Home Again, but Something has Changed

After a long day of travel, I arrived back home in Lubbock, TX yesterday evening.  What a different world.  Shiny airport terminals, all sorts of food and shopping in the airports, trash cans that people actually use!  Not that I don't like any of it all, but it makes me think of all those people living in deplorable conditions in Haiti, including the 36 teenagers and 15 or so staff at the orphanage.  People who I may never see again, but have grown so close to my heart.  For whom death and suffering are all too real in their lives, yet somehow, joy and gratitude are much more present too.  I have learned so much from the Haitians, and I can only hope that I enriched their lives as much as they did mine.  It was with a broken heart that I had to respond to the question I was asked over and over that I did not know when I would be back.

My friends in Haiti took such good care of me, and I am so thankful for the time we had to spend together. We laughed, joked, and enjoyed each other.  We argued and got angry.  We were protected from a hurricane.  We weathered political unrest and the fear of violence.  We washed our hands with soap constantly to prevent Cholera.  And as I sit on my comfortable couch, I know they are still enduring all these things.

And sometimes I wonder how they do it.  Many people in the US live in comfort that if they run out of food, they can go to the grocery store and buy more.  If they get sick, they have health insurance to go to the hospital.  If there is violence in the neighborhood, the police will most likely do something about it.  (This is certainly not the case for everyone in the US.  There are people who go hungry here too.  There are people without proper medical care.  There are some really violent neighborhoods.  But it is certainly not as widespread as in countries like Haiti.)  I wonder how the Haitians survive, how they find the will to survive.  But the answer is not too complicated.  I discovered, first, how little materially I needed.  Some clothes and food.  And maybe some books.  And when you don't have all those other things fighting for your attention, its much easier to see the things that really will give lasting comfort.  The people around them.  And their faith and the hope that only God can give.  Through this hope they find the strength to go on.  There were times for myself during the past five months that I was only able to continue what I was doing through the strength given to me by God.

Today in church, we were singing "O come, O come Emmanuel".  I've always thought it was a really pretty advent song, but it struck me differently today, so much so that tears began to fill my eyes.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Refrain

O come Thou Wisdom from on high,

And order all things far and nigh,

To us the path of knowledge show,

And cause us in her ways to go.

Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

Refrain

I hadn't ever really thought much about it, but I always operated under the assumption that this was an Advent song, anticipating the birth of Christ, which has already happened.  Which it is.  But as I sang "and death's dark shadows put to flight," I thought of the shadow of death that still hangs over Haiti, the fear that lives there.  This is also a prayer of petition, asking for the world to be made right.  Because it most certainly is not.  But the refrain is the confident assurance that someday, all that is promised will be given.  "Rejoice!"  God is coming!  It is both remembrance that Christ has come and a declaration that he will come again.  He will come again, and all the things that are wrong in the world will be made right.  And that is great hope for us all.


I'm home again, and something is different.

Haitian Elections

So if you've been following Haitian news, you know that Haiti just had a big round of elections on the 28th of November, including new presidential elections. Its been a big deal, and its really important who wins. The current president, Rene Preval, is widely disliked. A lot of the foreign aid that was promised to Haiti after the earthquake has yet to be distributed because of the distrust of the current government. His son-in-law, Jude Celestin, is running for president. He is also fairly widely disliked, although he has his supporters. Corruption runs rampant through the government, and though a new president won't change all of that, it should help.


The results of this election were announced on Tuesday evening. Mirlande Manigat, the leading opposition candidate, got about 32% of the vote. Jude Celestin, who had been in third place, suddenly moved into second place the day the results were announced, with about 22% of the vote, Michel "Mickey" Martelly, the other opposition candidate and Haitian pop star, coming in third, 6,800 votes behind Celestin. The way Haiti's elections work, if no one has an outright majority after the first election (which is likely, given that there are somewhere around 20 candidates) there is a run-off election between the top two candidates.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. The day after the election, 12 of the 19 candidates got together and said that they wanted the election thrown out because of election fraud. There were accusations of stuffing the ballot boxes, people showing up and not being on the list of eligible voters, intimidation, and the like, including one guy who showed up to vote and he wasn't on the list, but his dead brother was. After the results were announced, Martelly's supporters took to the streets protesting, claiming the results were tampered with and Martelly should be in the run-off instead of Celestin. Celestin's campaign manager then said he was going to protest the results too, claiming Celestin should have gotten 52% of the vote, winning the election outright. (A pretty outrageous claim if you ask me.)

