The Wonders of Traveling

Destruction everywhere. Buildings of concrete collapsed and in piles surrounded by dust. A complete darkness. I am met by the striking view of the tragedy of 2010, where Haiti and the capital of Port au Prince were hit by a deadly earthquake. People from all over the world joined together to get Haiti back on it's feet. I remember the pictures of a country destroyed and in chaos. There were images that resembled war zones with NGOs desperately trying to help the thousands who had lost family and homes. Now three years after that terrible event, the country still has not risen.

A group of four is singing by the passport control at the airport of Port au Prince. Their song has enchanting Latin-American rhythm and their greeting smiles are still clear in my head. I am traveling with the Norwegian Church Aid and my own school to Haiti to oversee a project called "Green Schools". I am struck by the vision of a country still in ruins and people who do not have any possibilities to get out. Children are walking in the streets and families are living in half-cruched buildings.

I start talking with my driver, Bernard. He is about 30 years old and from Port au Prince. Our conversation is in simple french and we help each other to find the correct words and grammar now and then. He is laughing boldly when I am talking about the stories that I have discovered on my journey to the Caribbean island. About the disoriented and lovely woman in Miami and the frightening, but interesting man from the Netherlands on the plane. The driver and I get along well and I ask him about everything as we are visiting schools and communities. He becomes my self appointed guide and translator.

As we meet different people both in the urban and the rural areas, it strikes me that there are so much laughter and so many smiles on their faces. People I talk to are saying that their lives are though, but that God gives them so much happiness and joy in their everyday life that they can only be grateful. They sing and worship, and ask me if I know the love of God. On this one place where people struggle to have enough food and to have shelter from rain, storms, and the burning sun, they ask me it I have felt the joy and happiness of the world.

I am confused and look at my own "happy" life with everything I could ever have dreamed of. These people have gotten more than many other people in developed countries. They have found the light in the darkness. The have discovered love.