Back In The USA

Haiti is struggling through a bad time...again. Elections are overdue, and the whole subject is surrounded with confusion. Meanwhile, kidnappings have become almost commonplace in the capitol city. Plus, gangs have taken over parts of Port-au-Prince allowing no traffic to pass through. All of that means that leaving the country requires a flight into Port-au-Prince avoiding the roads. 

I flew on June 19th. Everything was easy and smooth. 

With the USA fighting its way out of a pandemic, there is no appetite for helping a country that has been in crisis mode regularly over the years. Haiti fatigue means that there is no realistic hope for any country to get involved in Haiti's crisis. Haiti will have to get things straight on its own. It's probably a good thing in the long run. For now, life in the country is as tricky and depressing as ever. 

With all of that being said, life goes in the countryside pretty much as normal. Prices are high. Supplies can be low. Gas disappears pretty regularly lately...for days at a time. All of that adds to the stress people endure each day. Still, people live peacefully and free in almost all of rural Haiti. 

Freedom is a subject of interest for a person who spends months in rural Haiti and then months in the USA. In many ways, life in Haiti is full of freedom. There are no covid games being played. The government is not involved in the lives of people. Churches meet and worship. Concerts happen. People interact without thinking. That is how we all lived since last Fall. Then, I flew home to the USA. I struggle with the vastly different freedom. It's true we are free to eat better here. We are free to work. We are free to attain material wealth. But daily freedoms are slipping away rapidly. 

Imagine a man selling his wallet, without realizing his credit cards are still in it. Tragedy is giving away something you love and need without realizing that you are doing it.   I am afraid that Western civilization is engaged in tragic behavior these days. We are smiling while selling treasures that we will search for at some point. They may be gone forever.  

Back in the USA. 

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