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!