Haiti's countryside and its capitol city feel like two worlds apart. In Dezam, the countryside lokalite (somewhat like a village) where we just completed our three week home-stay, the surroundings are lush and green. Homes sit perched atop a steep hillside leading down to a clear flowing stream. Accommodations are sparse. We lived in a simple grey cinder-block home surrounded by a garden of fruit trees and hibiscus. A latrine and bathing area sat nestled in a corner where chickens can walk by as you do your morning or evening "business." There was no running water or electricity. Our host family fetched water from the neighbors spigot for cooking and for bathing.

Now, back in Port-au-Prince, the differences in this city and country life come into sharp relief. In the MCC guest house, where we are currently staying, there is electricity all the time. I can bathe using an overhead shower nozzle. I can look in a mirror that reflects my whole face at once. This morning, we went to a Supermarket where we saw a gallon of Kirkland extra virgin olive oil (which had a price tag of $60!), soy sauce, and the Thai Bistro brand of coconut milk that I'm used to seeing at stores in the U.S. I can wear earrings here and not feel ostentatious.

But this is part of the dynamic and structure that is Haiti. Resources are centralized in the bustling, overcrowded capitol. People still live precarious existences here. Slum-like communities abound. There is a greater level of suspicion (like in any city.) In Dezam, neighbors wander into your yard at nighttime after you've gone to bed. They call out your name, wanting to chat, and will carry on a conversation with you as you lay in bed, laughing and talking until they feel like walking back home. There are always people around, but all the people are family (literally, they were all related to our host dad somehow.)

You would think that these two places exist worlds apart. Instead, they are two and a half hours apart by car. The two exist in the same country, and both are fully Haiti. This seeming contrast and divide will come up again and again as we do our work. It is a huge country, and yet a small country all at the same time.

Dezam. A flower in our lakou, or garden

Me digging into my favorite (though kind of gross looking) fruit - kashima
(or 'apple custard' in English.)

Our wonderful host parents - Sengadyen and Madame Filomen.

A busy market corner in Port-au-Prince

The "Single Story"

At MCC staff orientation we reviewed the power of Story to paint and depict people's lives, and even entire groups of people. Specifically, our speakers Ewuare Osayande and Harley Eagle invited us to think about the danger of the Single Story which can be used to dehumanize and convince those with power that they are set-apart and more than "the other," whoever that "other" might be. (See Chimamanda Adichie's video below.) These ideas feel a bit abstract, but I hope to ground them with some examples here.

In Haiti, we can see how popular media and personal accounts from more affluent nations -- those with more "power" -- have perpetuated a Single Story of Haiti as a poor, deprived nation. As a result, Haiti's story is somehow simplified and Haitians may be seen by the majority of non-Haitians as people who are weak, needy. The fullness of Haitian's individual stories are left out in the retelling.

“Show a people as one thing, only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” ― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Reading communication pieces from NGOs and many charitable groups intending to do good work in Haiti, a reader may come away with the perception that the subjects in these stories are defined by the awful circumstances they encounter.

Therefore, after reading an account about a struggling single mother who has contracted HIV and is searching for employment to feed her family, we may be tempted to see her primarily as a poor, struggling widow, instead of a human being whose story did not start with her current struggles, nor is it defined by them.

“The closer you get to the lives of people, the more you recognize the most obvious things. Firstly, they are not defined by the circumstances of their suffering.” - Voices of Haiti: A Post-Quake Odyssey (Lisa Armstrong & Kwame Dawes)

We all are affected by the power of Story. Stories shape our understandings and perceptions of the world.

I am aware that those with more power in the world can also be viewed via a Single Story. The NGO worker or missionary in Haiti could be seen positively or negatively - as either arrogant, wealthy, or saints.

So what is the antidote to the dangers of the Single Story? One would be to tell many stories, and to tell fuller stories. I hope that we can do that as part of our Advocacy work with Mennonite Central Committee.

The danger of a single story - Chimamanda Adichie, as viewed at our MCC Orientation

Short Film - Haiti & The Dominican Republic

We recommend this 50 minute documentary on the racial history of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, narrated by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. It explained a lot to us, in generalized terms, about the tense relationship between the two countries that share the same island.



Enjoy!

