Vow of Silence this FRIDAY NOVEMBER 19th

Join forces with the thousands of people who will be giving up their voice for 24 hours in solidarity with those children that are silenced by poverty and exploitation.
Give up YOUR voice, that means- no texting, no facebook, no tweeting!
Check out the website below.

http://www.iamsilent.com/new/

Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be….

Everyday I am standing in front of young people talking about the person I used to be and the person I am today, everyday I reflect on this very point in the hopes that I encourage some of those young people to make a change.

I wasn’t a trouble teen, I wasn’t causing trouble, .. the problem was I was doing NOTHING. In high school I was more concerned with getting good grades, spending time with friends and getting to soccer practices and games… that I spent very little time giving back.

We all have our triggers, those motivators that spark us to move in a direction that we want to go and need to go but haven’t pushed ourselves. For me that spark was a presentation I saw back when I was in grade 9….nine years ago now.

This presentation was a  grade 12 student describing her trip to Haiti! As she described the communities she visited, the culture she learned about and the poverty she witnessed and I knew that was something I wanted to do. Here was an opportunity to challenge myself to grow and experience something that was way outside of my little world.

Those 10 days in Haiti would make me question everything I knew. I saw a little girl that was wearing shoes two sizes two big so that she could share with her siblings. I saw homes that were made of sheet metal and rock and I watched as kids rolled dirt and flour in water to make mud cakes. A snack that would taste horrible but fill their stomachs.

I came home from that first trip with a new sense of appreciation for what I had. For the first time I felt lucky to have a grocery store stocked full of my favourite foods, I looked forward to family gatherings rather than dreading time away from friends. And I took note of the simple things, the clean bed, the nice house and the safe neighbourhood. And I began to realize the power that I now had to make positive change that was so desperately needed.

So many people have asked me WHY HAITI, WHY YOU, WHY STILL? And this is my story, this is what I share with youth everyday and this was my start. Its been 5 years since that first trip, and I have returned back 2 times with another trip booked in 5 months time.

My hope is that over the next 5 months I can prepare enough to be the leader I want to be. I hope that the 22 sets of fresh eyes waiting eagerly for that first trip will feel comfortable in my hands.

My new goal is to learn more Kreoyl, I always struggle with the language barrier and this is something I am taking very seriously. I cannot wait to try out my new found language skills in 5 months time. If anyone has any suggestions/ tips/ resources please pass them along :)

And tonight like every night I am thinking about those babies I left behind 4 months ago now, those babies that left such an impression on my heart it hurts to think about them. I know someone is giving them each the love and attention they deserve, but I wish I was me!

B,W,E,JR and all of the other Angels I am thinking about you tonight!

Much Love,

Brittnei

60 Minute Special on Haiti

Cholera reaches Port Au Prince tent cities

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/11/2010111023475117420.html

Pick Me Up’s

 

 

Walk the Talk- Aid Facts in Haiti

So many of us with connections to Haiti know that transparency and accountability are often lacking with "development" and international involvement. Reliance and depedance should be avoided; however in light of recent events- hurricanes, earthquake, Cholera, Tomas etc. internatonal assistance and pledge has proved NECESSARY. Unfortunately, we continually fail to walk the talk. In fact we are ALL talk and very LITTLE action.
I wanted to share some recent statistics that I have come across.

• US$6.036 billion was pledged for Haiti in NYC on March 31, 2010, for the following 18 months in all fields of spending—government, international agencies, charities and ngo’s. Of that, $886 million is for debt relief.
• As of September, $1.940B has been pledged for 2010. That’s 32% of the total March 31 pledges. Of this amount, $1.317B has been disbursed or committed. That’s 22% of total pledges. The U.S. has committed zero for 2010.

Canadian funding
• In NYC on March 31, Canada said it is committing US$632 million to Haiti for 2010/11. This includes funding already promised to Haiti in Canada’s pre-earthquake, CAN$555M aid budget for the years 2006-2011. CAN$150 million was spent up to March 31, 2010; none of this went to the Haitian government.
• Of the US$199M promised for 2010, Canada has disbursed $44M, or 22%.

Who is demanding transparency? Are we too trusting? What is the solution here?

Dear: Thomas - Please slow down!

Please continue to keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers as Tropical Storm Tomas threatens to hit Haiti on Friday. At this time the storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression but there is some debate over whether it could move into a Category 1 or 2 Hurricane by Friday.