This is a photo of me with Choupi, one of the painters at Espwa. He's the one who painted the 4' x 4' family portrait for me back in September. In this picture, we're holding up some of his abstract pieces. Choupi is 18 years-old and is employed by Espwa as one of the child monitors who organizes trash pick-up and leads are youngest children (under 7yrs-old) to school in the morning. He is extremely talented and one of the hardest and most dedicated workers I've come across.
He comes from a very poor family, deep in rural Haiti where everyone is a farmer, makes under $1/day and lives completely off the land. His family's home was destroyed twice last year during the hurricane season. The second time, there was nothing left standing but a single stick that was used to support one of the corners of the house. It is rare for a family to be homeless in rural Haiti. The bond among neighbors is great and this case was no different. Choupi's neighbors took his family under their roofs. There's an understanding that it could've been any one of their houses to be destroyed and that they were lucky enough to still have their homes. It's only right to reach out to those who weren't so lucky.
I am constantly reminded of the kindheartedness and compassion that the Haitian people show towards each other. Roberson, a 5 year-old boy with cerebral palsy is another example. After hearing about him being left at home alone while his mother would leave him to go to work for the day, I decided to visit him one day on my morning run. When I found him, he was sitting in the corner of the mud shack, dirty, covered in drool and bugs and unable to shoo them away because of his condition and being unable to move. Even in this case, where it seemed so obvious that this boy had been forgotten about and abandoned each day without a person in the world, I witnessed a caring and kindness we don't often see in a country like ours. Roberson's mother had no choice but to leave him each day in order to work the rice fields and put food on the table. While Roberson had appeared alone to me, he wasn't. His mother would make the 3-mile walk back to her home to bring him food during the day, while two of her neighbors, both over 80 years-old and unable to work themselves, would visit Roberson to bathe him and clean up any stool.
It has taken me some effort to realize and understand that what happened to the boy who was murdered a week ago, is not at all a fair representation of the Haitian people who are not an angry people but instead quite the opposite. The men who took action into their own hands that afternoon claim to be vigilantes and no longer wanted to fear this boy who had according to them, robbed dozens of people and caused much anguish for many civilians over the last few months. How true this is, I can't say. I can say however, that an incident such as this is not common and while I'll never be able to forget what happened that day, this experience does not change at all the love I feel for this country and its people.
He comes from a very poor family, deep in rural Haiti where everyone is a farmer, makes under $1/day and lives completely off the land. His family's home was destroyed twice last year during the hurricane season. The second time, there was nothing left standing but a single stick that was used to support one of the corners of the house. It is rare for a family to be homeless in rural Haiti. The bond among neighbors is great and this case was no different. Choupi's neighbors took his family under their roofs. There's an understanding that it could've been any one of their houses to be destroyed and that they were lucky enough to still have their homes. It's only right to reach out to those who weren't so lucky.
I am constantly reminded of the kindheartedness and compassion that the Haitian people show towards each other. Roberson, a 5 year-old boy with cerebral palsy is another example. After hearing about him being left at home alone while his mother would leave him to go to work for the day, I decided to visit him one day on my morning run. When I found him, he was sitting in the corner of the mud shack, dirty, covered in drool and bugs and unable to shoo them away because of his condition and being unable to move. Even in this case, where it seemed so obvious that this boy had been forgotten about and abandoned each day without a person in the world, I witnessed a caring and kindness we don't often see in a country like ours. Roberson's mother had no choice but to leave him each day in order to work the rice fields and put food on the table. While Roberson had appeared alone to me, he wasn't. His mother would make the 3-mile walk back to her home to bring him food during the day, while two of her neighbors, both over 80 years-old and unable to work themselves, would visit Roberson to bathe him and clean up any stool.
It has taken me some effort to realize and understand that what happened to the boy who was murdered a week ago, is not at all a fair representation of the Haitian people who are not an angry people but instead quite the opposite. The men who took action into their own hands that afternoon claim to be vigilantes and no longer wanted to fear this boy who had according to them, robbed dozens of people and caused much anguish for many civilians over the last few months. How true this is, I can't say. I can say however, that an incident such as this is not common and while I'll never be able to forget what happened that day, this experience does not change at all the love I feel for this country and its people.
