Living Haiti

The Beginning...

I'm the type of person who thinks that life is a journey, and I believe everyone has a story to tell. The details of my story aren't likely to be recorded in History books or even written about in the daily news, but I still believe it's a story worth telling, and I hope you enjoy following along.

The first page, the beginning of this chapter in my life is this: I am moving to Haiti!

My intention is to use this blog as a way of sharing with friends, family, and other interested people, the work that I'm doing in Haiti...of course, when I say "I'm", I really mean "we're". I've been working in Haiti for the past 6 years, but I've never been alone in my work. On my first trip to Haiti I was surrounded by a group of young adults that included close friends and people I'd never met before. We worked to help build an orphanage with the Haiti Lutheran Mission Society (www.haitilutheran.org) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti, and we also volunteered at many other hospitals and orphanages. As time went on, our relationships grew, both with the returning team members, and with our friends in Haiti. Soon some of our team members worked together to create the Haiti Mission Project (www.haitimissionproject.org), an organization raising awareness to make a difference in Haiti. In 2008, I was one of the founding board members of the Haiti Mission Project (HMP) as we became an official 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. For the past years we have been sending mission teams and work teams to the Port Au Prince area and sharing our love for Haiti, as well as raising awareness and funds Stateside to help support the people with whom we work in Haiti! It's been fun to watch the organization grow.

You probably know there was a big earthquake in Haiti last January...I'm not sure how anyone could have missed it. If you've watched the news at all, even in the more recent months, it's clear that the earthquake not only created an immediate need for aid and support but also a need for ongoing action. That's why I have committed to live and work in Haiti until the beginning of February 2010.

Some people think it's cool and exotic that I am going to Haiti. Some people ask me what I'm doing there. Some people think I'm crazy for opting out of full-time employment so that I can "volunteer" for 6 months, and a lot of people ask me if what I'm doing is even safe.

The truth is that, for me, going to Haiti is like going home. I'll be working with a Haitian woman who has been my friend for years. (I'll tell you more about the Who and What I'm working with later.) I probably am a little bit crazy for leaving full-time employment for volunteer service, espcially since the cost of life doesn't just stop when you stop working, which I'm sure many people, both in Haiti and the US, understand all too well. The goals for my time in Haiti are probably far to lofty for what I can actually accomplish in 6 months time. And, for me, Haiti isn't any more dangerous than some places I have already lived and travelled...Yes, I will be safe. People have always taken great care of me in Haiti and I am so excited to be able to spend my time in this way and to help in a time of need.

Thank you for reading this and supporting the work we are doing. Check back every couple days and see what's new. I promise to try to be entertaining and informative! I do NOT promise to always have proper use of commas and I will probably end a sentance or two with dangling prepositions...so if you're into grammar, you can correct me. I could probably use your help!

More to come...