Thursday, November 22, 2018

Embassy Emails, Table Quiz, Thanksgiving, Garden Grown

Embassy Emails
Today I received seven emails from the US embassy in Haiti; I received the same number yesterday and at least a few each day this week.  On Sunday I only received two, which is interesting since that was the day the protesting began.  The emails have not said anything specific about Grand Goave, not even the emails with lists of multiple places experiencing protests of one kind or another (burning tires, barricaded roads, gunshots)  One of the schools the children here attend has been closed all week probably because of its close proximity to the main road; the other school has been open all week as has our own BLB Academy.  Fortunately for us, things have been relatively quiet in Grand Goave although the little town has not been completely immune.   A little girl came directly to my office after school yesterday to tell me that she saw a burning tire in the street that morning.  While we have not had the violence or extreme situations of some larger cities and towns,  there have been some difficulties.  An important staff person who spent her weekend off in the capital, only returned to Grand Goave today, and that was not easy.  Twice this week I planned to visit an orphanage in a nearby town; both times we postponed the visit out of an abundance of caution because of the possibility of protests between here and there.  Hopefully, the situation will be resolved soon, as peacefully as possible and in a way that is truly just for all the people of Haiti. 
     Here is a link to a news article about the situation, in case you are interested.


Table Quiz
Today my cousins in Ireland, held a fundraiser for Be Like Brit, the organization I am working for.  They held a quiz night at a pub and raised 2,100 Euros for our educational programs.  Based on the pictures that they sent to me, it seems they had a good time in the process.  Thanks to everyone who was involved!  I appreciate you.

Thanksgiving
I hope that all of my family, community members and friends in the US, who celebrated Thanksgiving today had a great Thanksgiving.  While I did not celebrate today in any traditional way, I certainly have a lot to be thankful for everyday!   

Garden Grown 
Fresh fruits and vegetables are one of the many wonderful things that I am grateful for in Haiti.  Here are a few that grow in the garden right in our yard. 

Congo Beans

Papaya

Pomegranate

Cabbage

Okra
 
Thank you for taking the time to read my update.  Many blessings! 

  

Thursday, November 15, 2018

How to Self-Care Here?

A few weeks ago I was invited to write my story for the Be Like Brit blog.  For most people who read my personal blog regularly there is no new information in the BLB blog post, but here is the link in case you are interested. 


As I sat down to write this, I heard a knock on my office door; my office is adjacent to my bedroom and connected by an internal door.  I debated for a second if I should answer it since today is my day off.  I could not see who was there and because the children have singing practice there is no way I could have asked through the door who is there and what the person wants and be heard or hear the response over the boisterous voices.  As I opened the door, I greeted the child and asked if it is an emergency, politely explaining that it is my day off.  Because of the volume of the music, it was hard for me to hear what the child was saying.  The child said, "yes," and then explains that he is having difficulty descending the Haitian flag that hangs in the courtyard and wants me to go on the roof to fix the problem.  I have done that before, but not on my day off  (it is a flat roof, and there is a perfectly safe staircase to get to it; just in case you are imagining otherwise.)  I suggested he ask the night supervisor to help with that and so I continue writing.  
 
In general, it is very convenient living where I work.  There is no commute time to account for; I never get caught in traffic.  The accommodations are wonderful here in many ways.  We even have electricity 24 hours a day and the tap water is treated and perfectly drinkable; it is rare for any home to have both of those things all of the time in Haiti.  My delicious meals are provided by very thoughtful kind kitchen staff, who even daily cut mangoes and melons for me, without my asking (actually, I would never ask or expect anyone to do that for me, but I appreciate because I don't get mango juice all over my clothes anymore.)  Even my laundry is done for me here, and it comes back the very same day!  (If I had to cut my own mangoes it probably wouldn't because it takes time to scrub out mango juice.)  The grounds here are quite safe; there are always multiple security guards working.  I am very grateful for all of this.  There is just one challenge that comes with it.      

At the last job I had in the states before I came back to Haiti, I was on the staff training committee and I did the training on self-care for my co-workers.  Self-care is something social workers and other helping/healing professionals need to be mindful of and are trained to consider, in order to do our best work and prevent burn-out.  I am finding that some of the strategies that I have come to rely on to prevent burn-out are more challenging to implement here.  How can I leave my work at work, when I don't leave work?  While I generally avoid working on my day off, I can't leave my bedroom without being at work; automatically boundaries are blurred and separation scarce.  My minuscule social life outside of work, is completely dependent on (sometimes very unstable) internet connections.  I have gotten accustomed to working six days a week, as that has been my norm during most of my time in Haiti.  Now, I feel like there is a bit of a learning curve for me when it comes to living and working in the same building, trying to do my best work and be available to the program staff and children, while meeting the expectations of those responsible, and doing so in a way that will be sustainable and healthy for me and everyone involved for the long run.            

It is not that I am not attempting to practice self-care.  I have been making sure I exercise which for me is essential to coping with stress and increasing my chances of sleeping well.  I am taking time for centering prayer, a form of silent meditation; sometimes during a 20 minute prayer period needing to discern multiple times if I should stop to answer a knock on my office door.  When the internet signal was consistently strong enough, I was doing very short yoga videos early in the morning and before bed regularly.  When I have a day off, I usually leave the building and head to the beach; for me to be at my best time spent in nature is a necessity and that is something that is available all year round in Haiti (yes, there are clearly some self-care advantages to being here.)  Despite these strategies, at least at the moment, I feel like I am struggling slightly to do self-care well here.       

  Thanks for letting me ramble a bit; I feel better already. Writing this has been a helpful self-care strategy over the years.  Sorry no pictures, this week; come to think of it, getting my camera out would probably help, too.  If anyone reading this wants to share strategies for self-care that have worked for you in for situations like mine please leave a comment below.  Thank you for taking the time to read this.    

No matter where you are and what you are doing be sure to take care of yourself.    Many blessings!  
          
               

Sunday, November 4, 2018

A Brief Update and a Video

Sometimes I am surprised at how faithful I was to writing weekly blog updates during my first and second experiences in Haiti.  The objective has always been to keep my religious community, family, friends, and anyone else who was interested informed about what is going on here.  It was a way of keeping in touch.   Writing them has sometimes been a therapeutic activity for me, helping me to make sense of my experiences here in Haiti.  It is something that I have often enjoyed doing. 

Here I am two months into my third experience in Haiti and I have not been writing consistently every week.  In general, things have been going well.  I am enjoying the children and staff and find the work rewarding and appropriately challenging.  In some ways, I am still getting used to how things work here and have yet to put writing my blog into my weekly routine as I did when I was in Cap-Haitian and in Tabarre eight years ago.  There is always plenty to write about, and I have every intention of getting back on track.  For this week I will simply share with you a beautiful YouTube video that the organization I am working for created for a fundraiser they held in the states over the weekend.    Enjoy!



Have a good week!  Many blessings!