See For Yourself
When my friend Howard told me he was going to Haiti I wasn’t surprised. We’re both nonprofit geeks so I wondered what charity signed him up. I was a bit awestruck when he said that he was booking a two-week return ticket “just to see” what Haiti was like. His curiosity was piqued after speaking with his Haitian friends who told him that the “real Haiti” was not being portrayed in media reports.
“What took me aback the most was when my friends told me about the people. They described a population with true fight, pride, perseverance, and ingenuity. They didn’t sound like the type of people who needed to be rescued.”
So he packed his camera and with an open mind visited several villages. We spoke via Google Chat for much of his trip; his daily dispatches with photos making me further question the reporting that I read over the past 11 months. Then again I was a reporter so I question media reports anyway.
When he returned he shared countless raw photos with me and I helped him with minor edits to his website. I was stunned by the images that he captured and the stories that he brought back. This was more proof of a maxim that I think more of us could live by: go and see for yourself.
It’s true that we are a world connected more now than ever by technology. We have each become a clearinghouse for news shot from one side of the globe to the small corners we inhabit. By collecting these bits of information we feel informed, wiser, and generally in-the-know. But for all its promise, media, social or otherwise, can never replace actually being there, seeing it for yourself.We have five senses. As children we explored the world with each of these abilities. We inspected the world around us, putting things in our mouths, under our noses, rolled around in our fingers, held up to the light for a closer look, and put a close ear to the ground to see what we could learn.
So when did we start being satisfied by stories related to us through text or video? At what age did we stop reaching out blindly to touch the world around us? Had we been burned too many times by the stove that we kept our hands in our pockets? Or was it because there was too much to see and we wanted to take it all in?
There is always room for learning and growth. I have seen my fair share of the world, studying and traveling abroad, but I have room in my soul for a million times those experiences. We all do. When it comes to exploration, we are never finished. Even those leading in their particular fields continue to probe because they get it. The world is a big place, made larger by virtual realities that allow us to share our experiences. But does this sharing keep the tactile world just out of our reach? Have we become comfortable consuming the experiences of others because we want to see it all rather than explore a few areas in more depth?
For some of us the answer is of course yes. Too many people are satisfied to let the information drip in, pooling around their senses until it dulls the world. If done right however, these stories encourage people to get up, get out, and grab the world by the balls. It’s not a pretty phrase but it has a case. When was the last time you connected to your community by leaving the comfort of its edges?
I understand that today’s technology has opened up a world previously known to far fewer members of the population. There have been amazing strides and it is certainly a better world for many applications that allow us to share ideas and learn from each other. Just don’t get too comfortable. It’s in all of us to be in the world, holding on for dear life, and refusing to let go. After all, that’s where the content comes from.
Visit Portraits of the Other Side: Haiti to view more of Howard’s visit and the people he met.
