Haiti: Every Once In A While

Every once in a while…

Just every once in a while, choose FREEDOM and pick HUMANITY as a

destination!

Every once in a while, you -international travelers and locals living in the ‘Republic’ of Port-au-Prince even more so- need to branch out, escape the urban and hectic life of ‘big’ cities, pack your roaming thoughts, your youth, your heart, your love, your generosity, your wandering eyes along with all your longing senses and let your knowledgeable self take you to rural humility and guide your steps to where you may connect with the very soul of Ayiti(Haiti), the country which, in essence, imparted true meaning to buzz phrases like human dignity and human rights as early as 1804.

Every once in a while, you need to give yourself a chance to marvel at the lofty mountains and the stately landscapes of the historic land of liberty.

Every once in a while, you need to bless yourself with a minute to pause in awe of a spectacular sunset over the incessant dance of an imposing turquoise sea.

Every once in a while, you need to go out there and travel every nook and cranny of this country. Experience the secrets of the land. Eat and nourish yourself with what its loins have brought to fruition with infinite love.

Go engage with its people, enjoy its warmth, treasure its simplicity, learn about its traditions, embrace its wisdom, listen to its story, re-discover kreyòl as a language and take delight in its expressiveness and its ‘naked’ musicality.

Observe, listen and be cognizant of the mystical practices of the people, their devotion to certain rites, certain rituals, their harnessing of certain levels of energy making up Mother Nature.

Every once in a while, you need to close your eyes and admire the many wonders of High-ity.

Every once in a while, you need to embark on an eternal fling and go feel the ‘real’ hot sun of the tropics.

Every once in a while you need to halt and have your own little dialogue with the Ayitian scenery, its waters, its sunrises, its clear blue sky, its sunsets, its evening breeze, its golden clouds.

Now let’s all hold hands.

Let us go out there and sing and walk and run and slow down and smile and whisper eternal caress into ears of no time and hum meaningless words of oneness for in nothing seems to lie the essence of everything. Let us exchange those intense, childish yet eloquent and penetrating looks laying back in the arms of love and resting our floating selves on the dust of passion under the caring white veil of a friendly moon and the peaceful and soothing twinkle of the stars.

And now, with a clear and loving mind, let’s head out to study this beautiful piece of Caribbean island. Let’s study its people, know about its vigor, its physical strength, its mental ‘resilience’, its deep-rooted spiritual ties, its own sense of pride and honor. But above all, let’s also be AWARE of the insane poverty overwhelming its children and of all the riches laying to waste.

Be aware of the abandoned places in which the people has been secluded, the state of misery in which the ‘remote’ population is swimming, the level of deprivation with which our brothers, our sisters and fellow human beings are left struggling.

Be aware of how low we stoop and of how much we seem not to care as a whole !

Yes oh yes make it a routine to behold the majestic beauty of your surroundings, BUT at the same time, ALWAYS stay AWARE… for only through realization may you take appropriate action, give proper thanks and stop forming opinions untethered to reality.

This whole country is a diamond in the rough!

-UYC Contributor Smith Sajous

Find Smith on Twitter as well as on Facebook.