Hospitality and Guests

The first time I went to Haiti I was blown away by the hospitality. I have heard many people say this after coming back from Haiti. The Haitians are just incredibly welcoming and help out there neighbors and even those coming from afar. We see photo after photo of them having very little physical possesstions, not to mention food. Families often share with a passerby even if they don't have enough for their family. This is not the American way. We are very generous persons but you always take care of your family first and then if you have some left you may of coarse help. But this idea of helping a stranger before you even help yourself seems foriegn to us. Some of us may think it is incredible generosity to think of others first, others think what is the problem here because it is so different from our culture.

I am not making a judgement call on either side of this and I see the value in both. I am just wanting to share it with you and share my specific experience. Meal times were often difficult for me in Haiti. For one you never knew who was around that might also need a meal. I struggled in my head between how much I would eat, how much I 'needed' verses sharing it with a passerby or one of the children that came and ate with us everynight. Somehow we always had plenty, although I did fear sometimes how much the cooks got to eat.

The other thing I stuggled with is fitting in. I don't know how your home works but when 'the family' is together we all pitch in to cook. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving and not because you get to eat a ridiculous amount of food and watch football. It is because you get to cook a ridiculous amount of food with your family! :) My foundest memories are all my aunts and sometimes even a few uncles crammed into a kitchen, and spilling into the dining room cooking the big meal. For me that is the feeling of home - of family. I love to help out friends in the kitchen when I visit, too. In Haiti it was much the same way in that all the ladies (rarely men but sometimes)gathered in the kitchen and cooked. So I got right in there too.

However, I didn't know how to do anything (was maybe the view). Usually when I sit for more then a couple of minutes in a kitchen in the United States someone will put me to work. This was not the case in Haiti, because I am a guest and viewed to be honored in that way. I felt in the way. I would watch intently thinking one day I would just be able to pitch in and help. Or I would wash dishes. I love washing dishes and insanely enough was something I missed from the US. But after these few things were done I would feel odd. I was just sitting there watching them work and I also would feel homesick because I wasn't in on the preporations of the meals. But now I just pitch in and help with what I know how to do and insist I am not a guest - I live here.

What is really needed this season?

This season has made me think about what is really needed in our world. In Haiti there is always people coming to ask for something. It can be overwhelming sometimes, but their are many needs of the people. There is the common asking in the streets for some change or food. This is come to be expected and I think that might be their view on it too, it is just second nature to ask the visiter in your town. But then there are other requests; ones where I see the person coming to Lee's home or to the Learning Center for LMI. Often times it looks like they are embarassed that they need to ask but also feel as though they have no other choice. The other day a woman came to ask for her child to be in the sponsorship program. We of course have too many people in the sponsorship program already. I can always see with Lee his heart breaks when he has to tell people, 'no' the list is already too long. It broke my heart too as I watched this interaction and tears well up in my eyes. But these are the realities of the world we live in.
I remember one other day we were sitting in the house talking and this young man, all of 8 or 9 years old comes walking in the house. With his little button down shirt tucked into his high-water jeans with his belt cinched up, he addressed Mr. Lee with confidence. He was requesting to go to school. He talked for sometime and then patiently waited. Lee stirred and shifted....and I felt the same uncomfortableness. How can you tell a 8 year old boy 'no, we can't help you go to school'? ....well you can't. You take his picture and add him to the list and pray. You just continue to pray and have faith that you will find more sponsors. It only costs $150 to send a child to school for a year. This covers their tuition, books, and uniform. Maybe you can answer a prayer for a Haitian Family and make a difference and give something that is really needed in this world. Education and change for our future. Following blog are kids you could sponsor.

Contact me at artistic_angelica@yahoo.com if you are interested. Thanks.

