Tuesday, January 11th, an earthquake, 7, on the Richter scale, devastated Haiti. It seems that the capital, Port Au Prince, has been leveled. There are bodies, dead and alive, on the streets, and it's almost impossible for people, living outside the area to get through to their loved ones. Two friends and co-workers, at the Lowe, haven't been able to get in touch with their families; don't know if they are dead, injured or alive. It really puts things into perspective, for me, for my children, what is important?! My daughter, Sophie, went to Haiti, in November, with doctors from Project Medishare. She came back and shared her photos and stories of families, with their young children, waiting in make-shift hospitals, sometimes for days, to take advantage of the free health care. Children with Hydrocephalus, swollen heads and glassy eyes, lay on their mother's laps, in anticipation of a new life. Sophie explained that the 'hospital'; building with bare-minimum staff and supplies, smelled and the ambulences were all out of comission, with flat-tires and no gas. And that was BEFORE this earthquake. It's so sad. If there's anything good that will come out of this it's that the infrastructure of this country (poorest in the western hemisphere) may be re-evaluated. Maybe just maybe they'll build better buildings???!!! And maybe just maybe the government will get its act together. Although they've implemented horrible, self-serving, dictators for years now.
It's close to home. Hopefully, we people stateside will take a lesson from all of this. I know I am having a conversation, at our dinner table, every night about it.
