three years

today marks the third anniversary of the major earthquake that occurred near Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 12, 2010. it was a day that had millions of people turning their heads toward the television as a people and place was changed. and already devastated country experienced new pain. but rather than tell the Haitians' story (they have a voice to do that themselves), i want to tell mine. i was there when the earthquake hit, and i felt the ground move. in the days following, i had an almost visceral reaction. i could feel tethers forming that bound my heart to the country and the people. on the 62 hour journey home i was blessed by every person i encountered, from the Haitians who protected us on the road, to the couple that housed us for the night, to the people of Turks and Caicos who fed and refreshed those who made their island a stop on their journey, to the church families in florida who cared for us stateside. but more than the experience i had during that week, Haiti has become a part of my soul. i have returned three times since, developed friendships (as much as one can given the distance and language barrier), and devoted much of my thought, time and energy in the last three years into caring for the people i know there the only ways i can think to from home. that week marked the beginning of a new trajectory in my life, or at least i was surprised by it. as a direct result of feeling the ground shake that day, i left the small career i was developing, went back to school, and began working toward a different life for myself. i am a different and better person for having set foot on Haitian soil, joining hands with Haitian people, and singing songs in Kreyol. and i will never let go.   but this is the first year that i have no plans to return. and so while i sit here and remember the blessed friends i have in Haiti, i also mourn that i will be watching a team experience Haiti from here as i continue graduate school, walking the very steps that i owe to the people who spoke life and truth into my very being. and i don't know how to do it. today, my prayers and my heart are in Haiti.