One month already?

Hard to believe that I have been here for one month already.  It truly doesn't seem that long.

During this time I have had a mix of feelings about my experiences.  Some days are awesome.  Some days seem hopeless.  The challenges are many and seem never ending.  I often find myself asking, What am I doing here?  What do I want to do?  The needs seem so overwhelming.

my coworkers

But every time I have a downer moment or day, it is balanced out by a great day.  High productivity.  Positive impact.  Thriving.  Feeling like I am contributing to addressing the larger needs.  Things seeming hopeful. 

One of the most difficult things about being down here is feeling isolated at times.  Not knowing the language well enough.  Being from out of town.  Having meals prepared for me.  Things I am getting more adjusted to as time goes by.

Even though there are many times when I feel I will never learn the language, I know I will.  I am studying hard each day to make sure I do.  I feel like I am getting closer and closer to that tipping point where I will comprehend it at local, conversational speed.

What I enjoy the most is meeting and getting to know people down here.  Both locals in town and volunteers coming down to do service.  I would have to say this is the best part of my job.  I get to work with some of the kindest, most caring people.  I really enjoy supporting and sharing their experience here in Haiti.

a great group of PTs from Texas

One thing that has helped me stay balanced mentally is surfing.  There is an organization here called SurfHaiti.  They partner with local kids in the area to teach surfing, while also trying to build a surf tourism destination.  On a few occasions I have been able to get out in the water with them.  It feels great to be out on the water with other surfers, including local Haitians.  It helps put me at ease.  When I am out there, I often forget where I am.  The beauty, as well as getting tossed around in the crashing waves are good at doing that!   When I look onto the shore, I am reminded how beautiful the harsh living conditions can can seem here.  Ocean.  Mountains.  Women carrying fruit baskets on their head.  Being out in the ocean, I feel disconnected from it, protected from the reality of the daily struggle.

way better then I am

thanks to SurfHaiti for these pictures

But even amid this daily struggle, the people here are full of spirit.  Full of compassion and joy.  They might not have many materialistic things, but one could make the argument that they are happier than most Americans.  Maybe not in how they live, but how they go about living.  In a weird way, most people here seem to be content with life as they know it.  They might want better living conditions, but they don't complain much about the conditions in which they currently live. Maybe its partly because they haven't experienced much of anything else, but they don't focus on what one has, they focus on relationships.  The stories to be shared, the laughs to be had.  Something I am making sure I do while I am here.

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p.s.  For anyone interested, aka Mom, I have played soccer again without any new injuries!  But no, I did not play in the tournament.

the street soccer tournament

Grateful...but I need your help

I am so grateful for having been connected with great organizations in Haiti.  Currently, with Community Coalition for Haiti, and previously with Project Medishare for Haiti.  Both organizations working with their involved communities through authentic partnerships to address local needs in sustainable ways.

This past week I read a book titled, Travesty in Haiti: A true account of Christian missions, orphanages, fraud, food aid and drug trafficking by Timothy T Schwartz Ph.D..  It was an insightful and partly disturbing read.  I learned a lot about organizations not carrying out their work in a manner beneficial to the people they are claiming to serve.  

While improvements have certainly occurred since the author's experiences in Haiti in the 1990s, there are still some organizations working in Haiti without the proper focus or methods.  This is why I consider myself extremely fortunate to be working as part of Community Coalition for Haiti.

Over the past 25 years, Community Coalition for Haiti (CCH) has been working in Haiti to transform lives, one person, one family, one community at a time.  As I have come to see over the past three weeks, this mission doesn't just apply to the communities we are working with, it also applies to the volunteers that come down and serve with us.  Not only are the lives of the people we serve changed, but also the lives of the people who come down here to serve.

And that is what I am most grateful for - the opportunity to serve in Haiti for an entire year.  It will most certainly change my life.

But in order to help change my life and the lives of people we are serving, CCH needs your help.  We need your encouragement, your prayers, your knowledge and skills, and your monetary support.  I wish money weren't an issue and we didn't have to continuously work to secure funds for our work, but we do.  I wish the people we served had the ability to pay for everything we provide, but they don't.  While improvements are certainly being made here in Haiti, the change is slow.  

The government is getting more involved.  NGOs are being more effective in their work.  But there is still a great need. CCH and I need your help.  We need your help to empower children and families with the knowledge and skills to live and be healthy.  Whether it be $5, $50 or $5,000, every single donation made will help us in our efforts to improve the lives of the people we work with in our communities here in Haiti.

You may not think that $5 will make any difference, but it most certainly will.  When the majority of the population here in Haiti lives off less than $1 per day, every single dollar donated will make a difference to help improve the lives of people in need.  

If you are able to support our efforts with a monetary contribution, we truly thank you.  If you are able to support our efforts with a prayer, we truly thank you.  If you are able to support our efforts with service, we truly thank you (and look forward to working with you!).  If you are still reading this, I truly thank you, for whether or not you actually donate, it shows me that you care.

I sincerely urge you to partner with us in our efforts.  To support our work,  DONATE HERE.   

Whether it be $500, $50 or $5, every single donation will help make an impact here and will be much appreciated.

For the first $2,000 donated, The Endowment for Community Leadership in Northern Virginia has pledged to match each dollar!  We are so grateful for this partnership.  So if you donate $10, it is really like donating $20.  If you donate $50, it is really like donating $100. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for considering to support our work.  

Jwe foutbòl (to play soccer)

Well I'm pretty sure my mom doesn't like these pictures, but I know she isn't surprised by them. (I was the injury prone one in the family.)

These are all the result of my first go at "street soccer."  To say the least, it's a little different playing on a sandy, dirty road.  A barb wire fence as one boundary, a concrete wall as the other, and two-foot high, two-foot wide welded structures as goals.  I also can't remember the last time I played soccer.  I tried to overcome my this lack of skill with aggressive, fast "play"...well let's call it athletic running with some occasional soccer mixed in.  And since I don't really have a "take it easy" button when it comes to competition, I can't say I'm the least bit surprised that I ended up with these nice parting gifts from the game.

Despite how it may appear, and despite my lack of skill, I really enjoyed it.  The guys I played with had encouraged me to join them and I'm glad I did.  They play 3v3, with a goalie on each team.  The "field" is maybe 60 ft long and 20 ft wide.  The sandy dirt doesn't bode well for aggressive change of directions.  Something I will certainly have to adjust to.  And since my ability to run, my only possible advantage on the field, is practically a disadvantage, I've got to start working on my footwork!

I've noticed this on previous trips, but there is an odd benefit of falling down or getting a cut.  It gives me the opportunity to show that blans (white persons aka foreigners) are not fragile and have more similarities to the people here than differences.   

All in all, even though I was definitely below par, it was great to do some physical activity besides distance running.  As I was leaving, many of the guys said, "demen?" (again tomorrow?)  Maybe.... I will have to wait and see how the blisters on my big toes feel.