just call me lapen blan

A while back when Kristen and I decided to go to Haiti in April, we realized we would be there over Easter.  So I began collecting easter eggs so we could have a little easter egg hunt for the kids.  Well when the University of Kentucky group went over spring break, a friend of theirs gave them hundreds of eggs filled with candy to take to the kids!  When I found out they would be doing an easter egg hunt I was slightly disappointed that they would get to do one before me, but then it turned out they didn't have enough room to take all of the eggs, so they gave them to me!  Sunday I went down to UK to collect all of the eggs, and packed my big purple suitcase with them.  There is absolutely no room for anything else!  This Easter Egg hunt will be EPIC!  I am so excited to be able to share this fun Easter tradition with all of the kids, I just wish more of my UK friends could be there to see it!  Just call me the white rabbit because I am bringing Easter fun to tons of kids.  I know it isn't that important, and I know hunting for colorful eggs filled with candy has absolutely no nutritional value for them, but when you have something for the kids, and you tell them about it, the elation you get out of them is so much more than any spoiled American child.  Things like candy, and getting presents for silly holidays is something we all take for granted, it is something that is naturally expected from our parents, but none of it is necessary, and most kids probably don't deserve it, I know I probably didn't when i was young.  I'm not sure I even do now.

The first time I went down to the Orphanage in 2009 we got to stay in these buildings on the property called the Round Houses, and basically they were circular apartment's with two bedrooms that the orphanage had begun to build for missionary's to come and stay.  At the time they had already built three stories, but had only finished the bottom floor, so we got to stay there.  When the Earthquake hit the structure remained in tack- which was an awesome thing because Mona, and Brummaire were on the bottom floor; but unfortunately the top floor shifted, making it unstable.  On this last visit down in March they began to take down the top floor, and that should be finished so we can begin to finish the first two floors.  This is great news, and I hope that it means more groups will be able to come and stay at the orphanage on a regular basis.  And speaking of which it seems that the Orphanage will have some of staying with them for four months in a row.  There was a group in March, Kristen and I in April, I hear a few girls will be going in May, and Juliet will be going in June!  This is exciting, and will hopefully give all of the kids ample opportunities to work on their English.

And on the bracelet and headband front I have given another batch to Andy, and new colors should be in stock in the Grand Rapids area!  Thanks to everyone who has supported me so far!  And Jason has  over 900 feet of rope waiting for me in California, so thank you to his friends in Belmont California, I am so grateful for the support I have gotten from people who have never met me!  So now the next step is to make make make, and sell sell sell!  

Micheal Jackson said it best

I am not alone in my love for Haiti, and my Haitian friends.  At least I know there is a crazy group of University of Kentucky students that have been where I have been, and have seen what I have seen, and know in their heart that it is where they are meant to be.  I do not seek understanding from whom all I meet, but I do require acceptance that helping people in another country is my truth.  I am blessed and happy to know that I am not alone, and all of our love and perseverance in the face of opposition will prevail.  Thank you to all who have supported me and my beliefs thus far, I am proud to call you zanmi mwen.

Spring has not sprung, but big things are happening!

Hey everyone, this weekend brought a lot of good news to me, two of my friends got engaged, and I found out a close family friend is pregnant, so congratulations to you all!

Kristen and I have also bought tickets for our next trip to Haiti!  We will be heading back on April 13th, and we will be staying for two weeks!  We are very eager to go back, and it will be nice to enjoy some hot weather.  Despite my childhood growing up in Michigan I spend most of the winter shivering under piles of blankets!

I also have enough bracelets to start selling to people, I sold a few tonight to Michelle and Yelena at Climb Time, so a big thanks to them!  Send me your $5 and $10 bills and I will send you whatever you want!

Take the Good with the Bad

Four years ago today my assumptions of how I thought my life would be were drastically changed.  It was like everything I had ever known about life was suddenly a lie.  Up until my 21st year, life had been easy for me.  I grew up with a mother, a father, and a half brother who was eight years older than me.  This age gap allowed my brother and I to practically grow up as only children, receiving virtually everything we ever asked for.  I graduated High School as an average student, and went to Grand Valley State University, and with absolutely no student loans to speak of, and only one crazy roommate to plague my good times, i was practically care free.  I went to class, I worked, I went home to see my family every few months, and things were good.  

Then in the summer of 2006 my dad called me to tell me he had a doctors appointment scheduled because he hadn't been feeling well.  Although I did think it was strange he was calling to tell me about such a mundane event, i ultimately put the phone call out of my head, and went on with my day, because bad things don't happen to people like my Dad, no way, no how!  Needless to say a few days later my Dad had cancer, and no matter how hard I tried to pretend like it was a bad dream, I ultimately knew weather he lived or died things would never be the same for any of us again.  The months went by, and he got sick, and he go better, and he had a bone marrow transplant, and he got sick, and then they said he was going to die, and then they said he was cured, and then finally in the first week of March, I got a call that said it was time to come to the hospital because he wasn't going to make it.  

