We have officially been back in L.A.W the land of additional wastes.. for twelve days. It feels like an eternity. Jessica goes back to British Columbia today for school.. I don’t know what I’ll do now. We spent so much time together every day it’s going to be so strange without her.
This re-entry has been strange as it is…I’m not particularly ‘culture-shocked’ per se as I know what to expect… I think b/c I do I’m more angry than anything. It’s almost easy to go along with things and morph back into my old self… but underneath I’m screaming because I hate every bit of it.
…why do I do it then? yea.. that’s what I’ve been asking myself. I still don’t have an answer…maybe I’m afraid ‘THEY’LL’ be right…I won’t be a success, get a job, get married, have beautiful little kids in a cookie-cutter life, living in a cookie-cutter house in suburbia.
…but I don’t even want that… so what am I afraid of? Why am I pursuing the life I don’t want? Someone should do a study on this… I mean the human race is just so strange!
Anyways the moral of the story is that Haiti and Canada are two different worlds. I am so grateful this time I went with my sister and can share that journey with her. I’m also grateful to my friends who appreciate taking the time to talk and understand.. I really am blessed with my friends.
Being in a different country shouldn’t change who you are though should it? If who you are is defined by those around you and the society you live in then I guess it would… but if you gain your identity from Christ it shouldn’t really matter where you are… right?
Either way I think that one should maintain integrity and honesty and be themselves. Living in another place with people you don’t know doesn’t give you permission to hide who you are.. at least I don’t think it should. This only causes misery and lies and disillusionment. Especially if you’re going to help people this doesn’t make sense!
Anyways that rant likely doesn’t make any sense to any of you…
Thanks for your support for this whole trip and I will keep you posted about our future welcome home party/Haitian art auction.

C’est fini. We have officially been back in L.A.W ( Land of Additional Waste) for two full days and still I feel as though I will get into a tap-tap and go around a corner and see a goat and smell that smell of Haiti and go home to eat rice and beans with picklies and plantain.
I’ll try to fill in the gaps I’ve left from our atrocious blogging capabilities… I guess I now know that if I ever need to keep consistent records I should hire someone. I’m not even sure where I left off, so I guess I will start with the clinic ended in Chabin and we puttered around Jacmel for two days.
We helped out at the Salvation Army clinic and camp, playing with kids from one of the IDP camps and doing arts and crafts. I made pretty good friends with a developmentally challenged girl… who just loved frisbee, it was kinda great.
Since we didn’t really have much to do we decided to head down to Port au Prince to check things out and possibly visit J/P HRO ( an IDP camp in Petionville ). We met up with a friend who had worked at the clinic in Chabin with us and he found us a place to crash with some awesome medics working with M.M.R.C.
I remember driving into Carrefour and realizing that what i thought was a concrete platform was actually a roof - the house completely disintegrated but the roof still whole. Driving past people walking around doing everyday things, Haiti seemed no different than the last time I was there pre-earthquake. Looking past those selling fruit and washing clothes you saw the scars of what it must have been like, ghosts of the chaos and trauma after the quake. Buildings folded like paper houses, roofs wilted as if they had gotten soaked in the rain and couldn’t possibly be made of concrete and steel. We passed stairs leading to the heavens, evidence of a home once standing there, shops set up under buildings puckering and the center, looking as if they would collapse at any moment.
All this and yet what struck me most was the baby goat that got hit by a car in the 20 min since we had passed it last, or the UN land rovers… or any NGO vehicle for that matter.. that drove by in air conditioned comfort in a hopefully unintentional (but not likely) show of power and wealth… eerily reminiscent of the colonial era Haitian successfully broke free from.

As a friend glanced through pictures of the trip and saw Haiti through the lens of my camera comments such as, ‘this is beautiful, but this is not Haiti’ were shared… as the photos displayed hardship and rubble, destruction and poverty then the real Haiti was shown.
This ignorance I was shocked by. I mean I would expect it from a person who’s worldview has never shifted, maybe has never left their comforts of the L.A.W …but not from an ‘aid’ worker who has seen and experienced Haiti. Perhaps this is what they call disillusionment, burn-out, pessimism.
I believe that Haiti is beautiful. I am not oblivious to the pain and suffering and the problems that Haiti has to face. I also cannot deny that much of what we do to help and the systems which are in place are utterly repugnant. This does not negate the uniqueness and beauty Haiti and Haitians alike possess. No. This would be a sin. There is beauty in the broken and I have seen it. In every child’s precious smile. In the women who tears up when she thanks us for caring for them, for loving them.
When a friend’s family takes us in as their own, or a couple living in a coleman tent buys us beers, I am humbled and reminded that there is much to learn.
We don’t have the answers… yes we may have money.. but don’t mistake money with knowledge.
I am especially wary of those who come in white land rovers with plans and policies already formulated and remain outsiders who have come to fix the problems of the first world.
Did we not learn already? Must we always repeat history? I pray for eyes to see and ears to hear so that we will actually change our ways and learn to love.

