january twelfth

i read the book The Heart and the Fist by Eric Greitens.  he is a humanitarian.  rhodes scholar.  navy seal.  there were a lot of things i found particularly thought provoking about his memoir.  his discussion on photography in war ravaged countries hit a chord with me, specifically.

haiti is complex as only a third world country can be.  it is beautiful and ugly.  clean and dirty.  pure and infected.  it was all of these things at once.  that was the surface.  then there were the sounds and the smells.  more surface but deeper.  then there were the people.  and that was real.  we drove through streets that a year after the earthquake looked like bombed out buildings from the night before.  we drove past tent camps that stretched as far as the eye could see.  war ravaged by mother nature and time and neglect.

when i was in haiti i found myself for a time drawn to my camera, and then completely repelled by it.  i literally put it away as we drove through port au prince.  it seemed so disrespectful to me to photograph the pain of others.  


i wrote about the people i got to know. they did not only talk only about despair. it was there, but they also talked about their children. they talked about their homes. the ones they lived in every day. not the ones that fell down. they talked about the jobs they travelled hours for. they talked about the future. i surmised there was hope. and i know that's what you talk about with a stranger before they go home.

today is the fourth anniversary of the earthquake.  and i think that if you were to have driven through a country as damaged as haiti, hiding behind a camera, you would have missed the beautiful hope and perseverance of the people.  i would like to always share haiti and never forget what an indelible mark it has left on my life.  i am connected to that place and real people.   their stories, their words are alive in my heart.  and on the pages of this blog.  and in my memories.  i sent a facebook message to our haitian friend.  he said, "today is the day we go to church and praise God for life and remember those who were lost.  we do this with many tears."