I made it! I feel like I am coming home....to the mother land!
I got to the airport in Miami super early and met the undergraduate student from Duke who will be working as a team outside of Port-au-Prince. I recongnized one of the students from my time at Duke. I met another student who happens to be the president of the organization I started while I was an undergrad: The Haitian Student Alliance. Wow, they are really doing well.
The flight to Haiti was short and safe. We then were taken to a nearby hotel to eat and clean up before going our seperate ways. On the ride over, I couldn't help smiling whenever I saw something that reminded me of my previous trip or something I read about Haiti. The Haitian in me was contented and the cultural anthropologist in me was having a field day! There is something about Haiti that makes my heart skip a beat. I think its love :-D
Of all the places I have been, India is the only other place that reminds me of Haiti. One of these days I am going to sit down and parce out what it is about India that makes me think of Haiti and vice versa.
I was given a hand held phone and dropped off at the Haitian Outreach Ministires (HOM) compound/guest house (which is steps away from the main clinic I am workign in) and told that I would be in good hands. I was honored that I would be given so much freedom as compared to the undergrads. I was also surprised at myself for not being more anxious about being left alone to navigate a new environnment that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere given the winding off road path we took to get to HOM.
As God would have it, I truley am in a safe place. I have received a warm welcome from the guest house staff and residents and can't wait to meet the staff at the clinic tomorrow.
I got to the airport in Miami super early and met the undergraduate student from Duke who will be working as a team outside of Port-au-Prince. I recongnized one of the students from my time at Duke. I met another student who happens to be the president of the organization I started while I was an undergrad: The Haitian Student Alliance. Wow, they are really doing well.
The flight to Haiti was short and safe. We then were taken to a nearby hotel to eat and clean up before going our seperate ways. On the ride over, I couldn't help smiling whenever I saw something that reminded me of my previous trip or something I read about Haiti. The Haitian in me was contented and the cultural anthropologist in me was having a field day! There is something about Haiti that makes my heart skip a beat. I think its love :-D
Of all the places I have been, India is the only other place that reminds me of Haiti. One of these days I am going to sit down and parce out what it is about India that makes me think of Haiti and vice versa.
I was given a hand held phone and dropped off at the Haitian Outreach Ministires (HOM) compound/guest house (which is steps away from the main clinic I am workign in) and told that I would be in good hands. I was honored that I would be given so much freedom as compared to the undergrads. I was also surprised at myself for not being more anxious about being left alone to navigate a new environnment that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere given the winding off road path we took to get to HOM.
As God would have it, I truley am in a safe place. I have received a warm welcome from the guest house staff and residents and can't wait to meet the staff at the clinic tomorrow.
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