Mackson is Home!

There are events in everyone’s life that herald the change of one era to the next. Our family has spent two years trying to get our son home from Haiti. On Saturday we pulled into our driveway and closed one chapter and opened another. This visit to Haiti was much different than the last two we have taken. It seems we needed one last round of opposition. Our planes were late, our ride was not at the airport in Haiti, I just about got ran over on the streets of Port Au Prince but in the end, we are all home and are grateful to have Mackson with us.
More than any trip I have been on I saw what it looks like when the scarcity mentality is taken to an extreme. Haiti shows you what happens when the majority of the population is on the first level of Maslow’s hierarchy. Just getting off an airplane in Haiti is a new experience. In the USA people get off the plane one row at a time starting at the front of the plane. In Haiti we had 50 year old ladies in row 30 determined to be the first ones off the plane. People all over the plane were arguing about who was out in the isle first. We counted at least six arguments between people just getting off the airplane!
At one road intersection eight cars from four different directions all came out into the intersection at once and traffic was completely locked in. People were out of their cars arguing about who was in the intersection first before a UN peacekeeper arrived to get traffic moving again. When this was happening I got out of the truck to buy a painting to remember Haiti by. Cars were stopped because of traffic and I tried to walk between cars to get to the other side of the road. A couple times cars moved very close to the bumper of the car ahead of them just so that I could not walk in front of them! It was amazing to see how mean and self-centered people can get when in extreme poverty. It is like watching a pack of hyenas at a fresh kill- everyone making sure they get their share and willing to fight to ensure that fact. I do not blame the people, I don’t know what I would do in the face of such extreme poverty. It was sad to see and I wish there was more we could to help change the situation. 5% of Haitians have 95% of the nation’s wealth and they are committed to make sure that does not change. I see no change in sight and am grateful that Mackson will not need to deal with this failed nation for the rest of his life. We in America have our problems but if you want to have a renewed gratitude for all the USA has to offer, spend a week in Haiti…