Haiti definitely has a dark side. I can honestly say that I have never felt unsafe. People are always friendly and hospitable toward me, but just like any collection of humans, arguments ensue, people are shot and some people are just bad people.
I’m still personally struggling with Terry’s experience. He is a recovering alcoholic who came to Haiti volunteering as a foreman on a building project. A few days ago, he was in the car with his crew, the group of Haitians who worked for him, and they passed a freshly beheaded body in the road. He was traumatized as he looked on, as they casually drove around the body.
Now I know his Haitian counterparts were affected too. They told me so. But what do you do when you see that? I am so grateful that I was not in that car. There’s no first aid for that.
And it struck me. Initially I thought, I don’t know if that person was Haitian or American. They may have been in an argument, they could have raped someone’s sister (rapes have increased tremendously since the earthquake, one act of aggression responding to a sense of powerlessness), or maybe they were outright attacked.
On further reflection, that person was likely not a foreigner. They didn’t appear in any news, I got no emails from my government warning me of the dangers of Haiti, as someone was beheaded this week. They had to be just another dead, poor, nameless Haitian… not worthy of news, as it’s sadly too common.
Needless to say, Terry started drinking again… and he, like Haiti, will likely have a long road to recovery.
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