so 9 years after our lovely wedding (yes we are coming up to almost 10 year married!  how crazy does that sound!) we were asked to help with the photography program they offer during summer camp.  of course we agreed and were so excited to get back up to muskoka.

so here is a slideshow of all the kids from that program and the week spent with them.  enjoy!!!

alex leaves in one week!  please consider purchasing prints to go towards medical supplies.

today’s post is markets & orphanges.  two pieces of haiti that are undeniably woven into the fabric of that culture.  the market was a good cultural experience but intense.  the orphange was… life changing.

this is a glimps at a typical haitian street market where people walk to daily to get… whatever.  it’s not just fruits and veg, it was literally a little bit of everything.  shoes, used clothing, handmade soaps and spices, mixed tapes of music (no, literally tapes not CD’s).  there was even a guy on a loudspeaker listing perscription drugs and how to use them.  as we went to haiti with a bunch of parametics and doctors, you could imagine their disbelief when they saw haitians could by antibiotics or serious perscription drugs from a guy with a loudspeaker!  so unsafe.

we couldn’t take many photos because it would have drawn too much attention.  life is a bit more harsh right in the city and we just wanted to kind of stay under the radar.

people coming and going with their purchases.

as i said in the beginning, orphanges are a part of life in haiti.  not all kids that live their have no parents.  in fact, some still have parents alive, they just couldn’t afford to raise them.  it wouldn’t be uncommon for a child to go and live with other family members first (aunts or uncles) and then if they also couldn’t afford them, they would be dropped off here for example, the good sameratan orphanage.

this is a photo of where the staff prepare the food.  it was about 1000 degrees in that room. and had an smells that were literally indescribable.  dead chickens, it was right beside the outhouse, arghhhh – just a mix of smells like i had never experienced.

now you might say, wow, they are fed well, that is a lot of food.  well they only get one meal a day – they get this one plate of rice & beans for the day.  to cook the rice & beans for all the kids takes forever so they just do it once.  about 1x/week they might get meat.

and although that looked like a big plate of rice, this is obviously a very malnourished child.

we watched from a distance as the kids were given their food.  very orderly, very calm.  it was amazing to see how the kids would to care of each other but also heartbreaking.  kids should get to be kids you know?

i can’t tell you how this smiling face made me want to cry.  how could he be happy in these conditions?  oh what a beautiful face.  what a spirit.

alex’s thoughts on the next photo:  ”this was one of the saddest moments of my life.  when I saw this little boy my heart was crushed.  his older brother (out of frame) was sitting on the ledge.  it was very difficult to watch but he could only hold himself up for a few seconds to look at me.  i felt very selfish taking this picture but i felt that it would somehow do some good.

i found out recently that a couple is going through the process of adopting this boy (now named matthew) and he is now at the mission of hope orphanage!  apparently he is getting chubby & healthy like he should be!!!!  the couple actually wrote us through email after seeing this photo to tell us the amazing news.

before we decided to come to haiti i had a repeating image in my head of a boy on a curb, without any hope, no one look for him and lost.  i believe that this little boy is that boy.  i believe this little boy will go on to do great things. there is hope for you matthew”.

this is where the laundry is hung to dry. i couldn’t help feeling like a caged animal in this place.  it was small and confined. just cement and dirt every where.

one of the older orphans who now works there.  i have no idea if he gets paid or just stays so he gets fed and has shelter.

i hated everything about this orphanage.  it wasn’t right.  it made me feel sick to my stomach.  i think it was the smell, the shock, the sadness.  it forever changed my life, i will never be able to forget those kids.  they were just so malnourished.  what an existence?  this is a life?  would i be able to survive in those conditions?  how do they have a will to live? what keeps them alive?  how can we let another human being live like this when we have so much?  how could i go home and not want to take each and every one of them home with me?

like i said, i will never be the same.

here are some statics (taken from www.haitipartners.org):

Orphan Statistics (Haiti)

• In Haiti alone, there are 490,000 orphans.

