Sunday, December 18, 2011

Great news!

As you all know in my travels to Haiti, Heartline Ministries has carved a way into my heart...and for good reason. I have raved about Beth and John and all the people attached to Heartline (Tara, Troy, Heather just to name a few) and all the great things they do for the people of Haiti. Many of you have asked me about donations and who you could donate to ensure the money actually gets to the people/services that need it and time and time again I have said without hesitation Heartline.

The people of Heartline are so beautiful in their acceptance of all human beings (and bull mastifs..) and I am so grateful for their place in my life.
This past week Heartline became the recipents of a 50K grant... and oh the things they will do with that money!

I am so, so proud of them and give thanks to those of you who voted for them in this contest. See the video of the winners here...
Beth is last and as I predicted..well you'll see...

http://givingoflife.com/winners

Warms my heart....

Monday, December 5, 2011

A new beginning...



For those of you who know me well know I am usually not at a loss for words....In terms of this blog there are times that I know exactly what it is I want to say but I have trouble finding those words..this time is no exception...

The past week has been one of many emotions for me and they have reached all ends of the spectrum. So as I sit here tonight I feel that although I still have a sense of sadness in me I know that this event is one of happiness for a little someone I care very much about.....

Most of you have followed me throughout my journey with Haiti over the past 20 months and more importantly you have helped me support and love a little lady and her family. We, collectively have helped to care for her and her family in many ways from monthly funding to gifts for special occasions to building a home for them. You have read about the ups and downs of their life in Haiti, you have helped me keep connected to them while living 5242 kms and/or 3257 miles away and when I am only 5 miles away and you along with me have fallen in love with the hope that comes from a life starting out even if the beginning was a bit bumpy!


I personally have been able to see and experience how life comes full-circle and I am so grateful for the learning that has occured as a result of my expeiences in Haiti and with this family in particular!

Over my trips to Haiti grandma has asked me multiple times to adopt little lady...not because she doesn't love her but exactly the opposite because she does love her so much (not that a life away from Haiti and family is "better", that is not what I am saying). But grandma has an awful lot on her plate. I won't go into details here about her situation but Beth (who has lived in Haiti for 20+ years) tells me every time we talk how she doesn't know how grandma does it, how the needs she must meet on a daily basis are astounding and would be overwhelming for those of us living in the "first world" with far more means then she has... So her want for me to adopt ti Rose I know comes from a place of love and how I have wished I could do exactly that...But in all things real, I know and have known deep down there were many reasons that I could not do what she asked of me...financial reasons, personal reasons and a mixture of both. I also do believe strongly in supporting people where they are at...I know Rose has a family and one that loves her very much as I see evidence of with every trip to Haiti.
Life in Haiti is difficult and I know that is what grandma is thinking. Grandma is also an older lady looking down the barral of overwhelming responsibilities and I know that to have Rose and John-lee living in a place where they will be cared for if anything were to happen to her is and always has been her ultimate wish...

So why all this background? Well this week I found out that Ti Roses brother (John-lee) is being adopted by a Canadian couple and that the couple also wanted to adopt Rose..... I don't have really any details (as I have no real rights to any) but I know that it has been a sad, yet happy week for me. Before the news I had been giving the whole adoption topic some really serious thought..had looked at my life...this wasn't in the plan but really what is my plan anyway!? I had done a lot of reading on international adoptions and had sat down and had a serious look at my finances and had put lots of thought into the questions...

"Can I do this?"

"Is this what is best for everyone? Me (really the only person I could have an answer for in this question), Rose, John-lee, Grandma and family?"

I hadn't finished answering them when I received the email telling be about the adoptions... but I think in my heart I always knew the answers...

Grandma still contested that I be the one to adopt Rose..something that broke my heart to have to decline. I grew up with an older brother and although I might have thought differently when I was 7,10 and 15 I would have not wanted it any other way and I could never separate little lady from her older brother...Grandma is one of the most amazing women I have ever met, so disappointing her crushed me... Beth and Agathe explained to her that I didn't want Rose and John-lee separated and that I could not afford to adopt them both.... In the end I think she understood and as Beth said she just wants what she feels is best for them.

So as it sits and from my understanding things are still in the preliminary stages but it looks like little lady and her brother will be joining us north of the 49th parallel but with other (I am sure) equally as loving Canadians...

I will continue to provide support to them during the process (if possible) and I will in no way stop going to Haiti. I also hope that I can in some small way remain a part of these two precious childrens lives while remaining respectful of their new family.


Some People

By Flavia Weedn

Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same.

