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Saturday, July 24, 2010

Six Months lLater




Haiti, six months later, is a continued lesson in extremes. Living side by side are the rich and poor, sick and healthy, living and dead. The frailty of life is so close to the surface of everyday living that it almost becomes invisible to the eye. Tent cities precariously appear everywhere as an immutable way of living. It scared me when even I passed them without seeing them in the midst of a bustling work day. Staying one night at the Plaza in Port au Prince was a surreal experience. An old Holiday Inn that easily withstood the 7.0 quake, the Plaza hosts celebrities like Sanjay Gupta, and Anderson Cooper who enjoy the good life of buffet meals, air conditioning and an indoor pool. Outside an amoebic mass of black and blue tarps surround the parks statues, where our attention was taken when a rock fight broke out in front of our car, necessitating our quick departure. It`s only been six months since the biggest urban disaster in the history of modern man. It took two and a half years to rebuild after the tsunami in Sri Lanka, so we need to keep the faith that the rebuilding will continue with conscious direction. There is little solace at least that major disease has not become rampant in the streets.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Tom, Carol, and Eric--
    Thanks for these updates(and text logs); Leo called and told me you were on your way back to Haiti. When I read your words and see these pictures I again am reminded how life, in calling us to be heroic, is simply giving us ways to be more fully human. Thank you for teaching how to answer that call in our own lives.
    A Dieu!
    Rick

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