Espwa Berlancia

I have met some incredible people during my stays in Haiti. People who encourage me to push on, people who inspire me to dream bigger, people who fuel my passion and love for Haiti and its many complexities.
Rhyan Buettner is one of those people. She is a friend who continues to amaze me on a DAILY basis, everytime we talk she has made headway on a new development, she has a pushed the envelope, she has made one of her many dreams come true.
Today is one of those days. Over the last couple months Rhyan has been doing everything in her power to get "Espwa Berlancia" off the ground, a organization that's main aim is to provide care for children in Haiti afflicated by HIV/AIDS, empower the community to take hold of this epidemic and provide a source of HOPE (Espwa).
She has finally secured a home in Legonane which will be the future home of 5-7 children with HIV.
Please consider reading her blog post and providing a small donation to aid in the start up of this incredible project- I know I will be!

http://becausehecalled.blogspot.com/2011/02/love-makes-house-home.html

Much love,
Brittnei

“This is my voice”

“there are many like it…. but this one is mine”

“and every time I walk by… I cant help but feel at fault”

“ctrl /alt/ S…. so I can SAVE the world”

“the most valuable thing I ever learned was to believe people when they say PLEASE”

This is my voice, there are many like it,

but this one is MINE!

Emocionado!

I am 20 days away from a new adventure. A new experience.

In 20 days I will be co-leading a group blindly, to a part of the island I have never stepped foot on. Hearing a language I know NONE of. Experiencing a culture I am just starting to learn about.

I am excited!

Although many people who read my blog are fellow Haiti lovers- I thought I would share some of the interesting facts I have researched about the Dominican Republic.

The entire island of Hispaniola was found by Christopher Columbus in 1492, originally a Spanish conquest, Spain recognized French domination over the third of the island- Haiti- and maintained control of the other 2/3rds known as Santo Domingo. After Haiti gained independence in 1804 Santo Domingo was conquered and ruled over by Haiti until 1844,formally becoming the Dominican Republic.

• Current population is approximately 9, 800,000 people.
• Life expectancy is avg 77 years.
• Approximately 62,000 are living with HIV/AIDS (2007)
• Official language= Spanish
• 87% of the population is literate
• Main exports- sugar, coffee and tobacco, a market highly dependant on the USA
• Major transnational issues; Human Trafficking and Illicit Drugs

Just the tip of the ice berg. I am looking forward to learning about the country and its complexities first hand and sharing my new found knowledge with all of you.

Stay tuned.

Haiti is a dangerous place

All too often I am asked… will you be safe? Were you scared? and after years of returning I grow a little irritated with this question. I used to say I am just at risk in downtown Toronto as I am in Haiti *and then I moved to Toronto*…

But a missionary in Haiti recently wrote a blog that spoke so well to this very question- below is an exert from his blog post. [the link to the blog is pasted below]

“BUT I HAVE recently been spending some time thinking about Haiti and have finally concluded after 21 years of living here, that it can be a very dangerous place. Some may be saying, “Ah it’s about time John got his head out of the sand and admitted that Haiti can be a dangerous place.”

Yes, those of us who live here can be in great, grave danger. We can be in danger of:

• Becoming numb to the cries of the poor.
• Not being moved to anger and compassion at the conditions in which many people live.
• Looking but not seeing.
• Hearing but not listening.
• Seeing what is but not what can be.
• Thinking that we need to change the Haitian culture to look like our culture and that the people aren’t doing it right because they don’t do it like we do.
• Thinking that living here is a sprint, when in reality, it’s a marathon.
• Being so practical about what we need to live that we limit God in what we do.
• Not totally depending on God for God’s work.
• Thinking that doing is more important than being.

Yes, it is true Haiti can be a dangerous place, perhaps as dangerous as where you live.” -John McHoul

http://johnmchoul.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/haiti-can-be-a-dangerous-place/

Knowledge is Em(power)ment

Many of us have seen a fraction of the world's disparity. We may watch the news and claim that we know what is going on around the world. We are SO wrong.

Knowledge is Em (power)ment.

Empowered?

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”

Call me a bleeding heart….

Call me a shameless idealist….

Call me an aspiring altruist…

But do NOT call me a dreamer.

What I want, what I strive for should not be a distant dream- it should be a reality. It will be a reality if the ignorant, the privileged and the responsible would get their heads out of the clouds.

Disclaimer:My purpose is not to offend anyone, my purpose is to speak to the unspoken, chosen ignorance exercised by so many.

So often I encounter the ignorant and the jaded and feel at a loss…. what can I say to change their mind? what is an affective response?

Admittedly when “these” opinions are shared …I fake-laugh them off or roll my eyes and give the temporary cold shoulder or remove myself from the situation- granted none of these are affective.

But what is affective?

If I begin to explain what I do I encounter 1 of 4 scenarios.

1st: “Wow- good for you. I could never do that.”

2nd: eyes glazed, “oh here we go!” expression

3rd: “It is their problem, we have our own problems.”- sometimes not in so many words.

4th: mockery- ex. wasted food- “Brittnei would you like me to send these mashed potatoes to Haiti?”

Everyday I speak to young people- empowering them to make a change, make an effort, do SOMETHING to improve OUR future. I am proud of what I am doing, I am passionate and I am driven- I strive to recognize the change we are making, I strive to remain hopeful but every so often I grow FRUSTARTED with the masses.

Why is it the work of few to convince the masses that it is our RESPONSIBILITY to take care of each other?

How have our massive become so apathetic, so blissfully ignorant that our world could crumble around them and they would question “Why Me?” not “What can I do to help my neighbour?”

