Episcopal News Service Article on CASB

I've been through quite a blogging drought, but I think that just means things are advancing even faster at work with CASB.

Check out the following Episcopal News Service article and video by Lynette Wilson on the revitalization program of the Centre d'Agriculture St. Barnabas where I work.

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/02/22/haiti-episcopal-college-prepares-students-for-agriculture-agri-business/ 

Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Picking up Momentum

The past two weeks, I've felt the momentum of my work in Haiti pick up. Things are moving forward. So, I’d like to share a basic update of what’s going on.

Stabilization projects at the Centre d’Agriculture St. Barnabas are finally underway. Right now, Saint Ange is building a new nursery so we have plants for new land we’re preparing for production. We’ve purchased seeds from Seed Programs International, based in Asheville, NC, to try in our student practice plots. We’ve rented temporary composting toilets from SOIL, which safely compost human waste, and we are purchasing compost from them to use until we have our own capacity to make it.

The new CASB nursery nearing completion

Throughout the month of December we’re installing temporary classrooms that will serve the school until we are able to construct new buildings hopefully by the end of 2016. We’re finalizing plans for a new pump, reservoir and irrigation system to outfit a well. This will allow us to increase farm production to support the center financially and to begin more test plots of crops that local businesses are interested in growing. Three examples are jatrofa, used to make biodiesel, morenga, a leafy plant with high concentrations of vitamins and protein, and sisal, a plant that was once a significant crop in this region of Haiti before synthetic fibers replaced the organic ropes made from the plant.

SOIL EkoMobil composting toilets installed at the school

We’re also preparing a preliminary scholarship program for students in the agriculture technician program. So far, thanks to donors in the Diocese of California, CASB has granted 6 half scholarships. Remaining students have filled out applications for scholarships, and we hope to find more sponsors in the U.S. that can make it possible to grant additional scholarships.

Eliza Brinkley, underway on a boat and underway teaching the new CASB English class

A lot more is to come in 2016 as the Episcopal Church together with partners like Fresh Ministries out of Jacksonville, FL, continue to seek the proper support needed to rebuild academic and administrative buildings, install hydroponic units, and establish additional farming services CASB can offer in the region.

In other happenings, I’m still supporting Earl Burch in his mission with the Diocese of Upper South Carolina in Cange, as they work with Ecole Bon Sauveur and many other ministries in the Central Plateau. I’m moving forward with Chris Ciocchetti and Maegan Daigle from Centenary College in Louisiana on conducting Partnership, a pilot, week-long academic course in Haiti in May 2016 designed to equip communities and individuals interested in Haiti to promote effective engagement and cooperation. Finally, I’m in the early planning stages with Reverend Carmel Chery to design a program on racism and racial justice for the youth in each parish in the Diocese of Haiti to use in their spring gatherings. This project is an extension of the Episcopal Church Young Adult Pilgrimage to Ferguson, Missouri, that happened in October.

As you can see, there are a lot of partners in this work. I’m blessed and grateful to be working with so many amazing people and to receive such amazing sustained support from friends, family and church communities back in the U.S.

Change but not Changing: A Ferguson Challenge

The other day, I came across a two-frame comic. In the first frame is a politician like figure standing at a podium in front of a happy crowd of people each with one hand raised as the politician asks, "Who wants change?"

In the second frame, it's the same scene, but the politician asks, "Who wants to change?" No hands are raised. No one looks at the politician or one another.

Everyone wants change, but no one wants to change.

The idea, the need, the desire for change was readily apparent during the recent Episcopal Church Young Adult Pilgrimage to Ferguson, Missouri. Twenty-four other young adults and I, 6-8 staff, and countless guest speakers, engaged in conversations about racial justice and reconciliation. Indeed, during the pilgrimage we met with many inspiring agents of change. But what was also apparent, especially in looking out from Ferguson, is a lack of will to change. We want change, but we're not changing.

Trinity Asheville Sermon

Below is the sermon I presented to my home parish, Trinity Episcopal Church, in Asheville, NC. I give great thanksgiving for the lives of Anyo and Tiyolen, two people who inspire me greatly and who have shaped my life significantly for the better. I love you both.

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Trinity Episcopal Church, Asheville, NC, October 18th, 2015

Gospel Reading: Mark 10:35-45

“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Amen

Three Lessons I've Learned

Ou met jwenn atik sa an Kreyol pi ba la.

