Rainbeau Seitz

As you’re probably aware, this week marked the 6-month anniversary of the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. About a week after the earthquake struck, I visited Labadee, Haiti for a day. I wish I could tell you that I was there for a noble cause, but in reality I was on a cruise and it is just one of Royal Caribbean’s ports of call. RC has spent millions of dollars improving Labadee into a place suitable for tourists. So when disaster hit Haiti in January, Royal Caribbean made it clear that they would not stop bringing travelers to the beaches of Labadee. VP Jon Weis said (source):

We also have tremendous opportunities to use our ships as transport vessels for relief supplies and personnel to Haiti. Simply put, we cannot abandon Haiti now that they need us most.

As we stepped onto the dock in Labadee, we were greeted with stacks upon stacks of palettes. By the days end, our ship gave UN soldiers 60 palettes of food, bottled water (you know, the really safe kind that has sat out in the sun and absorbed all the chemicals from the plastic bottles) and medical supplies.

I do think it’s great that Royal Caribbean has given so much money to Haiti, and did take advantage of their ships to transport supplies. But, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel contrived that they had all these goods on display next to where their passengers were walking. As if us seeing RC giving aid gave us permission to enjoy ourselves guilt-free while we were only hours away from those dealing with the catastrophe.

What was so interesting to me, was that all the Haitians I encountered and talked to had a “Such is life” outlook on the earthquake. I didn’t meet a single person who knew someone that lived in Port-au-Prince or someone that was directly affected by the earthquake. The guys I met spoke of the capital city the way one who lived in the midwest might have talked about New York City a couple decades ago: It was an alluring metropolis a long bus ride away that none of them had visited. Maybe Royal Caribbean instructed them to omit their experiences or stories of family in Port-au-Prince. I’ll never know.

I had a great day in Labadee. Certainly not a guilt-free day. We were comforted by the fact that every dollar we spent on the island went to Haiti relief. Sadly I know if I had the chance to finally visit Port-au-Prince today, not much would look different than it did that day I spent on the other side of the island 6 months ago.