Where We Belong by Hoda Kotb

Author:Hoda Kotb [Kotb, Hoda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Kathi in Port-au-Prince, 2013 (Courtesy of Kathi Juntunen)

Kathi will continue indefinitely to commute to Haiti for a brief stay every six weeks, growing and maintaining the many facets of her foundation. The Juntunens acknowledge that the time they spend apart and that Kathi spends away from the kids may appear unconventional to many couples. But they feel strongly that while their three kids are the hands-down priority, they also feel compelled to speak for millions of voiceless children around the globe.

“We are both consumed by the sense of responsibility to serve kids we feel are neglected,” Craig says, “and that sense of responsibility and the passion to change things for these kids has trumped the traditional confines of a marriage. Our marriage now looks different from lots of other marriages because we’re living apart periodically. I think we’re both focused and energized about trying to achieve something that has a much broader impact than just worrying about taking care of ‘us.’ There was an enormous sacrifice to what Kathi was doing when she spent ten months in Haiti. It wasn’t just being away from the person she married seventeen years earlier: she was away from her two boys, the comforts of the lifestyle she knew, her family and friends; she was away from a lot of things that brought her comfort. She was living in a very harsh, demanding, frustrating environment. It would be very, very easy for just the general living conditions to wear her down to the point where she says, ‘I’ve had enough; I’m coming home for good.’ But that’s not Kath.”

Kathi’s days in Haiti were and are long indeed. She might leave the community at four forty-five a.m. to drive a sick baby to the hospital and not return until ten p.m. There are meetings with birth moms in the community or social welfare officials in town. Groups from the States who fly in to help need direction and supplies for their projects.

“It’s not like you can just go to Home Depot. I’ll go to six different hardware stores to find all the things I need,” she explains, “and each hardware store takes about an hour because the process is so messed up. You always wait in Haiti. It’s a country with no infrastructure, a lot of graft and corruption.”

Haiti’s electricity is intermittent, its poverty constant. Daily, Kathi is approached by desperate people in need of money whom she has to deny; donations must fund projects that will effect lasting change. The Juntunens’ new path is anything but easy, they both admit.

“As hard as it is, as hard as it is to be away from Craig and the kids, I don’t question it; I don’t have any doubts about it. This work is what I’m supposed to be doing. I have a calm about me; a peace. Now . . . some days I want to quit,” she says, laughing. “Don’t get me wrong . . .”

Craig admits, “Doing what we’re trying to do is very, very hard—surprisingly hard.

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