Sponsorship Children - Living Media International

Kerlan Antoine

 

Christelerie Alexandre
2nd Grade
9 years old

 

Ketteleine Frederique
4th Grade
12 Years Old

 

Joslyn Dominique
8 years old
2nd Grade

 

Jamesley Henry Milord
9 years old
1st Grade

 

*Sponsored*Anelise Colin
10 years old
3rd Grade

 

Michlove Plonquette
8 years old
2nd Grade

 

Bithold Dominique
9 years old
2nd Grade

 

*Sponsored*
Donaldson Cherubin
10 years old
3rd Grade

 

*SPONSORED*
Lovensky Theophene
5 years old
Kindergarten

 

Lanise Jean Jude
12 years old
4th Grade

 

Schneider Prevot
10 years old
4th Grade

 

Tamara Cadet

 

Christopher Augustin
8 yrs old
4th Grade

 

Dashnie Jean
3 yrs old
Preschool

 

Scenes of Port au Prince

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hope and Differences

I was sitting down at the Center and working on photos and gallery things on the computer. I shared with Lee that I really needed to work on a blog idea, needed a little inspiration. Shortly after that a little girl ran by the center in her little school uniform. I made a joke. I said “Where is she running to? She isn’t late. In Haiti no one is ever late.” Haiti is common with other tropical countries I have experienced. Things start, when they start; and it can be at least start a half hour late, really at best. A friend of mine told me in Mexico for weddings that they don’t even leave their houses until an hour after it is supposed to start.

This can be very, VERY frustrating for people coming from the American culture. The director of Storm Mountain Center a Dakota’s UM Camp used to say when I worked out there (and I am sure he still says it) “If you are not 5 minutes early you are late.” Many other Americans have this same philosophy also we have the saying “Time is Money”, so I have worked with many a person on a mission trip who is frustrated with the laid back atmosphere of those countries that are close to the equator. I have learned to appreciate it, although there are still days.
But back to the little girl running, Lee made the comment “Usually if you see Haitians running it is from something, not to something.” This seems to be a profound metaphor for Haiti. The country takes two steps forward and gets knocked back 3 steps. This has been a rough week here in Mizak. We had 4 deaths this week and 3 of them were under the age of 30. None of them were related just fluke things, sicknesses, and one just had a headache and then didn’t wake up the next day. I imagine if these people had access to good healthcare such as we have in the United States, they might not have died but we will never know. In the mean time the community, friends and family are left to wonder why does this happen to us? Are we cursed? Feeling this sense of being cursed, a sense of fear, and hopelessness is a common state of being for many people in Haiti.

This is one reason I feel it is important to be here living in Haiti with my Haitian brothers and sisters. To show them that people care, they are loved and there is hope for a beautiful future that we can work for together. You have to keep planning and looking forward to the future. The other day I brought some cookies home and my friend Papi saw them, he said something like ‘oh give me them’ and I explained that I was saving them for tomorrow. He said jokingly, “What if we aren’t here tomorrow, what if we die.” It struck me what he said, he was indeed joking but I know there is also a true belief at the heart of that. Don’t be sad for that, I think we can learn from it. You do need to seize today and do what brings you joy. Do at least one thing every day that brings you happiness.
I was walking down the road the other day and this old man was walking behind me. He said, “What do you think of the Life?” I asked for clarification and he said, what do you need to do in life. I said just that, you should do things that make you happy but more importantly do something for someone else, help other people to make their life happier too. You should also look to see what God would like you to do to help the future, and I think God is happier when we help one another. We are all here together and we need to see what we can do to help one another and that happiness will be contagious for us all to have more hope for our future.

Inspiration

I had posted a blog back in January about Jacquiline and how much she gives me encouragement and continues to inspire me in Haiti. http://angelicaheartforhaiti.blogspot.com/2011/01/being-part-of-creative-process.html I shared about how she had this idea for a bag made out of coffee bean sacks. The bag was quite a good idea but needed some tweaking. I searched out ideas and ran across a bag from another missionary from Canada, her bag was exactly what I had, had in my head. I showed it to Jacquiline not knowing what she might come up with. Well like I shared the bags have been a huge hit among team members, I have also sold many in the US and am searching out other places she may be able to sell them. I also had been hearing through the ‘grapevine’ that HAPI has
an order for over 2000 of the bags. I passed by the Co-op the other day to visit Francoise and say hi to the other artisans and was amazed at what I saw.
Four of the artisans were busy at work that day making Jacquiline’s messenger bags! Incredible! Way to go Jacquiline I am so proud of you. Even still Jacquilne searches out new projects and new things she can make to make a living at to provide for her family. I look forward to sharing other projects she comes up with in the future.

