GEMN Conference

As many you know at the beginning of May I traveled to Bogota, Colombia for the annual Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN) Conference.  Both Colombia and the conference were fantastic!  

My travels to Bogota began a few days before the beginning of the conference.  Nina (fellow YASCer serving in Brazil), Ryan (fellow YASCer serving in Costa Rica), and I all traveled down early to do a little sightseeing.  We had a great time; on our first day we stayed in Bogota to see the Gold Museum and then took a cable car up to Monserrate.  On Monserrate there is a church located at the top of a mountain over 10,000 feet above sea level.  The view from the top was absolutely spectacular.  

Another highlight that day was running into a man with a llama.  Seeing as llamas are my favorite animal, you can only imagine how excited I was!  Extremely grateful that I got to experience that part of South America.

On our second day, the three of us took a bus ride out of the city to the Salt Cathedral.  The cathedral is literally located in caverns.  The tour begins with the stations of the cross that eventually lead you to the main cathedral.  The cathedral was beautiful and I highly recommend visiting it if you’re ever in Colombia.  

On Saturday we relocated to the hotel where the conference was being held.  After checking into our rooms, we were able to catch up with friends we haven’t seen in awhile from the states.  Then on Sunday the conference officially began by attend a service at the Episcopal cathedral in Bogota.  I love services with so many people from around the world and it was especially fun doing one in Spanish again (last time was in the Dominican Republic back in June with my Christ Church mission team).

For the rest of the week we were in workshops and presentations with a focus on Province 9.  Highlights of the conference were a presentation given by Paulo Ueti about theology and economic sustainability and the site visits.  The first site I was able to visit was a program for women empowerment and displaced people.  The second was a church that provides housing and services to senior citizens and also an after-school program for at-risk youth.  At both sites it was inspiring to see the work that was being done within the Episcopal church for these communities.  You could really feel the presence of Christ in the work that these parishes are doing.

On our last day of the conference, we had a beautiful service presided by our very own Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.  My favorite part of the service was the music (big surprise, I know...); the cathedral's band played and they were wonderful!  

On Friday, all of the Episcopal Latin American missionaries stayed an extra day to meet together.  I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the other missionaries and getting to know my fellow comrades in the field.  

My trip to Colombia was amazing and I greatly thank the Episcopal church for the opportunity to participate in the conference!  I also thank my sponsors from these past few weeks Becky Stern, Anne & Bill Drury, Sharon Lower, Donna Gullstrand Davidson, Susie Carmichael, and Bill Endorf.  Come back later this week for an update on the fun that I’ve had upon returning to Haiti!   

Haiti Connections Conference

As you read in my last post, I had a very special event during the month of April.  I attended the Haiti Connections Conference, a conference that was put on by the Episcopal church.  The main goal of the conference was to do exactly what the name implies, to build connections between the Diocese of Haiti with the dioceses from the United States.  The conference had over 150 Americans and Canadians in attendance, all of the priests from the Diocese of Haiti, and several others who have been working in Haiti. 

Thanks to an invitation from Elizabeth Boe, the , I was able to attend the conference.  Our adventures began a little before the conference though, as when I picked up Elizabeth from the airport we headed straight out of Port-au-Prince to Les Cayes.  We visited the Bishop Tharp Institute to check out a potential site for future YASCers.  It was great way to start Elizabeth’s trip to Haiti, as Les Cayes is located on the peninsula part of Haiti and the trip is a beautiful drive along the coast and through the mountains.

On Tuesday, we headed back to Port-au-Prince to the hotel at which the conference was being held.  A great perk of hanging out with Elizabeth is getting to meet all of the different people from the Episcopal church.  We enjoyed talking with people over dinner and looking at the stunning view of Port-au-Prince from the hotel’s restaurant.

The next day the conference officially started and began with a tour of the main Episcopal centers in Port-au-Prince.  I found it slightly humorous to go on this tour since I live here, but it turned out to be a great experience!  Not only did I have a chance to see a few places I had not visited yet, I also had the opportunity to walk around the ruins of the Sainte Trinité cathedral.  I had no idea how seeing this would effect me until I stumbled upon the remains of the pipe organ that once was housed in the cathedral.  It brought tears to my eyes and for the first time it truly hit me of the great loss this country gone through.  At the same time it is also inspiring, because even from those ruins, one can see the rebuilding that is happening all over Haiti.

