A Note From the Author:
The poverty here is so different from any other type of poverty I have seen. It is unlike homelessness in cities, it is unlike what I saw in South Africa, and it is unlike what I saw in Port-au-Prince. Here in Cange it is very bizarre, and I think it has to do with the presence of the hospital. Since we are in such a rural place, there is not the same kind of wall to wall living, and it seems most people have a house, no matter how small, and what it is made of. The population density is way lower here to, so the presence of poverty is not as obvious, but that is why it i so interesting. With the hospital's campus being a central point of the village, and a hub for foreign visitors, it is also a place where the poverty of the area shows through. Every night there are some amount of people that make their way onto the campus, as it is open to the public at all hours in case of medical need. These people will place themselves strategically so visitors will either have to walk by them, or in some cases talk to them to get by. Now I must be careful in how I explain this. These people are by no means wrong in what they are doing and I hold nothing against them for it, but it is hard, emotionally, to pass by so many people, and even turn away others, when your surroundings don't look like the place where poverty would be an issue. Each night marks a hard fall back to reality as I walk back to my room, or walk to see some cool night critter, namely this on tarantula we have befriended. This new emotional stress, coupled with what I saw in South Africa, and in see in our own country, and what I have read, and heard from around the world inspired this cry for help, for a solution to a pandemic that doesn't seem to be getting cured, and the turmoil that we cannot even understand, and yet I feel I came as close as possible for someone lucky enough to have a life like I do.
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