Some people come into our lives
and quickly go...Some stay for a while
and embrace our silent dreams.

They help us become aware
of the delicate winds of hope...
and we discover within every human spirit
there are wings yearning to fly.

They help our hearts to see that
the only stairway to the stars
is woven with dreams...
and we find ourselves
unafraid to reach high.

They celebrate the true essence
of who we are...
and have faith in all
that we may become.

Some people awaken us
to new and deeper realizations...
for we gain insight
from the passing whisper of their wisdom.

Throughout our lives we are sent
precious souls...
meant to share our journey
however brief or lasting their stay
they remind us why we are here.

To learn...to teach...to nurture...to love.

Some people come into our lives
to cast a steady light
upon our path and guide our every step
their shining belief in us
helps us to believe in ourselves.

Some people come into our
lives to teach us about love...
The love that rests within ourselves.

Let us reach out to others
and feel the bliss of giving
for love is far richer in action
than it ever is in words.

Some people come into our lives
and they move our souls to sing
and make our spirits dance.

They help us to see that everything on earth
is part of the incredibility of life...
and that it is always there
for us to take of its joy.


Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same.


So because all of you have helped me and have also loved this family I wanted to say thank you and that as much as I can I will keep you informed. I am hoping to be able to show this new family that Rose, John-lee, Olez and the whole family are so loved by another "family" here in Canada and that as the old saying goes "It takes a village to raise a child" maybe in this case we can substitute "village" for "country"...

Love Lise

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Ti Rose..

This stinkin cutie turns 2 on December 12 and I am so so happy that she has found a way into my life and my heart! Love you Ti Rose...always will!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

The right ending...

For those of you who have been following this blog since my first trip to Haiti you will remember this awesome little kid!

You may remember my friend (and probably one of the coolest and most caring people I know on this earth) Barbies blog post about his mom "Momma Emmanual" as she has come to be affectionately known by many. If not, you can read about it here http://barbieboots.blogspot.com/2010/04/depths.html

Well good news came this weekend..after tense moments, which were handled by the amazing women of Heartline's Womens program, Momma Emmanual gave birth to a little boy! So happy for this women as she has lost so much yet remained one of the most beautifully optimistic people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

I have often read stats about the number of women and children who die needlessly in childbirth. Had not Beth, Cookie and the women of Heartline been there things may have ended badly for this wonderful women and her new baby boy....Its one thing to read about such things but quite another to know firsthand someone like Momma Emmanual and to think about an alternative outcome.... Heartline provides care that makes those alternatives less likely...

Thank you ladies... Truly...

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

feed just one

My friend Licia posted this tonight on the Real Hope for Haiti facebook page..brought instant tears to my eyes! I know we all can't make a difference in places like Haiti but we all can be a bit more kind to our fellow human beings right here at home....Please remember this as the "holiday" season approaches!






if you can't feed one hundred, then feed just one. - Mother Teresa

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Smart Man!

Wow this really hit home for me tonight...


Working on this type of acceptance....


Such a smart man....

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Check out this blog...

It is always interesting (and kinda crazy) to me the way the world works sometimes...

A few years ago I followed a blog by a doctor from Canada who was working in the Sudan for Doctors without Borders (MSF). This blog was amazing..I cried, I laughed, I felt like I was right there with him...I used to check everyday to see if there was a new post by him...
Upon his return he wrote a book called "6 Months in Sudan" and I felt so blessed that I was able to continue to savor his writing.

So last week I got to thinking...I have been asked by 2 fellow instructors to come into their classes and talk about my time in Haiti so it got me thinking about James and his blog...as I lay in bed the other night, facing down a long day of hospital visits I looked him up on the MSF website and low and behold, there just for me (of course not true in any shape but I felt like it was just for me...) was a new blog by him. I had to literally put down my computer and force myself to go to sleep and wait until I had the adequate time to sit and read this new blog.

James Maskalyk spent, from what I can tell, about 5 months in Kenya at Dadaab (the worlds largest refugee camp). As of Aug 2011 there were over 440 000 people living in the 3 refugee camps that make up the complex. This camp has been seeing an astronomical amount of growth in the past months ever since FAMINE has been declared in Somalia.


you can read more about it here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/aug/01/drought-food-crisis-africa-data?INTCMP=SRCH

If you want to read the blog you can do so here:
http://msf.ca/blogs/jamesm/

But as these things tend to go in life after I spent the time and read the blog and was working on getting my head around what I was going to say to these future nurses next month an email came into my University account talking about Global Awareness Week coming up in Jan-Feb so of course I opened it....guess who is going to be a guest speaker..come on just one guess...

