Reflection: Dave Lindberg

We had another great day today.  We started with plans to go to the other orphanage, Idadee, had our bags and lunches all packed and ready to go but found out at the last minute we couldn’t go today.  No transportation!  What a true reminder of how life actually is in Haiti.  You can have the best laid plans but something that we would consider simple, such as transportation, just doesn’t come through.  That’s sort of the life around here.  Most people are highly dependent on others to do the things they want to do.

I met a real interesting guy today.  He was here to visit his brother (Reggie’s father) who lives with his wife and children at the orphanage.  His name is Gene and he’s about 60 years old.  He is native Haitian but moved away from here about 30 years ago to build a dry cleaning business in America!  Living the last 30 years in New York City Gene has an amazing perspective on our country, the freedom we enjoy and the endless opportunities.  He has had success that very few of his Haitian family and friends will ever experience.  In Haiti, people like Gene are few and far between.  While many would have the courage, most would not have the means to make a move like Gene did 30 years ago.

Like last year, I can’t stop thinking about the limited opportunities Haitians have to make their lives better.  Talking to several kids today who range in age from 17 to 21 and have several more  years to go to finish high school, is a great example of how hard life is here.  They plan to finish high school and then hope to go the Dominican Republic or the United States to pursue college.  Yet for each one of them, someone will have to come through to provide the funding.  There simply are not resources for them here especially given that most of them have little or no family.  Yet they are positive people who don’t seem to ever stop trying.  That’s what impresses me the most about the people we’ve met.  Their effort is endless even when their reality is nearly impossible.