Haiti: Reflections of my journey has been about me, about my
thoughts and my observations of my trips since 2007 and since I began living
here in 2010. I’ve not written anything
since June- mainly because my ‘reflections’ went to a much deeper place to come
to a decision. I will be leaving in
December and returning to Portland. It
hasn’t been an easy decision by any means but it is time. This may be the hardest one yet to write.
My blog was started because I was writing emails to my
friends and family and more people wanted to be part of my journey by reading
about my experiences while I was here and it turned into a mass email, then 2
mass emails as the number grew. Someone
kindly suggested a kinder method of sharing by writing the blog. Thank you to
that someone! The sharing, in many ways,
has become my journal and for that reason at times I wish that I had made more
entries. Thank you for sharing my
journey!
Twice since 2010, my computers have crashed and I’ve lost
photos, my camera was stolen and many of the photos had not yet been
downloaded- precious photographic memories lost as quickly and as permanently as
if they had been lost in a fire. Except those that I shared on Facebook
or on my blog! Photos such as my visit to the National Palace in 2009 and photos
of my dad’s memorial. Both equally irreplaceable
but yet here they are. I don’t really
need the photos however to remember the memories etched in my heart like a
tattoo- the memories are brought to me through faces that I can scroll like a
flipbook and recall whenever I want. Thank you for the memories!
I’ve met many good people while living in Haiti. Wonderful
people that will be forever friends. People that I have great respect for because
of the work they did or continue to do and that have inspired me for that
reason. Then there is my Haitian
family- those that have cared, comforted, laughed and shared and cried with me.
I am grateful for the opportunity to
know these people that have become friends and I shall miss them dearly. Thank you for your friendship and love!
I can say it was Healing Hands for Haiti that brought me to
Haiti but it was the people that I met over the years, along the way that will
keep my heart when I leave.
