Off I Go Again.....

As I prepare for my third trip to St. Rock Haiti, I find the mental preparation has gotten easier. As always, I am feeling excited and motivated. I am making lists in my head - things to purchase, my goals during the trip, people to reach out to for donations, etc. By now, I know what to expect. I know what can reasonably be accomplished during a week-long trip and I know the needs of the people in St. Rock much better than I did during my first two trips. Over the past three years, I have researched Haiti by reading, talking with knowledgeable people, and learning the language a little. I have tried to absorb as much about Haiti as I can.

And yet, I still feel so unprepared. I will arrive in Haiti fully prepared and wholly unprepared. I wonder if it will always be this way. Feeling like you know so much, and then, when you see the reality, feeling like you are seeing the problems and wondering about solutions as though it was your first time there. The sights of poverty can be so overwhelming.

So, I prepare logistically, emotionally, and mentally for my third trip. I will do everything I can to be as effective and productive as possible so that I may use this tiny window of time to help make some sort of impact and to do some good, even if it is so very small in the face of the situation. And when I see the lives in St. Rock that are in need of so much help, but so full of hope, I will feel the wave of these sights as though I am seeing it for the first time. The only difference being that I now also have hope. Their hope and the hope and beauty of their country will bridge the gap between despair and action. And I will be grateful to be there and to have the opportunity to once again feel the sunshine and hope of Haiti.