Preparing for Haiti

I’ve traveled quite a bit over my 34 years. Most of the United States and Canada covered alone, in my first car – a hand-me-down Toyota Corolla hatchback gotten at age 18. Less than ten years later, I said goodbye to Lola and the 100,000+ miles we’d traveled together. The evergreen saddled mountains of Vermont, the side streets of New Orleans and everywhere in between.

Many moments today, flashes of train rides in Europe and flights over islands played to the tune of ‘My Favorite Things’ as I envisioned my skirt billowing with the Swiss Alps winds. But I don’t think the wind will blow the same way in Port-au-Prince.

And I’m nervous. I don’t recall a time I’ve been nervous to travel, to fly, to charter a territory unknown. Perhaps the idea of the state of the country is unsettling and unnerving. Not to mention the notion that I surely won’t be able to help as much as I’d like. But I am going to help. I’ll visit Jamie and Ali and follow the minutes, the hours, the days that have made up their many years in Haiti. And I’ll bring it back. And that is going to help.