Since Wednesday, we haven't had school becasue of the protests. They haven't been too violent; its more of a volume thing. Wednesday, the whole city basically shut down becasue there were so many people in the streets that no one could get to work. The protesters have set fire to a lot of Jude Celestin's campaign banners across the city, as well as setting fire to his party headquarters. It has gotten a bit quieter, but people are still blocking the streets and a smoky/foggy haze hangs over the city. Its been pretty quiet up around us, as most of the protests have been more downtown and in Petionville. (If you're worried about our saftey, you shouldn't worry too much. There's been no protest activity in our area.)

Today (or possibly last night), election officials announced they would recount all the votes in the presence of the three leading candidates, Mirlande Manigat, Jude Celestin and Michel Martelly, and international observers. Which, I think, is a great move. The could have hardly done otherwise though. There are so many eyes on Haiti right now, and such popular discontent with the current government that it would have been difficult for the election comission to have ignored these protests. We'll wait and see what happens, but its good news for democracy in Haiti.

I don't have any pictures cause we're too far away from the action, but check out news sites for some photos. I know BBC and the New York Times have articles and pictures. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11964180 is where I found info about the recount.

Happy Thanksgiving

So I figured I'd not get any sort of celebration for Thanksgiving this year, being in Haiti and all.  But I did.  And it was great.

Dr Bernard invited us up to his house for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.  But this is Haiti.  Thursday morning he called us and said we'd have to postpone the meal for a day.  Why you ask?  His stove was broken, so he couldn't cook the turkey.  Or more correctly, four turkeys.  There was a group of about 40 Americans staying at his guest house that we were joining for a Thanksgiving meal.  Anyway they got the stove fixed, and we came up yesterday (Friday) for dinner.  And was it magnificent.  Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy. Even cranberry sauce!  And there was desert.  Which never happens at the orphanage.  The closest we get is having cake for joint birthday parties every month or two.  But we had carrot cake, pineapple upside down cake, spice cake, and pumpkin pie.  It was wonderful.

There were a few really good things about having Thanksgiving dinner on Friday, besides the wonderful food.  For one, we were at the school on Friday morning, which happened to be party day.  They had music, dancing, games, and food for all the kids in the school.  It was kinda like a field day, except replace the field with a concrete courtyard about 20x30ft.  But it was a lot of fun.  And the kids had a TON of fun.

Secondly, one of the kids was coming up to Dr. Bernard's this weekend, so she got to have a typical Thanksgiving dinner with us.  Which was kinda fun.  Maybe just for me, though.  Mashed potatoes, stuffing.  Not really your typical Haitian fare.  And she wasn't impressed.  After we finished eating, I asked her if she liked it, and she shook her head emphatically, looking fairly disgusted.  Then, I asked her if she liked the dessert, and oh how her face changed in an instant.  Her eyes lit up with a huge smile across her face.  The head shaking remained emphatic, but with the opposite emotion propelling it.

The last nice side effect of postponing Thanksgiving dinner was that we get to stay up at Dr. Bernard's for the weekend, which is nice to have a bit of time away from the orphanage to rest and relax.  To be off duty.

How much we all have to be thankful for!  I'll leave you with the words of an song/prayer of simple thanks that I learned, well, I don't remember every not knowing it!  Maybe some of you know it too.  Savor these words.

"The Lord is good to me,
and so I thank the Lord
for giving me
the things I need
the sun and the rain
and the Appleseed.
The Lord is good to me.
Amen."

Miracle

Miracles can be a touchy subject. The Bible is full of stories of men surviving impossible situations, stories of miraculous healing, the deaf and blind receiving their senses back.  Some people say those stories just aren't true.  Some people try to explain them using modern science.  The impulses to explain them away or dismiss them come from the same place.  Miracles seemed to have happened so much during Biblical times, but it seems like they don't happen anymore.  Why not?

Many people much smarter than I have tried to answer this question.  And they have some good things to say.  I don't want to try to answer that question.  I just want to share a story.