Building is 'man's work'

After tearing apart the old house I was looking at one of the doors for the window of the house. It really was quite beautiful but needed to be worked on. I thought it was a shame for these old boards to just be tossed aside so I decided I was going to make a table out of it. We took out several of the cross beams of the ceiling too so I searched through the scraps to find something that would be suitable for the table. It would be a lovely little end table for beside the bed. However most of the Haitians thought I was crazy for wanting to salvage this old yucky door; they thought it might be ok if I painted it. But I wanted it the natural wood color and instead of putting new 2x4’s for the legs as they suggested I wanted to use the old wood. I wanted to celebrate the life of this old house. Any work with ‘tools’ in Haiti is ‘man’s work’. So I was determined I was going to build this table without the help of the boys. They watched me puzzled not sure that a girl was capable of doing this, or at least she would need help. It became increasingly obvious I was at least going to need another set of hands so I pulled in Gabriel to help me out. She was intreiged by the idea, and when her older brother who had not been there all day stepped into help she proudly and teasingly told him ‘No, only women are making this table.’ You could tell she was excited about this project so the two of us sawed away making the legs for the table.

We had finished and shortly after I looked over and a proud smile came across my face. Gabriel had jumped into help shovel cement when one of her brothers left. She just had this look of determination and empowerment on her face as She did the ‘man’s work’. I am a very independent woman and take pride on being able to do ‘men’s work’, I am also always encouraging the men to do the ‘women’s work’ such as washing dishes and clothes. There are definitely still specific roles that each gender play in Haiti similar to those roles we have in the US but you don’t see them being broke as often as you do in the states. (As a side note one of our staff for Living Media the other day informed us that men can’t be nurses in Haiti. He knew that it is not true but that is just the way it is here. I have also heard one of our students say she wants to be a doctor and one of the young men in the class said you mean a nurse and she said very confidently, ‘no, a doctor’.)
Sometimes we don’t ever know how a little thing we might do, have an effect on someone or how it might affect the future. Yesterday Gabriel was looking for the other scrap piece of wood that was in my house because she wanted to make a table for her pati selling business in the market. I looked at the scraps of material she had and thought there is no way she can make a table that will stand out of that. As I heard her sawing away I wanted to step in and say something but I decided not to. It was more important that she had this idea and was following through with it, then whether or not it would work. And who knows no one thought I could build a table either. (of course mine isn’t exactly finished yet, but it has a really nice top.)