Yup it's going to be the guy who I credit with motivating me to want to become involved with the plight of so many in this world, the guy who's words moved me and shook me and helped me view the world in a way I never had before!! And I am so excited...I think you may be able to tell!

Just to give you a taste...
Here is a small section taken from his last blog post in Dadaab

"you become what you pay attention to. and what that is, there are no rules, only possibilities. we’re all making it up what a human being is as we go along, moment to moment, and if you’re not deciding, someone is. in that understanding is a scary freedom and the world’s real magic, that as the universe manifests perpetual change, it does it, at least in part, through our imaginations."

Just thought I would share my thoughts for the night..check out the blog..its pretty amazing! And check out his Sudan one as well..who knows it just might move ya!?


Night..

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

What will you pray for today...

Yet again my friend Barbie's words have made me weep and feel so blessed...

http://barbieboots.blogspot.com/2011/10/this-photograph-hangs-on-wall-of-my.html#comments

Pray for Peace
Pray for Love
Pray for Understanding

Stay safe my friend...You make this world a better place...

Love You....

Monday, October 17, 2011

That in between place....

"Wish I was cold as stone, then I wouldn't feel a thing.Wish I didn't have this heart cause then I wouldn't know the sting of the rain..."

those are the words of the song I am sitting here listening too and although they pertain to someones broken heart, today at this moment they also pertain to me and how I feel today and a lot of other days...

I have been thinking a lot and reading a fair amount about "responsible AID", about how throwing money, food, clothes and things at countries can cause more harm then good. And for the most part I am in total agreement...The one thing that I have struggled with tho is this...

Until the things that need to get into place, like accountable, transparent governments ( which in and of itself is a laughable concept....not sure where or if those exist), proper coordination and collaboration of well-meaning organizations the question remains, what happens to the people living in the now...to the people suffering in the meantime?

I read the following blog post written by a former AID worker and now mom and although in principal I agreed with a lot of what she was saying it also frustrated me...she was talking about the crisis in the Horn of Africa (you can read it here)
http://onmotherhoodandsanity.blogspot.com/2011/10/long-horn-of-africa.html
And although like I said I do agree with her on the principals and have always tried to be an advocate for the organizations that are doing the good..at least from what I can see I again find myself in that in between place of not wanting to harm and feeling like I need to help...because then todayI read the following blog post....

http://castilloavektimoun.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/not-her-day/

I do wish I could find the answers and in a way to be a part of the answers in the big picture (if anyone out there can help me with this I would so appreciate it...) I just seem to be finding myself moving between a place of not wanting to contribute to a problem and wanting to help those who seem to be stuck in the in between!?

Somedays I just don't know....today is one of those day....

Wish I was cold as stone.....

Monday, October 10, 2011

some pretty awesome things here including $50k!

Hey There,


I admit I have been quite neglectful of this blog over the past few months. Please excuse me...I have been trying to sort out this teaching thing...aka the logistician thing that I have taken on for the next year. Admitedly tonight my brain is mush..who would have thought that I could talk so much that come the end of the day my brain has a hard time forming coherent sentences...yup it's true....

And what about the $50k you ask..I'll get to that later!


For now there have been a few things that have come up that I want to share with you. Mainly some articles and sites that I have been following/reading and Iwanted to share them with you.





First is an article about an amazing American Infectious Diseases Doctor working/volunteering in Haiti (her name is Megan Coffee...probably should have told you that)! She has been there since just after the EQ and has made a huge difference in the treatment and care that patients suffering from TB have been able to recieve. She is wicked smart and is wickedly committed to improving the lives of her patients and the staff that work with and for her. I have yet to meet her in person but am hoping on my next trip this summer that I can. Check this article out!





http://www.socialdocumentary.net/exhibit.php?exhibit_id=1259#.To1g7AisHmd.facebook





Second is that the people of Heartline have been BUUHISY the past few months (not that they are not always) but the past few months and a bit have been crazy with orphans, births (and crazy,stressful ones at that), volunteers and oh yeah rats in ovens!!
I have posted below from Tara and Troys blog an amazing post about what life could be like in a place like Haiti for a teen mom...
http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/2011/08/imagine-if-you-will.html

So difficult and so true....