While making the decision to move to Cap Haitien, I considered two things. First, I considered that the move from Cange to Cap Haitien might be as different as was the move from Clemson, South Carolina to Cange. Second, moving to Cap would mean a chance to experience Haiti from a completely different vantage point, helping me understand the Haitian context more deeply.

Photos are textures from around the house in Cap Haitien

To the first point, two months after moving to Cap Haitien, I can already say that yes, the move here has been just as different as was the move to Cange. I’m now living independently, I’m more mobile, and I’m living in a city where every single person doesn’t know me. All of this makes for a pretty unfamiliar environment and figuring out entirely new ways of doing things.

To the second point, after two months in Cap, I’m already learning many new things. All of this new learning has made me reflect on what I learned the previous two years in Cange. So, since I’m feeling a bit of a personal reflection post, I want to share the three most significant lessons I’ve learned since moving to Haiti.

U.S. Tour Part 2

For most of April, I was back in the U.S. visiting churches around the Dioceses of Upper South Carolina and in Western North Carolina. The visits are going very well once again, and I thoroughly enjoy representing this relationship of the Episcopal Church between the Carolinas and Cange.

For this post I want to share photographs from some of my visits this month (and last fall) of the ways these churches create displays in their worship spaces and fellowship halls that serve as constant reminders of the relationship. Pictures are from my visits to St. Timothy's Episcopal in Herndon, VA, St. Matthew's Episcopal in Spartanburg, SC, Grace Episcopal in Anderson, SC, and Christ Church Episcopal in Greenville, SC.

Sermon From Grace Episcopal Anderson, SC

As a part of my responsibilities while back in the U.S., I visit churches around the Diocese of Upper South Carolina (and sometimes other places) to discuss the relationship and ministry with Bon Sauveur in Cange.

I was asked to do the sermon at Grace Episcopal Church in Anderson, SC, for their Global Missions Sunday yesterday. It was a wonderful event, complete with a food festival with samples from 13 different countries (including Haiti!). My sermon is below.

My First Rural Medical Clinic

Below is an examining room for a rural mobile medical clinic conducted near Cange. Normally this space is a classroom for a primary school, but for about 5 hours the space served as a site to examine patients for high blood pressure, diabetes, lesions, colds, and other ailments.

From January 31-February 7, a team of medical care providers from South Carolina visited Cange for a series of mobile clinics in 4 rural communities nearby. I served as one of the translators for the team, and it was my first experience with rural medical care in Haiti. It was truly transformative. For the bulk of this post, I want to simply share what I found so motivating about the clinics.

Buen Vivir--Striving for "Good Living"

Buen Vivir speaks to good living, common wealth, the pursuit of happiness perhaps. But who determines what is buen vivir, and how can we strive for buen vivir for all?

The U.S. Declaration of Independence suggests Creator-given rights, namely life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are what constitute good living. The document continues by saying that good relationship between the government and the governed, prudence and not abuses, is the mechanism that can spread and maintain buen vivir.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus explains, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Matt. 22:37-40). Again, the focus is on good relationship, this time between people and between people and God. Through these commandments, restorative and loving relationships, we can achieve buen vivir.

The rights-based approach to community development is one method used to restore relationships and help us achieve buen vivir for all. Foundation Cristosal, a non-profit human rights and community development organization, works for the good living of all people in El Salvador using this approach.

I just spent a week with Foundation Cristosal's Global School in San Salvador, taking a course on the theologies of human rights and development, where I learned about the rights-based approach and the positive impact it can have.

Gift of Seedlings

Happy New Year and Happy Haitian Independence Day!

I have unexpectedly delayed my return to Haiti until the end of January, in part due to travel advisories for Port-au-Prince due to increased protests that are blocking travel around the capital. In short, protesters are unsettled by the current presidential administration's inability to hold elections--dating back to 2011. Protesters in part have called for the resignation of the now former prime minister. He did resign, and since his resignation, President Michel Martelly has nominated a replacement during his Christmas Day message.

If the government is not able to hold elections by January 12th, parliament will be disbanded. Please pray for Haiti during this tense political time, where many are worried about the country falling back into unproductive political turmoil--something that has contributed to the country's lack of development for centuries. This would be especially disheartening now, given the bright spots of development in Haiti in recent years. See this article from the New York Times, Scrooges of the World, Begone! (Thanks, Al Brady, for forwarding that article.)

