One Week...
One week from today I will be heading to Chicago. That is the final leg of my summer before heading to Haiti. One week from today I leave...I still have suitcases to go through, lists of things to accomplish and loads of people I would love to spend time with. I have to figure out how I am going to get all of my stuff into 2 50lb bags...including all the donations and stuff for the orphanages I would like to bring along.
Many people have asked what I will be doing in Haiti. I find it difficult to package it into a small 5 minute story...but I will try to make an attempt to do that here. I will leave for Haiti in a little over a week. I will be staying in the country for a little over 5 months (YES, I would love it is you ALL came and visited me.) I plan on returning the first part of February.
I will be staying with a good friend of mine in Haiti. I met Gertrude years ago on my first trip to Haiti. We became fast friends...laughing, dancing, singing, working, talking for hours, and trying on ridiculous high heels we find in donation bags! I love Gertrude, but those things are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the reasons why I want to spend 5 months working with this woman. The Haiti Mission Project, has become involved in the work that she is doing to support people in Haiti. I will help Gertrude as she "remodels" the projects she works with and manages in Haiti, post earthquake. The guesthouse she once managed lost it's building in the earthquake, but life doesn't stop and we can't wait to run the guesthouse until it is rebuilt, so she has relocated it. On one single property now sit two buildings that house two orphanages, home to 37 children (some with special needs), a guesthouse, and a trade school that teaches women to sew, cook, and make jewelry in order to provide for their families.
I will help Gertrude with some of the business and administration of these projects, all the while allowing her to maintain ownership of the management while helping her create systems that make things function and flow better. I will also be helping to sort our adoption paperwork for our children. And while I am there, I will also be helping to receive some teams that are coming to work alongside the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti. Some of the goals are lofty...perhaps too lofty for 5 months, but I am looking forward to challenge and the adventure and can't wait to get started!
I am doing this as volunteer work. If you've noticed on the side of my blog there is a place where you can donate to my work. I certainly appreciate any financial help that anyone wants to offer on this venture, but I also understand that money isn't really something most people have to throw around these days...and more than financial support I appreciate your words of encouragement and the support of prayer from those of you who are the praying type. This is a differently adventure for me...I can't wait to share my stories with you, and I hope that you will continue to read along with me through the coming months.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Sharing Haiti...
If you've spent any time with me in the past 6 years, you know that I LOVE to talk about Haiti. (A friend is trying to convince me that we "love" people and "like" things...she has a lot of work to do in order to convince me on a few things...talking about Haiti is one of the "things" that I LOVE)
This past weekend I took a little trip down to Southwest Missouri where I used to work. In fact, I was able to see some of the first people who supported my endeavors in Haiti and share updates about what the Haiti Mission Project has been doing. In the past 5 years the Haiti Mission Project has come a long way! It's fun to see growth. It's also fun to see friends and loved ones. Thank you to everyone who let me share about Haiti this past weekend, especially those who have listened to me talk for hour and hours, and still are willing to listen!
I'll share a quick story...My trip had many highlights, but I'd like to share this one! My Godson Lucas and I got to spend a day together. Lucas turned five last month and is a pretty cool kid! His parents do a great job raising him and he's growing up to be one smart little cookie. He knows all about how his "Auntie Rae-Rae" works in Haiti and was really interested in what was going on there after the earthquake. He also knows that I am going to live there for a while, and I was telling him how I would be working at a place where there were lots of little boys and girls around his age without parents. He thought that would be a fun place to visit and find people to play with. As we were running errands later in the day we walked past a toy section. Of course he was drawn in by the Batman and Superhero section. Since his 5 year birthday present is somewhere in my storage...somehwere...I told him he could pick out any toy he wanted and I would get him one for his birthday. He walked the aisles and kept saying, "You know what I think? I bet the kids in Haiti would like to have this. Let's get this for the kids in Haiti." When he finally settled on a padded Batman hockey set he tried his hardest to convince me to buy them all so, "ALL the kids in Haiti can have one Auntie Rae-Rae!" After convincing him there was no way I could fit them in my luggage, I was able to get him to move on!
I love watching other people get involved in Haiti. I love to see other people fall in love with the people of Haiti, and it's great to see people, young and old, think of ways to love their neighbors all around the world!
Here is the video I shared with people this weekend. A guy with the Haiti Mission Project put it together and it shows some of the people we work with in Haiti. You may have seen it before...enjoy!
If you've spent any time with me in the past 6 years, you know that I LOVE to talk about Haiti. (A friend is trying to convince me that we "love" people and "like" things...she has a lot of work to do in order to convince me on a few things...talking about Haiti is one of the "things" that I LOVE)
This past weekend I took a little trip down to Southwest Missouri where I used to work. In fact, I was able to see some of the first people who supported my endeavors in Haiti and share updates about what the Haiti Mission Project has been doing. In the past 5 years the Haiti Mission Project has come a long way! It's fun to see growth. It's also fun to see friends and loved ones. Thank you to everyone who let me share about Haiti this past weekend, especially those who have listened to me talk for hour and hours, and still are willing to listen!
I'll share a quick story...My trip had many highlights, but I'd like to share this one! My Godson Lucas and I got to spend a day together. Lucas turned five last month and is a pretty cool kid! His parents do a great job raising him and he's growing up to be one smart little cookie. He knows all about how his "Auntie Rae-Rae" works in Haiti and was really interested in what was going on there after the earthquake. He also knows that I am going to live there for a while, and I was telling him how I would be working at a place where there were lots of little boys and girls around his age without parents. He thought that would be a fun place to visit and find people to play with. As we were running errands later in the day we walked past a toy section. Of course he was drawn in by the Batman and Superhero section. Since his 5 year birthday present is somewhere in my storage...somehwere...I told him he could pick out any toy he wanted and I would get him one for his birthday. He walked the aisles and kept saying, "You know what I think? I bet the kids in Haiti would like to have this. Let's get this for the kids in Haiti." When he finally settled on a padded Batman hockey set he tried his hardest to convince me to buy them all so, "ALL the kids in Haiti can have one Auntie Rae-Rae!" After convincing him there was no way I could fit them in my luggage, I was able to get him to move on!
I love watching other people get involved in Haiti. I love to see other people fall in love with the people of Haiti, and it's great to see people, young and old, think of ways to love their neighbors all around the world!
Here is the video I shared with people this weekend. A guy with the Haiti Mission Project put it together and it shows some of the people we work with in Haiti. You may have seen it before...enjoy!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
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...
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...
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