The beginning was the earthquake in Haiti on January 12. It lasted 40 seconds and put Port-au-Prince and surrounding cities upside down; that is, what remained. . . Seeing Haitians suffering on the news was impossible to ignore, as I have admittedly managed to do with other tragedies around the world.
It was because I spent the summer of 1977 in an interior village of Haiti (Dessalines) when I was 17 years old. I went with Teen Missions International and stayed with an amazing couple (Don and Doris Peavey) with about 20 other teens. I don't remember how I heard about the opportunity, but I do remember writing my parents persuasive letters in hopes of them allowing me to go. . . Obviously, they agreed,
That summer was life-changing, or at least I think it was. It's difficult to know how it would have been different had I not gone. : ) Honest to goodness, if I had been allowed to stay in Dessalines with the Peavey Family at the time, I would have. Being there was simple, because we worked really hard (building a brick building) and had very little free time or money. I actually liked the structure, oddly enough. Although we had a week of "debriefing," it took several months, as I recall, to feel somewhat "normal " again. I ended up throwing away my journals and artifacts from there and I'm not even sure why. . . Maybe it was easier to be American if I could put that level of poverty out of my mind. I succeeded quite well until January 13, 2010. . . when Haiti was on every channel. Only this time, Haiti was hurting even more.
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