Ma colonie de vacances…:S

This was meant to be a wonderful first blog of 2010, where I would tell you all about my wonderful experiences in Hong Kong, Paris and Vienna. But Haiti is all I can think about right now. So Haiti is what I will tell you about. Those of you who read the papers will know that a 7.2 earthquake shook Port-au-Prince to the ground a week ago. Most of you will see the pictures and hear stories about the rescue guy who saved an 18-month child from underneath piles and piles of stones. All I can think about are my kids, and I refuse to believe that they may no longer be with us.

For me Haiti is more than just the poorest in America, it is my neighbor country. How and why a 7.2 earthquake was barely felt in my city (on the other side of our tiny island) is a mystery – or perhaps a miracle – to me. And beyond being my neighbor country, it is the home of 15 wonderful children who participated in my peace camp last summer, 15 children whom I have not heard of for a week. The amount of impotence I feel being all the way in developed France is inexplicable: I should be there right now, amongst the piles of disaster helping save whatever can be saved and rebuilding everything that cannot.

I ask myself why God did this, why THESE people who have had ZERO chance of development from the moment of their glorious independence (first slave independence in the Americas). All I can think of, in a desperate attempt to find an explanation and a reason, is that now is the time when they can rebuilt their country from scratch. Now they can start over, no corruption, no tonton macoutes, no instability. This can be a disaster with the potential to rebuild a nation. Of course, it is just a thought. But I am now certain that I have to be there this summer and I pray that I meet my children again….