la esperanza.

there is so much swirling around in my head.

in the past week, i experienced my first earthquake. have had my mind changed about the interests of dominican people. hosted a trip from my brother. bought $230 USD of food for relief work. looked for my housekeeper who, i now know, continues to look for family.

on top of that, amely is on a sleep strike. samil is waking up at night. and i'm back full swing in classes. and this weekend we have plans to pick up a neice to spend the "fun" weekend with us.

i'm exhausted.

but i can not imagine the exhaustion of those in haiti - haitian and foreign, victims and relievers. the seemingly inexhaustable help that has arisen in santiago - and the dominican republic as a whole blows my mind.

haiti has always had a special place in my heart. from the cute soccer player in high school to the visits before my kids were born. it's a land of poverty, of destitution. of sadness. but also filled with people who would give their lives for you, people who would give you their last grain of rice to make you feel at home.

there are a lot of haitians in the DR. working the same menial jobs that immigrants all throughout the world work. trying to make a better life for those they left behind.

my hope, mi esperanza, is that this relief doesn't just wear out. that seeing haiti doesn't get old. that when the capitol is rebuilt, it's rebuilt to sustain a government that functions, functionaries who work for the people and not for their wallets. that the UN and the NGOs step up their game and start giving hands up instead of hand outs.

and i hope that the dominican people continue to shine. to show that they are not selfish, egoist, racists as they've too often been in the past. that we continue to see those stories of dominicans and haitians working together with mutual respect and hope.

for the future.