Living La Vida Loca

I am sitting in the hotel that is inside the Miami airport just having squeezed in for a quick dinner before the restaurant closes for the night.. With Miami being the farthest diagonal trek across the US from Seattle, it is an all day affair point to point.  My flight was uneventful, and long enough to both do some inbox cleanup and begin reading an amazing book called "On That Day, Everybody Ate: One Woman’s Story of Hope and Possibility in Haiti" by Margaret Trost.  I found this book as I was combing the Kindle store in search of background information on Haiti…my usual approach to global adventures is to do whatever immersion I can before going in terms of understanding basic history and culture.  While I did read a simplistic "Guide to Haiti"- type book and the ominous travel advisories from the State Department, this woman’s account – at least as far as I have gotten – speaks to the mix of emotions I am having as I head into this visit.

 

I am blessed with the opportunity to go to Haiti with a contingent of people deeply involved with the Mona Foundation as well as some volunteers relatively new to this organization.  While I have been a supporter of the work Mona does for about two years – attending fundraising events, bringing Microsoft and other associates into the giving circle, the last few months have seen my escalation of involvement into writing a monthly eUpdate to supporters, helping plan the annual fundraiser coming up in November, and basically opening my heart and dedication full throttle to help build the foundation’s infrastructure and broaden it’s support base in any way I can.  I am a huge devotee of the amazing founder of Mona – Mahnaz Javid – who had the vision ten years ago to start the foundation and has nurtured and built it through incredible tenacity, business connections, and a passion for global citizenship that is both infectious and incredibly endearing.  She has motivated so many people to open their hearts to the vast needs of those less fortunate in many, many parts of the world, and has the gift of building deep and lasting relationships with both givers and recipients that is awesome to observe.

 

Margaret Trost – in the opening chapter of her book – talks about the excitement, and the trepidation she feels as she embarks on her first trip to Haiti.  She could have been me.  Although I have traveled to some African villages where poverty and illness are sisters, the descriptions of these same characteristics in Haiti are compounded by ongoing warnings of violence against US visitors – theft, kidnappings, brutal crime, the works – a country that has been vicitimized at the micro and macro level, in constant rebellion and angst..  It is scary.  Yet, when I have spoken to others who have been to Haiti – like Mahnaz, like a woman sitting next to me on the plane today – the picture painted is quite different….that of a country filled with people that – despite abject poverty and minimal social services and daily amenties – are loving, welcoming, and appreciative of support when it is given.  And so I go with an open mind and an open heart.

 

Our mission for this trip is simple. We will be visiting schools that the foundation’s funding helped build. We will have a chance to talk with those who are runnig the schools and see first hand what progress is being made in expanding the schools’ facilities and get a good understanding of what the next urgent priorities are.  I am going to learn…to make connections with those we are collaborating with to bring decent education to children in Haiti…and to get to know the other US volunteers who have made this work a priority as well.

 

Next installment from Port-au-Prince.