my heart is there more often than I would have imagined possible before I took my trip.
One of the people upon whom I rely for information is Keziah F. We went to college together, she as a nursing student and I as an International Affairs major. Kez and a group of nurses went to Haiti during our sophomore or junior year and after graduation she returned there to work with orphans and anyone else she could find. She has been doing some of the most amazing work there - making connections in places one can only dream of. Please pray for her as she attempts to treat thousands of victims with limited resources. And please pray for Haiti. They are the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. Their government has a history of violence and dictatorships. Their land has been raped and ruined. All these things will contribute to making this a highly difficult rescue operation. That's not all that Haiti is, though. People often see only the darkness in Haiti, but I can tell you, and Kez can tell you there is hope in Haiti. This is an excerpt from her
blog:
"Someone recently told me that Haiti has a sense of hopelessness. In some ways, I think he was right: if you look at the government, the trash, the traffic, the masses of unemployed people, the overwhelming feeling is despair. But on the other hand, when I walk down the street and chat with the ladies selling vegetables or when I watch my little neighbors making doll dinners with berries, leaves, and bottle caps or when I see a group of adults in the slum sharing a plate of food and laughing over a joke, I see hope. Lots of hope.I took an informal poll of my Ravine families and to the person, everyone said that Haiti has hope. I asked why and one man answered, "Where there is God, there is hope.""My tears this morning didn't last long. I prayed for my friends Maurice and Theophanie who will surely have friends in Port-au-Prince who are affected by the earthquake. And I prayed for Keziah - for strength and endurance and grace as she treats masses of people using highly limited resources. I prayed for her "Ravine families" whom I have never met but about whom Kez writes with such love. I prayed for the nameless, faceless people that I may never know but whom God knows. "Where there is God, there is hope."
greatgrace84
