One of the places we visited while we were in Haiti was an orphanage. There were 25 children living there in standards that were above many of their peers in terms of food and shelter. The younger children were very excited to see us. The older kids looked wary. They were all very polite and well mannered. They all looked cared for.
What was hard for me was taking their pictures and having my picture taken with them. It's likely that these children have posed for many people coming through. My discomfort was potentially treating the children like props more than people.
I know it's important to have visuals when we share our experience back home so others can see what we are referring to. But I didn't get into the lives of these children at all. I don't know their stories. We just moved in, took the pictures, took the tour and moved on. I feel a real danger of becoming a poverty tourist. See the sights and head back to my comfortable life.
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