Miami to Haiti

After a very short night in Miami I headed to the airport. As I got there I really started to get excited about what I was about to do and experience. The Miami airport has part of the airport dedicated to flights to Haiti.

When I got to the airport I got right in to the line to check in. I was behind a man who also looked like he was going to Haiti. I asked him where he was going and he said he was headed to Haiti. I asked him what he was doing there. He told me he was an Anesthesiologist from Melbourne Australia and was headed to Haiti for two months to volunteer in a hospital there. I asked him if he had family that he was leaving. He told me that he was married and had two children- ages 1 and 2. I was really overcome at the sacrifice he was making and asked him why he was doing this and how his wife felt about it. This was his reply:

"When we heard about the earthquake and the great suffering my wife and I had to ask ourselves what kind of people we really were. Do we really believe in serving other people and contributing to the world, or are we just going to give back when it is convenient. I have a lot of school loans and we have two young children who are a lot of work. It certainly is not a good time to take off work and leave for two months. But my wife and I both felt very strongly that I needed to go to Haiti and volunteer my services. We looked at our finances and two months is the most we can go without going in to more debt. We won't be able to upgrade or re-do our home like we had planned, but this is more important. Honestly, she is the real hero for recognizing the need for me to go and being willing to stay home and do the hard work herself."

I was really touched when as I listened to this. I felt like this really exemplified integrity-

acting as you say you will even when it is hard and not convenient. Once again I found myself stuck

on the tarmac as our plane had an issue with the gas gauge. While we were waiting I started

talking with a women a few rows behind me. We started talking because I heard her say she

lived in Logan Utah. She, too, had an inspiring story. She was in Haiti when the earthquake

happened. She was at an orphanage helping out. She and her husband went to Haiti about 5

years before and had adopted two children from there 2 years previous. She told me she goes

back twice a year. The orphanage was destroyed in the earthquake and she was going back to

help rebuild it with her mother and step-father.

When we finally took off, the flight was very quiet. There was only one child present on the

flight. There also seemed to be a bit of heaviness in the air as I thought about where I was about

to land and what I was about to do. Flying in to Port-au-Prince was very humbling. Even from

the air I could see the tent cities set up everywhere. The land looked barren and there were no

major roads or large buildings.

There were a few performers at the airport to welcome us to Haiti...
The airport wore the scars of the earthquake still: cracks in the walls and shattered glass

in the windows.
Our luggage was all thrown in to a big warehouse room. It was very hot, crowded and confusing. It took about an hour to find all of our luggage. I was sooooo thrilled that all of my luggage made it!
Leaving the airport was one of the most overwhelming things I have experienced. A girl at the camp described the above gates as "The gates of Hell." I think that is the most accurate description I have heard. I have traveled extensively and feel very comfortable in many different settings. I rarely feel unsafe. However, as I walked out of the gates with Sarah and the others to go find our ride, I was shaken. People crowded the gates to the airport and were yelling and reaching in to us. They were angry and demanding. As we left the gates and walked out in to the crowds we were immediately surrounded by men trying to "carry" our luggage. I tried to firmly tell them no, but I could not keep away everyone. Soon my bags were all in someone else's hands and I was not sure where they were going. It was mass chaos. My group was taken to a dirt lot across from the airport where the men then all demanded $20 for their efforts. Each man demanded $20 and became angry and hostile when we were not able to pay all of them each $20 for stealing our bags and carrying them 25 yards. I had never felt threatened like I did there. I held my ground, stuck with my group and told Sarah not to make eye-contact with the people begging from us.

It got worse when young boys came up and were grabbing us and asking for money. They actually threatened Sarah and me. I realized how desperation can make people do awful things. These boys obviously lived on the streets and did not appear to have anyone watching over them. Survival in conditions like that had made them hardened and frantic. In the midst of this, two local policemen came over and picked up a live electrical wire that was just laying on the ground. They started to threaten the boys with the live wire- telling them to get away or they would shock them. I then started to realize that I was in a very different place and it was time to adjust.