Last week, we found out that there was a hurricane/tropical storm in the southern Caribbean eventually headed for Haiti.  We watched it, trying to see how bad it would be so we had some idea how to prepare for it.  And it looked like it would be bad.  For a city in which hundreds of thousands of people are living in tents (tents that have already taken a beating from the sun, wind, and rain of the past 10 months) and many more are living with fragile rusted roofs over their heads, any storm with high winds was going to do a lot of damage.  And Tomas was predicted to be a Category 1 or 2 hurricane by the time it got to Port-au-Prince.  We were a little worried.

Alright, a lot worried.  Thursday night the boys and I were watching the weather channel on Haitian TV, and they were predicting the rain and wind would only get stronger as it headed towards us.  There was nothing much to do other than pray.  And I think a lot of people were praying, both here and back in the US.  I was raining most of the day on Thursday, but Friday it was supposed to hit us hard.  As I got out of bed on Friday, there was a bit of rain and wind, but you could hardly call it a storm.  It was a light drizzle, and maybe a 5 MPH breeze.  It was actually quite pleasant.  We waited for things to get worse.

But they never did.  We had a steady drizzle most of the day, but we couldn't have gotten much more than an inch all day long.  At one point, Cecelia's mom called.  She was watching the weather in the US.  The radar said we should be getting buckets of rain and 75 MPH winds.  Couldn't be farther from the truth.  Still light drizzle and a light breeze every once in a while.

Friday morning as I lay half awake in my bed, I had a vision of a huge God-hand coming out from the tops of the mountains that surround Port-au-Prince and curving over the city, protecting it.  It turns out the storm broke up as it approached Port-au-Prince.  I know weather forecasters are often wrong about these things, but they were really wrong this time.  And I don't think it was because they're not good at their job.  I think God covered the city with his hand of protection.

And I don't hesitate to call it a miracle.

Psalm 46:1-3,10-11
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change.
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult
"Be still and know that I am God.
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth!"
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Up and Down (or the other way around)

Yesterday was sort of an up and down day. Mark and Marsha left for a couple weeks of vacation yesterday, leaving me here as the only American, which isn't really the end of the world. The hard part is that all the things that we were sharing responsibility for, now I have to do. Which, again, isn't really that much. The biggest part of that is supervising the library with the computers and the internet. Whenever someone is on the internet, one of the three of us needs to be in the library supervising. And to make sure all of the kids get time online, we set up a schedule where each kid gets one hour a week online. Which means the library has to be supervised for six hours a day, six days a week. Which is kinda a lot of time for me to be in the library.

In the last hour yesterday, I was getting tired and bored. I was ready to get out of the library. Its a handful to try to maintain some order in the library with teenagers coming and going for six hours. I decided to write in my journal a bit. As I wrote, I got just got more frustrated. Thoughts that had come up earlier in my time here began to creep back. "What am I doing here?" "There's no point in me being here." "I'm not doing any good, I'm just taking up space and consuming resources." (Yes, not eating food or drinking water, consuming resources. Thanks Swarthmore.) My writing began to morph from journal entry into prayer, asking God for direction and a renewed sense of purpose here. (Its something that I've struggled with in the past month or so, and keeps rearing its ugly head.) So I closed the library half an hour later, then, after a quick supper of Heart to Heart cereal, I went to check my email.

Before I go into all the details, I need to describe one of the boys for you. He's not really the easiest one to deal with. Since I've gotten here, he got into a fight with one of the other boys and hurt the other kid's eye. He's come close to getting in fights on other occasions, and generally doesn't understand his own strength. I wouldn't hesitate to say he's got some aggression issues. Since I've been here, he hasn't really been friendly with me, more quick to poke fun than show anything close to compassion. He's kinda a tough kid.

So I was quite surprised to find an email from him sitting in my inbox last night. It didn't say much, and it was in Creole, so I'm still not sure what it all says. But, for starters, HE reached out to me. It expressed admiration for me, and he said "I'm happy to write you and have you as a friend." A much softer side to this kid, and a wonderful place to begin a relationship from.

And maybe the coolest thing of all, I think he wrote this email about five minutes after I wrote my journal entry/prayer. Pretty quick response to a prayer, if you ask me.

Short Stories

In contrast to some of my recent posts, I'm going to keep this one shorter. I've got two short stories to share with you.