• In addition, 300,000 children are in slavery.

• One in seven children in Haiti dies before their 5th birthday – mostly of preventable diseases

• 60% of Haitian children do not have access to the most basic medical care.

• 24% of children suffer from stunted growth as a result of malnutrition.

• Roughly 46% of children are not vaccinated against polio and measles.

• Nearly half of the population of Haiti are children under the age of 18 years.

• 200,000 orphaned Haitian children live in institutions (the rest are fostered, live with relatives, or are street children).

• Child-headed households are becoming more common as potential guardians succumb to AIDS or other causes of death

• Every year, over 5000 babies are born infected with HIV.

haiti image gallery – donate now!

day 5 of our recent trip to haiti:

this post is dedicated to the faces and landscape of haiti.  these little faces make up the future of the struggling nation.  i thought it apppropriate to just give them the spotlight here for a minute.  i do not know after the earthquake who out of all these faces lived.  most of these images were taken in a villiage outside of the city, far into the mountains so from the reports we have been getting, this area is mostly ok.

you will see lots of plaid shirts on the kids, like here in this first photo.  these are the school uniforms.  take a moment to read these startling stats found on the website haiti partners:

• 50% of primary school age children are not enrolled in school.
• of those that attend, approximately 30% will not make it to third grade; 60% will abandon school before sixth grade.

if you think to your self, good at least they go to school, the quality of the education is just as shocking:

• approximately 75% of all teachers lack adequate training; many have just a 9th grade or 12th grade education, with no teacher training at all.
• less than 20% of schools have electricity; 39% have potable water; only 15% have a library.

and possibly most saddening of all, the literacy rate in haiti is among the worst in the world.

• 37.9% of the population is unable to read or write (as compared to only 12% illiteracy in the rest of latin america)!

then you ask yourself, what is the point???  this earthquake was like kicking a baby down before it could even walk.  these stats were taken before the earthquake and surely they will only get worse when the need for food and water takes presedence over school.

but i beg of you to dream with me for a minute.  ask yourself that in such desparate times, what can the people of haiti do?  they can build, they can renew strength, they can fight to survive, they can start fresh.  to me, like eveything in life, this has a light at the end of the tunnel.  to me, haiti has been given a fresh start and can only get better from here.  who was helping haiti before this desaster?  now the world is smiling on haiti and if we continue to help our brothers and sisters, we can make a difference.  the smiling faces you see in the next few images are the future leaders of haiti.  see how much hope is in their eyes?  see the strength?

aren’t these two seriously the cutest ever???  soooooooooo funny they were just laughing and laughing…

landscapes:

alex walked around getting some gorgeous shots of the flourishing parts of haiti.  most of these were taken high in the mountains, the tall trees and lush greenery was so refreshing.

scattered amoung the trees are these huts.  alex asked what they were for and apparently they are grave sites.  maybe they burry more than one body in each?  iam not sure.

sometimes in the villages they will have one pig. this pig was decently friendly, looks like he smiled for the camera.

someone’s house

and another amazing sunset as we finished another day in haiti.

i don’t know, it is too big of a question for me right now but i am trying to figure it out and i just know that today i just feel thankful.  sooooooo thankful for what we have.  did you know that if you make $90,000 a year you are in the top 5% of the weathiest people in the world?  if you make over $100,000/year you are in the top 1%?  i live just outside toronto, a city that just happens to be the safest city in the world (of over a million people).  i have two healthy boys, a house, a car, food everyday.  i am just sooooooooo thankful.

here is a quote that really hit me and is something to think about… “In a world of arrogance, we are for humility. In a world of individualism, we are for community. In a world of excess, we are for simplicity”.  by: Christopher L. Heuertz

hmmmmmmmm, something to think about eh?

so again to recap. alex is off to haiti in 15 days.  we are selling prints online (from our last trip to haiti) and all proceeds are going to help bring as many medical supplies to the mission of hope as possible.  haiti image gallery – donate now!

