Post-earthquake Haiti Film Could Make You Rethink Personal Complaints

I met the independent filmmakers of a documentary called Lift Up on Sunday that tells the story of post-earthquake Haiti in a way I never dreamed I would see.

This story was told from the perspective of two Haitian brothers who returned to their homeland after the quake who don’t just see the island country as the “poorest nation in the western hemisphere” as it is often described.

And after watching the film, it reaffirmed one of my most vehemently held beliefs: the way we handle tragedy may be even more important than the circumstances surrounding a situation.

Hugens Jean and Philip Knowlton, who went to UMBC together showed their film to a small group Sunday afternoon in the Wheeler Auditorium at the central branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Public Library in Baltimore. Then they answered questions about their filmmaking experience.

The two traveled to Haiti last year to document Jean’s return to his native land to fulfill a promise he made to his grandfather Andre Torchon who died shortly after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake.

Jean and his brother Clifford Muse had years earlier promised their grandfather they would serve as his pallbearers and wear white to his funeral. But when he died they couldn’t get a flight into Haiti because much of the country was still in disarray.

When Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port au Prince reopened, they took Knowlton along to capture their story on film. The trip soon became as much about celebrating the Haitian survivors as it was about Jean and Muse paying tribute to their late grandfather.

 “The earthquake had caused pieces of my memory to crumble,” said Jean. “Everything as a kid was so magical.”

After the earthquake nearly 1300 families were forced to set up tents in a park near the fallen palace. There was no clean water. Some suffered from diarrhea. Many throughout the nation were trapped under rubble and more than 250,000 were reported dead.

But those who remained—at least the ones captured in Lift Up—gladly shared their stories and found joy in simple pleasures such as flying kites and singing over drinks at local bars.

“I feel like they gave me more than I was able to give them,” Knowlton said.

Survivors have managed to turn simple things into temporary escapes from the desolation all around them.

“When you watch it, you don’t feel sorry for them,” Jean said. “In the simplicity of life, they’ve lost so much, but they give so much.”

Many stateside who believe they have reason to lament could learn a valuable lesson about perception from the film.

Most of us will never suffer anything as traumatic as surviving an earthquake. Still people complain about so many things: I hate my job. I want more money. I wish I could get out of debt. I want to find that special, someone. I’m tired of that certain someone who I thought was special…and on, and on, and on.

These are all valid concerns when placed into proper perspective, but outlook on life and attitude often make the difference between crumbling under adversity or and surviving it.

And I submit that if any of us were forced to live without clean water, without a home, without knowing whether loved ones were living or dead we would be more thankful for the things we do have and less likely to complain about what we lack.

You won’t find Lift Up on the Independent Film Channel or HBO yet because the filmmakers are still shopping for a distribution deal. But for now, you can go to the website by clicking here and find the next showing. If you can identify with triumph of the human spirit stories, you won’t be disappointed.

(The Monday Morning Quarterback is a column about the joys and complexities of life as seen through the eyes of Mark Tyler, the Local Editor of Aberdeen.Patch.com. Mark Tyler can be reached at Mark.Tyler@patch.com or (443) 945-1882.)