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Tag Archives: Haiti
Haiti is for Lovers
By and large the people who carve out a piece of their life to work in Haiti are interesting folk. There are new missionaries every time I return to Mirlitone and, aside from the over-zealous, I enjoy them. Occasionally someone’s … Continue reading
Building Stairs
Yesterday we began building the main stairs at Mission of Hope, our first permanent concrete stairs. Like all ‘first days’ of a new phase in the work, it goes very slow and the miscommunication is rampant. It takes us about … Continue reading
Short on Olympians, Long on Olympic Spirit
Five athletes represent Haiti in the London 2012 Olympics, four are Haitian-American track and field athletes from the United States; Linous Desravine, judoka, is the sole Haitian native to compete in London. The country has only five competitive tracks, three … Continue reading
Celebrating the Occasion
One hallmark of Haitian culture is gathering together to mark the start of an event. A collective pause or prayer precedes daily meals, laborers gather before each work day; and we mark construction milestones with impromptu but elaborate ceremonies. At … Continue reading
Posted in Haiti
Tagged BeLikeBrit, BLB, concrete, Grand Goave, Haiti, Mission of Hope, MoHI
2 Comments
Malaria
The rainy season is dwindling, which means mosquitos are on the wane, yet malaria continues to circle all around us. During my last trip Nathan, Gama’s three year old son, contracted malaria; seeing his tiny curly headed body shivering under … Continue reading
Conversion
Every moment we breathe in, every moment we breathe out. Every breath seems the same, yet currents of opportunity whisper through our subconscious until all at once, we realize the wind has changed and we are sailing in a different … Continue reading
One for the Record Book
This morning at 1 am we completed pouring the first floor of MoHI School; MoHI’s largest concrete pour to date, perhaps the largest ever in Grand Goave. We started pouring at 10 am on Friday and thirty-nine hours later had … Continue reading
The Things We Carried
A week or so before I return to Haiti I send a ‘Mule to Haiti’ email to my connections asking what they want me to bring down. I am allowed one 50 pound bag in coach, a second costs forty … Continue reading
Posted in Haiti
Tagged Be Like Brit, BLB, Granite City Electric, Haiti, Logan airport, MoHI
1 Comment
In A Country of Teenagers, A Young Man Grows Up
Haiti is a country of teenagers. I did not originate that saying, Renee did, but it is the best single description of the place I’ve heard. Teenagers are unformed yet egotistical, lack competence yet are overconfident, wound others recklessly yet … Continue reading
A Map of the World
What does the world look like to man who has never traveled more than forty miles from home? He lived in a quiet place among his own kind. There were missionaries, of course, earnest white people who dispensed clothing and … Continue reading
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