back to photos of our trip:

on day 4 we drove out into what i can only call “nothingness”.  i mean, a few trees, dusty ground, a waterfront filled with garbage.  i mean it wasn’t used for anything, just an open space.  when we drove in, kids just started coming out of nowhere.  literally within minutes they came out from bushes and along pathways etc.  these kids were obviously not well taken care of.  i am assuming none of them went to school (since it was during the day) and by their english i think iam right.  ”give me one dollar” was literally all the english they knew.  they would repeat “hello” or try and repeat short phrases but they didn’t speak a word.

the land:

they waved as if to say “follow us”…

they took us to the waterfront and this is what we saw…

they showed us a boat, not sure whose it was.  total language barrier.

no parents were to be found.  siblings took care of the younger ones i guess.

before long, we were the entertainment.  various humanitarian and religious groups have come along so i think they are used to some sort of skits or songs. they instinctually gathered and just waited for something to happen.

alex dared me to start dancing!  i taught them a little song, tried to tell a story, did my best to make them feel loved.  i explained that we were there because we cared about them.  that they we loved by us and by god.  through a translator, i hope that all got through to them.

a boy tending to his cow.

isn’t this hilarious???  you see a lot of random shirts like this in haiti, all donations probably.  since none of these people spoke any english, i am quite sure he had no clue what his shirt said.

as we were leaving on the truck, the kids chased after us hoping that we would throw candy like some other organizations do.  dr. cheryl explained to us that this is discouraged for a few reasons.  one: it’s not safe for kids to be chasing a truck that might need to stop etc. two: we were trying not to be north americans that are known for “hand outs”.  in other words, one of the mandates of mission of hope is to empower and enable haitians to help haitians create sustainable living.  by giving hand outs, they will depend or even expect handouts.  three: it is degrating, throwing stuff at them like they are dogs.  again, mission of hope rewards hard work, achievements, reaching goals etc.  it is even more important for them to learn this at their age, now as they grow up to be the next generation of adults in haiti.  this is not to say that individually, moh chooses to give gifts or obviously when people are in need they help them. they just do it through haitians so it’s not “white people giving them stuff”.  when it comes from another haitian it is totally different.

i know, it’s just candy but i really really appreciated all the thought that goes into every decision that moh makes as an organization.  they truly care about haitians feeling like they have made it by them selves, with self respect and dignity.

oh, a total side note.  since we didn’t throw candy out of the truck, one of the older boys stopped running and just gave us the finger!  obviously he didn’t feel the love behind our decision!

driving through a small village on the way back to moh, we saw this this little boy (who has a knife and a medicine bottle in his hands)?!?!? no parents around and he is like what, 3 years old?  argh, and the sharp cactus’ all around.  everything just symbolizes the harshness of life here.

back at mission of hope, we had a few minutes to hang out at the hope house orphanage.  it was hair fixin’ time!

behind the orphanage, these guys were just hangin’ out.  i can only assume they are for eating?

this is one of the grounds keeper at mission of hope… he is a very kind person, a softy!  he lives in a little shack behind the moh land end.

dr. cheryl took us all out for an authentic haitian lunch.  partly to say thank you for coming, party to give us a cultural experience to take home with us.  it was actually delicious!  jerk chicken, rice and beans and fried plantain.  here are some mural painting that were inside the restaurant.

local artist: altime j.w.

and, in the contradiction that is haiti, as we enjoyed our lovely lunch, we had four pleading pairs of eyes watching us the whole time.  nothing could fully be enjoyed without a quick shake in emotion and you realize where you are and what surrounds you.  the owner begged us to just enjoy and not give them anything because it encourages them to come around and then he won’t have customers at all!  argh, my appetite was gone.

here are some stats she gave us.  over 150,000 dead.  over 300,000 injured.  of the injured, over 100,000 amputations.  the streets are filled with people with chopped (literally chopped) limbs.  just now the doctors are going back for 2nd or 3rd surgeries to close the amputated limbs and seal it up but with the devestation hitting so hard so fast, they just had to chop and on to the next person.

