Haiti Earthquake

I just wanted to let everyone know that I do plan on continuing with my blog and will be posting about my recent experiences in Haiti as soon as I get the opportunity to sit down and write about it.

Thanks again for all you thoughts and prayers for me and for Haiti especially this past week. Thank you for continuing to read. And I hope you continue to pay attention to whats happening in Haiti, continue to help in anyway that you can and continue to pray.

If you are looking for a place to get more information about what is happening in Haiti especially some of the work that is happening in the Episcopal Church please check out this website

If you would like to make a donation to Episcopal Relief and Development to help with relief efforts in Haiti you can do that here

More Soon and Thanks Again

BTI Graduation

The weekend before Christmas I had the chance to go back to Les Cayes to help with the graduation at BTI…or The Bishop Tharp Business and Technology Institute.

In an earlier post I wrote about what a great program BTI is and how it helps train students in job skills like business and computer sciences to help them get jobs. The last time I was there I got to listen in on a seminar about Entrepreneurship and particularly a discussion about ways to reuse water bottles. You can find used water bottles thrown everywhere. It was so exciting to hear these students think outside the box and come up with ways to support themselves, help their families and even grow and strengthen Haiti’s economy. So needless to say I was happy to help out with the graduation.

I also got to help with a kids Christmas party. BTI offers English classes to kids in Les Cayes and this was their holiday party. Santa even came and each kid got a present and I got to make the placemats!

Here are some pics from the Christmas Party and the Graduation.

Playing Catch Up

I’m sorry that it has been so long since the last time that I wrote. It has been a very busy few weeks. Here are some of the things I have been up to

Trip to Les Cayes, Okay…
In November I had a chance to go to Les Cayes…or rather OKay which is what most Haitians, I am told, call it. Apparently it was called OKay and then the French made it Les Cayes…I’m not to clear on the details…Anyway I went there.I was excited because I knew during the trip I would get to visit the town of Torbeck. About 20ish years ago my church back home had a relationship with the church and school there and I was excited to be able to see it. And lets be honest, I was also excited because it meant I got to leave Port au Prince for awhile. The drive to Cayes was beautiful with the mountains and driving along the ocean…Haiti’s landscape is a truly amazing.

Anyway in Cayes I was working with a bunch of American partners that were visiting the area, particularly a group from a church in Atlanta that was looking to begin a relationship with some sort of project in Cayes. The group was there to get a better understanding of Haiti, of Cayes and see what project would best fit their parish. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with these people and help them in their search. Spending time with them also meant that I got to see a bit more of the area than I may have normally…It also included a trip to the beach at Port Salut and my first time eating Lobster (So good!)

Port Salut

Eating Lobster

I also learned more about 2 exciting projects that helped to give me hope for Haiti and re-energized me a bit. The first one is Maison de Naissance. It is a clinic that deals with Maternal Health and it has been able to do amazing things in the area. I also think it is not just the clinic but the nurses go out into the field to visit and educate women. From what I could gather it seemed to be a great organization that was taking a holistic approach to health and development and took into account local knowledge, which I appreciated. It is also cool because it is all run by nurses!

The second is BTI, The Bishop Tharp Institute of Business and Technology. It is kind of like a community college that the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti runs. It is exciting because it is training people in skills that are needed so that they can hopefully find jobs. I wish I could give you the percentage of students that find jobs after leaving but I forget the exact number…I do know that when considering the very high unemployment in Haiti, the number of students who do find jobs is impressive. If you want more information about BTI just let me know and I can get it for you.

The group from Atlanta also decided to partner with BTI and build a guesthouse. This will give housing for visiting partners, visiting professors and could potentially be housing for nursing students (the want to have nursing students train with Maison de Naissance). But if a guest house were to be built, the thought is that BTI will add a hospitality component to its curriculum…which is good because Haiti is currently trying to grow its tourism industry again.

I’m headed back out to Cayes this weekend to help with BTI’s graduation…I will let you know how it goes.

First Trip to Cité Soleil
Also in November I took my first trip to Cité Soleil…the first of what I hope will be more, but so far the timing hasn’t worked out. In case you didn’t know Cité Soleil has been called the biggest slum in the Western Hemisphere. While I was there I was helping with an organization called LAMP which is a clinic.


