The tragedy in Haiti was obviously well broadcasted, and many fund-raising actions took place in order to raise money for the recovery. Interestingly I didn’t hear as much about what the people in Haiti felt, but predominately heard of the effects and attempts from external help towards the recovery attempts.
So I took it upon myself to find video coverage of people in Haiti and ended up on a CNNWorld page with video clips of different Haitian Orphans. Not surprisingly, like any event or situation, I heard many different opinions. The first young gentleman explained that he doesn’t want to leave, and eat by faith. He is a man who feels it is his duty to get a job and provide for food. The next orphan highlighted how everything is broken and he hopes to move to America and have a better life for his education and family. This is where I stopped.
Growing up in America I was always taught of the immigration and Ellis Island and the illusion that people thought the streets were paved with gold. Although I won’t deny that there are great opportunities in the U.S, I have to worry about plausibility. Are people continuously going to flow into the U.S in hopes of a better life, or is America just going to find more people living on the streets, and without food? It is estimated that over 3.5 million people are considered homeless in a given year in the U.S and a large portion of that is due to a lack of affordable housing.
It would be ignorant to believe that the U.S is worse off than people in places like Haiti, where the overall economy and standard of living is below that of the U.S. However, being homeless is being homeless. I was “homeless” for 5 days in a campaign to raise money and awareness for youth homelessness in Vancouver and I worry about those who have to fight that battle. Where is the line drawn between the haves and the have-nots, and what are the chances of jumping that line?