So here I am 21 years old, and while all of my friends are sunning themselves on pretty little beaches on the Gulf Coast sipping Margaritas, and worrying about their tan lines, I sat in a hospital room for 3 days with my family waiting for that time to come.  Inevitably March 9th came, and late in the evening my father went, and we all left the University of Michigan hospital, hoping never to come back.  

I soon came to the realization that I could day dream and plan out how I wanted my life to be as long as I wanted, but nothing is guaranteed, and nothing I had always assumed my father would be at would ever happen how I wanted.  So many months later- or maybe longer, after I finally stopped feeling angry, and sorry for myself, I decided maybe something as terrible as losing your dog, your father, and your grandfather within two weeks happened to me, because God knew I could handle it, and learn from it.  So despite my misfortunes I always had the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that so many others have had worse things happening to me, there is no excuse for me to think I am more important than those other people.  And in this reasoning I knew that whatever I decided to do in life, I could no longer work towards the goal of simply making myself happy, I knew that whatever I did would have to impact someone else in a way that makes their lives better.  

Today I saw my brother wrote on his facebook, and in the message he said he is trying to live by "WWGD" (What Would George Do?)  And although I have never called it that before, I think I do the same thing.  Every day I wonder what my Dad would think and say about what I am doing with my life, but then I think if he were here then maybe my outlook on life would be entirely different, and none of what I am doing now would have happened.  

In the spring of 2009 I began to look at jobs through Americorps, and I found a job working with Habitat for Humanity in Seattle.  I applied, I had an interview, and I have to be honest the woman who interviewed me made it seem like I had the job, I was ready to go, and eager to get on with my life.  Then Juliet called me, and asked me if I wanted to go on a mission trip to this place called Haiti.  I hardly had a clue as to where Haiti was, so in an attempt to maker her happy, and not just flat out say no I didn't want to go, I told Juliet that if I didn't get the job in Seattle that I would go with her to Haiti, and left it at that.  Later that night I got an e-mail from the lady in Seattle saying I had NOT gotten the job.  At the time I was so disappointed that I did not get the job that I wanted- but silly me, I had forgotten my own lesson from years past.  And to be honest this goes out to whoever that woman was who rejected me- Thank You, your rejection was a blessing.  

Thank you Michigan!

It was a big weekend up in Michigan!  Sold my first bracelet to my Mom, and the next two to my uncle Mike!  Apparently I am not making the bracelets big enough for all of you guys out there so be patient, and I will soon make some bigger bracelets for all of you.  On Monday I got to go to Grand Rapids, I began my trip with a quick stop at Grand Valley to visit my friend Nick who works at the climbing wall, and he gave me 6 ropes that they had just retired!  So thank you Grand Valley State University, and I would also like to give a big thanks to Brian, Denise, and Andy at Inside Moves, they gave me more rope, and made tags for me to put on the bands.  All of the things I have made so far are now hanging on the wall and Inside Moves, and looking great, but to be honest I hope they aren't there very long ;)  I would also like to thank James for giving me 4 green ropes, you guys are all a really big help, no I just need to figure out how to take ALL this rope I have and make it in to something, I am going to be really busy!

Souri Avi debut

Tomorrow I will drive up to Michigan, and have my first buyers of my bracelets and headbands.  If you haven't already heard I am selling headbands and bracelets to raise money for things I want to do in Haiti.  So far I have about ten bracelets and ten headbands, but I need more rope if I want to continue this venture!

Before these hit the shelves of Inside Moves Climbing Gym, I guess I should probably tell you all a little bit about the logo I made to go along with the merch.  After Kristen and I brainstormed about what kind of name we wanted to have for our organization, I then had to think about some way to make our ideas known.  We needed something that could be on all the stuff we sell, and make it better known.  So I came up with a hummingbird.  The hummingbird is a bird that is only in North and South America, and it is the only bird that can fly forwards and backwards.  The hummingbird is a symbol for the ability for us all to look to the past, but still allow ourselves to look toward the future.  I believe that it is important for our haitian friends to not forget the day their world crumble to pieces, but remember that they were saved for a reason unknown to them.

When I was in Haiti in August there was a boy from the orphanage who approached me, and told me that when the earthquake hit his twin brother was the only boy from the orphanage to not survive.  His brother had been at University that day when it collapsed. And then when most would have continued to tell me about how angry they were that this had happened to them, he proceeded to tell me how he believed that God allowed him to live because he had a lot of important things to do in life, and now he would have a chance to come and study in the U.S.  Through all of the terrible things that have happened to these people, they have not given up hope that good things will come for them.  And I believe that is Kristen and I's mission in all of this, to help our haitian friends better themselves.