~ For the greatest thing you’ll ever learn.. is just to LOVE and be loved in return.

Well tonight is our last night here in Jacmel. The clinic in Chabin ended Wednesday and the last two days we spend helping out the Salvation Army camp/clinic and organizing/taking inventory for our boxes of medicines for the clinic. Tomorrow we will head into Port au Prince for a couple of days to visit some friends and experience the city a bit.
Working with Haiti Village Health has been a great experience and we have learned a lot. As we left on Wednesday one of the men who lived nearby told us that he really appreciated what we were doing there and that we had helped a lot of people. Hearing this was very encouraging. At times in the midst of pouring sweat and crying babies and feeling as if you can’t help or don’t know what you’re doing it’s those moments that you hold onto and hope that you did not come in vain.
Today we walked around Jacmel and just enjoyed the beauty of the city. If you look beyond the rubble and patches of garbage there is such beauty and history. Not only in the architecture and landscape or the stunning sunsets but in the adorable children, the music blaring in the streets and the smiles on the friends who pass and say bon swa.
All in all it’s been a good trip.. pictures to come… !

Bonjou! We have been in Jacmel for 6 days now working in a mountain town just outside Jacmel called Chabin at a clinic. The view is amazing, the people are lovely and the energy has been great. We have learned so much already and all the doctors, med students and Kreyol speakers are so patient with us.
We have been taking patients vitals, blood pressure, heart rate, temp and weight and helping out in the pharmacy and lab. It’s been great !
We’re off to a bonfire party on the beach being thrown by an organization called From Gainsville with Love that’s finding sponsorship for different project throughout the city.
We’ve been impressed by the normalacy here, minus some closed roads and rubble . Some streets you go down you could forget there was an earthquake and then you turn a corner and a whole swath of houses are just gone and turned to piles of stone. Life goes on though it seems and people are resilient. The children at the clinic are so helpful and always smiling. Today we sat under a tree during our lunch and blew bubbles with the kids while one of the local doctors played us some tunes on his guitar. These are the moments that capture my heart and this is how I see Haiti, as a beautiful place full of beautiful people.
Internet is available at our place but alas we have no computer so updates will be sparse. Thank you again for all your support, already you have helped almost 200 people at the clinic! Talk to you later !
Liz and Jess

I promised you an update and we have it! It is official, we have raised $1 185.80 !! The fundraiser was a huge success thanks to all your support and generosity! Thank you to everyone who came out, we hope that you had fun and enjoyed yourselves. The winners of the raffle draw were : Danielle Bakermans Susan Legere Roseanne Bradshaw Bdorian Thompson Bernita Thompson Congratulations! Those who bid on silent auction items and won will be contacted in the next few days. We’ve posted a few pics below of the event so enjoy :)

Liz serving chips and drinks.

The garage sale!

Mom cleaning up.

Daniel Nelson photo collage of Haiti.

Jess and friends in Tim Arkell’s Jeep !

Julia in a box!

The silent auction items.

Thank you to everyone!!!

What a day ! Way too tired to write much but it will suffice to say that you did it !! You are sending us to Haiti. It is really inspiring to see an entire community working together and supporting each other to help others. This trip has truly been a community effort and I can’t wait to show you the results of all your generosity !
Thank you so much to everyone who gave of their time, money, spirit and energy, it truly would not have been the same without each and everyone of you.
I will update again soon.. along with total funds raised at the BBQ and raffle prize winners along with some photos of the event !

Bon nuite!

So frusterated, and feeling overwhelmed by the busy demands of life, while trying to fundraise, and do 100 other things at the same time. I believe funds will come, we just have to be patient, and keep at it, while trying to enjoy it. I’m hoping that the weather is good for the BBQ coming up, and that there is a good turn out. It is hard to believe that we’re going to Haiti in a week! Well I am off to rest, it is going to be a long day tomorrow.

Jess

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So we’re going, flights are booked and donations are starting to come in.. pole pole as they would say in Kenya, slowly … We have about $1800 more to go.. so we’re at about half way.. not bad I would say.. Bottle collection has been fairly successful.. it really in a gold mine, if you could convince people going into the beer store to donate your empties… or a couple thousand people to give you some, or you had an army of volunteers, rather than two people and a Honda civic.. you could raise a lot! I read yesterday that our local Beer store refunds 4000 bottles and cans a minute… that’s insane! The BBQ is fast approaching, and we’re cleaning, buying food, making signs and making endless trips for last minute errands… hope we have sunshine and a good turn out ! We had an interesting discussion about hotdogs and hamburgers and which would sell faster… so i decided to ask you … Which would you prefer: hotdog or a hamburger? Go here to answer http://www.acepolls.com/polls/1140030-would-you-rather-eat-a-hotdog-or-a-hamburger
liz