Travel in Haiti

Travel in Haiti is unpredictable and often times unusual you never know how you might travel. The other day we waited for Tigo to show up with the truck to ride down to Jacmel to clean out the Art Gallery. After waiting a little over an hour for the truck to come, it arrived very full and we wondered where we would sit, since there was three of us. The truck already had 16 people, 14 goats, 6 large bunches of bananas (the way they hang off the tree not the little bunch you buy in the store), and at least 6 large bags of produce of different sorts about double the size of the large charcoal sacks in the United States. All this was in Tigo’s little Toyota pick-up truck. I was ready to ride up on top of the cab with two other people there, there is a rack you can sit on; but a woman in the cab gave up her seat for me. I was grateful but I have rode up on the top of that rack before. You never know what will be carried on a truck. This is a picture of a truck we passed by when I was driving through Port-au-Prince last week.
Other unusual travel, the other day we went down to Jacmel on the motorcycle we almost always travel with 3 people on a motorcycle and I have seen as many as 6 people (some children) on a motorcycle before. But as we were down at the Texaco getting our internet a huge storm rolled in. The sky was dark grey, the wind was blowing and it was pouring down rain. I was already making plans in my head to stay at the gallery down in Jacmel but the guys were definitely ready to head up the mountain. I was out voted. When the rain let up a bit, we packed up our things and walked out the door only to find the rain had picked back up again. As my heart raced, I thought about going up that slippery mountain on the motorcycle getting drenched in the rain. Then Kenson (our driver and friend) pointed out that, the ambulance in front of us were going to Bainet which is about twice the distance. I thought about it and Lee and Kenson encouraged me. The next thing you know I was tapping on the window of the vehicle. Excuse me sir I said, Do you think you could give us a ride up the mountain to Mizak. He asked me some questions back, how many people, where are you going again, then, he said he wasn’t sure his boss would agree. Finally I asked, “Aren’t you here to help people? Well, I need help.” Finally he agreed. He said we could look in the back for where we could sit. There was just a little bench back there and a girnie. We all squeezed on the little bench. I was so grateful when we got to the river and saw the water rushing over the road. There is no way we would have crossed on the motorcycle. We would have had to turn back to Jacmel having already been soaked. I gave a little ‘mesi’ to God; especially after crossing the river and seeing all the streams of water coming down the road making its own rivers, washing rocks away in the process. I was so relieved to be finally be home safe and sound.

A work day

Why do I feel exhausted sometimes even though I am not ‘working’ that much. For example like today, I taught English for 2 hours and then spent a few hours working and communicating with family on the internet. But I feel exhausted. In the United States I can easily work a 10 hour day, so why does it seem that 10 hour day is equivalent to a 5-6 hour day in Haiti. I realized the answer to this question the other day when I was writing my brother and bel-suer (sister-in-law). I was telling them that I don’t have physical labor here but I feel emotionally drained.
Everyone around me has nothing. They have nothing to do, no jobs, few opportunities and little hope for the future. Because I have money to buy toilet paper and water and eat twice a day, I am rich. On a regular day I walk to English class and pass children wearing rags sometimes no shoes, carrying water on their heads for their families to bathe and cook. Some of the children are as young as 4 or 5. Then I see men working in the fields of their gardens and when I return at the end of the day they are still there throwing a pick ax, digging up all the land by hand. I then work with young adults who are eager to learn English in hopes that it might give them some sort of future, or some have said, ‘because I have nothing else to do, there are no jobs’.
After class I walk through the market area where an old lady from another zone, may hold out her hand in desperation hoping I give her 10 goudes (25 cents) to help her family. I walk back to my house to collect all my things, to then go down the mountain for internet on the motorcycle praying for our safety on the bumpy road that has loose rocks and parts that are washed away from the rain. Praying all the way home, as I look out over the beautiful land that God has created and wonder about the people’s lives in the little huts below and about Haiti’s future.
At the day end of the day I sit down to a wonderful meal that has been prepared for me, while the rest of the family eats plates full of rice and beans sometimes with a hunk of ‘meat’ (we would probably throw away these parts in the US – I am not sure). I feel guilty eating me chicken leg, lettuce, carrots and Kool-Aide; and yet I know other families that will not even have that plate of rice and beans. When I lay my head on my pillow in my little 8’ by 9’ foot room, I think about the people that still have to sleep in tents and those that sleep on the floor because there are not enough beds for everyone in their house. It is a hard life in Haiti, no doubt. I often wonder how the Haitians survive, but they do. They are inspiring and determined to work toward a brighter future, even when there seems to be little opportunity. I am happy to work alongside with them to find that glimmer of light and contribute what I can to help them find what they are looking for to have a better future. I just have to remind myself that the ‘work’ is not the same as in the United States and some days when I am do and visit with my neighbors it may be some of the most important work I do. And sometimes it is exhausting being faced with the harsh realities of this world on a daily basis.

