Real Caribbean Beauty

One thing that I miss about Haiti is the beauty of the island. Since we were constantly surrounded by rubble it was easy to forget that we were working in a tropical Caribbean paradise! Near the end of my trip, we decided to take one day to enjoy the tropical beauty and go to the beach. We visited a few beaches near Leogane......

...but finally decided to travel to a beach resort north of Port-au-Prince for the afternoon. Rony, Zarry (a great friend of ours from Port-au-Prince), Paul (Zarry's brother), and I headed up the highway to the famous "Club Indigo". On our way we passed some of the tent cities out in the country where the government is trying to relocate people who were made homeless by the earthquake.

When we finally got to the resort, I felt like I had arrived in a completely different place...

The Beach at Club Indigo (Formerly Club Med)

The resort was beautiful, the beaches were pristine, the water was warm and I was in heaven. We swam in the clear blue water, walked along the white sand beach, and just lounged around.

Paul, Rony, Britt, Zarry

Rony diving into the pool right next to the beach

As the sun began to set I found myself sitting on a lounge chair underneath a coconut tree gazing out across the water...

I kept thinking that although this was one of the most beautiful places that I had ever seen in my life, this wasn't the beauty that I would always remember when I thought about my experiences in Haiti. I knew that the true beauty of Haiti was found in the faces of the people that we saw everywhere we went. It was the beauty of their faith, kindness, and strength. No sunset or tropical beach could ever compare. Few moments in my life have affected me as strongly as that one. I will always remember my visit to a "real Caribbean beach" and how I came to understand the meaning of true beauty.