Bon Bagay

Leaving Ayti yet again, and it hurts yet again. Yeterday I received the most sincere thank you for all the work done here that I was moved to tears. It came from one of our staff members, an amazing man who works tirelessly for this cause. He thanked me for coming to his country to help his people, and told me that words could not express how much thanks he felt. It was so touching and heartfelt that I immediately welled up with tears. I tried to tell him that it was an honour to be here, that I am in love with the people and culture of Ayti, that their strength and resilience touches me and moves me to remember what is real and what matters in this life. That all the orphans who make their way to the clinic on their own break my heart daily, and that the very least I feel I can do is provide them with basic medical care. But words cannot express how I feel either, and so we sat in silence, thankful for each others' work. He thanked me, I cried, and I thanked him and his people.

I leave behind an entire tent city some 60,000 people strong, strengthened and empowered by our little organization. The camp has changed so much since the last time I was there; ditches and drainage systems have been dug and fortified with sandbags, bridges built, latrines improved, gravel laid down on the main streets, sandbag stairs built within the mud. No longer is it the slippery, sliding mud camp that I visited in march. JP HRO continues to work with the community and campaign tirelessly and thanklessly for the entire capital city of port au prince, and they are doing amazing work. Other NGO workers live in nice houses in ritzy parts of town, with pools and gardens and lounges. We live in tents just outside the IDP camp, more in touch with the routine of camp life, and most importantly, allowing more of our funding to go where it matters most: the people. Grassroots, aware, conscientious, and driven by fierce passion, this small organization manages one of the largest camps in the city, and does it well. Bon bagay. A la prochaine.