Peace and Happiness

Today, Sunday, was International Peace Day celebration at the Peace Park in Mizak, with the theme of peace and happiness. Unfortunately, we didn’t stay very long in the services. There were many people there young and old, the new playground equipment and the blown up beach balls for decorations added lots of colors to the celebration. But I had a bit of a headache so I decided I might be of more use and more at peace myself if I could help out in the kitchen. Selene was happy to see me and handed me a grater and a bowl of coconut. I grated the coconut for a short time until my hand got tired and I asked for another job. I was given a tub of boiled carrots, potatoes, and beets to cut up. I was happy as the people and the kitchen festivities moved in rhythm around me; but soon we had to go to English class.
In class, I read a book, “Small Pig”, by Arnold Lobel about a pig who found his home in the ‘good, soft, mud’. A story about the comforts of home and the peace in your soul that comes “[When you] sit down, and sink down into the good, soft mud.” At the end of the second English class we sang Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ in brought my heart happiness as I sang along and watched the students singing along and jamming out, proud that they know all the words in English.
After four hours of English class I waited around the center for Lee to finish the poverty intervention meeting. I sat in on the Creole Literacy Classes watching as all the students wrote their names on the board; after the angels sang a beautiful little song, that reflected the rhythm of the county. I couldn’t understand all the words but the rhythm of the music spoke to my soul and reflected the cadence of this beautiful country. The voices moved with the march of the tired madam carrying water for her family. I felt Haiti inside of me and that was peaceful and filled with happiness.

Blessings in Disguise

There is always room for one more and we take care of people

Finally we were heading down to Jacmel after making a side trip of 2 hours. A man in the street stopped us in Mizak to see if we were going to Jacmel, he had things to load up and take to there. We pulled up the road to the Dispensary. They had been working and had all their tools plus cement bags, planks of wood, and a wheel barrow. A few people got out of the truck as we loaded up all these supplies. We were not sure how everyone was going to fit on the truck but it worked, it always seems to work. We were off down the road again, with that sweet baby girl in the red dress beside me fast asleep. Just a little bit down the road we had to pull over; one of the gentlemen in the back had passed out. They poured water on him and asked him how he was doing. He threw up over the side of the truck. Some of the other men were asking him questions, the rest of the people were waiting patiently and wondering what would happen next. After a bit the man came to and said he had to go to the bathroom, right away people started making small references to Cholera. But this was not cholera, they reassured. I think the man had not had anything to eat today and probably little to drink. Then he was riding in the blazing sun in the back of a truck down bouncy miserable roads. We set off again; Tigo stopped by his house just a bit down the road and had his sister bring the man 2 packages of saltine crackers. Sometime later we arrived at the ‘bus station’ to go to PaP. The man who was sick got out; others were shouting he needed to go to the hospital in Jacmel.
I just watched, wondering what they were all going to do. The man walked down a steep hill and lay down against it. I told Tigo “We can’t just leave him here.” he said the man was going to PaP; he didn’t want to go Jacmel. I was frustrated, what to do? It didn’t seem right and yet what can we do so I whispered to Tigo ‘Then get him something to drink before we leave.” Tigo wondered off between the crowds of people going to PaP. He came back with a Sprite and a little bag with some sort of food in it and took it down to the sick man. The people left on the truck were happy saying ‘oh bon chauffeur, bon chauffeur’. I felt better too, we did what we could and we planned on checking on him when we came back to see if he was still there. We could have taken him to the hospital but he didn’t want that. But we could have left him there with nothing, too. Sometimes you just do what you can do for a person at the time.

Another Day of Making Traffic

I needed to go down to Jacmel, so I called Tigo to ask him if he was going that way. He was and leaving now. I quickly gathered all of my things and hurried down to meet the truck, only to see we were headed in the other direction. Oh well, here is to adventures. I jumped in the back of the truck as there were already people up front. I was with about 15 cement sacks and 3 ladies, 1 of which was lying in the bed of the truck against the cement bags with a shirt over her head. She didn’t look well, tired and exhausted from a hard life. As we rode up the bumpy mountain; I tried to soak in the scenery and think about life, my life, the Haitian life, the varying degrees of life in Haiti and the world. We passed by big beautiful houses with no one living in them and children with raggy clothes carrying water. I thought about the beauty of the county as I gazed down at the trees in the valley then the misery I have heard the Haitians speak of.

