Thursday, June 3, 2010
Another Miracle
Yesterday I visited Wings of Hope, one of the homes that Brother Michael and St. Joseph's established for children with disabilities. Several years ago, when French missionaries announced they were leaving Haiti and needed to find care for the disabled children under their supervision, Michael took some of the older boys from St. Joseph's to choose a child to bring home and care for. But the boys surprised Michael when they chose to adopt all the children, reminding him that he had taught them that with God, all things are possible.
Wings of Hope thrived. It was recently rebuilt and expanded to include a day school for disabled community children, along with guest facilities. It was largely staffed by graduates of St. Joseph's.
But when the earthquake happened, the buildings housing Wings of Hope were destroyed. Not a single child was injured or killed. Those currently working to clear the land so that new buildings can be constructed, using earthquake resistant building materials, said that they thought it was another miracle that all of the children in the home are alive and well.
Wings of Hope thrived. It was recently rebuilt and expanded to include a day school for disabled community children, along with guest facilities. It was largely staffed by graduates of St. Joseph's.
But when the earthquake happened, the buildings housing Wings of Hope were destroyed. Not a single child was injured or killed. Those currently working to clear the land so that new buildings can be constructed, using earthquake resistant building materials, said that they thought it was another miracle that all of the children in the home are alive and well.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Kore Pwodiksyon Lokal
The highlight of today was a visit with Harry (Ari) Nicolas. I first met Ari 20 years ago. He, Carla and Dja used to provide orientations for the Trip of Perspective groups we brought to Haiti. He always provided a different way of seeing what is going on in Haiti … so I knew I couldn't go home without an opportunity to sit at his feet and learn from his wise and reasoned teaching.
Today Ari is the Director of a very interesting program, called Kore Pwodiksyon Lokal (Support Local Production). I started the conversation asking, “What is needed now?”
Ari observed that millions of dollars are flowing into Haiti in response to the earthquake. But even all that money is worth nothing without a vision. Haiti, he continued, is facing its history. This moment is more important than the revolution we faced with our colonial masters. Today's enemy is in our heads, and this enemy is much harder to fight against.
Haiti is at a crossroads. The world is watching, and we are watching the world. It is just 4 months since the quake, and we realize that the decision to change Haiti is in the hands of the Haitians. All Haitians understand this truth, but they lack the training to carry it out. We lack the education to know how to make the needed changes. We need education, not food.
Many Haitians have a vision of what this country needs now, but don't believe they have the capability to carry it out. So, we need to empower ordinary Haitians, to encourage them to think outside of the box, and to come together in a community effort to be the change we need. We cannot wait for or look to the government to do this for us.
Kore Pwodiksyon Lokal (KPL) has created a series of TV commercials that address these issues, pointing to the need for a community response. The local TV stations are so impressed with the quality of the TV commericals that KPL has produced, that they are now showing them free of charge. They have become very popular. You can see for yourself their positive message, and the vision for the future of Haiti by clicking on the following http://www.youtube.com/user/korepwodiksyonlokal#p/a/u/0/npvx4F9JZyo
Today Ari is the Director of a very interesting program, called Kore Pwodiksyon Lokal (Support Local Production). I started the conversation asking, “What is needed now?”
Ari observed that millions of dollars are flowing into Haiti in response to the earthquake. But even all that money is worth nothing without a vision. Haiti, he continued, is facing its history. This moment is more important than the revolution we faced with our colonial masters. Today's enemy is in our heads, and this enemy is much harder to fight against.
Haiti is at a crossroads. The world is watching, and we are watching the world. It is just 4 months since the quake, and we realize that the decision to change Haiti is in the hands of the Haitians. All Haitians understand this truth, but they lack the training to carry it out. We lack the education to know how to make the needed changes. We need education, not food.
Many Haitians have a vision of what this country needs now, but don't believe they have the capability to carry it out. So, we need to empower ordinary Haitians, to encourage them to think outside of the box, and to come together in a community effort to be the change we need. We cannot wait for or look to the government to do this for us.
Kore Pwodiksyon Lokal (KPL) has created a series of TV commercials that address these issues, pointing to the need for a community response. The local TV stations are so impressed with the quality of the TV commericals that KPL has produced, that they are now showing them free of charge. They have become very popular. You can see for yourself their positive message, and the vision for the future of Haiti by clicking on the following http://www.youtube.com/user/korepwodiksyonlokal#p/a/u/0/npvx4F9JZyo
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The Rainy Season
I now understand why Haitians call this their “rainy season”. Yesterday after meeting with Anne Hastings and Roger Desir, Nixon and I were headed back up the hill to Pétionville when it began to rain. Now, I’ve been in rain before. After all, I do live in Oregon where we have a lot of rain. But not like this rain.
The curb-side gutters soon filled with water rushing down the hill, pushing all of the debris along. When the water encountered cars parked along the road way, the water shot up as if it were a geyser.
Children were coming home from school. Not only were they drenched to the skin with water, they were seeking to cross streets through the rushing torrents of water. At one point, the rush of water was so great, that the entire roadway became a 40 foot wide stream.
Parents rightfully concerned about their children walking home in this rain, decided to drive to pick them up. While it is something I would have done as well, the addition of cars on the streets only made the traffic more of a nightmare. Talk about grid-lock! We were caught at one corner for over 30 minute before the traffic began to inch along.
As trying as this was for those of us navigating our way through the traffic, it was that much more difficult for the people walking along or trying to sell their wares along the streets. At one particularly slow intersection, Nixon pointed out his mother (Madamn Blanc) tending her stall. This is how she make her living and supports her family.
I couldn’t get out of my mind how this rain must be for the thousands of Haitians still living in the many tent cities around Port-au-Prince. There is no way they could possibly keep this amount of water out of their tents or their possessions dry.
The curb-side gutters soon filled with water rushing down the hill, pushing all of the debris along. When the water encountered cars parked along the road way, the water shot up as if it were a geyser.
Children were coming home from school. Not only were they drenched to the skin with water, they were seeking to cross streets through the rushing torrents of water. At one point, the rush of water was so great, that the entire roadway became a 40 foot wide stream.
Parents rightfully concerned about their children walking home in this rain, decided to drive to pick them up. While it is something I would have done as well, the addition of cars on the streets only made the traffic more of a nightmare. Talk about grid-lock! We were caught at one corner for over 30 minute before the traffic began to inch along.
As trying as this was for those of us navigating our way through the traffic, it was that much more difficult for the people walking along or trying to sell their wares along the streets. At one particularly slow intersection, Nixon pointed out his mother (Madamn Blanc) tending her stall. This is how she make her living and supports her family.
I couldn’t get out of my mind how this rain must be for the thousands of Haitians still living in the many tent cities around Port-au-Prince. There is no way they could possibly keep this amount of water out of their tents or their possessions dry.
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