So I went not knowing what really to expect or what I was going to be doing…and I had heard a lot about Cité Soleil and not much of it was good. For example, I told someone I was going and they proceeded to tell me that the other week 5 people had been shot and killed…not really what you want to here before you go somewhere.

So I had those thoughts running through my head as I arrived at the clinic and as soon as I got there I was immediately thrown into preparing and distributing prescriptions to patients. And by that, I mean, that there was a table filled with bottles of medication and you tried to put the right amount of medication, into the right envelope as quickly as you could. But I have to say, somehow it all worked.

Afterwards I walked around with the woman who manages the clinic, first to look at some land that LAMP is considering using for a feeding program and then to visit some of the schools in the area. The woman I was with tries to take care of the children in the schools as much as she can. For example, many of the children come to the school with out shoes so when she has extra money she tries to buy some shoes.

Overall I enjoyed my time there and am looking forward to going back…I also want to add that I felt completely safe the entire time I was there.

Street in Cite Soleil

Thanksgiving
Last year I didn’t get to celebrate Thanksgiving because I was living in Northern Uganda but this year I was determined to celebrate Thanksgiving complete with turkey and cranberry sauce.

I have a girl who cooks for me sometimes but she only speaks Creole. I asked her if she would cook Thanksgiving Dinner for me and some of my friends, and with some help was able to successfully ask her to make turkey and something with pumpkins, squash and sweet potatoes. In one the grocery stores here we were also able to buy ocean spray canned cranberry sauce (my favorite).

Thanksgiving Day, we went to an English service in Petionville and afterwards some of my American friends here as well as a couple Haitian friends gathered at my apartment for dinner. It was a good time and we even added a Haitian twist to our Thanksgiving…Rum Punch

“Pilgrimage” to Mirebalais, Cange, Hinche and Cap-Haitian
The day after Thanksgiving I left to go on another trip with Lauren and Pere Ajax (the same people I went to Cayes with). It was really good and the only thing that would have made it better was if I hadn’t been sick with a cold the whole time. And I apologize that there aren't pictures up for this yet...I didn't take any pictures on this trip and am waiting to get some but I will post some when I get them.

Anyway we left Friday, only 2 hours later than planned. We stopped in Miribalais which is in the Central Plateau for a couple minutes to talk to the priest there and look at the Episcopal School. Mirebalais seemed like a nice town but we were there for no more than 20 minutes and then we were back on the road again.

An hour or two later we stopped in Cange, also in the Central Plateau. I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with Paul Farmer but he is a doctor who founded this incredible health facility in Cange called Zanmi Lasante. He did this in partnership with an Episcopal priest. So while I was in Cange I had the opportunity to visit Zanmi Lasante, to see the hospital and all the other medical services they offer, as well as the Episcopal Church and School which are incorporated into the facility. What they have done there is really incredible and it feels like stepping into another world.

Finally at the end of the day we reached Hinche, also in the Central Plateau. One of the first things we did was take a small tour of the town…the highlight for me was the airport…which was a field filled with kids playing soccer and livestock grazing…We stayed there that night and the next morning there was a big Mass to celebrate St. Andrew…the Episcopal Church in Hinche’s namesake. The service was really nice but my favorite part was the beginning when the band, all the choirs (there were at least 5 choirs) and all the clergy processed around the public square and into the church.

After the service and quickly eating some really good food, and King Cola Banana Soda we were back on the road and on our way to Cap-Haitian. That night we got to Cap-Haitian and did another little tour of the town. Cap-Haitian is in the northern part of Haiti and right on the ocean…The rectory also happens to be right on the water. Cap-Haitian seemed like a really nice and chill town.

The next day was the First Sunday of Advent and we went to L’Eglise Saint Esprit, the Episcopal Church in Cap. It was a beautiful church and I was excited to recognize some of the melodies of my favorite Advent hymns even if I didn’t understand the words. I think I should also point out that I got phone numbers from 2 guys before we had even had Communion.

