Friday, June 17, 2011
listing on thumbtack
Saturday, June 11, 2011
New and old paintings
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Haiti trip in the Newspaper
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Force
Played Jedi's with two kids yesterday. We had lightsabers. We also used the force with our hands. I totally let them kill me at the end. My midichlorian count was insane, and they truly were no match between you and me. But even in the force, sometimes you have to let kids win. Even if it means the loss of all of your limbs, and the slicing of your torso in half.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Haiti: The last full day
It's really hard to process what we saw today. The pictures of the ravine area will allow you to see, hopefully soon. They get water in this area. It's lined with trash. Most do not drink this water, but some do. We went to a tent city near the ravine and there was a designated area that was secluded for us to hand out our water purification systems. Our translator, Ruth, was great. Keziah is a nurse who has worked with us to find the people who received the water systems. She also has a youth group of which Ruth is a part of. All of our translators were a part of Keziah's youth group. Keziah is doing an incredible work in Haiti. She's given of her life, as many Christians have all throughout. They've just left everything behind. I guess God sustains them, because this place can be draining. However, it also has a third world charm that makes you fall in love with it. I want to go home, but I don't want to leave. I want to see my wife, but I also want to come back soon.
The water situation is overwhelming. I don't know what we can do more than what we're doing. Maybe more of what we're doing. It seems you have to select the people who will really take care of things to give them a purification system. I wonder if they can make some money selling a cup of clean water, or maybe charge to use the purification device per bucket. Like a quarter, or something. The fliters are expensive, and if we continue to use this as our model with us saying we'll replace the $28 filters, it could be too much. We're going to try and connect with the people that we've already given the devices to in a later trip, we'll then give them a new filter. June is what we're set for. If you have an idea that you think could work then please feel free to pass it on. I think we'll just need to communicate with the people who are working in Haiti. Perhaps someone has an amazing solution that just needs funding. I can't currently think of something better than the purification systems. I am not sure who came up with it, I'm thinking it was Pam. I suppose I could just go ask her. Also a tad perplexed as to why I've not asked her yet.
This is our last night here, and I'm out on the balcony, looking at the sky. I suppose it's not so different from an Illinois sky. I see a star. There's more noise here. Dogs and roosters, loud music, etc. Our law enforcement is a lot more strict, as you might guess. Everyone on our trip is feeling fatter than before. We just ate a huge meal, and we've been eating like kings and queens for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, it's usually less. We've been drinking so many calories, though, even with all the walking and other activities, I'd guess we put on some weight. Luckily, P90X awaits me when I get home.
Another observation: I typically want to classify a group of people, like "such and such country has a lot of generous people," etc. However, I have to admit, I've met some amazing kids and some little stinkers. I had this kid begin to give me what appeared to be a made up handshake that would make us tight. So we slapped hands, then met with our backhands... and he's doing this slow like he's teaching me what our little shake is gonna be... then the kid flips me off. Hard core flipped me off. I pointed behind me and yelled "MAL!" Bad. Basically telling him to get away. No kite for you, kid. Another kid was throwing rocks at us. But most of the kids we encountered were great. Of course we were at orphanages and schools. So... maybe it's about finding some of them in the right environment. Kids will be kids in many cases.
Anyways, when I get back to Illinois I want to do some things.
1. Hug my wife
2. Get a kite. What a fun toy
3. Watch more movies I loved as a kid, like "The Lion King"
4. Play less video games
5. Eat even better than I try to
6. P90X
7. Take a hot shower or bath
8. Live life a little slower. Like the Haitians.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
There and back again...
I'll never forget yesterday. We climbed up a mountain road to do some work at Mountain Top Ministries. For two reasons, really. Our leader's back is in a lot of pain, and I'm deathly afraid of that drive :-). So Pam and I got out of the truck, and everyone but 3 guys got out with us. Great leg workout. All the locals were passing us pretty easily, and smiling and laughing in many cases. I'll share the end of our mountain journey, then tell you what we did up there. We walked down the mountain and it started to rain. I don't know how to explain how steep these roads were, and mixed together with the rain, and one sharp turn in particular, it freaks me out to think about riding down the mountains in the rain. However, I'd trade it for walking down the mountain. We were warned by one of our pastors that you will use muscles you don't normally use. True, and I was looking forward to that. A good workout is a good thing. However, what I did not anticipate is that the shoes I bought specifically for this trip (rather, that Jill bought) were like snow skis down a mountain. There was no traction. At one point I started walking, then got to jogging, and was nearly in a full sprint when I just had to throw myself to the ground. I was like a runaway train. Just a few tiny cuts and bruises, though. I was one of the first down, so I yelled to warn the others about this particular steep hill. Only a few fell. There's not a lot of grass to walk on, mostly large weeds. It was sort of comical. Some fell multiple times. A boy was carrying bananas and passed some of our people, then set the bananas down and sat to watch the comedy take place before his eyes. Great stories to tell his friends, I'm sure.