please log an and purchase prints so alex can bring as much medical supplies with him.  he leaves in 16 days.

haiti image gallery – donate now!

here are some images from day 3 of our trip to haiti in october:

3 out of the 10 days we drove into the mountains to bring a “mobile medical clinic” to villiages who would otherwise probably never see a doctor.  i can’t remember the name of this one but as we drove up into the mountains higher and higher the lush landscape began to reveal itself.  i realized soon into our trip that haiti is a nation of such contradiction.  this village was a perfect example.  this almost rainforest landscape was gorgeous and lush and so refreshing!  the sun was shining, a river made the most peaceful sound as we walked up to the villiage.  but then as we got closer, the level of poverty was like a slap in the face and to see what conditions people lived in was shocking.  i was also taken back by the smiling faces that greeted us.  how could the sick and helpless be so joyful and happy?  another contradiction that would stay with me even as i arrived back home, and a life lesson i have tried to weave into our family – be joyful & happy no matter what our curcumstance.

here you see the village’s main buildings which would be the school, church, community outhouses.  in essence, this is the downtown core!

while we waited for our interpreters to arrive, one of the nurses knit. to say the least, haitians do not worry about time the way we do at home.  it is “island time” and the freedom that comes without rushing or worrying was another lesson i tried to adopt from my haitian friends once i got home.

this is the village pastor’s home. he kindly gave up half of his home so we could have a place to eat our lunch (which was very thoughtful because otherwise we’d have 100 pairs of eyes on us as we tried to gulp down a peanut butter sandwich).  he was also kind enough to buy us coke and sprite as a thank you gift.  doesn’t sound like much but considering that no one has cars, that means one of the villagers had to walk the path that we drove – yes an all day walk (probably carrying the pop on their heads on the way back) just for a gift for us.

a couple of girls waiting in line for the clinic.  such beautiful smiles eh?  alex made them all shy & giggly with his camera.  almost none of the people has seen a camera and when alex showed them the photo on the back, it was like a new experience for them.  so cool to watch.

these “tough guys” posing it up…

you can see the line up of people waiting to be allowed into the clinc.  the nurses wiould triage the worst cases and let them in first.  our first patient of the day was a baby that had been crying since it was born two months ago.  turns out that it had acute appendicitis.  in severe pain for two months non stop.  dr. mike said the baby would not live…. and this was just the first patient.  it was to be a long day ahead.

as we worked, these were the faces we saw looking in, just waiting to get the care the so desperately needed.  the hardest part was we only had so many hours to work because the raods we too dangerous once the sun went down so we knew (and so did they) that not everyone would be seen.  understandably this caused a certain amount of anxiety for everyone.

here is a shot of a classroom full of girls.  i think they are laughing at alex’s attempt to speak creole to them!!!

more smiling faces.

although this is a happy photo, you can see that all three of the older men in this photo have cataracts.  this was one of the hardest things to see because the doctors couldn’t help them. the man on the right is blind and the other two were not far behind.  if in canada, these men could easily get a 30 minute minor operation that would give them sight (which is free).  so sad.

this is a pretty clear shot of inside the mobile clinic.  looking to the back of the room is where the patience come through and get assesed.  going to the left they saw dr. mike (a general practioner in milton).  they then went to see dr. julie (a family chiropractor in oakville). they would then wait while we put medication together for them and a gift of clothing, or a hat, a bag etc.  the man sitting in the forefront, his name is chicago.  he was one of our interpreters. he lived in the united states for 12 years (hence the name chicago) and then returned to haiti.  this man is very special to me.

i am sure these are weeds of some sort but in all brown/grey dirt, the color looked beautiful.

if the kids weren’t in school, they were all just hanging around in the alleyways.  not much to do, we saw a few rolling stones with a stick.

this man life was saved through the mobile clinics in the past. so every time the mission groups come out he greets them with love and a smile.

