Questions NOT to ask when you are in Haiti. . .

February 1st, 2012
I have so many stories from the 2 trips that I have taken to Haiti in the past 8 months. I am going to start trying to write some of them down so that I do the trips the justice they are due. I think I will start by sharing some stupid questions that I asked while in Haiti. If you know me you know I am never short on what to ask someone. I should have been an interrogator because I am great at coming up with questions to ask people. I really do want to know the answers to them too. I am a sticky beak (this is what my college teammate, Jaimie, who is from Australia used to call me) That is a nicer word that calling me nosey. But, some of the questions I asked my interpreter to ask people in Haiti were really dumb. . . live in learn right? So here they go. . .
1. I asked a 12-year old boy, what is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? He smirked and said, "ANYTHING!!". Now, remember people in Haiti don't get to be picky like we are in America. He doesn't ask him mom in the morning to make him a waffle or doesn't get to ask his dad to stop by the donut shop on the way to school. He eats anything he can get. If he is lucky that day he actually gets to eat period. One meal. Anything!!
2. I asked a lady that was very pregnant, "when are you due?". Our translator, JR, who spoke English well, didn't know what I was trying to say. After explaining to him that I was trying to figure out when her baby was coming he asked her the question. She wasn't sure. I later was told that women in Haiti have no concept of when there baby will be born because they have no concept of time. It's not like they check their calendar daily and have a due date or even a due month. The MOH president told us that many ladies think that they are pregnant for 3 years!!
3. When going around to different "houses" (I have to put a quote around the word house because it is NOTHING like what we think of as a house in America) to pray with people I kept asking, "what can I pray with you about? Or do you have any prayer request? Well in a country that has very little food and hardly any jobs, and virtually no medical care you can probably guess everyone's answer to me. They would say, "I need food, I need a job, I am sick (or my baby is sick). After about the 15th house, JR told me to stop asking what they need and just pray for them!! You would think I would have caught on before he had to tell me!