First Week in Haiti

To say that this week has been a challenge puts it very lightly.

Once I arrived I was excited to see where I would be staying, who I would be working with, what a typical schedule would look like, and just to dive right into living the Haiti life.  I was quickly faced with several tests, and unfortunately failed most miserably.

I found out some information from the very get go that really disappointed me (not to be discussed on my blog).  So I was put into a negative mood very quickly.  This negative mood made me look at the days tasks negatively.  This negative mood made me not be as open to getting to know the other interns for who they truly are.  I was bitter.  Upset.  Disappointed.  Angry.

All these negative emotions caused the beginning of my first week to be very long, hard, tiring, and down right awful.  I didn't give my full self to the children we met in the orphanages, the people we met out in the community, or the relationships that I was failing to embrace from the other interns.

Thursday morning (June 7th) I was woken up early because the EDH (our electricity) went off.  I woke up hot and sweaty and in another negative mood.  I tried and tired to fall back asleep, but it just wasn't happening.  Being the only one awake I decided to go to the rooftop and watch the sunrise.  What I didn't realize then, that I know now, was that was exactly what I needed.

Sitting on the roof, the palm trees blowing beside me, and beautiful colors in the sky above me was a perfect combination to turn negative Nancy off and turn positive Polly on.  I was alone with just my thoughts.  I was able to sort through some of the mixed emotions I had been feeling all week.  I decided then and there that I was going to make this the best adventure that I intended it to be!

So after my meditation time Thursday morning I was renewed and restored.  I was ready give my full self to each of my daily tasks and show my team members the true Samantha and not the creature I had somehow become.

We went to an orphanage called "Tree of Life" that currently has 13 kids living there.  We went there earlier in the week, but I didn't have the best experience because of my horrible attitude.  This time there was incredible.  I danced with the kids, took some pictures, held several precious little ones, and just thoroughly enjoyed myself, while hopefully brightening these kids days.

I realized that these kids have a smile on their face most of the day just by me being there and offering myself to them, so what on earth do I have to complain about?  These kids only have two meals a day, a small breakfast around 6 or 7 and a bigger lunch around 1 or 2, so I can hold off a couple hours to have my lunch snack until after I leave the orphanage.  It isn't these kids fault that everything here isn't what I expected it to be, so why do they deserve to be punished by me not offering my complete and whole self up to them?  They don't!

Today I started my day off the same way as yesterday; I went to the rooftop to have my alone time.  Huge success and very rewarding.

Today our task was to go to Williamson (about an hour north of Port-au-Prince) to continue surveying that community and finding out their needs.  As soon as we got there the school in that community had finished up for the day and the kids were playing jump rope.  I immediately put down my notebook and jumped right in.  Who wouldn't have a big smile on their face by playing a massive game of jump rope with a couple dozen kids?  We moved onto taking some pictures, then ring around the rosy, duck duck goose, and finished up with singing the hokey pokey.  Great start!

Then it was time to head towards the houses to do our surveying.  This was the third time this week that we did this and honestly it's not something I really wanted to do again.  I was already super hot and super sweaty and feeling a little sick to my stomach from running around and playing with the kids.  I didn't want to walk on rocky streets, uphill, talk to families who have very little, all in the hot sun.  But this time I set out with a different attitude.  You know it's a daily task for these families to walk these same rocky streets, in the same hot sun, wearing worn out flips flops or no shoes at all for a couple miles in order to just get water, and not clean water at that.  So if they can do that on a daily basis, then you better believe that I can do it for a couple hours in my tennis shoes, where I can go to the truck after we're done and drink clean cold water, drive back home, and sit in front of a fan to cool me off.

This week started out on a negative foot, but I am happy to say that it has ended 10x better than it began.  I have a better attitude about what I'm here to do.  I have apologized to my team mates that I hurt in the beginning and have begun to put a band aid on that relationship and start over.  I have opened my eyes more to what all this summer has to offer me as long as I keep an open mind to everything that is set in front of me.

This is going to be an adventure.  I'm going to have bad days.  I'm going to get into bad moods.  We're going to have arguments and disagreements.  But at the end of this summer I want to be able to say that I've made a difference in the people's lives that I have come into contact with.  I want to be able to say that I've meet some friends that I'll never forget.  And I want to have the best summer of my life!!

SMG