Privileges of the "First World"

After a few weeks in a developing country and living within minimal but still very nice accommodations(running water, WiFi, electricity...), I have been able to compare my childhood to those of the children I see everyday. Where they live and what they must do in order to survive are truly amazing... and it's all done with a smile.  Instead of using the term 'third-world', I used 'developing country', because we all live in one world. However, it doesn't always feel like that. Being brought up in a healthy and safe environment where education was not a privilege but a requirement, I realize more and more how lucky I truly am to be an from the United States. Our standard of living is really the best it could possible be. Of course, the US has its problems and not everywhere in the US has this standard of living. Haiti, as an entire nation, does not have the same infrastructure as the United States, which adds to the lack in healthcare, lack of education, and huge amounts of disease such as HIV/AIDS, typhoid, malaria, cholera and dehydration. And it is not just acute/infectious diseases. There are many undiagnosed chronic diseases as well (I have noticed this just based off of my asthma surveys!).

The complaints that we have as Americans are so small that it is beginning to make me cringe. Not having air condition during the summer, working two jobs, worried about selling that third car because you have a job that pays less, a couple that both have to work yet still can afford a car for each person, complaining about college, high school or homework, or complaining about gas prices when you own a Dodge Ram. Haitians do not have the luxury to even think to complain about these sorts of things nor will they ever understand what it means to complain about such things. Haitians as a whole do not have running water. Every morning I see young girls and women carrying a 5 gallon bucket of water from the water pump on their heads back home for their supply of the day, keeping a smile on their face and saying "Bonjou! Kouman ou ye?" Oh and it is hot in the Caribbean, close to 100 degrees most days and no there is no air conditioning and no hot water. Electricity is not always reliable and proper drainage for when it rains does not exist, making the roads and walk ways turn into streams.

Americans and the western world for that matter really do not understand how lucky we are to even have the problems that we do. Only after all of our basic needs are met can be complain about a small house or a bad job or lack of income or not wanting to get up for school. (Haitian Home)

However, with all of these set backs for the Haitian people, I am truly inspired and truly grateful to be around people who work hard, have a desire to learn, and not taking anything they have for granted. The Haitian American Caucus is a community based approach. Working with my students, the students who attend the school, and being neighbors with Haitians have proven

to me how privileged I am and how much I need to give back. This experience has reinforced my desire to help people through education and possibly medicine. I plan to continue serving others before I serve myself. I have had enough privileged to last a lifetime and sharing with the world what has been offered to me will be my ultimate goal. The first 22 years (almost 23!) of my life have been focused on me and making my future bright. Now, I am to the point where I can continue to get an education, while helping make others lives better, starting with my master's thesis revolving around pediatric asthma in Haiti and bringing attention to the Croix-des-Bouquets community. I am truly humbled by everything that I see and only good things can come from continuing to share my knowledge. (This women is getting a water filter and bucket for purified water)

"The more I see, the less I know for sure" -John Lennon