Its complex God and I don’t understand.

We arrived in another community, Blokes, people tried to tease the ‘blan’ a bit I just played back. We ate an orange as we waited for people to load up in the truck to go back to Jacmel. I watched this sweet baby girl in a little red dress eat a banana while she waited with us for the truck to go too. And I watched the humor and compassion of the people even with orange peels and trash in the street.

Maybe it is not so complex God and maybe I don’t need to understand.

Today I wanted to be creative in class.

We have Haitian teachers in our English classes with Living Media. So of course they teach in the same manner in which they were taught. The teaching style in Haiti is memorization. When I lived over with Paul and the family I would listen to Doris (his daughter) studying. She was just memorizing paragraphs. But when I would ask her what she was learning, what she thought about that, she couldn’t tell me. I remember when I memorized things for a test I didn’t really learn it; I just knew it long enough to pass the test. It also doesn’t give your mind a chance to process the information.
I have been thinking a lot about how I learned English. I also know that they talk and talk about how important it is to read to your children. So I started class today by looking at “Cat in the Hat”. Luture and Felix, the first two students were interested and opened the book and started reading it. They read line by line and together they translated them into Creole as they went, with me encouraging them and helping them along. When the next student, Nicole came in she started reading the lines in English with them too. After we were finished I asked them to listen and look at the picture as I read the whole thing to them.
After reading the book, we used some flashcards to work on colors and objects. When we just had a few minutes left of class I asked if anyone had any questions. Nicole said, “Can I say, “You make me happy?” I said yes, repeating that in English and then in Creole. Then Luture said, “You want to say, Angelica makes you happy?” She just smiled and said ‘wi’. After Luture picked up his bag, smiled and shrugged saying with his whole body, “I feel good today.”
The whole class made me happy too. And I feel good today too.” 

Part 2 - Making Traffic (read the next blog first)

After waiting in Di Mez for some time we had a couple of people when we got a call that the bakery up the mountain needed us to haul bread to LaVallee. When we crossed the river we picked up two more people and a bunch of bags full of things. When we arrived in Mizak we had to unload all the people and things that we picked up. I felt really bad but we had to load up all the bread first and it was down a narrow bad road and there was mud. So we headed down the hill, the other very large truck was very stuck in the mud. We came in and with the help of several people we loaded up all the bread, along with the people that would sell the bread in Retori. I thought the truck was full and wondered about the people we had left waiting. But when we met them in the road we reloaded all of their things and them into the truck; all but one woman and her two small children under the age of 2. I was very sad for the woman, I was going to suggest the children sit up front with us and her in the back but the kids were wet. The person who wanted all the bread hauled, gave her money to take a motorcycle with the children. We drove up the mountain and unloaded everyone at the market. Then we started selling the bread out of the back of the truck. People flocked to load up their bags of bread so that they could resell them in the market. Tigo and I went and checked out the market. It is one of the biggest and best in the area and it happens every Friday. I had never been there before but it was incredible the amount of people in town and the amount of products there. We just sat there and watched the market, until a lady carrying a giant basket through the market. I thought it would be perfect for a laundry basket; Tigo didn’t skip a beat to tell me to go and ask the price of the basket. I explained to him things cost more for the white girl; he should go ask the price. He did and then we waved me over. I bought the basket and we walked back over to the truck and helped sell bread out of the truck. It was good to sell the bread. It gave me a little lesson in the money in Haiti. I still don’t really understand it. There is the Haitian Dollar which is 8 times the American dollar but doesn’t actually exist it is just referred to. Then there is the Goude, which is the money exchanged and it is 5 times the Haitian dollar. But it helped me practice a bit in counting out the bread - 50 Goude for 3 pieces of bread. They sold over half of the bread and decided they were ready to go home. I was able to drive home – which was a great joy. It is something I miss the most in the United States. The market place is always a learning place. We had gone also gone for a big walk. I saw the Catholic Church and the school. We were going back down to Jacmel but we were all too tired and I was a bit sunburned, not expecting to be out selling bread in the hot sun for a few hours. Again you just really don’t know what life might bring to you.

