What is poverty? How can community over come it?

Natalie Finstad, former Episcopal missionary in Africa, started the organization Tatua Kenya after her experience working in Kenya. Check out her terrific TED Talk, posted this past January, on her decision to take action, how she thinks we should define poverty, and what community can do to better our world.

Some of you may have seen me share this video before. Watch it again. It's good.

The Danger of a Single Story

When we only retain a single story of another person, country, or culture we can develop damaging misconceptions that mislead us to act in inappropriate, and harmful, ways.

By far, the two most frequent comments I receive from others when talking about moving to Haiti are, "Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere," and, "watch out for Vodou down there." Haiti is one such place often defined by a single story. This post is about uprooting that single story and presenting additional information about the country to which I'm moving. 

These details are not meant to define Haiti in its entirety, or collectively present a certain view. These are simply a few details from my reading that have challenged my previous understanding of Haiti and Haitian history.

Inspiration for this post came from a TED Talk video by storyteller Chimamanda Adichie that we viewed at training in New York. I strongly encourage you to watch this engaging speaker explain the danger of a single story here: