March 8, 2012

On the eve of my departure for third trip to Haiti, I've thought a lot about my previous trips.  On March 8, 2011, on International Women's Day, we were meeting with the most inspiring women's organization in Fondwa.  I was lucky enough to have very organized trip leaders who just gave me a letter I had written to myself one year ago.  Reading it a year later, it brought back all of the feelings I had when leaving Haiti. I wanted to share it with you.  Thank you Keesha, for keeping it for me all this time!  I am so excited to return and continue to learn.

March 12, 2011

Letter to Self (written one year ago on the airplane on the way home from AU’s first Alternative Break trip to Haiti ):

When we took off at the airport in Port-au-Prince I looked out the window and knew I’d be back.  Something draws me to Haiti. Not the language, I can’t seem to learn Creole, too hard for me, not the food, too much starch, but the people we meet. Their resistance and resilience in the face of such injustice is remarkable. (Andre says it makes him mad when people talk about the resilience of the Haitian people, because really, what choice have they had?)

I leave with anger at the under development and complete denial of basic human rights. And inspiration from the case workers of Fonkoze, who, inch by inch, undo the harm done by foreign powers, bad governments, dictators, greed, apathy and natural disasters.

I hope the AU students follow through on their plans to support Fonkoze and APF.  I hope Haiti gets through these presidential elections without incident.  

I will return to Haiti and we will continue to learn and be involved.

Mesi anpil

Thank you for the experiences, for the laughter, for the friendships, for the knowledge and for the hard work.

Shoshanna