You Are What You Write

"We would appreciate your assistance in obtaining a future as one does not appear to be on our horizon." So reads a letter dropped in a collection box at a refugee camp in Haiti. Not long ago, the International Organization for Migration posted boxes at camps to enable residents to vent their displeasure and/or make anonymous complaints. While they expected perhaps a handful of letters, they have been surprised at the volume of responses.

The Solipsist was struck by the eloquence. The sentence above was one such example. We wonder whether the letter--presumably translated from French or Creole--was cleaned up in translation. At any rate, it impresses with its plaintive tone and imagery. Another letter reads, "I give glory to God that I am still alive--but I would like to stay that way!" Mordant wit lives in the refugee camps.

We constantly try to impress upon our students the power of the written word, the importance of clear communication. We tell our students that, when they write, they should always consider that these words, this piece of paper, will represent them to whoever reads it. When we read these letters--admittedly a small sample of a large and probably uneven collection--we feel the people behind the words. In a place where it would seem all too easy to become just another tiny anonymous victim, these letters speak to the humanity and individuality of suffering.