By Peter Daniel, June 2011 team
Here at Haiti Foundation of Hope, I feel like I’m part of a family. The solidarity espoused by Haitian and American leadership is remarkable.
My first visit was in February of 2008: curious about what was going on in Terre Blanche, I had come to visit for two days but ended up staying a full week translating for a medical team.
When it became possible to join another team this summer, I leaped at the opportunity. My first-year medical school training was itching for context and clinical application, and, boy, did I get my fair share!
The experience deepened my sense of vocation and reminded me why I am privileged to be in medical school. It’s tiring, but hearing Ji-ji quietly tell mom, “li gou,” or “it tastes good,” while receiving a 5 mL/min oral rehydration treatment for cholera … well, it made me smile.
Haiti Foundation of Hope quotes, “Lespwa fe viv,” a Haitian proverb that loosely translates, “Hope gives life.” In God’s economy, hope is a valuable currency. It appreciates much, and though easily shared it is not easily spent.
I go to Terre Blanche to be and to hold God’s hands. I go to heal and be healed, to be reminded that beneath my seeming self- sufficiency, I guard spiritual vulnerabilities not unlike the physical hardships of my Haitian brothers and sisters. In Terre Blanche, peoples’ names sound different and safe because God, who is love, is at work. Truly I tell you, there is hope enough for us all.
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