Reflections on Haiti -- from Mike

My Reflections on the CPP Volunteer Trip (Michael Strasser)

Piles of plastic trash line many streets

The second independent country in the western hemisphere, Haiti was born of strife and has endured nonstop conflict since it's beginning.  Upon landing, my initial impression of Haiti served to confirm many of the preconceived notions I had accumulated over the years about his country.  Driving around a city ravaged by an earthquake will do that to you - so will abject poverty.  Make no mistake, this was not a pleaseure trip.  Haiti is desperately poor and this desperation is written all over the faces of its people.  Garbage is piled up along the side of the streets, in the rivers and just outside the front door of the school where we were working.  People are laying around with nothing to do.  In fact, maybe becasue I'm old, it was actually very hard to be there for a whole week.  When you see this kind of poverty and suffering your first inclination is to get mad and yell at someone, "Pick that stuff up and get a job" until you realize how stupid that kind of thinking is: THERE's NO PLACE TO PUT IT, NO ONE TO PICK IT UP and THERE ARE NO JOBS!!!  

Mike making friends in Haiti (a common occurrence)

So the next question is, "Why?" or more specifically, "Why them and not me?"  If it can even be ascertained, the answer is a many faceted one that we don't have time for here.  Suffice it to say there are many factors, both exogenous and endogenous, that affect the current state of this tragic place.  These factors have conspired to rip the hard fought independence from the hearts of its proud people.  Still, with all they've been through - from dictators to earthquakes to foreign occupiers - most manage to eke out a living for themselves selling an odd assortment of "stuff" and looking for ways to be entrepreneurial.  Some even smile.  I'm not sure if I would be smiling given these conditions.  

Taking pictures of the LPES students for the Education Angels Program

Regarding the trip: the CPP student volunteers (Sarah, Martel, and Gracie) worked very hard under pretty grueling conditions.  It was hot, sticky, stinky and dirty.  I think they got a lot out of it.  The school has improved access to technology and we all learned more about a country that was previously a mystery.  We also learned a lot about ourselves.  IMHO the kids in the school need, along with technology and learning, improved diets and improved access to health care to better function in school.  They also need success stories and role models to give them the confidence they need to continue to fight against very tough odds.  Hopefully, with CPP's and others' help Haiti will soon have the strength to get on its feet and regain its independence once again.

--Michael Strasser