Forget Every Negative Thing You Heard About Haiti
Forget Every Negative Thing You Heard About Haiti
Waves becoming one with the shore, sunshine glistening on the highest palm trees, and mountains so high they literally touched the sky. Waking up to mornings like this made the hustle and bustle of my New York City lifestyle a distant memory.
Flashback to a few months ago I was contemplating how I wanted to welcome a new year of life. I thought of all the super fancy tropical destinations, like Cabo, Santorini and Bora Bora, but somehow they didn't feel right. It's almost as if I was being pulled by gravity to select a destination less traveled. A place I the world needed to get more familiar with. Then it dawned on me to get back to my roots and travel to Haiti. Although I was born in America my parents are of Caribbean decent, mom was born in Kingston Jamaica and my dad is from the countryside of Aquin, Haiti. Traveling to Jamaica for the first time last year pushed me further to travel back to Haiti especially since I haven't been in 20 years.
Of course, if I was traveling to Haiti I had to do it in style, so I decided to invite some of my best girls. The turn up was too real! Like one LIT day after the next! When people think of Haiti they often times don't have the best things to say, but I can assure you they are WRONG, and as my wise prolific friend keysha said: "Forget every negative thing they ever told you about Haiti"!
Haiti is the most mountainous Caribbean destination in the world and the beaches have some of the most beautiful bluest waters I’ve ever seen. Let me not forget to mention the most delicious 5 sense grabbing eats and drinks for all my foodie lovers. As well as the most creative and eccentric culture that you cannot find anywhere else's in the world.
Three and a half Haitians, one and a half Jamaican and one African stylishly took on Haiti! One of my favorite parts of our trip had to be when we all went to Mission of Grace to do work with the local kids from the orphanage. Often times as Americans we tend to live our lives in “First world problems”, but after traveling to a third world country and seeing how humble and happy those kids were with little to nothing really touched my heart. The spark in their eyes, their laughs especially my sweet pumpkin’s Gabrielle and Claude truly meant everything to me. I found a new purpose being with them, and those kids really defined for me what really matters in life. Just hearing some of their stories and seeing how triumphant they’ve become truly inspired us all. Now, don’t get me wrong I know that children like this exist all over the world, but actually being there and witnessing it first hand really takes its toll on you. You realize that all the things you complain about don’t really matter at all. I really want to express my deepest gratitude to the children of Grace and thank them for gifting me with the true treasures of life.
After enjoying the beach side of Haiti and the Children of Grace we packed up and toured the side of Pétion-Ville. The city was so colorful, lively and had such an infectious energy. We quickly tapped into that as we got ready for our fashionable monochromatic photo-shoot with my stylist friend The B-Stinger. Overall our trip to Haiti was so EPIC! I really enjoyed every moment and I’m constantly finding myself reminiscing on all of our beautiful memories!
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