The beauty in Haiti

I have been struggling these past couple of weeks with not letting my heart become hard.  There has been difficulty in this because of experiences that have happened and situations that I have encountered, which is why I am going to fight that with this post.  

I want to talk to you about the beautiful things that I see in Haiti.  I have learned so much just from observing Haitians at work.  For example, as I am writing this, I can see into my neighbors yard, and he is hard at work in his shed creating the most beautiful things out of wood with his own two hands and no power tools.  He is a true artist.  

And then there are the people who do not let anything go to waste.  I am just amazed at this concept, because you don't hear about it much if you are not from here.  Coke and Sprite bottles are glass and reused here.  And if you want to take one with you on your journey and do not have a bottle to replace it, then you will be charged more for the bottle than for the Coke itself.  No waste here.   And then there was a guy I saw earlier as I was biking around the city.  He has a job washing moto's when they get dirty.  It consists of a hose that has a small stream running out of it, and some cheap soap.  But then, once the water runs down into the gutter on the side of the street and combines with the dust to make a soft mud, he will shovel that up and it will be used as some sort of building material, either for a dirt wall or to smooth over block.  Even the water that has already been used is found to be beautifully used again.  

And let me tell you, to watch women wash dishes here is a thing of beauty.  It is like a dance.  These women can wash hundreds of plates, tubs, and silverware with only one bucket of water, and somehow they create a "filtering" system with multiple tubs, so that by the end of cleaning all of those dirty dishes, the water is so clean, it is able to be used to clean the floors...no gross food chunks!      And not a drop of water is wasted.  I watched this happen about a month ago, and my jaw dropped at the genius of it, it was amazing.

I am learning so much from Haitians, and I don't want you to think that Haiti only has one, sad story.  There are beautiful people here that are really trying to make a difference within their country, and they have been a blessing to me, and humbling to my soul.  

-Kim