Journal Entry – Tuesday January 31, 2012
Ok, I’m completely wiped out, but I do have a couple of “Humbling Observations” for the day.
Humbling Observation #1: One of the questions I’ve been asking the children as part of the interview process is, “Ki manje ou renmen manje” (What is your favorite food to eat)?
Now, I’ve thought about how the typical American kid would answer that question. I’m betting pizza would be the most frequent answer, and stuff like hamburgers and ice cream would probably come up pretty often as well.
So after two days of interviews, guess what the overwhelming majority of Haitian children say is their favorite food?
Rice. Two thirds or more of the time, they just say rice.
A few times I’ve gotten “rice with bean sauce,” and today I got a “rice and vegetables with bean sauce.” “Corn” comes up every once in awhile, but doesn’t seem nearly as popular. My favorite answer so far was the little girl today from the village of Robert who said “boiled bananas.”
So think about living in a country where your favorite food – literally, the most exciting food you ever got to eat – was rice. Then contrast that with the kids I know – and you probably know, too – that will refuse to eat pizza if it doesn’t have exactly what they want on it.
Ah, yes…a little perspective.
Humbling Observation #2: Similar. Another one of the questions I’ve been asking the children as part of the interview process is, “Ki travay ou konn fe la kay ou” (What chores do you help with at home)?
More than half the kids – boys and girls, even the teeny tiny ones – will tell you that one of their chores is “going to fetch water to carry back to my home.”
Again…a bit of perspective.