In the afternoon there was a graduation for the Episcopal Vocational School in Cap. The school has been around for maybe 30years and has about 1,000 students, studying everything from accounting to auto mechanics. This particular graduation was just for the students who had studied accounting. My travelling cohorts and I were given seats in the front of the ceremony as special quests…we even got boutonnieres to wear. It was a little awkward and the ceremony was a little long but at the end when the new graduates sang Michael Jackson’s “We are the World” and I could not have been happier

The next day we visited the L’Eglise Saint Esprit School. It was an incredible school; it was clean and seemed like a very happy learning environment. It was surprising to learn that the entire school had been constructed without the help of outside partners. It had been paid for entirely by the community. And just trust me when I tell you how rare I think that can be here. I think it would be exciting to see what this parish and its priest could do if it were given a little outside assistance since they have already been able to do so much on their own.

In Cap I was also able to see my first Bat...one night I was out late on the balcony and had started to fall asleep when it swooped past my head...I yelled screaming into my room and of course the bat followed...but then left. Also, Cap taught me to always bring a mosquito net.

Overall the “Pilgrimage” as we called it gave me a great opportunity to see a lot of Haiti and I feel like now I am starting to get a better sense of the country and the work of the Episcopal Church here.

…I am sorry this post was so long…I promise not to wait so long before my next post…

Soda, Pringles, Bagays and other things

So I wanted to share some of the funny or interesting things that have happened over the past few weeks…

This is the Life
This is the life…Its an expression I seem to keep hearing from the seminarians and other Haitians that I have met. The first time I heard it was in response to someone saying a friend’s family member had died. Someone simply said “This is the life”

Since I have been in Haiti I have heard about a lot more deaths in people’s families only to hear the response, “This is the life.” I have been to two funerals so far in Haiti, one for the mother of the Bishop and one for my friend’s step-father. The funeral for my friend’s step-father was a Catholic service and it was actually a funeral for three different people and their families. It was interesting to think about having to share your funeral time with two other families but I guess “This is the life.”

The other night some of the guy seminarians were watching TV and the girls came in to watch their soap. There was some discussion and then the girls changed the channel to the soap. One of the guys looked over to me and said “This is the life” Since then I have heard the expression used for frequently in similar situations.

I just think it’s interesting that the same expression can be used for such different events. I’ll leave it to you to think about why this could be.

King Cola Banana
So maybe my favorite thing to drink here is the King Cola's brand Banana Soda. It’s amazing. I drink about 5 a week. I love it. There is another brand that has Banana Soda, its called Fiesta and it really just is not even close to as good as King’s

So I went to my grocery store earlier this week and they were out of King Cola Banana. I’m pretty sure I bought them out. Now I am trying to settle for Fiesta until they get more but it’s really just not the same.

My Empty King Cola Banana

Walking on the Street
A couple of weeks ago I was running an errand with two of the guy seminarians. We were walking along Rue Capois and the guys were telling me how I needed to walk in the middle of them. I asked why and they were explaining that culturally in Haiti when two guys and a girl walk together the girl has to walk in the middle so the guys can protect her.

So of course they are in the middle of telling me this when a guy on the street grabs my arm and pulls me back, away from my friends. I pulled my arm out of his grip, and caught up with my friends and said “Nice job protecting me”…

(This is a funny story…the area where we were walking was completely safe.)

Pringles
You should just know that there are a lot of Pringles in the stores here. The have just about any flavor you can think of. It’s crazy.

But two warnings for if you are ever in Haiti…do not buy the generic brand. If you’re going to get them you should just splurge a little for the real thing. Also do not buy the Dill Pickle flavor. I made that mistake my first week here. I thought it looked interesting and wanted to try something new. It was a bad idea.

Bagay
A couple weeks ago we had a going away party for a missionary who had been working here for the last year. In preparation for this party I had to find a gift for her that would be from the seminary. I figured I would talk to her friend who was an artist and see if he had any ideas for something that would be easy to travel with and that she didn’t have yet. So of course when I told him he asked if he could make it. I said yes and asked what he wanted to make.

I should probably mention at this point that this artist friend only really speaks Creole and some French and most times I can’t understand a word he says.

So the artist friend begins going into some long description about what he wants to make and I have no clue what he was saying. I only noticed that he kept using the word bagay. So I grab on to this word and think to myself if I can just figure out what bagay means than I will have some idea about what he is talking about. So I commit to him making the gift and discuss the price…still not knowing what I am going to get…but knowing it has something to do with the word bagay.