So look for my hummingbird symbol on things that you buy, and I promise my sewing abilities will get better!

You can't keep wearing your own shoes to know what someone else' feel like

Whenever I have a conversation with someone about Haiti, most generally ask me how the clean up has progressed since the earthquake last year.  I usually answer in the same way paralleling the week I spent in New Orleans with what I have seen in Haiti.  Two years after Hurricane Katrina hit I spent a week in New Orleans with a group from Haslett Community Church, rebuilding houses with Habitat for Humanity.  I had never been to New Orleans before, but the shock of what little had been done in the 2 years that had passed was unimaginable.  We spent the entire week passing by homes that had yet to be cleaned out, spray paint adorned every door step like a secret code a child might use with a friend but instead of an innocent greeting the circle drawing described in shorthand how many people, and how many pets had been found dead or alive inside.  You could still see how high the water had risen by the stains practically painted parallel to the tops of first story windows, and whole neighborhoods still stood vacant, abandoned but not forgotten by so many that had no other choice but to leave everything they ever had behind.  These people who live within the borders of what most say is the greatest country in the world were in my American opinionated standards left to fend for themselves.  Many came to help, but now it has been six years since the greater part of a city drowned, I have not been back to see the progress, but i have to imagine it is not, and will never be the same city again.  

So when people ask me "What is being done in Haiti?  Why has there been no progress?" I just think about how little had been done in New Orleans, a place with every resource at their disposal, and how little the Haitians have to work with, and in my eyes, the positive progress they have made.  It is not unusual to see uninhabitable buildings as you drive the Port au Prince, and I have a feeling as the years come and go I will continue to see these same dilapidated buildings standing as testaments to the Haitian will and perseverance.  Many Haitians lost nearly everything on January 12th,  but without possibility of evacuating their beloved city, they had no choice but to stay and move on in the best ways they could. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mjyJLdlRBA 

here is a link to the 2nd part of a 4 part series created by some CHCH Canadians, and this second part that i have posted explains what i have not been able to in many respects as to why they don't just clean everything up and start rebuilding.  I urge you to watch all four parts of the series, but this was my favorite section, and I think it helps to convey what I have not been successful at.  

I have given a lot of thought to a question someone asked me a while back, and basically someone said to me that they didn't understand WHY these Haitian people didn't just go out and clean up these spots of rubble- even if they weren't getting paid, WHY didn't they just get off their butts and do something to help?  At the time this question was asked I couldn't give an adequate answer to this difficult question that was asked really as more of a statement than an actually question.  But if the person who asked me that question is reading this I would like them to imagine not as themselves - with American values, and American dreams, and American wages, but I want them to imagine themselves as a Haitian- 20 something year old male. He has lived his entire life in the blazing sun, with the average temperatures near the equator at about 85 degrees, and if this man did NOT live in a place like an orphanage that could have provided them with at least 2 meals a day, and a sturdy pair of shoes, he then lived in a concrete shack with a tin roof; or now more likely a tent.  His family lived on less than $2 a day, and the odds of them all eating even once a day were probably pretty low, and on top of all of this, imagine when you are thirsty the water that you drink is probably not even clean enough to sit in my toilet bowl.  So imagine this guy he has no job, no food, and water i wouldn't give to my cat.  Why would I as this man go and pick up heavy concrete blocks that were not mine to begin with, and I was not getting paid to pick up?  And then once I did pick these up,  where would I put these blocks?  They have no place to go, but back on to the pile they originated from. Now I can also relate this to climbing, and I know none of the climbers I know would make it two hours in the Red in August without a indestructible Nalgene bottle full of water, a banana, and Clif Bar - I'm just saying.  

It's March already?

I can't believe it is March!  Some friends from the Wesley Foundation, University of Kentucky will be leaving for Haiti in ten days!  They are all set to help build walls, and have some Vacation Bible School!  I'm obviously jealous that I can not go with them, but my ever so important jobs at Buffalo Wild Wings won't allow me to go anywhere during March Madness.  Got to love sports.! (P.S. anyone who has current openings at their place of employment let me know).  

So Kristen and I, and hopefully Juliet will be making a trip down the last two weeks in April, over Easter, and hopefully before my brother and his wife have their baby!  Hopefully I can get some of my headbands and bracelets sold before we go, but I most likely won't be using any money I make off of these right away, it will probably all be going in to a bank account for now.  

So far I have collected three types of ropes, and I have been working on bracelets and headbands, and I have been practicing on my new hand held sewing machine, but I beginning to see I will still need a regular sewing machine if I want to get any cloth head bands finished.

So all of those living in the Grand Rapids area watch out for me at Inside Moves on Monday! I better see you there!