Final thoughts from Haiti
March 31, 2010 – 8:50 pm
Neyret Camp School, Port au Prince
Those who travel in airplanes will be familiar with HSBC’s poster campaign, using two photos and two words describing each photo alternately. Aside from the business acumen this series attributes to HSBC, it conveys a clear message about perspective and value; about the difference people bring to interpreting what they see. The poster series uses humour and beauty in images and language to nudge us from the assurance of our worldview. Differences of perspective and value are acknowledged with care and integrity. We differ and disagree as the beginning of understanding and appreciating another.
It has been a little like encountering juxtaposed messages this past week, in Port au Prince, Leogane and surrounding areas, and in Hinche, Canje and Montrouis. Not that twisted metal, stories of deceased students and friends, cramped living conditions in emergency shelters can be described by a single word. And I don’t mean the earthquake of January 12th can be understood as intrinsically positive, depending on one’s perspective. The deep devastation of January 12th continues to be a living hell for 100,000s of people; homeless, jobless, school-less, without the tools of their trade, without transportation, reliable or safe food and water, living vulnerable to illness, trauma, violence and further loss as hurricane season descends.
Rather, I have wondered ‘What do Haitian people see when they look around? What do I see? What do others see? By what words and actions are we revealed in our differences and similarities? In whose understanding is the authority for what comes next, and what does not? What would healing, abundant life and peace with justice look like here?’
Many people are asking these kinds of questions, aloud and often within the program bodies and parishes of the Episcopal Church of Haiti, and national ecumenical and interfaith organizations. International church partners, civil society and government are working to identify the breadth and depth of the impact of January 12th, interpret it within a countrywide context, and develop integrated plans to move out of and beyond emergency humanitarian response.
My brief experience in Haiti this past week leaves no illusion that quick fixes or neat solutions will work. Haitian society is complex. Yes, clearing and rebuilding has begun. Yet, the scale of devastation to human life, land, local economies, physical infrastructure and future generations has been enormous. Plans and programs to restore and improve upon what has been lost will require long term commitments of good governance by Haiti’s leaders, and long term companionship from partners in the process.
I have been inspired by the sheer determination, courage and stamina of people struggling to survive. As our friend and partner Canon Ogé Beauvoir says, ‘Life goes on.’ Indeed, in every way imaginable. More than music in the night air, blazing bougainvilla and beautiful sunsets, mango trees heavy with fruit where coastal mountains meet the sea, ‘life going on’ is also the cacophony of human industry, fires of burning garbage, salvaged cord low with laundry, and people meeting people where rubble meets the road.
Let us remember the people of Haiti in our prayers this Holy Week and Easter, and let us pray for all who accompany them at this time. Let us give thanks to God for the indefatigable spirit of the Haitian people, and for their deep faith in the promise of a new day.
Andrea