Once again, I’ve taken an almost four-month hiatus from publishing here without any forewarning. I’ve spent some time thinking about why I do that. Often in my life, having a place to publish the things I am processing forces me to clarify my thoughts and articulate myself in a way that I think others will … Continue reading
This piece was originally written for submission to an online magazine prompting authors to reflect on the power of simplicity. As I was writing my reflections on the seemingly simple days that make up my life in Haiti, I realized how problematic much of what I said was. With that understanding I tried to provide some more … Continue reading
A few months ago when a dental group came to visit, one of the Espwa students enrolled in university, brought a few of his friends to get checkups. We were pleasantly surprised when six confident, beautiful women walked in the gate behind him. As they waited in their chairs to be seen by the dentist … Continue reading
This time last year, I was living in the IF (interfaith) house on campus. I was preparing for my house project to recruit other students to take a national survey about whether they felt interfaith dialogue was happening at their universities. I was immersed and engaged in issues of my own faith journey and provided with many … Continue reading
At 8 a.m. Friday morning, I saw the toddlers headed to school in a line following the house mothers like little baby ducks. I ran to catch up with them and walk the short distance to the entrance. Today was Karnaval and the little ones weren’t wearing their traditional watermelon patch uniforms. Instead they dressed … Continue reading
Our last group decided to attempt a massive undertaking when they heard that many of the kids had never had a birthday party similar to many of their own children in the US. They set out to hold a party for all 450 kids that call Espwa home. Currently, Espwa has a small party each month for the … Continue reading
Up on the roof of the guest house on a clear night you can hear the chirps of crickets and the bleating of goats beneath a sky almost overflowing with stars. The solar-powered lamp just south of the house, dimly illuminates the gateway to the boy’s village where 400 kids sleep with no electricity in … Continue reading
The night before we left for the Dominican Republic we got yet another email from the US State Department about planned protests in Port au Prince the following day. We spent the afternoon trying to get in touch with the Embassy and talking to people at Espwa to decide whether or not it would be … Continue reading
Today marks the exact middle of our year at Espwa. We arrived in Haiti six months ago, June 11th,when the weather was humid and in the upper 90s. We sweat out our first three months here and survived sweltering nights in August with no electricity and no fans. We were thrown into the job after … Continue reading
Last night I made a pizza. I made a gluten-free pizza. I made a gluten-free pizza and it actually came out good. The crust didn’t crumble to pieces when I tried to move it from the baking tray to the serving dish. It didn’t threaten to chip a tooth on the first bite. It was miraculously … Continue reading
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