I had been donating to a special type of medical mission to Haiti for years. By special I mean it was one guy in Nevada raising money to send Haitians to medical school in Port Au Prince to become nurses and doctors. He was very hands-on, visiting them a few times a year for academic reviews and to supply food and textbooks.
In 2017 I was invited to accompany him. Time to put away my checkbook and lace up the boots.
Departure
I was told to pack everything I needed in a single backpack which I would live out of for the week. I would also be checking three 70 lb. suitcases. They were full of food and textbooks because if you were a medical student in Haiti you didn’t have time to work so an advocate was required. To help feed you. You can’t learn on a growling stomach.
The primary goal of the trip was to visit each student, evaluate their academic performance for continued support and feed them. We spent the week driving around the area to do this in person. I was only stopped once and asked if I was a mercenary.
Here I am dragging one of these beasts of a suitcase down a long warren of paths to the student’s home. Her sleeping mat was stowed in the rafters during the day since it was the main room she shared with her family. You have to understand this is a country so poor they can’t even afford cigarettes.
My point in writing this, here on our national day of thanksgiving, is just as the title says - to offer you a small mirror to invite you to evaluate your station in life. In the West we are surrounded by advertising that 100% of which pushes the narrative that you would be happier if you bought Product X. The premise is that you cannot be happy right now without it. This is like a dog chasing its tail.
So today, when you are hopefully sharing the communion of a meal with your family or friends, take a quiet minute to spend in reflection. St. James admonished us to not look at ourselves in a mirror and then go away, immediately forgetting what we look like.