With the generous financial support of United Church people to the 2010 Haiti earthquake appeal, partners have been at work building schools in the country. And with schools, you build communities, Haitians often say.
Last summer my friend, Guy Lepage, went to Haiti as a volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross. His stories brought me a lesson in how to have hope in the midst of overwhelming devastation.
Re-membering is about putting pieces together. There are many pieces yet to be put together in Haiti since last January’s earthquake. Much of what we will hear in this week’s news, about all that remains broken, will be deeply discouraging. And there will be truth in those reports. Too little of what we will hear is encouraging. Yet the truth is that good work is being done to put the pieces of Haitian society together.
Well? When did you last hear about Haiti in the news? How many houses have been built? How many people are still camping out? How is food and medical help coming along? Why do we need so many troops there? Aristide kept peace in the country with no army at all. Why is Canada there?
I have a blog that so far deals mostly with lying and propaganda in our news media. I'm always looking for examples of how our news media act as pimps for governments or ownership or ideologies. Good example in today's Globe and Mail. Front page. May 14
It's a big picture of two girls in a classroom. They're lively and smiling at each other. Below, in big letters. it says Haitian children are finding safety and help in recovering from trauma in their schools.
This afternoon I arrived in Toronto following a five-day visit to our church partners in Haiti. What I witnessed there is beyond anything I could have imagined—unbelievable destruction and suffering on the one hand, and amazing hope and faith-filled action on the other.
This is the first of several reports we will make about our visit. (More in a moment about who travelled with me.) You can see my video message from Haiti on YouTube.
As announced last week, I leave for Haiti tomorrow, along with a few other United Church representatives.
I'm grateful for many notes of encouragement, some of which have made connections between the journey of the Haitian people and the resurrection story of Easter.
The people of Haiti are certainly engaged in "practising resurrection," as a Wendell Berry poem puts it, and it will be humbling, no doubt, to hear and see their stories of courage.
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