Making Traffic in the truck

I have been wanting to shadow people since I came back to Haiti. This last Friday it finally happened. I am going to break down the day into 2 blogs. I decided I would ‘make traffic’ with my friend Tigo. He told me he started at 4:00AM. This of course ridiculously early, but if you want the full experience you have to go for the gold. He was supposed to call me when he was ready to go. Luckily for me he wasn’t feeling the 4:00AM either, so we left at 5:30AM. This is one of my favorite times in Haiti anyway, because the light across the trees is beautiful. And the sounds when the country side wakes up just makes you smile and appreciate nature. We headed down the road a bit as the rain was starting. There was a group of ladies waiting with large rice sacks filled with different fruits and vegetables, mostly avocados to sell in the market in Jacmel. We loaded up all their goods in the rain. It is a little Toyota pickup truck with a rack on the top that is extended from the back rails so people can sit in the bed of the truck. We put 8 – 5 gallon pails on the top of the roof of the cab. Then 7 ladies with some more produce in the bed of the truck. Then Tigo got a tarp out of the cab of the truck to cover the ladies to protect them from the rain. We picked up a couple of other people along the way, but I was also noticing many people that were just walking with their produce to Jacmel. It is a 40 min ride down the mountain to Jacmel by truck. It is difficult to imagine these women walking all that way with all they have to sell on their heads. We arrived in the normally bustling city of Jacmel to silence in the market. With just a few people there in the market starting to arrive with the bananas, avocados, corn, clothes, and much, much more. Usually you cannot even walk through this area and we just pulled in with the truck without a problem. After unloading the truck we went to a different area to wait for people exiting the city. We ate a pati, this is like a homemade hot pocket. It may actually be the original Hot pocket. These particular ones had some unidentifiable meat and boiled eggs in them; it was delicious. No one was coming to load up in the truck; the rain had kept them in bed a bit longer this morning. So I got to drive to Di Mize so we could wait at the cross road path up the mountain to La Vallee.

At Di Mez, we waited and waited. Di Mez is a little crossroads town that is a junction of people coming to and from Port au Prince and Jacmel up into the mountain communities. As I watched everyone setting up their shops there too, I asked if anyone actually lived in Di Mez. Not really, no one lives in this area they just set up shops there – I guess it is a Haitian mall or a strip mall or I don’t know, just trying to think of a comparison to the United States. As we waited their doing nothing, I wish I had a book. And then I saw a women preparing food. I asked Tigo if I could help her and he looked confused at the notion, I think wondering why, but just going with it as we Americans do crazy things sometimes. I ended up asking the women, she gave me the same look – and I don’t understand why look. Then she handed me the knife and the breadfruit. I was happy, something to do. She just kept telling me in Creole over and over, “Don’t cut yourself. Pay attention.” When I finished she looked at me like ok that was nice, but I asked to cut another piece. Then as people would pass by she would tell them, look at this girl helping me. It was entertainment for awhile, while we waited for people. You never know what a day will bring and you need to be ready to embrace it. Instead of just sitting around and waiting for what was next I decided to try and learn something new and maybe help someone out.

