LIVEALITTLE

At about 2p today, Haiti experienced a tremor. I was in mid-conversation with one of our translators when he interrupted me and said 'Did you feel that?'. Honestly, I did not notice anything. But all the Haitians did and it was the talk of the day. The tremor has been described as the shaking you feel when a large truck drives past you. Being a city dweller most of my life, I must have learned to ignore that sensation! It goes to show that 5 months later, everyone is still extremely on edge and fearful of another traumatic earthquake.

When I first arrived, I inquired about every Haitians whereabouts and their experience during the quake. Everyone has a sad story and everyone knows at least one person who died. Having seen the 2nd plane hit and experienced September 11th (but not knowing anyone who died), I recall my 6 month recovery of numbing despair and sadness. Haitians have lived through so so much worse. So today, I've decided to officially stop asking. In our clinics, we see many people with trouble eating, trouble sleeping and struggling to cope with post-traumatic stress. Repeatedly retelling their traumatic experience to blancs so soon must not be therapeutic. How insensitive I have been. I can't imagine what must be going on in their heads as they strive to look towards a hopeful future as well as grapple with the painful present and past.