Orphanages are filled with children so poor they do not even own a pair of shoes for their feet. Garbage and waste accumulate on the sides of the streets. Wild dogs, pigs, and other beasts run wild. This country is in a tragic state, and they need my help.
My help.
My western-cultured way of thinking. My American influence. My middle class money. My technology. My advanced education.
Is that really what Haiti, or other countries like it, need? Or does richness lie in something deeper than wealth and possessions?
Which qualities are more associated with Haiti: the dirt on their faces and the debris from natural disaster, or their profound sense of community and the deep joy found in their churches? Plainly seen in our attitudes and news reports, many of us as Americans feed off making third world countries look pathetic and poor. Are we doing this out of the kindness in our hearts? Or is to feed our own pride, or salve our own guilt for having more? What if the tables were turned: how would we feel if people from other countries came into our country and took pictures of and reports of the poorest and worst off people in our country, and made this the definition of our country? And what exactly is the definition of poor?
Before visiting Haiti in July of 2013, I was challenged with this question: "Does Haiti need you, or do you need Haiti?" Upon arriving, my expectations to teach and help the people there quickly reversed to quite the opposite outcome. I realized that what Haiti may have lacked compared to my country in physical beauty and cleanliness was richly made up for in a deeper beauty and purity that I rarely see here.
It is true that money and material possessions may make living easier in a sense, and more comfortable. However, they also cause a much larger distraction from things much more important. This is where America's ugliness and poverty lies. Haiti may not have grand skyscrapers, world class education, or heck, even dependable electricity. But what they do have is a priority for relationships, an understanding for the word "community," and a radiant joy.
So then... Which really is the poorer country?
