I knew when I quit watching television and reading newspapers back in the 90s that the media has an agenda, always, even if I can’t discern the wizard behind the curtains, even if there is more than one wizard. I know (by which I mean I believe) that if there is an honest perspective, it is one of an infinite number.

I feel foolish and not a little hypocritical? Is that the word I mean? Like I have temporarily lost my faith and have just rediscovered it. This is interesting to me because I had not previously thought of it as faith. But my faith is: Remember the source. Don’t trust the media.

I got myself all worked up about the coverage of Haiti. Maybe I was lacking drama, but it seemed like a sincere concern. I am so very, very happy that I didn’t completely break faith, that I checked in with folks on the ground, closed my eyes, and came here anyway.

While I don’t doubt that the warnings to stay away are based on a sincere perspective that is perceiving real risks, they seem to be a very tiny piece of truth when considered against the backdrop of Haitian reality. I’m reading that and trying to figure out if I even came close to what I mean. I have so much information that I could not have gleaned from any media source, and I have so much information that *could* be represented in the media that I’m definitely glad to be here.

I’m glad that I am able to work with the school and my friend, to make plans for the future, and to see for myself. I’m learning to write e-mail and post rough drafts to be sure that I’m letting people know I’m okay before generators run out of gas or batteries die or net connections get interrupted.

So anyway, I am surprised how little time I have to write while I’m here, but it’s not a completely bad thing because I’m seeing so much. I am especially interested by the meeting we had with HaitiAccess about the situation involving fiber that’s been run between Haiti and other Carribean locations and how it’s sitting unused after two years. It makes me realize, between how the media presents Haiti and what I see here, that connecting people so they can speak for themselves actually matters even more than I would have thought.