A nonmaterial girl recalls Haiti, heads to UF

Like untold numbers of high school graduates, Julia Parker heads off to her next rite of passage this weekend: college.

But unlike most, her concerns during the early part of the summer centered on, of all things, deadly food riots in Haiti.

The price of rice, a staple in some parts of the world, had increased dramatically, and many in poor nations like Haiti couldn't afford it. Fights were breaking out and people were literally killing for food.

Julia had been on two mission trips to Haiti with Christ the King Catholic Church, and planned to participate in another in June. It would be her last before leaving Saturday for the University of Florida.

But the trip was canceled. Going to Haiti was too dangerous.

News of the riots was buried in the local media, hidden somewhere behind our own national concerns over gas prices and foreclosures.

Julia's first mission trip was eye-opening.

"Of course you're going to be, like, shocked," she said. The kids there were so appreciative of what seemed like the smallest of contributions, like little balls that the group took there."

What upset Julia most, however, was the return trip home, when she realized the stark contrast between life in the United States and life in one of the poorest countries in the world.

"Everybody here is, like, when's the new cell phone coming out, looking for the new iPod."

In Haiti, "they don't even have paved roads or cars or anything," she said. "It's sad we can't help them more."

In some ways, the Plant High graduate is the classic American 18-year-old. A Girl Scout, she recently received a "gold" award after years of volunteering and devising a plan to donate school uniforms to children in Haiti. She's the daughter of two successful parents: Mom JulieAnne works for the Sheriff's Office supervising child protective investigators, and dad Jerry works for the Manatee County School Board as a station manager for the educational channel.

She passed the summer by babysitting and preparing to become a Gator. She plans to pledge a sorority and study child psychology. Working with children makes her happy, she said. In Haiti, she played soccer with the kids every day.

"We're used to living lives of excess, and we have everything we need," she said.

In Haiti, some live on a few dollars a day. In Tampa, Julia shares a 2001 Nissan Xterra with her brother. She has an iPod and, of course, a cell phone.

"It definitely makes you appreciate things," she said.