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Memories of Haiti bring hope for future

 
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1:00 P.M. EST Jan. 19, 2011

Julie Fleurinor, left, and her mother, Julienne Fleurinor, take part in a memorial service for Haiti held at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. A UMNS photo by Shane Nichols.
Julie Fleurinor, left, and her mother, Julienne Fleurinor, take part in a memorial service for Haiti held at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. A UMNS photo by Shane Nichols. View in Photo Gallery

As I reminisce on my humble upbringing, I am reminded of the time machine in the movie “Back to the Future” that allowed you to compare today to yesterday and tomorrow.

As I reflect on my childhood in Haiti compared to the Haiti that is now, it is like being stuck in that time machine where the reverse has happened. In a time machine, the place changes, but you don’t. In this instance, I changed and nothing around me did!

I left Haiti when I was 6 years old. I vividly recall waking up in “cher Ayiti (sweet Haiti)” to the smells of chicken roasting on an open fire and the sweet savor of coffee beans being prepared.

Neighbors would come by to talk and laugh. Before my mother left for her voyage to America, I remember her saying, “Bon Dieu bon (God is good)” as the sun would rise. This would always be the indication that it was time for our morning routine: walk to the closest source of clean water and bring some back and go to the market to buy food. Then my sister and I would go to the river and wash our clothes with our mother. We would swim and hang out! As I put these experiences into an adult perspective, I now realize that we were really poor. The things I thought were adventurous and fun helped to mask that we lived in a land stitched in poverty.

As part of the Haitian Mission Travel Study group sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, I toured the U.S.-Haitian community in Florida, the Dominican Republic and Haiti in November. I saw the same little boys and girls – with the same fantasy, that life could get no worse.

However, in the wake of the earthquake, a sense of realization set in. Now, families have access to forms of media and can either hear or see that their standard of living is not the norm. It has been over 20 years since my departure as a child, yet my heart still yearns for a sense of peace for the people of my “peyi,” or country.

There is definitely a sense of guilt that overcame me during this tour of Haiti. It was almost like a game of 21 questions! Why me? Why was I allowed to leave for a better life? Why was I not sold into child slavery or dying of a dreadful disease like hepatitis or cholera? Why am I literate?

I have yet to find an answer, except for the fact that I was saved to be part of the change I seek. By participating in various tours of Haiti and being an advocate and a voice for them, maybe the time machine will work properly – showing the magnificent place Haiti will be, with diligence and hard work.

*Fleurinor is working on dual master’s degrees in divinity and social work at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, a United Methodist school in Evanston, Ill., and Loyola University, Chicago.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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