For the rest of this post, I want to exhibit another reason for hope and a reason to expect progress in Haiti. I've talked about Agronomist Hermane before, but I want to feature a recent event he organized and held for the children of the primary school in Chapoteau.

Back to Cange

After about 6 weeks in the U.S., I'm back and safe in Cange, Haiti, once again. I had a wonderful time back in the U.S. visiting churches, universities and family and friends. I also had a wonderful time at the re-entry retreat for YASC that was held in New York City for a long weekend.

Seeing other fellow missionaries again was such a pleasure. A good number from my group were in attendance, sharing their stories and experiences from their missions around the world.

Now that I'm back in Cange, I'm putting more focus back on Sant Art, the marketplace and fish farming. I'm also continuing in my role to assist with communication between the U.S. Episcopal partners and the Episcopal parish here in Cange. I have a lot of tasks to accomplish, but most important and enjoyable to me is to be back in Haiti and speaking Creole once again.

I will check in again soon, as some important project developments are underway. In the mean time, read this little piece from the Episcopal News Service:

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2014/10/07/yasc-missionaries-unpack-their-experiences-serving-abroad/

Back to the Carolinas

Wow, it has been quite a ride since I last made a post on here at the end of July. I had a crazy push for setting up projects and connections in Haiti to function for my six or so weeks back in the States, then I had to prepare to actually leave for a while. This required some mental fortitude, lots of time for reflection, and patience. Then I actually flew back to Asheville on August 21st.

Metal art

I am so grateful to have spent just over a full year in Cange, Haiti, working under the Young Adult Service Corps in relationship with the Diocese of Upper South Carolina and many others who work in and around Cange. What an amazing year of growing confidence, new relationships, a richer faith, and a different outlook on day-to-day life. God's love is so alive and vibrant in this world.

Market Place Kombit #2

The kombit is a Haitian tradition where communities will gather to work on an individual's farm for a day in exchange for a meal, drink and fellowship. In the future, those benefiting from a kombit are expected to participate in the next one hosted by another farmer.

The tradition applies to various communal efforts in Haitian society, like the one that happened in Cange yesterday to prepare land for a new market place. It was the second kombit of this effort so far, and it was much more successful than the first. More people, more accomplishment, and an excellent meal cooked by market committee members with food provided by other residents of Cange.

An awesome day of collaboration, culture, progress and friendship. I'm really proud of this community, and I think the best is yet to come.

Ayiti ap vanse.

Country Come to Town

Once again, I find myself with a cake in my lap. This is the second time I've found myself in such a position on the ride back to Cange after a day trip to Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. This particular cake was going back to Cange for someone's birthday party. The first time, I was toting a much larger cake for a Christmas party in Cange that evening. That day we didn't start leaving Port-au-Prince until dusk, the car broke down after dark in one of the roughest parts of the city, and the entire trip back took four hours. Four hours with a cake in my lap, sitting in the middle of the back row of a crew cab pick up.

I felt a bit more optimistic about this second cake trip going better than the first, however, because we had just had a wonderful cheeseburger for lunch (I had been craving one for about a month), I was sitting in the front seat, we were leaving with daylight to spare, we were with my favorite chauffeur Johnny, and the cake was about half the size and weight.

It seems as if everything and everyone who travels in Haiti must pass through Port-au-Prince. The capital is the economic center of Haiti, which has one of the fastest growing economies in the Caribbean. And as gas is precious, any day trip down Mon Kabrit (Goat Mountain) from Cange always has multiple objectives. One never knows who will be riding down or picked up along the way, what tasks will need to be accomplished and for whom, or how much time will be spent on any given to-do list item. This is just how it is on a typically unpredictable trip to Port-au-Prince...
Yes, there are tent cities in Port-au-Prince. Yes, though it doesn't compare size wise, there is also a tent city in Greenville, SC. But to only look at the current estimated population of tent cities in the capital (140,000) is to ignore the fact that over 90% of the almost 2,000,000 people living in tent cities just after the 2010 earthquake have moved out of such living conditions to more permanent housing. Incredible. Moving on.

So what is a day trip to Port-au-Prince like? Not at all like the previous day trip to Port-au-Prince.

The ride to PauP from Cange takes about 1 hour (it used to take 4 before the road was paved). But that really just gets you to the edge of the city. Once there, there's no telling how long it will take you to cross sections of the congested city. I always ride with a chauffeur--I'm not about to navigate the wild streets of the city, they intimidate me. When you reach Mon Kabrit on National Route 3, the edge of the Central Plateau, you can look out into the Plaine du Cul de Sac and the entire capital. Sometimes the smog and dust hides the taller mountains of the southern peninsula across the plain.

