Boston didn't have one single day of sun the entire month of June, and only had 5 days of partial sun during May. I woke to a hail storm at 4:00 yesterday morning. It's July and I'm wearing a sweater. I always say that the summers in Boston make the winters bearable..... now I'm thinking- why did I move to Boston again?
Luckily, I had a wonderful two week break in the tropical sun of the Caribbean. Of course, there were a few magnificent afternoon showers there as well. Here are a few pics from an evening we spent at the Crossroads compound on top of mountains in the DR. You can see the incoming wall of rain as the storm rolled in at sunset.
Can you value humanity if you don't have a sense of society? Can you value society if you don't have a sense of community? Can you value community if you don't have a sense of family? Can you value family if you don't understand relationships? Can you value relationships if you don't know affection? Can you value affection if you don't know love? Can you value love if you've never experienced it? Can you experience love if you live in a world devoid of humanity?
One of the major differences between the Haitian refugee villages in the Dominican Republic and the life of those in the Haitian capitol of Port-au-Prince is the sense of community. The Haitians in the Dominican live in poverty, but the Haitians in Haiti live in a desperate poverty. Haiti is draining- and it was so nice to see the people - Haitian people - living in such a warm and happy community full of families and values. They are so warm, and welcoming, and honest, and joyful....... they live in material poverty for sure, but there is a wealth of happiness and humanity.
In the Dominican, the villagers had their basic survival needs covered. Each had a clean home where families lived together (some with gardens), food (what appeared like a basic survival amount anyway), and a purpose- craftsmen, raising children, etc. In Port-au-Prince the streets are covered in garbage, there is no sewer system to speak of, people live in huts, tin shacks, and unfinished buildings, and the family unit is almost non-existent. Children live on the street, are sold as slaves, or are given to orphanages. Mothers struggle to survive themselves and feed multiple unplanned or unwanted children. Fathers are.......somewhere.
So, what is it that such a desperate people need? The basics of course- food, shelter, sanitation systems, health care, education... but what they need the most is love. You can donate all of the food, clothing, medications, and alcohol wipes that you want, but until these wonderful people are brought into a situation where they can feel and appreciate the love of those around them - when poverty becomes an experience of brotherly love and not a game of survival of the fittest - then and only then will the hope for a better future become sustainable.
Society and humanity are made up of individual relationships, and the best way to make a change is to support the hearts that hope for it. Start with your own and share it with another. As Gandhi said "Be the change you want to see in the world."
The Village Community:
(These pictures were taken with a Holga 35mm camera- a great gift given to me by my wonderful roommate Claire. At first, a Holga seems like a toy camera: it's plastic and you have to wind the film by hand. The shutter control is manual, so you hope you didn't hold it down too long, or not long enough. The viewfinder isn't connected to the lens- so you have absolutely no idea what your photos are going to look like- you can only guess. I was super happy that any of them turned out- and absolutely thrilled with these ones! What do you think?)
In the chaos that is mealtime in the Haitian orphanage, her plate is kept neat and orderly, and heaven help the person that tries to assist her by loosening her rice. (That would be me...)
Many people have expectations about those living in poverty- starving children should be happy to eat whatever they are given in any way, shape, or form- but even in the direst of situations human personality and preferences emerge. From scraping cheese off of crackers, to not wanting melted chocolate on fingers, to systematically eating a plate of rice one laborious spoonful at a time.........
