Although Haiti is one of the most impoverished countries in the Western world, Emily Beers is eager to make the trip to gain some perspective on her life, which was previously filled only with thoughts of competing in the CrossFit Games Open.
For Beers’ friend Julie Roberts, it’s her 13th time traveling to Haiti.
“I have a lot,” Roberts explains. “I have so much in my life, and I have had a lot of really cool experiences, and I have a good family, and I have so much opportunity being born in Canada, but something that’s always gotten to me is people suffering.”
In addition to Beers and Roberts, Kane Morgan and Jessica Coulter make their way to the chaotic Port Au Prince airport and then finally to the tiny village of McDonald. Shortly after arrival, two women show up at Roberts’ temporary home to offer their cooking—chicken, rice, beans and mangoes—to the visitors.
“Right away they had food for us,” Coulter says. “They’re very lovely people. They’re very welcoming.”
Afterward, with no electricity to light her hand, Beers starts to write the old-fashioned way: with pen and paper.
“I just feel very overwhelmed,” she says.
Video by Carey Peterson.
15min 11sec
HD file size: 275 MB
SD mov file size: 103 MB
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Additional reading: Three Days in Haiti, Part 1: Meet Julie Roberts by Emily Beers, published June 3, 2013.