Later that day in the evening we had the kick-off opening dinner.  I was recruited to play with the Sainte Trinité chamber orchestra for the pre-dinner music.  I loved that everyone had an opportunity to see and meet the people that I work with and now consider a part of my family.  

On Thursday we had a great day of speakers talking about the different things that are going on within the Diocese of Haiti.  However, I have to admit that I was a little partial to Elizabeth’s fantastic presentation about creating and developing partnerships!  

In the afternoon, Elizabeth and I took an impromptu visit to Croix des Bouquets, which lies a little outside of Port-au-Prince.  The purpose of this trip was to visit Saint Simeon, an Episcopal church and school.  We went to take pictures for their partner school in Chicago.  It was a great visit and it was most inspiring to hear that in the years that Pére Val, the priest of Saint Simeon, had served there that the congregation had grown from 25 to 250!  The Episcopal church is quite alive and well in Croix de Bouquet!

On the last day of the conference, I had the pleasure to attend the final Eucharist.  Reverend Roger Bowen, who has done many years of work in Haiti, gave a beautiful sermon with the most touching prayer for the children to conclude.  After the service, I sadly said goodbye to my new and old friends. 

The conference was an amazing experience and I thank the Episcopal church for inviting me to attend!  I loved the connections I was able to make and look forward to continuing those friendships both here in Haiti and back in the United States.  

April Adventures!

Wow I can’t believe that so much has happened in this past month.  Things have been crazy busy between concerts, conferences and oh yeah, Easter!  So I’m going to break this into two blog posts.  This one will be to fill you in on my Haitian Holy Week and everything else that went on in April.  And you’ll have to come back to read more about the other special event that went on this past month! So let’s get started, because in the words of Mr. Willy Wonka, “So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. Thank you.”

Holy Week in Haiti was great!  As my Christ Church family knows, this is a very special time of year for me because it marks the two year anniversary of my baptism.  And this year was just as special as the past two, as I celebrated Jesus’s resurrection with my new family.  I kicked off the week with giving the message during the Palm Sunday service.  I was thinking about all of you at home as I recounted the Winchester tradition of the community service on the Old Town Walking Mall.  It was really fantastic to share that piece of home with my community here. 

Then later during the week, I attended the Good Friday service at the Saint Trinité Cathedral downtown.  This was the longest service I have ever sat through but I thought this was a great type of service to have for Good Friday.  The service was a great lesson of patience as I listened to a mini sermon for each of the seven phrases that Jesus said as he was dying on the cross.  One of the pieces of the service I particularly enjoyed was that we were each given post-it notes to write down our prayers to put on the cross that was then carried to the front of the cathedral.  I really appreciated the solidarity of silently sharing my prayers with the rest of the community.

That then brings me to Easter!  I love Easter and that reminder of the joy that Jesus has risen for our sins.  This Easter was just as joyous.  The morning began with our service in which two of my Haitian friends and I played the service music.  After the service, two of my very good friends from church and I went down to the best bakery in town to enjoy some Easter treats.  I then spent the afternoon back home playing an awesome game of Creole Scrabble (this has been an on going effort to help me learn the language!).  And my Haitian Easter ended with attending a party for the baptism of one of church families’ son.  It was a fantastic way to spend Easter!  Yay Jesus!

Now to the rest of my April.  This month has been crammed with a ton of concerts!  The first concert was an OPST concert that featured music from Haitian composers.  The music was wonderful, but what was so beautiful to see was the passion that my fellow musicians poured into this music that is their music.  

The next concert was a student recital, where two of my students played a clarinet duo for the concert.  I’m a little bias because they are my students, but I must say they did a superb job!  Another treat was that band students from the primary school performed on the recital.  They played really well and it was so much fun to see students progress from the beginning of the year.

The last concert was this past weekend that featured the faculty of music school.  I was privileged enough to play several pieces with my fellow faculty members including a flute quartet, a flute duo, a trio for flute, violin and viola, and even got to sing in a quartet!  My favorite part was talking to one of my students after the concert and I asked him if he wanted to now start playing more challenging music.  He laughed and replied, “Oh yeah!”  Mission accomplished, inspire students!

So as you can see life has been very exciting as always here in Haiti.  The other exciting event of April was attending the Haiti Connections Conference, but that gets a blog post to itself!  So make sure to come back to read more later!  Most of all thank you to all of my wonderful sponsors from this month including David and Sarah Bicking, Bridget Coffey, Dixon and Kay Witworth, Chris and Melissa Ferguson, Margaret and Scott Arthur, Pete and Mary Pat Gronauer, Bill and Sue Jarvis, and Sue and Larry Correll!!!!!  

