A Different Perspective - by Erin Conway - Junior at Farmington (CT) High School

Erin Conway is a junior at Farmington (CT) High School. She went to Haiti during a school break with a small group of students and their parents.

One of the most memorable experiences of the trip to Haiti was meeting Barbara Jean Baptiste.

Through the CCD at St. Patrick's Church in Farmington, we have been sponsoring Barbara by paying tuitions that have enabled her to go to school for the past seven years. When we started, she was 11 years old and had never been to school. She is now 18, and she wants to go to school to become a nurse.

Most kids in Haiti cannot afford to go to school at all. Barbara is very lucky.

When we visited Haiti in February, there was still a lot of devastation from the earthquake that had occurred 13 months earlier. When it happened, we were very worried about Barbara. On our second day in Haiti, we got to finally meet her, which was very exciting. We gave her a photo album full of pictures of the kids who have helped to sponsor her, so that she could see how many people care about her.

It was strange coming from Farmington, where many people have a lot of money, to Haiti, where almost everyone has nothing. It was really interesting seeing how Barbara lives and how much we have been helping her.

Going to Haiti really helps in seeing the world from a different perspective.