Traveling To Haiti

Opportunity to see life from a different perspective - We tend to associate with people who are like us in some way or the other. Be it the colleague who enjoys yoga or the neighbor who has a mortgage to pay like you do, we often share our lives with those people who can we most relate to and that limits our understanding of life. Travel gives you a chance to see places and cultures that you could have never imagined existed, let a fellow traveler pour his heart out to you even if you can barely understand his language, relish meals that you don't know names of and in the overall scheme of things understand the pleasures and pains of people that you don't otherwise come across. No amount of reading or watching world cinema can give you a different take on life the way travel does. And who knows, maybe its a life you feel you belong to than your life back

The community service that changed my outlook on life is my missions trip to Haiti. When I saw how the Haitians lived day by day, I realized that my life in America is extraordinary compared to theirs. My dream is to send musical instruments to anyone who wants to play in their church.

I was about nine years old when I first came to the United States from Haiti. Although I was old enough to understand that we were moving, I did not quite understand the importance of the move and why my mom kept referring to America as the land of opportunities. In the beginning, I hated everything, I did not know the language, I missed my friends, I missed Haiti, I missed the familiarity of things. However, my mom constantly reminded me that this is for the best, that our lives have changed for the better. So, I nodded and continued to be unhappy until I started to understand the language, until I started making new friends, until I missed Haiti less and less, and until the United States became home.

When I was able to go to Haiti for a mission trip with my church. I saw so many people on the street and they looked like they were living out of boxes. Port-Au-Prince, Haiti is one of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. They also have very bad healthcare. Not many of the people there were living the life we are. Most of them are living on about 2 dollars per day. There isn’t much we could buy in Zeeland for 2 dollars. When I would walk down the streets. I see people and kids almost wearing rags for clothes. As I would walk down the street to the market it would smell like rotten food that is 2 months old. Haiti had a earthquake in 2010 that took them down. Almost everything was destroyed. It didn’t help with their poverty stats at all.

In November 2015, I had the privilege of traveling to Haiti on a mission team. While in Haiti, I was awakened by how blessed I am as an American. There are numerous things that we all take for granted every day. The necessities like three meals a day, clean water, comfortable shelter, nice clothing, electricity, and plumbing are taken for granted. Americans who live in poverty receive benefits such as food stamps, government assisted housing, medical insurance provided by the government, and social security. On the other hand, Haitians are left with little to no support from their government.

Hello friends and family, I just got back from my trip to Haiti and Florida and am so excited to tell you all about my experiences in both places!

Shortly before my recent mission trip to Haiti, I decided to take the chance and sign up for a mission trip for Ecuador in June 2016. As I was trying to convince my parents to sign off on the trip, their one concern was the funds that I would need. I continuously told them that if it is God's will, He will provide. Now, a short three months after they agreed to let me go, I am happy to say that I have more than half of the funds needed to go. With that being said, I am still short on money for the actual trip which includes a place to stay, my plane ticket, meals, some construction tools and other expenses while on the trip. Although this stuff is mostly paid for at this point, their are other expenses that I need covered. With this being said,

What do you want for your birthday? This question was the beginning of an everlasting memory. For my birthday gift I asked my parents for a missionary trip. They acceded and I got the blessing of joining my church on a trip to Haiti. Preparation for the trip included months of collection of provisions and donations. In addition, I took part in a puppet show and choreography. To prepare for these participations I had to assist to rehearsals every week. Aside from this, the church prepared various workshops for those of us who were taking part of the trip. The workshops provided us with information about the different situations and communities we would encounter as well as the precautions we would have to take in order to avoid diseases. Two

My thoughts and aspirations towards my future not only involve my success, but the success of the world around me as result of my education. I strive to become a person who utilizes his knowledge to help others succeed. After recently completing my first mission trip to Haiti this past summer I realized that this is what I aspire to do with my life. I went to a place of poverty and sickness, and envisioned solutions that would solve some of the issues that are plaguing Haiti. This defining moment happened while I was sitting in a temporary shelter, I realized how desperate the living conditions were for these people, and at that moment I was moved to help, but how? I was a seventeen year old boy with minimal experience and lack of funding

Haiti is an island country that borders the Dominican Republic and is also close in region to the islands of Jamaica, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. This country of Haiti has French as its national tongue, due to European colonization, however, the country is dominantly and significantly of African descent. Also, the nation’s official language is French and the native sport in Haiti is soccer. One of my good friends, Pierre Gaston, who claims the “mountainous country”(as it is translated in English) as his original home, was delighted to recall the impactful memories that living in Haiti granted him before later moving to the United States of America.

In the summer of 2014 I, along with 30 friends from St. George Church, took part in a week long mission trip to the beautiful country of Haiti. While there, we did a lot of service work, including planting trees and painting a school. But way beyond all that, we got the incredible opportunity to care for and play with hundreds of unbelievably lovable and, despite their unfortunate circumstances, immeasurably happy children, most of whom were abandoned, orphaned, or severely ill with HIV/AIDS. Their smiles and radiating happiness are among the brightest I've ever seen and they inspired our entire group to change the way we perceive the world. Therefore, getting the chance to see those beautiful kids again would make me and them, too, unimaginably happy.

Everyone visited a place that they would want to go back to. Whether it is in your home town or out of state. There is always something that make a person want to go back to that place. Haiti is mines. The sounds that make people want to move their body, the magnificent scent of the variety of the different kind dishes are delightful, and there was never a dull moment.

For this assignment, I chose Haiti as I visited the country numerous times. Largely known for the Toussaint slave rebellion, as the first country to gain one might have though it would've prospered. Its lack of success started with the Embargo act of 1807 signed by Thomas Jefferson, which banned trade with all foreign country as one of Haiti's leading trade partner's when it was a colony it hurts its already weak economy when it gained its independence.

Haiti: A Long Road to Recovery is a research project that focuses on examining Haiti’s struggle to recover from the 2010 7.0 magnitude Earthquake. Some of the contributor’s to Haiti’s lack of ability to recover that I intend to explore include shoddy infrastructure, lack of infectious disease control and lack of access to healthcare, famine, poverty, political corruption and misconduct among government officials and relief organizations. This study will examine Haiti from a historical perspective; reflecting on Haiti’s culture, infrastructure, political instability, poverty and vulnerability to disaster. There will also be a discussion regarding the past and anticipated effects of climate change, as well as implications for international disaster relief and ongoing management.

The manners which Haiti can propose that could more effectively involve its Diaspora in its strategic development process are. First, is to better educate the people who doesn’t know Haiti about the culture, and past history just to better understand the roots of all things. For example, give tours to past historical place, explains why things are come about when it comes to our food, the way we functions, and the way we do things, and understand the meaning of our culture. Another way Haiti can help their Diaspora and the people of Haiti is By open more jobs and education it will cause less manifestation, kids, parents, and older people would go to school have a career and be able to have a job in the field of their studies and parents would