Never Merely Exist

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Shouting from the side of the river...

Shouting from the side of the river…

Regret…nobody talks much about regret in my playground.  We are inundated with quotes about how trying is a lot easier than living with the regret of not and other such mantra that can fit into a Pinterest post. Regret in my world means failure.  Regret in my world means that those who shouted shit at you from the side of the river never actually wading in above their ankles while you were in the…

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It is my problem...

It is my problem…

A few weeks back, a friend who has her own non-profit in Jacmel and lives there posted the following statement online: “In Haiti there’s no such thing as, “well, that’s their problem. If someone is in your life, their problem is your problem. Living in community has taken a whole new meaning for me, and daily I’m learning what it means to die to myself and live in true service of others.” Maria…

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True Selflessness

I have a story I want to tell.  I love this story because it is truth and it demonstrates perfectly true selflessness and I love this story because it illustrates the strength, beauty and generosity of the women that make up Haiti. The story goes like this… In a small city in southern Haiti there is a place where a different kind of family comes together each day to eat and learn and create. …

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Reclaiming hope

I have been back in Haiti for two days and I feel like I have a lot to say…what else is new? Since I started volunteering about two years ago and even more so in the last year I have almost violently vacillated between incredible hope and a belief in the impossible to total and complete exhaustion and a belief that I was in over my head and ready to walk away. But I am back now, just for two…

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The ACFFC $10,000 Challenge

The ACFFC $10,000 Challenge

You know those kids I talk about all the time?  Yes, those kids from Art Creation Foundation for Children in Haiti.  Well, they really need your help right now.  In fact they have never needed your help more than they do right now.  We are literally fighting for survival. An interesting thing happens when you scream help!  The people that have your back come running.  And well for us, right now,…

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Coming home...

Coming home…

I have been back from Haiti about four months now.  I haven’t said much of anything about my time away.  This is because I didn’t know what to say.  I still don’t.  I have not been dealing well with being home.  You might not know this from encounters with me; I pretty much come across as my normal neurotic self.  But inside I have either been numb or boiling inside. Nobody tells you what happens…

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Art And Entrepreneurship: Youth Empowerment in Haiti

Art And Entrepreneurship: Youth Empowerment in Haiti

http://video214.com/play/8Pmzno4HaVwJoAM1wm10tA/s/dark

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My of my how life can change...

My of my how life can change…

This is the point at which I start to get all sentimental.  We have a little more than two weeks here.  In the last couple of weeks things have started to fall into place.  I feel like I have found at least a little patch of stable ground to stand on and there is progress being made.  And now I have to leave.

This last couple of days, when I am walking the streets or ridding in the car with…

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You never really leave....

You never really leave….

I never had children.  No this is not going to be a post about me lamenting the fact that my clock has pretty much ticked out.  I never wanted kids; I made a very conscious decision to not have them,  this decision has resulted in a lot of comments concerning my inevitable regret, warning me as to the imminent demise of my lady parts or how rearing children is the greatest job in the world.  But…

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Wait! I missed Haiti?!?

We dreamed about going to the States for our break.  We counted the days.  The five days we spent there were great but I think what surprised me most was that from the second I stepped off the plane I missed Haiti.  I couldn’t quite pinpoint what is was. I mean you all have heard me over the first three months here…when I had the energy to write, it wasn’t all daisies and rainbows. In fact I was…

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You shouldn't try and climb the mountain alone

You shouldn’t try and climb the mountain alone

They say that it is during the hardest periods of our lives that our true character is revealed.  Over the last few months I have questioned the strength of my character.  I had many doubts when I moved to Haiti.  I had about a billion fears and questions.  I thought myself crazy on more than one occasion believing that I was even the tiniest bit equipped to deal with what we were facing.  Since…

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#10friendchallenge

Okay so I have a little thing here to feed your competitive spirit and do something really great without even a lot of effort.

ACFFC is the non-profit I am with in Jacmel, Haiti. We are a grassroots education, feeding and arts program for children and young adults living in abject poverty.

We aim through education and art to provide our kids with the tools and resources to grow up and live self…

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Running for a brighter future!

RUNNERS!**  And you know who you are!  You are the ones who post all your incredibly impressive accomplishments of endurance while I sit back in envy. 

As you all know I am living in Haiti and working with an incredible group of young people working to build their futures through art and education. 

In a couple of weeks (March 7th) a group of ACFFC young adults, our fearless Executive Director…

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Moving mountains with a thread

When asked why he was not doing well in school he told my friend it was just so hard.  He explained how there was no light at night so studying was difficult.  He sits in his room but he can hear mother crying in the other room.  Crying because she has no work and can’t buy food and there is almost nothing he can do to help.  He talked about how  friends of his have even gone to University and…

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Get back to work...

I hit a wall this week, a big giant painful messy wall.  I knew it would happen, I just didn’t know if would happen so fast.  I had told myself that none of the inconveniences or challenges here would bother me, that I was strong enough to be able to deal with it.  But I think that way of thinking is what ultimately became my undoing.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not a ball of mush in the corner…

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Hurry up and wait

Yesterday was a good day.  We had managed to get the inverter back up (it crapped out right before we got here) and working at the foundation which meant power and internet and Rae and I felt like gods!  We were on a role, and we knew that we would be able to continue on that role understanding that when our laptops started to die we would be able to go down to our office and plug back in.  We…

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"Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore"

I remember about 10 years ago there was a hurricane that hit Washington DC.  The morning before the hurricane hit I moved into my new condo just above Georgetown.  I was exhausted from moving and fell into my bed unconscious just before the storm hit.  I woke up 9 hours later looked out my window and found that the giant oak that had been growing out behind my building was now partially in the…

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