So later that day I talk to one of the seminarians (one who knows English) and tell him all about my conversation with the artist friend and that he wants to make a bagay. And I ask what the word bagay means…Turns out Bagay means Thing…awesome.

Luckily everything worked out in the end.

Air Jordans

Last night the girls that I am living with showed up randomly with like ten pairs of Air Jordans, that I'm guessing were somehow given to the seminary. They were big shoes.

The Old Seminary

Last week Lauren, Jude and I as well as a priest named Pere Ajax, went to this town called Montrouis to check out this resort for a conference that is coming to Haiti in January. We also went to celebrate Lauren's birthday. We drove out there after English class on Wednesday, had dinner at this nice resort and spent the night at the old seminary.

The old seminary is beautiful. While it is a little overgrown at the moment all it needs is a little work and it would be amazing. Theres a good amount of land, lots of trees, oh and its on the water! It was awesome and I found myself wondering how we could get the seminary to move back there just so I could live there.

Anyway that morning before our meeting at the resort we had a nice 6:30 am swim in the ocean. The water felt great. and it was a wonderful short break from life in Port au Prince. Heres a picture from the beach there.

Seriously...its beautiful right.

I'm going to Les Cayes on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it and I'll let you all know how it goes.

Working at the Seminary

Classes at the Seminary started a couple weeks ago and since that time I have been very busy. I am beginning to get a better understanding of my job and its expectations as I continue to figure out what my role is here.

I have to admit when I found out that I would be doing most of my work at the seminary I was a little disappointed for various reasons. Probably the most significant reason is that I was really unsure if this is the work I am prepared for and meant to be doing.

After my trip to Sudan about five years ago, I knew that I wanted to work with poverty issues. I left behind any lingering thoughts of having a “normal” life and realized that I wanted to dedicate myself to fighting poverty, to finding peace in a world that at times seems plagued with violence, to stop corruption and greed and work to have governments that serve all their people. I wanted to be living in community with the poorest of the poor helping them to earn money and to learn, while at the same time learning from the beauty of their spirit. It was after this trip to Sudan that I decided to study issues of poverty and development in college and in Uganda and hoped to begin to gain an understanding of all these issues, so that when I finished college I would be able to jump into working and do my part to save the world (as corny as that sounds)

So when I decided to join the Young Adult Service Corps, I thought that this would be my opportunity to finally do all those things that my trip to Sudan had inspired in me. And then I found out that I would be teaching seminarians and working to develop the seminary. Talk about a bubble bursting. It seemed to me like another year that I would have to wait before I was able to do the work that I think I am meant to doing. The work that keeps me up at night wondering about what can be done…

But these past 2 weeks working at the seminary have helped me to better understand the work that I am doing here. That this is not a year of waiting but rather that this can be a year of action. That helping the seminarians is helping Haiti. These seminarians are not just future priests but future leaders of the church and they are future leaders of their country. The church plays a significant role in Haiti. For example in the Diocese of Haiti there are 250 schools that are run by the priests. These seminarians have the opportunity to reach out to the most vulnerable in their society, not just by sharing the word of God with them, but showing them the word of God and turning God’s word into action.

For the past couple weeks, in English class, the students have been working on Advent Devotionals. It is through their reflections that you can get a glimpse of Haiti, its strengths and its problems and see the potential these seminarians have to make a difference in their communities.

I am hoping to share the completed devotional with you, so please let me know if you are interested in receiving a copy. The main goal of the devotional is to raise awareness about the work of the seminary, and to allow people back home to learn about Haiti from Haitians. It is also a hope of mine that we may be able to raise some funds to help support the seminary. So please let me know if you are interested.

Just so you know the pictures in this blog were taken at the opening service for the seminary in the Chapel. And in case you can't tell the seminarians are the ones in the robes with the black belts. There are 17 this year...10 first years and 7 who are 3rd or 4th years.

Haiti's Prime Minister was Fired by the Senate

Click here for more information

World Food Program in Haiti

By February in Haiti the World Food Programs will have used up all of its foodstocks in Haiti.

You can learn more here.