Monday, August 10, 2009: Suzanne’s Journal
As we fly into Haiti, it is apparent that the island has been depleted of its natural resources. Trees and plant life have been uprooted and the brown hills roll on. I wondered if we would see any life as we embarked on our journey.
When we land, we already begin to clown. We all claim our seats on the Sonje Ayiti bus and we pull of to a field. Our luggage is an hour behind, so we decide to wait. It is hot, so all of the windows are rolled down in the bus and a little hand pokes through an opening. A child who would like some food is trying to engage us.
A pig runs through the field and stops to dig for garbage. A small child 50 yards away is doing handstands. Tim begins to speak to the child by the bus in Creole. Due to my lack of French and Creole I fall back on a language I do know: Clown. I pull out my bag of funny glasses and put them on, the child smiles. Soon there are more. They all are hungry, but they are laughing and smiling now. We smile together, shake hands and make eye contact. I soon find out that this is the most important kind of interaction I will have in the next two weeks.
