Kerby Samedi, May 2006 Haitian Heritage Month Essay Contest Second Place Winner

“How Can I Contribute to the Improvement of My Home Country, Haiti?”
My home country Haiti is in need of help. Thinking about everything that needs to be done for Haiti, sometimes I ask myself if we can even do half of what is on my list. People often say, “Hope makes life”, so I keep on hoping because I know if I die without helping my country in any way, my soul might not be able to rest in peace. My concern is how am I going to do accomplish the goals I have for helping Haiti? Who will be there to help me with this dream?
I know living a life in Haiti is not easy; there are only two classes, the high class and the low class. There is no middle class so people who are middle class simply join the lower class, the poor class, which means the majority of the people in Haiti are suffering. I lived in Haiti for fifteen years, and I understand how frustrating it is for many people who live in Haiti. This is why I want to help my fellow Haitians. I want to help the Haitian children,

and I want to help them for many reasons. The first reason that drives me to help is because they are not strong enough to survive all the misery that surrounds them. There are some places in Haiti, where children are dying everyday; many die before they turn four years old, because they do not have somebody to take care of them. These children have infections and they don’t have health care either.
My first dream for these children is to build a well - equipped health care center. These children need care, they gather germs from anywhere and without immunizations, they are growing up with diseases in their bodies. I have plans to build a big orphanage, so the children will have a better life, they will feel protected, and they will be able to smile. Due to all the pain they have endured during their short lives they can count on one hand the times they smiled. Many Haitian children are dying from kwashiorkor, others are abandoned; either the mothers know that they will not be able to take care of their children, so as soon as they give birth to them, they throw them away in the garbage, and many just stay there and die.
Haiti needs help, a lot of help. I cannot stop the tears from my eyes when I see these poor children, they really can’t stand on their own two feet, and they need someone who is willing to stand for them. After feeding their poor bodies, giving cure to them my dream will not stop there, for, their minds need to be fed too. I know it is important to stand for someone when he is in need of help, but this work will not be completed if the children aren’t shown how to stand by themselves and then how to help others stand on their own feet. I want to build a really good school, because I know that among the children, there are many with hidden potential just waiting to be discovered. You can’t even imagine how many future doctors, engineers, lawyers, ministers, etc. who are hidden among these children. They only need the key of education to open the door to their potential. These children need help, help to survive, and help to live.
I know that it’s not an easy task, and it is a big dream; a dream that needs to be realized. Life is all about daring to dream and taking risks. If I am not willing to work for my goals I can’t expect others to. When I start realizing all these big dreams, I know there will be people standing in line to help, because many have the same dream. I know that I am an ordinary girl but I am willing to do extraordinary things. I refuse to be the girl who only thinks like a hero, I want to be a hero, because these children need a hero to help them find a way out of their battle with life, so the next move is mine to make.