A Love Haiti Relationship

Well it’s too late now.
I’ve been bitten.
I am smitten.
By Haiti.

It’s not lost on me that were it not for cataclysmic catastrophe in my life I might’ve never set foot in Haiti. In ways I can only speak to the stars, I am grateful for the light Haiti brings me as I bring light to it. There are wonders there to behold as we dreambigdobigger.  

Haiti is so much more than collapsed buildings and crying babies. Yes it’s poor. But it’s rich too. Rich in culture and hospitality and hearts and laughter. Rich in gusto and gumption and grace. Certainly rich in hope amid the hardships its beautiful people endure.

Luke would love these adventures. Barreling down dusty roads passing colorful tap-tap trucks hauling 20+ people around like a rolling sardine can. Hiking up rocky paths, weary and weepy, as barefoot kids carrying younger siblings pass us up. Swimming under a waterfall below voodoo caves. Delivering violins to a tiny music school run by a director with a huge heart and no budget. Checking a goat’s teeth and teats and then packing 12 goats into the back of a truck. Buying mangoes for a tenth of the US price from someone’s calloused hands. Watching kids watching their very first movie EVER. 

Perhaps Luke is with us? I no longer know what I believe. What I do *know* FOR SURE?  Watching Rio hand out lights to children his age who have so little, watching Sydney cuddle and feed babies, watching Dan build a playground high atop a mountain, watching a school full of children who’ve never seen light chant "Ti-Luc Ti-Luc Ti-Luc"… puts salve on a wound that will forever be raw. 

Yes, would you believe “Luc” means “Light”? The irony of that is not lost on me either. 

We VK’s have now been to Haiti at least once a year for 7 years. 

We fund our own way to Haiti. The generous donations we receive pay 100% for light. 

For as long as I can, I'll be back.

For Ti-Luc. For Big Luke.

– Gisela