Haiti Trip

I expected devastation, unending poverty and desolation. Instead, I saw progress and hope. Haiti is still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Most people still don't have running water and electricity. Many people are still living in tents in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake. But - as we drove down the paved highway (which was only a bumpy gravel road before), I saw people working and building homes. I saw trucks hauling away the rubble of the earthquake. I saw communities of people coming together to grow trees to plant on the side of a mountain. I saw a community come together to dig a hole 53 feet into the ground - with only rope, a shovel and a bucket - because they were being given a pump and a filtration system with the money raised by Ed and with the help of Food for the Poor. Where once I thought that the only help for Haiti was in giving them food and access to water to simply survive, I now saw a society that has a future that can be self-sustaining. I saw communities of people who have taken the helping hand and have lifted themselves up. I saw people who were craving to work, to help themselves and to grow. What I learned is that we are making a difference. That the people who reached out after the earthquake and gave of themselves and their money - have changed Haiti for the better. And that the people of Haiti are not only grateful, but are taking themselves to a higher place because of it.