I humbly stand in a line of believers with the same quest for a different reality:

If you give to the poor, your needs will be supplied! But a curse upon those who close their eyes to poverty.Prov. 28:27

Give fair judgment to the poor man, the afflicted, the fatherless, the destitute. Psa 82:4 Rescue the poor and helpless from the grasp of evil men. Psa. 82:3

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor waunderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to cloth him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Isaiah 58:7

“ Be the Change you wish to see in the world”- Ghandi

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“No person is an island of themselves. Everyone person is a piece of the continent a part of the main”

“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.”
       - Confucius

It terrifies me to think that we live on a continent that is “every person for themselves.”

There is always an exception to the rule, I work with these exceptions, I have met and come to love so many of these expectations in throughout my travels….

but I don’t want US to be an exception anymore. 

I am committing myself to destroying the apathy, the ignorance and the entitlement of our population.

Who will join me?

Where is your Valentine’s Day chocolate coming from?

“Over 40% of the world's cocoa is sourced from the west African region of Cote d'Ivoire, and the UN estimates that there are around 15,000 children working on the region's cocoa farms”

Chocolate: The Bitter Truth

45 min documentary

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_Passionate_Eye/1274903384/ID=1695580327

A future so bright?

 

The resident “Haiti lover” around the office probes those update questions- what is going on? what does this mean? in YOUR opinion what does Haiti’s future look like?

I visit every chance I get, I read the news, I listen to my friends and I scan numerous blogs on a daily basis- unfortunately this does not qualify me as a Haiti expert. However, I will share my resources in the hopes that we all become a little bit more informed out on neighbours to the south.

Presidential Election Update: Jude Celestin is OUT! After a whirlwind couple of months, international pressure and internal dispute Celestin is no longer in the running for the rescheduled run off election. For many this is GOOD news, this means that the voices of the majority where finally heard. This means we could potentially have a stable government and a happy population. This could mean alot of things…

March 20th the residents of Haiti will gather in their respective regions to cast a vote for either:

Former First Lady” Mirlande Manigat

or

Michael Joseph Martelly (Sweet Mickey)

This time the people of Haiti may win!

But it doesnt end there.

“Baby Doc” Duvalier has returned to Haiti and faces numerous charges for his heinous human rights crimes during his his faulted dictatorship 25 years ago.  This article was posted February 8 1986 follow his flee to France: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Baby+flees+Haiti/4270388/story.html

Although a trial of this magnitude will prove to be difficult within Haiti’s damage infrastructure many remain hopeful that this will be a step in the right direction.

And with the hype of Duvalier's return- Aristide (former President who fled the country after coup in 2004- mainly by the hands of Canada and US officials) has made plans to return to Haiti.

This article is written by Mr. Aristide himself “My return to Haiti”http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/04/haiti-earthquake-aristide-education?CMP=twt_gu

“As I have not ceased to say since 29 February 2004, from exile in Central Africa, Jamaica and now South Africa, I will return to Haiti to the field I know best and love: education. We can only agree with the words of the great Nelson Mandela, that indeed education is a powerful weapon for changing the world.”- Artistide

Agence France Presse is reporting that the Haitian government has issued a diplomatic passport for Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Monday, February 6th. Aristide's lawyer, Ira Kurzban, has been in Port-au-Prince since Friday to secure the release of the passport.

Finally Al Jazeera has posted a panel discussion looking at the flawed reconstruction effort of Haiti

It is for these beautiful faces that I remain hopeful. Their future is in the hands of these people listed above.

They deserve stability…

They deserve peace….

They deserve the world…

Absence makes the heart grow fonder….

Eight and a half months ago I boarded a plane with red rimmed eyes and a heavy heart. Empty armed for the first time in 2 months everything in me hurt. Although I knew I would be back, for the first time in years I didn’t have the approaching flexibility of a prolonged summer break. I was entering the real world- restricted vacation days and all..

And boy was I excited when the opportunity presented itself to return to Haiti as a co-leader for a one week Awareness Trip.

And boy did my heart fracture a little when that trip was cancelled.

I sought every opportunity to get back despite the news, God’s Littlest Angels was amazing enough to open up the doors for me again- even if just for a short visit.

And then came reality.

I had to post-pone my return to Haiti. Unfortunately for every door that opened, 3 more slammed in my face. It may be a couple more months, but rest assured (that is as much for me as it is for you readers) I will be back before the year ends.

(Prayers are appreciated as my family approaches a very large hurdle.)

And with all the sulking and pouting that resulted from these closed doors, I heard a smaller door creep open… slowly and surely.

Although I couldn't get back to Haiti, I will be going to the Dominican Republic on a short trip in March- helping lead a fairly large group of young and old alike with a man with a giant heart for the people of the DR.

I am looking forward to an opportunity to lead, I am eagerly awaiting the opportunity to learn more about Haiti’s neighbours and the intricate culture that lies behind a border I have never crossed.

Taking a leap of faith.

Join me?

“To live is the rarest thing in the world, most people exist, that's all”

 

A friend shared this incredible song with me. Take a listen:

Def: Mentor/ Def: Role Model

Men-tor (noun)

1. a wise and trusted counsellor or teacher.

Role Model (noun)

1. a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others.

I am so incredibly blessed to have a number of trusted mentors  and role models. These are individuals who have guided me through very important milestones, provided me with tough advice, told me what others wouldn't have the guts to say and celebrated my accomplishments along the way.

Although I pride myself on my independence, my strong will and my determination; I find it just as important to recognize the strong mentors and role models that guide my decisions whether through direct advice or demonstrated commendable examples.

As it seems, this year proves to be a challenging one- one and half months in I have already been faced with difficult decisions, tough family news and internal strife. While struggling to remain positive, hopeful and determined – I am continually supported from all facets of life- those close by and those far away. Challenged faith and weakened spirit always seems strong when you are surrounded by such amazing people. I am SO thankful.