A final chapter in an emotional Haiti story (Posted 7/6/2010 12:37 pm)
By Christopher Amos

Editor, Alvarado Star

I wrote a commentary about Haiti and two people who are very close to my family in a January Alvarado Star.

Crystal, whom we affectionately call “our other daughter,” is a professional photographer and a dear family friend. She married Dominique, a young and brilliant U.S. diplomat, just a few months before the couple went to work at the American Embassy in Haiti.

They are so much like family that our home is their legal address when they are out of the country.

Photographing the scenic vistas and beautiful people of Port-au-Prince, working at the embassy and volunteering at an orphanage was a dream honeymoon for the couple.

Then the earthquake happened.

In my article, “Haiti Changed My Heart,” I shared how I was once distanced in my mind from world disasters until I had loved ones involved in one.

I felt compelled to share the final chapter of that story now that their two years in Haiti is finished.

They came back to the United States last week and spent a weekend with them at our home before doing some traveling in the states and readying for their next adventure abroad in three months.

I asked them frankly if there were any thoughts they would like to share with readers about the experience.

“I think it is going to take a long time for me to parse that experience,” Dom started. “There were so many lessons I learned that I don’t know what effected me the most. Even though we are back home, it is hard to explain how it feels.”

Throughout the ordeal, Crystal, who communicated with us more than Dom, remained positive and tried to dwell on the strength of the people rather than their tragedy.

“I couldn’t take pictures of that. I was too close,” she said of the death and destruction. “I was a little sickened by the reporters. Those were our friends lying dead and to me it was way too close to home. This is not how I wanted people to see Haiti – those bodies everywhere.”

Dominique and Crystal did some art shopping before they came back to the states for gifts and to help the struggling artists. He described some of the art as depicting Haiti people with white people photographing them.

Crystal said that she could not touch her camera for weeks after the earthquake.

In time, she began a blog with wonderful photos of Haiti workers — especially women and people at her orphanage — working, smiling and putting their lives back together. The Haiti people are “the strongest people in the world,” she said.

“Some of our coworkers — their entire families were killed while they were at work. They lost their family and their home and they still came to work every day,” Crystal recalled. “Marcus — his mother, wife all three children were all dead and he still came to work and he still smiled.”

The day my friends parted, I asked if they had a special organization that people may donate to. They suggested an artists guild, Fondam,  established by — of all people — a Texas artist who has been living in Haiti for 30 years. The market for Haiti art has been cut off because locals can not afford art and it will be years before tourists travel to the country. My friends explained that supporting art supports the Haiti economy and helps keep the arts alive in the country.

The site has Haiti art, poetry, stories of progress and a link to donate to the artists.



Visit the “Haiti Art” link at www.alvaradostar.net

Search “Haiti” on the Alvarado Star web site to find the original “Haiti Changed My Heart” commentary.