Today we worked with Ben and Cindi Reese, two clinical psychologists from Duke. They did a workshop on stress and relaxation techniques that can be helpful when in stressful situations. At first I was a little critical. I thought some of the people could find the breathing exercises a little juvenile, but by the end I could see that many women benefitted from the workshop and were thankful for the new knowledge. We handed out some snacks during the intermission of the workshop. Some of the women would get food, hide it, and then say that they did not receive anything. I was initially upset when this happened because everyone was lying. I hated that I had to be in a position where I was refusing people and had to say you’re lying I know I gave you food already. But I remembered that during the trip I took to Haiti in October, Missy (the onsite coordinator for FHM) told me that most people will try to take advantage of any situation and that you have to be stern and compassionate at the same time. So I sucked it up and told people that already had food and were lying that we were only giving to people who did not already have anything.

It reminded me of why we were there. While some people were able to come in Haiti and give houses and money, it’s also important to educate people. With knowledge one can consistently overcome obstacles, but with money or food, after it runs out, there’s nothing left. Material things are temporary but knowledge can last a life time.