Saturday, March 8, 2014
Friday, March 7, 2014
Reflection in our last hours
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Come as Strangers, Leave as Friends
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Unexpected Conversations
Meredith
For the Beauty of the Earth
Orevwa,
Tyler
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Looking back...
"This is the day the Lord has made..."
(The picture sums up our day, and we hope you can find a deeper meaning in it based upon the experiences we have shared.)
All our love from Haiti,
Kate and Leah
Food Fights
Today we're headed to two feeding programs. The first is run by the Missionaries of Charity in the legacy of Mother Theresa. They provide food for undernourished infants. The second is a program initiated by a woman who saw hungry children in her neighborhood and wanted to provide for them. Haiti has abundant food and fertile soil. Hunger here seems particularly cruel.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Where did you see God?
We felt this kite runner from today was an iconic response to Fr. Frank's favorite evening reflection question - "Where did you see God?"
Sunday, March 2, 2014
To Be or Not to Be
Later today we also had a group activity/discussion revolving around the various ways to approach injustice. Some of us identified ourselves as "helpers" while others felt that advocating, arranging protests, or working as "organizers" is a better approach. We took turns speaking directly to other groups and mentioned what irritates us about working with each group. The activity brought some great discussion to the surface about our purpose in Haiti and the need for all four of these approaches to positive social change to collaborate. We became slightly frustrated that we couldn't pinpoint the reason that we are here, but later we had the opportunity to meet with two university students from Haiti and learned the importance of relationship.
Jimmy and Laurente talked about the education system here and it was fun to see similarities and differences. I don't think a lot of us thought about the burden of actually getting to school. Many of us live directly on campus and have constant access to the library and other students for academic support. Laurente has to wake up at 3am to brave the traffic and get to class on time! We all struggled to get up at that time to leave from Gannon on Saturday. I can't even imagine doing that every day. It was wonderful to meet with people our age and learn more about their culture. Forming actual relationships and exchanging stories (and dance moves) helped us to realize that maybe our purpose here is more about being than doing. Do you take time to live in the moment and be, or are you constantly in the action of doing?
All in all it was a beautifully thought provoking day. Bònn nui. Dòmi byen
Tyler, Meredith, Kate & Paige
Laurent and Jimmy
We are so grateful to the university students that shared dialogue with us about education and our campus lives... and a kampo dance lesson!
Our Gracious Guide
Fr. Frank is a psychologist and not-so-amateur historian. We are grateful for his hospitality and wisdom.
Encountering After Shocks
After celebrating sunrise mass at Notre Dame de Lourdes in Cite Militaire, Fr. Frank and our fearless driver Roland, showed us around downtown Port-au-Prince. The 2010 earthquake impact on buildings and people has startled us.
Bon dimanche!