Since returning from Haiti I have tried to identify the most unsettling aspect of my experience there. Conventional wisdom says it would be the sheer magnitude of the disaster, which experts say we can’t fully grasp. But for me there was something more subtle and insidious which I suspect has been steadily eroding the Haitian psyche and threatens to hinder their ability to recover successfully.
In a word, ‘eyesore’; defined as ‘something unpleasant to look at’.
It may seem trivial but I believe it to be truly malevolent.
I encountered graffiti, rubble, garbage, broken vehicles, burning tires, etc. virtually everywhere I went. Eyesores on steroids!
How does this affect the spirit of those living amidst the blight? I know how I feel when things are a mess and how I am energized when things are neat and clean. If beauty can cause the soul to soar, what does ugliness do?
By Scott Whiting, former Rochester Area resident, recently spent 2 months in Port au Prince running a warehouse distributing donated medical supplies. Scott has served as Vice President for International Aid and is currently President of a Warehouse Distrubution Company. Click here to find out how you could get involved in Haiti relief too.
About Tom and Ann Gendich
