It was beautiful in Burlington. Our first weekend back after nearly a month of travel to friends and family all over the country, and the snowpack was melting in 40 degrees of sunshine. Families flooded the farmers market, smiling; we visited friends outside the city and skated on a frozen marsh. Our dog chased some cows. Katlyn talked pregnancy shop with friends - with some of the many others who know damn well that this is the place to raise a child. This is why I want to be here, now and always.
But I also want to be in Haiti. The facebook news feed reads like an airport terminal at the start of a war - one friend from Peace Corps departing New Orleans for Port-au-Prince, another departing from D.C. for Jacmel. Three friends of mine from PCDR attended a technology-focused brainstorming session in D.C. today - how to help the relief effort with database coordination, satellite imagery interpretation, etc. - and I couldn't tear myself away from the computer for hours this morning, hoping to get a call for help with the mapping at least. I registered for Peace Corps Response yesterday, though I think this might be the worst possible time for me to pick up and head South without pay for a few months.
Another friend blogged today about how sick he is of hearing people talk about going to Haiti to help - how "It isn't like a community trash clean up project with rubber gloves and bottled water." I spent time with him around Cap Haitien four years ago. He knows what he's talking about. Haiti doesn't need hangers-on, however well-intentioned. But the thing is that I can help. The people in Port-au-Prince still need water, and I've built aqueducts in that very environment. Aid agencies need information on navigating the new landscape of rubble and roadblocks, and I'm a satellite imagery analyst. I could be useful, but from here I'm useless. It's infuriating.
I start a PhD in agroecology on Monday. I become a father in June. I've never felt so restless before in my life, and it has nothing to do with the usual suspects like fear of commitment or trepidation about parenthood. Where does this lead? Burlington? D.C.? Ouanaminthe?