The truck waited for us at that bottom of the mountain, which used to be a river. We then drive to the less steep mountain to get back to our place. It's pouring rain at this point. We're in the back of an incredibly bumpy ride, and the truck sounds like it's about done for. The jostling was amazing. We positioned ourselves with our backs against one another and our feet against the short wall of the truck. It was a natural shock absorber, but still, you can't fully combat this jostle. INTENSE. And what made it even more fun was that the road had become like rocky road ice cream. Which totally makes sense to me, now. Like light brown chocolate. And it was a STRUGGLE to get that truck up the hill. We made it, yay.
So, the mountain. Our house did not get built. We are confident the man will get a home. What did happen was a bit of an exercise in doing what you are told. We moved rocks from one side of a land plot to another. Well, we also pick axed the ground, and shoveled down a few feet to get large rocks. There's FB pics if we're FB friends. LOTS of rocks.
After climbing a mountain, and hauling huge rocks, we were spent. We went back to our lodge, which I explained earlier that we walked down the mountain. Fun times. So we were drenched. I have limited clothes after AA lost my luggage. See earlier post. So I washed all of my clothes in the shower. See previous post.
Last night we had a lot of fun. Some were keeping up on the Bears v. Pack game. Yah Bears (acting like I care). But we played spoons. I won't go into a whole lot of detail, a lot of those "You had to be there moments," but I forgot how fun spoons is.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Cleaning and Poverty
Well, today I washed clothes in the shower. I've never done that before. A shower isn't really the word for it. Run the water, and use a small pitcher to rinse yourself. That's more like it. I was perfectly able. It wasn't that bad, honestly. My clothes still aren't dry, I hope they are when I wake up. It's been all day. It's not been a hot day, though, and it poured earlier. We shall see, I suppose.
While I was washing I kept thinking of how grateful I am to have a washer, though. I washed about 5 articles of clothing, and it did take a while. And they still have a good bit of dirt in them. They're way less oily, though. I guess I produce a good chunk of body oil. Anyways, while I'm washing I'm just thinking about our washer at home. And thinking about how I'm always thinking about how awesome it would be to have a front loader washer and dryer. I suppose I'm less worried about that now. Especially since I saw a woman bathing and washing her clothes in the stream today. In Haiti, you just don't care about all that American decency. Well, because you can't. It's not really a choice. The pastor that we're with said a good truth last night, "The definition of poverty is when you don't have a choice." I hope I never forget the plight of these people, and that I can be open to God's will for me to do something about poverty somewhere.
Yesterday as we walked through the tent cities it felt like we were in a movie. Someone made mention of hitting the pause button to go grab a snack. I really resonated with that comment, it didn't feel real at all. I don't know why. I've not been hit super emotionally yet, but a lot of our team has. Lot of crying yesterday. Mostly all of us not knowing how to process what we saw. Not sure how many know this, but as our plane arrived, the minute we got off the plane, the country experienced an intense tropical storm called Matthew. At least that's what the pilot said it was called. So I hear that 5 people died. Those with access to CNN and regular news probably are more in the know than we are. I mention that because the tent cities were having a difficult time, and many tents were destroyed. There was tons of mud everywhere. Apparently there's just been a lot of rain lately.
So I don't know what we're going to do about all of this when we get home. Lots to process. Later this week we hand out 100 backpacks filled with water purification systems that are just so fantastic. I really want one to showcase to people as they visit our home, and all. It's smaller than what I thought it would be. Like a thermos, or something. But it's a neat little device, and we're going to drink the worst water in Haiti, filtered of course, to show that we believe in the filtering capabilities of these devices. I'm sure somehow we'll still get sick. We're not supposed to dring any water here. Glad this will be towards the end of our trip, where we have the benefit of American doctors.
