Hello Everyone,
Welcome to the SOLOS Photo Site. We will be sharing stories and photos from our trips as well as posting needs and opportunities for future events and missions.
Thank you for your interest in helping us build this ministry.
Here are a few stories and photos from my trip with Help Haiti Now in 2006. SOLOS will be partners with this Ministry as well for the two upcoming Haiti Trips in March and June.
I hope you enjoy reading them.
I look foward to having more information on our upcoming trips for you in the next few days.
- Nathan
Notes From Haiti
For once in his life Ba was failing to honk our Jeep's horn at someone on the road, and this time we desperately needed him to. The large dumptruck in the road ahead of us either didn't know he was backing into the front of our vehicle or didn't care, and while all five of the other people in the car seemed to be yelling at the top of their lungs it didn't stop the truck from mashing our front end under its bumper. The crowd along the river was yelling now as well as it finally came to a stop. Ba got out of the drivers seat and headed for the front of the dump truck intending to give its operator a piece of his mind. At that same time the truck began driving forward again, dragging us along with it and sounding a new chorus of yelling from the crowd around us.
I slipped out of my seatbelt in the passenger seat and jumped across to man our now vacant controls. Stomping on the brakes and working the wheel back and forth to dislodge us I hoped our battered tires could take the strain. Fortunately we broke loose and the dump truck drove down the embankment and stopped near the river without us in tow.
The other passengers in the back seat vacated to the sounds of angry yelling and I restarted the car thankful that it still ran, and backed it off the roadway, leaking radiator fluid as I went.
When I walked up to Rachel amid the throng of wildly gesticulating Haitians she pointed to the other side of the street where a band equipt with makeshift instruments was marching by us playing a lively tune. I smiled as Rachel gestured to make sure we got a photo. Nothing seemed to deter her enthusiasm. It had been like this the whole trip. If I can say one thing for my trip so far, it definitely hasn't been boring.
This island is a shock to the senses. Drenched in the warm caribbean sun it could be a paradise, but in reality is anything but. I look for the beauty here but it is often hard to see buried under heaps of garbage and disquised by a constant layer of filth. The people often seem to be the only clean objects in view as we swerve through the rutted streets or walk around the towns.
Haitians seem to take special pride in their appearance especially on Sundays as they make their way to church services. I wonder at seeing them in ties and dresses in spite of the heat and the miles they will walk getting to their churches.
Ahead of us on the crowded streets of St. Marc I watched a young girl in her sunday dress sitting sidesadle aback a moped taxi, gracefully clutching her hymnbook and swaying effortlessly as its driver dodged its way through the congested streets. Its a routine ingrained through the years, one many might find incongruous considering the depth of the suffering here. I suppose that's what makes it so important, a reason to shine in an environment that conspires to keep you dirty and rundown.
My time here feels like an eternity some moments. I look forward to the feel of my shower at home and food that I don't have to question the safety of eating. Then I look at the imploring faces of the little children looking up at me and I feel grateful to have any food at all.
We dispersed the majority of our medicine at Goyavier along with shoes and clothes for anyone who could fit in them. So many will be going on without improvement to their situation however because we have been unable to supply enough for them. The clinic will have enough supplies to last them till the next visit. We pray we will have enough people to administer them.
Doctors here are in very short supply. Many people suffer from eye problems with no way to treat them. A good optometrist could make a world of difference, but there are none to be had. A dentist would be a huge blessing too.
I don't blame anyone for not coming. There is no glamour to be found here, no overwhelming gratitude for what you've done. The desperate plight of these people can sometimes make them seem grasping and ungrateful. At times you feel like an American face is just viewed as an easy mark, someone to mooch off of, or a passing opportunity they will never see again so they don't have to care about. In many cases that may be true.
I look at Rachel and wonder how she has managed to find the strength to keep coming back despite the headaches. I hear her frustrations and her doubts about the limitations of what our mission can accomplish but I see the proof of her resolve in the fact that she has persevered to this, her fifth trip inside of a year.
I feel its a rarity in human nature to give knowing that it will never be appreciated the way it should be, never recognized sufficiently to make up for all the strain.
I hope and pray for more like her to come, because I can see it has made a difference. She has been able to establish real relationships and show these people that her aid here is more than just a fleeting whim.
I've learned to value all of our friends here, the one's who have stuck by us, who have helped to the best of their limited means. Martin one of the Haitians who helps run the clinic often leads us in prayer and I can never help but smile at the Winnie the Pooh beanie hat perched atop his head. I don't understand his prayer but I usually add a few more of my own in my head. Prayers for the people here, for the success of our efforts, and especially for prayers of thanksgiving for the generosity and good hearts of all the people back in the United States who have made this all possible.
With half a dozen Haitian hands, one pair of American ones, a hammer, a torch and a winch around a tree, our front end finally gets straightened, our radiator leak repaired and we are back on the road. Like usual I have no idea where we're going but with Ba back to blaring the horn like crazy I know at the very least they'll all hear us coming.
Though I have been home form Haiti for a little while now I still have many more photos to share. I also thought I'd post some more of the thoughts and writing I did while I was there. There were lots of mornings and evenings up on the roof where I slept when my mind would wander trying to grasp all of my experiences there. Writing helped me sort out my thoughts even if it was only how I felt at that moment.