Port-au-Prince on a smoggy day.

The Dominican Republic is out there somewhere.

"How is Port-au-Prince?" asked the visitor. "Dusty when it's dry and muddy when it's wet." That's a perfect description. Any other description of Port-au-Prince is simply incomplete, because it's such a contradictory city.

New construction!

The haunting skeleton of the Catholic cathedral reminds everyone passing by of the horrific 2010 earthquake--but it is also true that new construction is happening everywhere. Yes there are still tent cities, which are continuing to shrink, but there is also sushi, pedicures and an Irish pub among the ordered streets of Petionville.

One can find almost anything in Port-au-Prince:

Vegetable Oil

Assorted Alcohol

Port is packed with people--on motos, in cars and tap-taps, walking, leading animals and selling almost anything you can imagine right up to your car window. Those merchants particularly congregate around red lights and speed bumps. I'm always amazed at the people running along beside cars making change and handing snacks, manje kwit (fast food), drinks, phone credit, car phone chargers, or World Cup flags through the window. These car-side vendors take advantage of the fact that going to Port means a LOT of time in the car and a lot of time stuck in a blokis (something causing a traffic jam). This in turn also means a lot of smog. Making a small effort counteracting this are solar street lights in some sections of the city.

Most people are generally friendly and willing to provide directions, in the distinctly non-specific Haitian way, so long as you say hello and ask how they are first.

Another sign that Port is the economic center of the country are all of the wild cargoes being carried in trucks and on the backs of motos. The most amazing feats I have seen involved an entire lottery building on the back of a pick-up and a mattress being carried between the driver and passenger on a moto. Despite all of this activity, sometimes Port seems like the land of "pa gen," which means, "we don't have it."

Then there are all of the billboards and ads going up--some of which are really clever. Here are some of my favorites:

"Let's choose peace, violence will destroy our life"

"Evil doesn't have a horn"-an insurance company

This is a new 50% larger Prestige bottle. For only 10 goud more. It's somewhat of a big deal because, despite the recycling of glass bottles, the Prestige brewery's production is limited by the number of bottles available. Thanks to a $100,000,000 investment by Heineken in Haiti, Prestige is expanding! Kenbe Prestige ou!

"Don't drink while you're driving"-Prestige That's a tap-tap being driven off a mountain. Notice the goat with its legs tied flying off the tap-tap.

Speaking of tap-taps, they are a mode of "public" transportation in Haiti and take the form of either a pick-up or a larger bus like vehicle. They are always painted bright colors (and have lights at night), with themes ranging from international soccer starts to Bible stories to music acts like Justin Bieber and Ludacris.

Tap-taps follow specific routes around Port or between other cities. It's a common form of transportation, along with motorcycles, or simply by foot. Those travelling by foot in the city seem to have no trouble commanding cars to stop for them simply by holding up their hand and walking.

Some other things common to see in Port are schools--seemingly on every block--loto stands, art for sale, art for beautification, and gas or water trucks delivering said liquids around the city. They're almost always leaking--and when following close behind one I'm always hoping it's water...

Driving around the city is a mix of narrow roads, some paved many not, and large wide boulevards. There are areas of seemingly endless cinder-block walls, random fields of crops, and dry river beds that come alive during a rainy season storm.

But once all purchases are made, packages delivered, and people found to return to Cange, we start the trek back out through the city, up Mon Kabrit and through the winding roads of the Central Plateau.

President Martelly's son is working on a new sports complex

Brazil flags everywhere--WORLD CUP!

Bringing down rocks from the mine to make cement blocks

A yet to be fully inhabited, somewhat questionable development housing project

Along the way home it's common to see a number of car and motorcycle accidents, a result of newly paved roads and fast vehicles in an area not accustomed to such travel. One may pass a truck full of cattle going to the city, or a caravan of buses returning school children from a field trip to the Peligre hydroelectric dam just below Cange. There are often a slew of abandoned vehicles, often marked with clumps of branches plucked off the side of the nearby hill and laid down like caution cone to warn passers by.

Never a wasted trip

Whether with a cake in my lap, squeezed four across on a middle row, or comfortably napping with the window down and breeze in my face, I'm always happy to return to Cange after safe travels in Port-au-Prince.