I traveled to Haiti recently, as part of a medical relief mission in the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake. I offered acupuncture to about 140 Haitians in 7 days, held two very cute babies in my arms, saw a lot of malnutrition, hunger and thirst, took hundreds of photographs of collapsed buildings, shanty towns, and abysmal poverty, made a lot of new friends, and then suddenly it was time to come home and attempt to make sense of my experience. Little did I know that it would lead me to become more involved in my own community here in Seattle.
Woman carrying goods - Haiti
In the days and weeks after arriving home, my mind struggled with seemingly unanswerable questions, compounded by a big dose of culture shock: Where did the suffering of Haiti start? What role can I play in supporting the ongoing healing of a battered nation from my seemingly isolated existence in the Pacific Northwest? How should I respond when people ask me, often quite casually, “how was your trip?” The more I reflected on the roots of the disaster, the more I realize that the shifting Earth is only one causal nexus. The real disaster is poverty and social injustice and that, unfortunately, is an ongoing global disaster since the dawn of humanity. With proper building codes and applied human intelligence, the death total would have been a small fraction of what it was. Even now, the disaster continues to unfold into further misery – a million people living under tarps, threatened by rains and hurricanes.
Alas, such a shame. And I could simply choose to leave it at that, hop on my plane, return to my privileged existence, and feel good about the time and resources I donated to a good cause. The next disaster will shift our focus elsewhere, and all of us can pour out our compassion and pocketbooks once again, ever keeping a safe distance from the gritty humanitarian issues.
Sometimes it seems that our culture lives somewhere between one crisis and the next. Certainly my own life is no different. Upon returning, it was time to attend to the daily comings and goings at CommuniChi, catch up with family and friends, swimming lessons twice a week with my daughter, and a myriad of life details, and personal plans. The vividness and shocking power of my time in the disaster zone faded quickly. Had I learned anything? Had I connected with any deep vision of healing the planet? Was I a changed human being? Or was I merely playing a conditioned role of first world hero, a vicarious tourist, intruding on people’s misery?
Waiting for water in front of the Presidential Palace
The more I engaged in such self-reflection, the more I actively searched for a way to carry this experience forward without merely enshrining it in a list of “good-deeds-I-have-done-in-my-life”. I got involved in Social Inclusion work at my daughter’s school. I started reading about White Privilege, and signed up for a two day conference on Unlearning Racism through People‘s Institute Northwest. I talked about Haiti with everyone I met, stayed connected with the medical team that I served with, checking in frequently with a friend who was having trouble re-entering her old life. I remembered to give thanks often – for clean water, air, nourishing food, good health, access to health care, meaningful work, sunshine, hope, smiles on children’s faces.
I followed Haiti in the news, looked at the pictures of the rubble, and remembered the faces of the people that still remain homeless, lacking the basic necessities of life, not forgetting them in my prayers. Three months later, little has changed for millions in Haiti, but the world has largely moved on. Earthquakes in Chile, Mexico, China, and a volcano in Iceland have all occurred in rapid succession. Haiti is old news.
The world is in trouble. Nature is under assault everywhere and many scientists agree that we are in a period of mass extinctions. Our atmosphere is heating up. Our global consumption patterns are unsustainable. Pollution, poverty, economic volatility, war, terrorism, inner city violence – all of these are on the rise. Will humans survive for more than another century? Now, more than ever, there is an urgent need for a new level of cooperation in the world, transcending all of our perceived differences. I often reflect on Margaret Mead’s famous quote about what “a small group of thoughtful people” can do to effect positive change.
Individual intentions and actions do matter, even the seemingly mundane actions we do repeatedly. Brushing one’s teeth, as Thich Nhat Hanh has written, can be an act of worship. Although the trip to Haiti was a sobering reminder of that for me, I pray that I do not waste a single opportunity to connect my deeds and intentions in healing my local community – whether that takes the form of involvement at my daughter’s school, listening to someone – stranger or friend, share their sadness or pain, spending a few extra bucks on my trip to the grocery store in order to place a can of soup into the food bank collection box, going the extra mile to help a friend, a parent, a patient, or even an earthworm struggling to cross the road in search of a patch of green grass.
Woman nursing in shanty town - Haiti
We, and our actions, are all connected. Happy Spring!