Book review: The Invention of Wings

In The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd weaves a powerful narrative about the lives of two women in Charleston, SC in the early-mid 1800s. One, Hetty, is born into slavery under the wealthy planter family, the Grimkés, and the other is their nervous but brash daughter, Sarah. The two girls grow up together in the oppression and opulence of the antebellum South. At some point in the novel, which alternates between Hetty and Sarah’s first person perspectives, you get swept up in wanting to know how the story of these two women unfolds, how Sarah Grimké, in particular, comes to take her infamous place in 19th century history. Hetty, though a character of fiction, tells a completely different story, but a sobering one of hope and survival in a cruel world that is set upon denying her very humanity. Both women carve their own pathways to freedom – they “invent their own wings” - in a way that is inspiring and feels all too relevant for women today. Especially if you have traveled to Charleston or Philadelphia, the Invention of Wings is an added treat as it brings aspects of early American history in these two towns to life. Katharine recommends Invention of Wings if you are looking for a light, but inspiring and perspective-changing novel for your summer reading.

I LOVE this story.

Last Friday, I witnessed something AMAZING, and I have to tell. My dear friend, M., has been sick for some time. In addition, she's been heartsick for her son, who was taken from her about 5 years ago, when he was just 1 year old. M. is a refugee from Liberia; her son's dad took him back home "for a visit" five years ago, but purposefully left him there, while using his passport to bring another child back to the U.S.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was at M.'s house. Her poor health, and her anxiety over her son, seemed too much to bear. She cried, and asked for prayer. We have prayed together a few times. Her chronic health condition - which is a mystery to her doctors - has taken her to the ER on a regular basis of late. We've prayed over the phone, while she sits in the hospital bed alone. Two weeks ago, when I visited her at her house, we prayed again. We prayed for a few things: 1) that God would encourage M., and 2) that He would watch over her son, and 3) maybe even provide a miracle...

What first brought M. & I together was Ted's involvement in filing her naturalization paperwork last April. After concluding the interview, it became clear that M. cannot read; she never learned. So, to prep her for her citizenship interview, she and I started meeting to review the basics of literacy, and also some facts of U.S. history. She didn't tell many people about her efforts, for fear that she might be teased by some family and friends. Though she has failed her test once, she gets another try this Spring, before needing to re-file her application.

Back to our meeting last week. Our typical Friday meetings had been cancelled this past month, due to the increased stress of her health problems. We met in other capacities (to pray, review her diagnosis with her doctor), but last Friday, we did make it a point to pick up our literacy review.

As I sat waiting in Starbucks - reading intently - I jumped as I felt her hand over my face from behind. But the biggest, most wonderful shock came when I turned around and saw this adorable, 6-year-old face next to hers. It was her SON! Just arrived from Liberia!

Friends, I cannot tell you what a wonder this was to me. Just two weeks ago, there seemed to be no answer in site, no tangible hope to grasp on to. M. has tried several times, with the assistance of the State Department, to get her son back. 

When M. sat next to me last Friday, laughing at the amazement of it all, the first thing she said to me was, "Remember how we prayed??"

And that's when I remembered... we had prayed. We had prayed for M.'s encouragement. We had prayed for her son, and we had even prayed for some kind of miracle... 

Wow... Thank you Jesus! It was a humble reminder that our God can do all things. It's also a reminder of how He pursues us with His love... I thank God that M.'s son is safe and now in his mother's care. Thanks to each of you who have heard pieces of M.'s story before and prayed.

And then there's the other kind of winter...

And, now I think I'll compare the prior post's images with pictures of my other winter destinations over the past 5 years... Which set of images seem more enticing to you?! Hahaha.

2013

2012

2010

Winters

I thought I'd post photos of some of our favorite winter moments from our 5 years in Philadelphia.

2013

Perhaps our last walk in Carpenter's Wood for 2013. The air was frigid! Despite nuzzling in my scarf, we had to cut the walk short!

First snows!  This is our block first steeped in snow this year. Every tree branch and telephone wire. Gorgeous.

Our neighbor on the corner

We got free tickets to a Sixers game in December - my first pro sporting event in Philly! Of course we left after the 3rd quarter... and they ended up going into double overtime and winning! 

Ted took me to "Christmas Village" downtown to go shopping for my Christmas gift. 

The sky took my breath away this day, one of the first snows over Hunting Park. Filled with praise at His beauty.

2012

Ted's birthday! Jan 25th, we trudged out to Frankford Hall in the snow.

Special winter date night at UNO's - our first deep dish pizza in Philly.

2011

Hospitality -  post legal clinic dinner at our home

A dear friend's 30th birthday!

2010

NO IMAGES AVAILABLE. We were returning from Haiti and Ted was finishing his final semester of law school. I guess we didn't take a lot of pictures then...

2009

 First snow as a married couple! An infamous Philly winter.

2008

The night we got engaged :)