Nov 10, 2010

Westerly Road Tent City



Haiti remains in the headlines if not in the limelight.  Heart breaking titles such as "Cholera Moves into the Beleaguered Haitian Capital" and "Winds Pummel Haiti" seem to roll too easily and frequently through the press.  Beleaguered is right.  When will Haiti catch a break?  If history continues in its seemingly inexorable course, then the answer is not anytime soon.  Even so, as long as the people still hope and we do not grow lax, the tides of time do not have a total say in Haiti's state.

As part of the continual effort to raise awareness about Haiti's condition, Westerly Road Church has set up a weekend long event to show people in the church and community just what Haiti is like.  Today, we turned the youth room into a mini tent city.  It took us almost five hours to set up dirty camping tents, two wash lines, and some basic cooking items.  Most of the tents were bigger (aside from shared community tents) than ones used by the families in Fond Parisien.  Imagine your family on a camping trip, all cozily in the same tent.  Now imagine it's almost 100 degrees out.  The tent traps the heat.  Imagine cooking dinner and lunch in the same space.  Imagine the rain that comes with the billowing storm clouds.  Your mattress, if you have one, is soaked.  There is no end in sight.

In addition to talks, slideshows, and my and sony's art displays, the children who come to experience the tent city will get to make cards (and learn some basic Creole to write inside) for children in the real tent city of Fond Parisien.

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