In May and June of 2017, I visited the poorest country in our Western Hemisphere, Haiti. My visit was to Wholehearted Home, an incredible nonprofit helping break the ever-so-prevalent cycle of poverty. Wholehearted provides a stable home, wrap-around services, and quality care for orphans who have lost both their parents. Haiti is about an eighth the size of Idaho but has 10 million citizens. There are over 300,000 orphans in Haiti.
Haiti is what you might expect from a third world country. Corrupt government, hardly any infrastructure, and over half a million people permanently displaced after the earthquake of 2010. If you can find a bathroom, it is rare the toilet inside has plumbing. If it does have plumbing, be sure to never flush anything down it. All toilet paper and waste must be thrown away in a trash bin as their septic systems are not built for anything more. All trash in Haiti is burned and as you may be able to guess by now, there is no recycling.
Children roam the streets alone. Some with shoes made out of smashed water bottles, tied to the bottom of their feet with string. Many malnourished and hard-pressed to find clean, drinkable water. Natural resources are scarce. Electricity is unreliable when available but in most areas outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, electricity is nonexistent.
Its humidity keeps up with its temperature. 90 degrees, 90% humidity. 100 degrees, 100% humidity. Homes, cars, shops, do not have air conditioning. Mosquitoes and scorpions frequent the air and grounds. Tuberculosis, Malaria, and Chikungunya are constant threats to the population. Much of this I knew before ever stepping foot in Haiti.
But there was something I never anticipated experiencing in my visit: The genuine happiness of Haitians.
In circumstances where many of us would find a number of opportunities to complain - Haitians speak their gratitude. Each and every day I was in their country I observed Haitians taking time out of their day to vocalize what they were grateful for, often multiple times per day.
When I traveled to Haiti with thorough knowledge of its state of affairs I thought I would experience a depressing, tragic country with despondent people. I experienced the exact opposite. Haiti fosters a culture full of love, hope, selflessness, and the crucial element of gratitude.
In the states, I am fortunate enough to observe love, hope, and selflessness almost daily. But I hardly ever hear myself or others vocalizing their gratitude. There are fleeting moments throughout the year, posts you can anticipate around Thanksgiving, but as a whole gratitude is missing from our American culture.
If there is, in fact, a secret to happiness I would argue that vocalizing our gratitude is it.
In my own life, I enjoy taking time to list what I am grateful for each morning either in my head or on paper. But I rarely share it with my friends, family, colleagues, network - let alone complete strangers. I now believe the act of vocalizing our gratitude to one another is paramount.
My challenge to those reading this post (and to myself) is to help us foster a society where gratitude is the default - where conversations surrounding what we are grateful for today become the comfortable norm.
Here's what I know for sure:
Being grateful does not require a special occasion where things are exceptional or better than usual.
You can start being grateful immediately. In this moment.
Your life circumstances do not need to change in order for you to be grateful.
Being grateful does not mean there aren't still things you wish were different or that you could change.
The things you are grateful might have room for improvement or growth - be grateful for them anyway.
And finally, being grateful is not boastful. It's humble. You are not bragging about your life, you are grounding yourself in appreciation.
Gratitude is taking a moment to appreciate aspects of our life, circumstances, selves, and loved ones. As imperfect or miniscule as they may be. Life in Haiti is far from perfect. But if you ask a Haitian how they are in the month of May and they will smile and reply "It's mango season."
Today, I'm grateful for plumbing, air conditioning, and clean water. I'm grateful for shots (woah never thought I'd say that one). I'm grateful for deodorant and showers. I'm grateful for my rights, the laws that protect me and the people who advocate for me. I'm grateful for the privilege to help others and grateful I have the capacity to help others. I'm grateful for my body and my health. I'm grateful for COFFEE!! I'm grateful for my bike, my car, my education. I'm grateful for my home. I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful for my friends. I am grateful that I have been blessed with this life. My life. I am grateful for this incredible lesson on gratitude from a culture that shocked me to my core.
I will be back, Haiti, I love you dearly. But until then I am grateful for the way you welcomed me into your country. Thank you.
And may we all learn to be grateful for the mangoes.
Esther, age 5, came to Wholehearted Orphanage at 5 days old.