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The First of Many

My name is Becca, and I am a Haiti Adoption Caseworker for Children of All Nations. Welcome to my blog! Some of you may know me as their personal caseworker, many of you have never met me. I am not writing this blog to increase the size of my caseload or to convince you to pursue adoption. I am writing this blog to dissect just how joyful, sweaty, depressing, humbling, and rewarding visiting and working in Haiti has been for me. Perhaps you have been to Haiti yourself, and you can relate to the emotions I will describe in this blog. This story, like many, will start from the beginning and will firstly focus on first impressions. Many say that first impressions are everything, right?
*View from a creche in Port-au-Prince, Haiti*

When I accepted the position as CAN's Haiti Adoption Caseworker, I knew I was taking on a big task. Not only did the job entail working diligently on cases from a computer in a comfortable and cozy office, but it involved traveling to and working in Haiti 3-4 times a year - a task that many do not find glamorous. As for myself, I was all hands on deck! 

Now, lets talk about first impressions. That is, after all, what this first post is all about. First impressions were everything when I initially became the new Haiti Caseworker. The amazing caseworker that I replaced made a lasting impression on many families, and they were understandably very distraught and sad when she moved on. However, I did not let this deter me in doing my absolute best in creating a great relationship with the families who were just getting to know me. I know the adoption process is very emotional, time-consuming, and exhausting. I understand this even more now that I have visited so many amazing children.

I will now jump a little ahead and discuss my first impression of Haiti after visiting for the first time. I have traveled to many countries all over the world; most of them were third world. As a seasoned "third world traveler" I did not expect Haiti to make the impression on me that it did in terms of poverty. In fact, I used to live in Burma, one of the most impoverished and corrupt countries in Southeast Asia. However, Haiti was something else to me. It was striking to see the living conditions of many Haitian people in and around the capital city, Port-au-Prince. I understand that these view points stem from my first time in Haiti. I have much to see and learn to fully understand the complexities behind the countries poverty, but this is about first impressions. The level of poverty is so severe in Haiti that it is one of the main reasons why so many children live in creches. Mothers, fathers, and grandparents surrender children to creches so they and the child will have a chance to survive. Can you imagine? Put yourself in the position of these Haitian parents who are forced to make such an unfair and cruel decision. 

Just thinking about this now makes me want to hug my parents. 

*On my first trip to Haiti with a little girl in a creche*

To wrap up my first blog post, I will tell you about the first time I met our CAN's Haitian rep and generous hosts. It was very important to me to present myself well to the people of Haiti, especially those who I worked with. I do not speak any Haitian-Creole, the lingua franca of Haiti, but I do know a little French, which is basically half of what Haitian-Creole consists of. Let me be clear in saying that me knowing a 'little French' really means I do not know any French. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful and very humbling experience to meet the Haitian's that work with our agency (I'm sure they also got quite a laugh at how silly I looked most of the time, especially when I was trying to speak French). Every last Haitian I met was so hard working and managed to persevere through the odds. I can only hope that they see me in the same light. After all, we all have the same goal in working to improve the lives of the most vulnerable children in Haiti. 



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