What a coincidence

I had the TV on in the background while working and dealing with Lincoln. Anthony Bourdain's no reservations came on and it was in Port Au Prince Haiti. It piqued my interested since I had been there in November 2010. I had ties to Haiti before that. My dear friends the Mattenley's had lived there and adopted two girls, we also had connections to Haitian Christian Mission there and had met it's founder Etienne Proffet before. My sister and some very close friends were in Haiti when the earthquake struck. Many miraculous things happened on that trip. Maybe I'll write about them at another time.

Anyway, as the show continued I realized he was filming when we were down there. Hurricane Tomas was set to hit the country while we were down there and he was filming about that too. It brought back some many memories. I remember being overcome with emotion as we flew in. Just seeing the devastation and living standards for hundreds of thousands of people made me cry. Tears are still brought to my eyes thinking about it.

There is so much wrong there and so much potential but it is not an easy fix. Even on the show one of the most common problems there was displayed. Anthony was at a little restaurant and there were many hungry kids just watching him eat. He and his crew decided to buy them all lunch. It was the least they could do. It soon became a mob. Hundreds came for free food, men pushed their way to the front of the line, fights broke out; it was chaos.

We experienced the same thing when we were down there. We drew a crowd where ever we went. Some just were happy to have someone there to listen to their story and it was amazing to hear what they had been through. But as we were talking more and more people gathered. It was overwhelming. They'd start tugging on you, people begging for money or the shirt off your back. It is so hard when you have so much but you could give your entire self and it wouldn't be enough. There has to be a huge change in the culture and government.

We, while intentions are good, are just enabling the problem when we throw money at it. It's such a heartbreaking thing and overwhelming. There is good happening there and there is so much potential. There needs to be a generation that stands up and decides to change their country. I am happy to know and support some groups down there doing amazing things. Haitian Christian Missions is one and our friends the Mattenley's are another. You can read about their work at mattenley.com orhttp://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4332546856632522435#allposts