Notes From Haiti 2
I used to be a subscriber to the theory that there was something noble in a life of simplicity, that somehow fewer possessions could lead to a happier lifestyle. Recent events in my life have led me to believe I could be mistaken. I decided to put more thought into it and as one of my favorite Air America quotes states, " There is no need to throw out a good theory just because it isn't true." I feel compelled to find out where my errors may lie
The last week I've spent working with the poor here in Haiti has taught me many things. It has also filled we with more questions than ever about the nature of poverty and how best to resolve the problems. I have met so many people who need a assistance here the only way to count would be to count how many I've met who do not need assistance. That number would be nearly non-existent. The overwhelming poverty hems you in on all sides taxing your comprehension. The outstretched hands and faces asking for food or money are so common that it starts to not affect you. Its a fight to keep from becoming jaded with justifications for not helping them all. You pour yourself out until you are empty and there are just as many as before imploring your aid. You could spend your entire existence giving everything you have and the problem would still be staring you in the face. Where then does the answer lie?
I visited a beautiful Haitian Beach today. It was a cove of clear blue water that you could see straight to the bottom of. The local children splashed me with abandon, smiling their thousand kilo-watt smiles at me and laughing in a way to make me forget the rest of what I've seen here, at least for a few moments.
The drive back to Montrois was a sober return to reality with all the other sights and smells that have defined my impressions of this island, the burning refuse, the littered trash that seems to cover every available foot of space, and the sight of countless hungry people and animals occupying pitifully constructed hovels.
I wish I could report a Caribbean island people that have remained joyous despite of it all or that has somehow risen above the mess of existence here, but I can't honestly say that I've seen that more than anywhere else. The fact that the people can find joy here at all does make it seem to shine more than usual in such stark contrast and it gives me hope but that hope is often seen in the same people with whom I witness as many disheartening traits as well.
We're all bound by the same human frailties no matter our race or location and I believe our social or economic status holds no tie on the strength of our character. I do believe education to be a critical link because I see how the lack of it has bred a state of ignorance that causes the same people I know to be kind and caring toward others to also be heartlessly cruel to animals and to contribute shamelessly to the environmental irresponsibility that has turned this island into an ecological disaster.
This people has actively aided in worsening their own predicament. Haiti has continuously existed with a history of abandonment and racism. Originally caused by the fear of slave owning nations who refused to trade with an island of freed blacks, that attitude of exclusion has changed little in the two hundred ensuing years. Modern Haitians seem to lack an understanding of how to get out of the situation beyond learning to continually beseech the efforts and money of others to help. This shortsighted view does put rice in a few stomachs and gives desperately needed medicine to the sick but does nothing to ebb the tide of future suffering.
I wonder then where anyone can find a solution.
I've been reading a little on this trip about Mother Theresa's sisters of Charity and contemplating their take on aiding the suffering has given me reason to look at the benefits of a life of poverty. I believe the key to the successes of the Sisters of Charity and those who follow similar paths, lies in their active choice to assume the burdens of poverty for the service of a greater good than themselves. The Sisters of Charity and religious such as Buddhist monks renounce possesions to better focus their whole minds on their objective and to undertake it with a deliberate joy. Whether it be a relationship with Christ, service to the poor or a path of personal spiritual growth, whatever benefits can be wrought from being committed to a life of poverty seem intrinsically tied to it being an active poverty, one dedicated to a larger ideal.
Haiti has poverty out the wazoo. Does that make it a location ripe for spiritual growth? Maybe. I can't say with any certainty however that I've run across many souls teetering on the brink of enlightenment. What does that mean we're missing?
I think the answer has to lie in the area of food for the spirit. I always thought that it was the food and the medicine that was most important, and to some degree I still do, owing to the fact that it's hard to preach enlightenment to an empty stomach, I'm just also starting to really appreciate that one without the other leaves you on a dead end road.
I believe that the hunger for a higher purpose is as deeply ingrained into our souls as the hunger for food is instinctually wired in our anatomy. Starvation of the mind, the spirit and the soul may not be as obvious to the casual observer but I am seeing that the repercussions are dramatically more severe because it detrimentally affects not just a body, but a culture, society at large, and in the case of Haiti the survival of an entire country.
If someone were to come up to me tonight and ask me what they can do to help make this world a better place, I'm sure I would have to ponder it a bit but my answer would have to undoubtedly include at least these:
Do your studying, no matter your age or where your interests lie, doing so grateful for the intelligence you have been given and the education to be able to use that intelligence.
Support a teacher. Lend someone a helping hand. Search for the differences you can make.
When you are finished doing that (or maybe at the same time) pick up the Bible, the Torah or whichever spiritual reading it takes to elevate your soul, and take the time to do so.
While you doing all of these, pray pray pray for the plight of the lost and forgotten on this planet.
I don't know if Haiti will ever be redeemed from its state of poverty in my lifetime. I would like to hope so. I know the change will have to come from within but we can help make that happen. We can lead by example. We can be witnesses to a better way by staying involved. It will be a long road but perhaps with faith and perseverance we'll see the rise of the kind of strong intelligent men and women who can lead their people out of this abyss. We can work to stop injustices wrought on this nation and all the others like them by our attitudes of negativism or apathy.
Haiti is no easy challenge. Nor is the plight of the many other millions of starving on our planet.In spite of the staggering obstacles I have to believe that the hope here in the eyes of these children does not have to be in vain. I have to believe with them that theirs lives can be more than this. I will continue to pray I am not wrong.
Thank you for taking the time to read this... I hope you all are doing well.
Here are some more pictures of the trip.
-NVC
Sights of the Island
Good company
school shoes
At the clinic in Goyavier- handing out Tootsie rolls
Arriving at a poor rural village near Pont Sonde' we didn't have much to offer, but everyone likes having their photos shown to them. We will bring them copies back next trip.
Dividing up rice and beans for families in 87th place
Kedneau starts relaying water to our barrels for transport.
This man with Alzheimers couldn't leave his home.
The beach at 87th place.
Under water it seemed you could see forever it was so clear.
Local marbles championship in the coastal village of Calilily
Beautiful sights like this made all the traveling worthwhile.
This little girl came running to me as soon as she saw me. She never let go of that thumb though! I wanted to take her home.
More soon....
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