you will notice in all of these photos that the people aren’t too badly dressed.  in fact some of them had bows in their hair and dresses on!  We found out later that us coming to the village was an honor and these were the best clothes they had on for us.  most likely these are their sunday clothes that they wear to church and would be the same thing every sunday.  most of it would have been donations from the past few visits from mission of hope.

isn’t this hilarious?  ha! a hat is so invaluable to the women since they have to walk far to get to the market.  this lady was soooooooo happy with her new gift.  thanks to sour patch kids candy for the kind donation!

ok this is a funny story.  as alex was cruising around snapping photos, the teacher of the school (he teaches every grade) got word that there was a big white guy that spoke english walking around so he seriously hunted alex down and asked if he could come to give an english lesson!!!  apparently haitians have the hardest time pronouncing english words that start with “h” so they were so happy to get pronunciation on “hat, hut and house” from a real deal white guy.  of course they also asked for a class photo as well!

looks like the next haitian boy band!

we are getting this photo printed on canvas and hanging it in our hallway.  it is one of my favorites of the whole trip…

as we drove back to our base at mission of hope, alex jumped out of the truck for a quick shot.  what an awesome view.

alex and i have travelled to many places in the world and out of anywhere, i have to say that haiti is very special. at first you can’t put your finger on it and because of all many contradictions you see daily, your mind bounced back and forth between shock and beauty.  and then you realize… it’s the people.  it is the haitian people that make haiti a place you love.  i can’t  tell you how many haitians showed me such kindness and honor.  such strong people who, like heather the paramedic noted, do not complain but work hard to do the best they can with what they have been given.

haiti image gallery – donate now!

day 2 of our trip:

our haitian cooks that took care of us for the week.

some random chair in the school yard…

this is laundry day for the orphans.  i think there were about 6 “mommies” (the ladies that care for the orphans) doing laundry all day, washing clothes for 60 kids all by hand.

orphan feet

peak a boo..

this is one of the cooks daughter playing in a laundry bowl.

play time with the kids.  we played soccer, frizbee and running around like goofs. potatoe sack race anyone???

these are some of the hope house mommies and some older hope house orphans.

every night, as if a gift, there were the most beautiful sunsets skies.

ok so since the earthquake, our hearts have been so sad, just trying to figure out the best way we can help our friends that are in so much need.  pray for them – check.  send money – check.  tell people about what they can do to help and advocate as much as we can – check.  but there must be more, and there is.  alex is going back to the mission of hope which is just outside of port au prince to document the process of rebuilding haiti.  brad, the president of moh has a vision for the book to be called “a return to hope”.  i have heard people say that haiti is a lost cause, that it is too far gone, that they are not worth the effort.  what do you think?  do you believe this is true?  do you believe they deserve this disaster and let me ask you this, what if it was us?  would you want people to come and help us?

so alex is going.  i wish we could all go (me and the boys with him) but logistically that is not the best idea right now.  he is going mid february and here’s where you come in.  we would love to send medical packs down with alex, full of gear and medicines that they need right now to help save lives.  can i ask you to consider logging onto the gallery we have set up with photos of our october trip to haiti.  when you purchase any of the images, 100% of the proceeds will go to helping haiti recover.  any amount will help so please log on to:

haiti image gallery – donate now!

i have decided that over the next few days, i will be posting images from our trip and telling you a bit about the people and the projects that we were lucky enough to be a part of.  i hope this gives you a better idea of how haiti was before the earthquake and maybe insight into the lives you will be helping if you donate.

our daily schedule :

5am – wake up, watch the sun rise (not exactly by choice, around this time the generator that keeps the ceiling fan running through the night shuts off.  the sound of mosquitoes and the heat wake you up).

7am – breakfast prepared by haitian cooks.  great coffee in haiti!

8am – group discussions and off to the first activity. i will tell you more about what activities along the way.