1-
Early this afternoon, I was about to walk across the street to the boy's house. There was a huge crowd right outside our door. Thinking it probably wasn't the best idea to walk into a large (loud) crowd of Haitians as a white American, I went up to the roof to see two long lines that merged into a crowd behind a small yellow truck. Inside (I could see in because it didn't have a roof) were a few guys passing out some stuff. I could see they were passing out collapsible water bottles, but I couldn't see what the other things were. I found out later they were mosquito nets, complete with instructions for their use and care. After consulting with an orphanage employee, I did go across the street, kinda circumnavigating most of the crowd. Everyone was mostly orderly and peaceful, but there's always that little reminder of what kind of country you're in: they had a guard standing by the back of the truck, complete with bullet-proof vest.

2-
Some of you may have heard about this in the US. Wyclef Jean, the singer, announced his candidacy for President a few weeks ago. He had some rallies, and seemed to be very popular. I saw many motorcycle taxi drivers wearing shirts supporting him. Recently, the electoral commission decided he wouldn't be allowed to run because of residency laws. (If you want the whole story, you can probably find it from a US news source.) I expected protests in the wake of their decision, but I haven't heard of any, which is a good sign. I know there are some folks who are really glad to know that he's not going to be able to run; I'm not quite sure if he would have been a good President or not, but I am looking forward to the elections (though not the riots and protests that I've heard could happen) as it might mean a new direction for Haiti and maybe some new hope. Hope that something will change.

There you go. Short and Sweet.

Now Boarding

In less than 24 hours, I will be two feet on the ground in Port-au-Prince. There's always a bit of anxiety before a big trip like this; like going to college, its another step out on my own. There's a lot that I don't quite know what to expect, but I do know who is picking me up from the airport, so I should be fine. In my experience, the anticipation of the days prior to departure are the most difficult. I'm as prepared as I can be, so let's go!

Its tough leaving my family and all the people that I care about. But it is precisely because of all of you that I am able to do this. The financial support that has been generously given, as well as the advice, friendship, prayer, and emotional support from all my family and friends are what has allowed me to embark on this adventure, and I am sincerely grateful. I really could not do this without y'all, and I hope I do justice on your behalf.

A few notes about communication:
Latest word is that internet at the orphanage isn't working, and they're not sure when it will be up. So if the blog posts are slow, be patient. Apparently, cell phones are the most reliable form of communication, and I will have both my US phone, and a Haitian cell number.

The Journey Ahead

So in about three weeks, on July 18th, I'll be flying to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to spend 5 months interning with Hope for the Children of Haiti (http://hfchaiti.org/), a Christian orphanage in Port-au-Prince. I'll be living and working in the orphanage, and although I'm not sure of exactly what all I will be doing, I'll likely be doing some rebuilding and teach a little English or Bible study. But more generally, I'm there to teach the kids about the world, and be a mentor for them. There's a lot that isn't certain right now, but I'm excited to see what's in store for me while I'm down there.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, with 80% unemployment before the earthquake. The earthquake has just made a horrible situation worse. There was a huge outpouring of help in the days right after the earthquake, but since then, the general public has largely forgotten about the country. But the problems in Haiti, as in many other places in the world, won't be solved overnight simply by throwing money at it. They need long term investment. And that's part of the reason I'm so excited to be working with HFC. They've been in Haiti since 1996 and are committed to working with the Haitians to make life better. In addition to the orphanage, which houses about 60 kids, they also run a school of about 150-200 kids, and are working towards starting other programs in the community, including potentially some micro-economic programs.

If you believe that prayer has some real power, Please, pray for me as I prepare to go and while I'm down there, that God would use me to help these kids, and set a worthy example for them to follow. If prayer isn't your thing, please just remember me in your thoughts while I'm away, trying to do what I can to make the world a little bit better.

And one quick note on the title of the blog. "Work is love made visible" is a quote by Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer. I think it captures both what I'll be doing in Haiti (Work) but also why I'm going (the love part). And it reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses (from one of my favorite books of the Bible):

"So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless... But I say, 'How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.' "
James 2:17, 18b (NLT)

*I'll try to keep updating as regularly as I can, hopefully with some pictures, but internet in Haiti isn't the most reliable, so we'll just have to see.