Taking notes from the Haitian culture

Bonjour d’ Haiti!!!! For a bit over two weeks now, my friends and I have been staying here at the Children's Lifeline compound about an hour and a half outside of Port-au-Prince. Although I've been on a mission trip to Haiti before about 3 years ago, this trip broke my expectations in both positive and negative ways. Recognizing both the magnificent natural beauty of the land and the tremendous faith of the people, I've grown to appreciate and even love the country. My prayer is that well-intentioned humanitarians don't simply Americanize the area in an effort to "help." Although they may need material aid, I don't believe Haitians need the consumerism and faith-diminishing self-reliance that can dominate the western world. They are poor, the poorest in the western hemisphere actually, but they are also rich in spiritual vitality, relationships, and work ethic. Interestingly, there seems to be an inverse relationship between our culture and theirs in a generalized sense. Where they are lacking we have excess and where we need improvement they have plenty. One thing in particular that I have noticed and rather envy about the Haitian culture is their ability to simply be. Without distractions and busy schedules, many of the locals simply sit on a porch silently observing the surrounding world. Admittedly, with my personality type, that’s a skill I need to learn. Decelerating life is a virtue that doesn't come naturally to me. I've begun growing in that aspect by giving myself at least 5 minutes of uninterrupted silence at night to simply meditate and listen to God. Nearly all Christians claim a yearning to, “hear from God” and receive direction and inspiration, but how can we ever hope for such a blessing when we never carve out time to drown out the noise? We could all take a lesson or two from the Haitians, who seem to have all the time and patience in the world to think and listen.