Something that is simple - yet not

In the morning I awaken to the sounds of chicken, goats, and birds. I can hear the breeze blowing through the trees. And then I hear a baby laughing my heart is filled with joy. Then I walk to the home of the family who cooks for me . Julie, her daughter and niece are doing laundry. She asks me “Do you know how to wash Angelica?” No I don’t’ I have tried and think I am doing what it takes to wash the clothes by hand but I don’t make the right squishy noise. I wish I could help, but then again a piece of me is happy I don’t know how. And I know that it gives someone else a job too. It is a lot of work. Think of washing your whole family’s laundry by hand. Julie says life in Haiti is miserable. I ask because of the laundry? “Yes,” she responds, “ we don’t have machines like you do in your county.”
I am sad and I try and voice what I experience this morning – the beauty of Haiti. And yet as I watch Julie scrub and wash that white blouse by hand; I realize how complex it is to understand someone else’s point of view of their world. It is not a simple task to understand people where they are at and learn from them and discover what you might have to offer them to make the whole world a better place. And yet we need to continue to keep our mind open and try.

What is really needed this season?

This season has made me think about what is really needed in our world. In Haiti there is always people coming to ask for something. It can be overwhelming sometimes, but their are many needs of the people. There is the common asking in the streets for some change or food. This is come to be expected and I think that might be their view on it too, it is just second nature to ask the visiter in your town. But then there are other requests; ones where I see the person coming to Lee's home or to the Learning Center for LMI. Often times it looks like they are embarassed that they need to ask but also feel as though they have no other choice. The other day a woman came to ask for her child to be in the sponsorship program. We of course have too many people in the sponsorship program already. I can always see with Lee his heart breaks when he has to tell people, 'no' the list is already too long. It broke my heart too as I watched this interaction and tears well up in my eyes. But these are the realities of the world we live in.
I remember one other day we were sitting in the house talking and this young man, all of 8 or 9 years old comes walking in the house. With his little button down shirt tucked into his high-water jeans with his belt cinched up, he addressed Mr. Lee with confidence. He was requesting to go to school. He talked for sometime and then patiently waited. Lee stirred and shifted....and I felt the same uncomfortableness. How can you tell a 8 year old boy 'no, we can't help you go to school'? ....well you can't. You take his picture and add him to the list and pray. You just continue to pray and have faith that you will find more sponsors. It only costs $150 to send a child to school for a year. This covers their tuition, books, and uniform. Maybe you can answer a prayer for a Haitian Family and make a difference and give something that is really needed in this world. Education and change for our future. Following blog are kids you could sponsor. Contact me at artistic_angelica@yahoo.com if you are interested. Thanks.

Education is the future

Recently, I was a part of an interview about the education system in Haiti. Although I didn’t understand everything that was said it reconfirmed what I do know about Education in Haiti for young people. About ½ of the children in Haiti go to school. This is usually due to lack of resources. Families simply can’t afford to send their children to school and feed them too. Many kids might be able to start school but then are not able to pay the second payment of the tuition. Many of the parents of the children in school are illiterate; however they are very passionate about keeping their children in school. In Haiti there is a proverb that says, “Ignorance won’t kill you but it will make you sweat a lot.” But the cycle of poverty in lack of education continues. Some people are able to break out of the cycle. Aimable, the teacher and mother being interviewed talked about how far children have to travel to school too. She sends her daughter to a good school up the mountain that takes 20 minutes or more to get to by motorcycle. Some children in the area walk to that school which can take an hour to two hours. But the children walk there because it is better education. Education really is the answer for the future of Haiti. The young people I talk to want to make a difference in their future and the future of their country. They hold on to a hope that ‘tomorrow’ will be different. However, they need that little help to break out of the cycle. I am working with child sponsorship now for education for children. Living Media International is also working on a program for young adults who are finished with their base schooling and have dreams of going off to a university or to learn a trade. I will have more information to come on how you might be able to get involved with these. I will have children on my Facebook page that you can sponsor in school. I challenge you today to thank a teacher, thank the school administrators or anyone involved in education. So much of the success of the US has been due to education, so appreciate what we have. Too often we take for granted what can make a world of difference.

In Haiti Again

Blessed to return back home. Sorry I don't have much time to write right now. We arrived safely and everthing is going well. I will write more next week. Thank you for all the prayers and support this summer and for my journey back. I could not do it without the support of my friends and family.

Angelica's Heart for Haiti