Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Haiti was once a slave country ruled by France, and the slaves successfully revolted and won the battle (1791-1804), but had to pay for their independence or France would launch a war at them. They lost their wealth buying their independence off of France and have been ever since. In 2010, Haiti was struck by an enormous earthquake and the capitol building, along with thousands of other buildings ended up destroyed. Many of those who lost their homes survive with two dollars a day and two pairs of clothes.

During the month of March, I traveled to Haiti for a week with about 10 other missionaries in an attempt to help out by bringing supplies, and building houses. When we arrived at Port Au’ Prince, the country’s capitol, the temperature was a burning 85°degrees with 100 percent humidity. As I looked out the window minutes before landing I noticed bright blue shores, but right next to them a grey-brown glob of pollution in the water coming from a neighborhood.

We landed in a grass field, where I could spot some planes that must have been on the ground during the earthquake that occurred January 2010, for their wings were snapped or they had no wheels. We left the airport on a bus that was sent for us from the shelter, and passed large but not very tall buildings with razor wire fences.