12noon – lunch – usually just sandwiches and fruit that we packed with us

1pm – afternoon activity

4pm – clean up/wash relax and try and try to make sense of what we saw that day

5pm – dinner (yummy food!  haitians are great cooks!  they tried to give us some authentic haitian food while we were there but lots of “normal/american” homecooked meals as well.

6-7pm – sundown is very early and without power, most of the city stops working by this time.

8pm – group discussions (most evenings i ended up crying as we shared stories of the days events.  a great time of learning and growing as a team)

10pm – bedtime! (and no need to be persuaded, after a long day in the heat and with all the emotional energy spent, i was tired)

so hopefully that gives you a short overview of our 10 days in haiti.  as i said, i will tell you all about our daily activities as the photos will help tell the stories better.  here are some photos from our first day there, sort of a tour of mission of hope for you.

hatian flag:

this was our bus driver who picked us up at the airport.  a no nonsense kind of guy.  he took his job seriously and rightly so – the roads there are craaaaazy!  busses & trucks passing cars, swerving, loud horns, near misses.  wow, a heart thumping ride as an intro to haitian transportation!!!!!!!

this is the front gate to the mission of hope.  a solid iron gate with 6 armed guards 24 hrs a day. one of the guards told me that it was mostly for theft reasons.  they have a warehouse full of supplies (that feeds 14,000/day) so if anyone was to try and break in, it would usually be out of desperation for food.

the view from our room.  it’s amazing to think that at one point this was a lush rainforest but unfortunately, people have cut the majority of trees down for firewood, to cook.  so much of haiti looks very barren.

this building is the orphanage on site, it is called the hope house!  when we were there they had 60 orphans with 10 “mommies” to care for them.  i am not sure if those numbers have changed since the earthquake.  i know that they were trying to finish a huge kitchen project so they could get those numbers up to around 240 but the quake hit before that was complete.  i am sure that will be on the forefront of fundraising efforts now with so many children loosing their families in this disaster.

this is mr. mark.  he was a haitian diplomat but now works with the mission of hope. he is a respected man in haiti and has helped m.o.h. in so many ways.

school yard:

currently moh has a medical clinic that services the area.  this clinic is not meant to be a hospital but with the nearest medical care being an hour away, the clinic sees more and more crital cases.  obviously since the earthquake, the clinic has been non-stop and so crucial in saving the lives of people injured.  for photos and a bit more info specifically on the clinic click here

this photo shows the biggest project yet.  a full service hospital with an er.  it is obviously in construction stages, they need 100,000 more to complete the building.

a haitian farmer watching the sunset:

this was an email i received tonight giving her first hand account on what happened:

I don’t now how to start this e-mail.

well without beating around the bush, you can donate.  haiti needs help and mission of hope (the organization we went down with) is there to offer this help.  they already have the infrastructure to help these people.  they already have haitian partners to get the food or aid where it needs to go.  they are amazing.  click here to donate and i can guarantee that your money will go straight to the people who need it.

why did we go and why are we alive right now?  these are the questions i keep asking myself (usually in the middle of the night when i can’t sleep).  why would god let us go to haiti just a few weeks before a huge earthquake?  to teach us a lesson?  to show us the fragility of life?  to bind our hearts to these people so that when a disaster hits, we can advocate for them?  i believe the answer is yes.  i feel like it is my job, my duty to speak for these beautiful people who have nothing (and now even less than nothing).  i watch the news and see buildings that we drove by – gone – crumbled to the ground and people that we met might be under there.  this is not a world event that we are far removed from – i was there.  i made friends with haitians that have lost lives, family members, children.  this is not ok.  this is not right?!?!?!  the truth is we shouldn’t brush it off, we shouldn’t carry on with our day.  we should help – because we can.

alex will hopefully be going to haiti again soon, to help where he can.  obviously not all of us can do that, but if you feel compelled to give, please consider giving to mission of hope where people are lined up outside of the clinic waiting for medical care.  click here to donate.

here is a short clip about mission of hope that was featured on nbc recently:

mission of hope haiti on nbc