Below is a link to a contest that Heartline is currently in. All you have to do is click on vote on the Heartline page (no need to sign up or give away your life, although if you do sign up you qualify for more votes...just sayin). If they win they will recieve $50k towards their womens program. A program that has done and continues to do amazing work in Haiti providing women with safe, loving birth and newborn care options. Please go and vote..it takes 3 seconds and then have your friends go and vote...lets do this!!

http://givingoflife.com/browse/heartline_ministries/

Now for something not so sad but very true....rats in ovens!

start here..
http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/2011/08/today-plan-was-simple.html

and ends here...

http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/2011/08/rat-saga-final-chapter.html

SO glad to see Jen Halverson back in Haiti doing as she says "anything that needs to be done"... guess that include assisting in rat assassinations... :-) (love it!)

And now I must head off to do a bit more marking and logistitining(?).....and then maybe some sleep!

Things for me slow down a wee bit in the next few weeks so I am hoping to do a bit more on here..get myself and you caught up and just reconnect!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Trip # 4 in pictures...

I know I didn't post a lot from my last trip to Haiti this past summer. Lots happened, I met lots of new and wonderful people, got to see missed friends, got to spend time with little lady and her family....

My hope is to return there this coming summer for a longer period of time.

I thought I would post some pictures from the trip (As you will be able to tell a certain someone captured most of my time!)

Pictures for me this time can say more then my words...

Enjoy...





























Wednesday, August 31, 2011

lets try this again...a little more PC this time..but still with a few tears..


Sometimes I think my mind gets ahead of..I don't know..my rational thought (or maybe my little political correctness trigger). And then those thoughts manifest into written word with limited thought behind them. For that I am sorry. And although most of what I said in the last post (I have removed it from here)is true for me I think sometimes I share a little too much in this public form and it might give the impression that I am up on a soapbox and that's not where I want to be at all.


I am grateful for my life..for all that I have. I realize there are many in this world that have more then me and many that have less. I guess my wish is not to make people feel bad for what they have but maybe more a hope that people take a look every now and then at the world around them and the role they are playing in the bigger picture.



Tonight I was reminded of an African philosophy called Ubuntu, which in essence means



"I am what I am because of who we all are"...



Thus we are all interconnected..we are all responsible for humanity..we all have a role to play whether we think we do or not!




Archbishop Desmond Tutu further describes Ubuntu in this way:



" We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity."




And a man I admire for so many reasons Nelson Mandela puts into words (way more eloquently then I could ever hope too) what it is I was wanting to say to people...





Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?





Many people I have met over the past few years are doing exactly that and I wanted to share with you my thoughts on these people. In this journey I am finding myself becoming surrounded by people who for me exemplify Ubuntu... people who are working to help those who for whatever reason have been handed a smaller piece of the pie...



In my travels to Haiti over the past 18 months I have met people who, to me are doing extraordinary things...these are everyday people like you and me. They are not movie stars, they are not big execs they are "normal " human beings doing amazing things...



This year I have started teaching at a local university and my first class is a class on leadership and I have always felt (and the evidence backs it..I know I've read enough of it!) that to be a good leader you must model the way. "Be the change" as a wise man once said. The people I have met who are making the differences in this world do just that..they are living Ubuntu and proving you don't have to be extraordinary to make a difference...



I once saw this quote and I saved it...it is very real for me today...


This week some of those people made a difference in someones life and for that I am so grateful...

As I write this the tears are falling but they are tears of joy...

Joy because I have met such wonderful people as Beth and John; Tara and Troy; Jen

Joy because my eyes have been opened to the great people already in my life that love me and support me always...Sherri (and the whole Widynowski family),Jen,Barb (and the ladies!),Margie,my CCI ladies and many others I am forgetting..

Joy because I have realized whats important in life...and I will be able to leave it one day knowing that I did the best I could...

Joy because there really are those out there living Ubuntu and they have brought me into that way of life..and I hope that by living that way others will see (that haven't already) and they will join..making this world just a bit better...

Please check out Heartlines blog post about my little peanut and her family... http://johnmchoul.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/a-new-house-and-a-new-well-or-goodbye-leaky-stinky-muddy-tent/

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love"








Saturday, August 20, 2011

Gratitude part 2

On Monday....
.....because of these people...









And especially these people...







And many others not pictured...

This Family...(with a few missing members)


Will move from here...





To Here...Out of the rains and wind..safe and secure..





There are no words to express my heartfelt gratitude...

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

- John F. Kennedy










Thursday, August 11, 2011

New and Sweet...


I'm sitting here trying to think of something creative and inspirational to say about my recent time in Haiti..but to be honest I'm not sure I would do it justice..not right now.

So here are a few images from this trip...

Familiar places..









Lovely faces..


Old Friends...


New Friends..



Old House


New House!








New Life, New Struggles, New Hope...



New Day...