My time in Haiti

I' m BACK

As you can see I've been away for awhile.  I'm planning on being around for some time so stay with me. I know by now everyone on the planet has heard about the eathquake in Haiti.

During my time in the service I was deployed to Haiti as a sergeant in the US Army.   Our mission was  Joint Task Force 180 UPHOLD DEMOCRACY.  I was gone for 40 days and 40 nights in September of 1994. While I was there I saw both sides of Haiti:  the desparately poor and the breathtakingly beautiful.  I saw mothers and their children bathing in the river.  This was the same river where many people also washed their clothes and sad to say urinate and deficate simply because they do not have the facilities to take care of such basic needs.  There were people on the streets selling their goods for money so that they can feed their families.  I bought a mask and a little statue that I have in my living room.  I also saw the nicer homes high up in the hills where the folks with money lived of course.  I will never forget the beautiful beaches where the water was so clean and clear that you could see straight to the bottom.

Our government sent us to Haiti 16 years ago to help stabilize this island nation and I wonder with all the NGOs there why they are still the poorest country in the western hemisphere. It has been said that with President René Préval that things were begining to turn around.  Considering the current conditions there I am hopeful that Haiti will be rebuilt better than it has ever been in it's history.

I had to wite out my social security number. Thank goodness the military stopped putting our socials on everthing for all to see.  (By the way I did not ruin my certificate)