We Are Family!

Me zanmi! (A Creole expression used similarly to “my goodness”)  Life as a missionary does not slow down...ever!  These past few weeks have brought all sorts of new adventures and excitement, so let me fill you in on the highlights.

Teaching as always is preoccupying much of my time here.  One of the things I’ve really enjoyed doing is helping the teachers find new creative ways to teach.  A particular problem area for our primary students has been reading notes on the staff.  As you can see I found a fun way to teach and review this topic!

The following week, we had tests to see how we were doing.  This little girl’s reaction to the test was probably my favorite; as I handed it to her she sighed and said, “Oh Bondye.” (Translation: Oh God)  Glad to see that God is being called on to help in all areas of our life.  To say the least, we still need a little more review on music reading!

Also in the world of teaching, our marching band is really coming along.  The students have learned all the basic commands and just this last week they marched while playing for the first time!  We are still working on keeping straight lines and remembering to always start with our left foot.  However, they are catching on quickly and are quite enthusiastic about it!

Back at St. Jacques, I was asked to give the message during the English service.  It was the third Sunday of Lent and I focused on part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  In that reading, he says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.”  These words were a bit of comfort as everyday comes with its own set of challenges, especially in the life of a missionary.  Apparently, I did a decent job that morning because I was asked to do the message again this coming Sunday.  As always, God has a great way of using us in the world in ways we might not have anticipated!

The other excitement from these past few weeks have been hosting several different guests.  A group of musicians from Boston and New York came down to Haiti to provide lessons and master classes to the Holy Trinity music students.  Two of the visitors were also featured on our last concert this past weekend.  Along with these visiting musicians, I also had my own personal guest from Virginia, Jennifer Green (good friend and mentor) come down for a few days.  One of the things I loved about having everyone here was realizing how much I’ve learned!  Offering insights on how to live here, acting as a translator at times, and just getting to show off the parts of Haiti I’ve come to love so much.  

My favorite part was getting to introduce Jennifer to my Haitian family.  It was in those moments that I realized how blessed I am with the deep friendships I have made here.  And this has to be one of my favorite pictures from my time spent here thus far: my Haitian big sisters, one of my American big sisters, and me....one big happy family!

Finally for this blog post a huge thank you to the sponsors from these past weeks Amanda Matthieson, John-Henry and Nicholas-Ryan Herrington, Martha, Wilburn, Holt, Michael, and Sarah Roberson, and Eleanor Monahan and Richard Stephenson.  Thank you also to this week's sponsors Rebecca, Webster, Rosa, Evelyn, and George Gibson.  It was also really fantastic to talk to the Christ Church Youth Group and the Adult Sunday School Class via Skype.  Thank you everyone for the support and love!

What's Cookin'?

A fun part of learning about a new culture is experiencing their cuisine.  Many times meals are shared to show hospitality to guests and to spend time with family and friends.  Some of my favorite, most meaningful conversations and moments have been shared over a meal.  In the spirit of that sharing and love, this blog post is devoted to presenting some of the Haitian dishes I've been devouring for the past few months.  Please enjoy this crash course in Haitian dining!

Diri kole ak pwa (rice and beans): This is a staple food here and is served with almost every meal.  It comes in several varieties including the one you see here with red beans.

Mayi kole ak pwa (corn with beans): This is ground up corn and once set, it turns into an almost cake-like consistency.  I've decided that this must be the Haitian form of cornbread. 

Boulèt (meatballs): These are little bites of deliciousness!  Inside is ground up meat (not exactly sure which ones...maybe one day I'll ask), flour, and spices.  

Sòs vyann bèf (beef and vegetables in sauce): Beef and chicken are the two meats I'm served the most.  This with the rice and beans is my typical mid-day meal.  One of the best parts of Haitian food is that peppers are used a lot to add a little kick!

Pate Benita: This was first described to me as Haitian pizza and it is truly amazing!  The outside is fried dough and inside you find onions, eggs, cheese, and hotdogs.  There's a woman close to school named Benita who makes some of the best ones.  That is why this pate has her name on it! 

Legim (vegetables): Often my vegetables are served like this.  Sometimes this dish is also served with beef or crab mixed in with the vegetables.

Zaboka ak Fig (avocados & bananas): I realize that everyone has probably seen both of these before, but I had to show off the size of the avocados here.  They're huge and so different from the ones at home that I didn't even know what was given to me the first time I saw one.

Korosòl (soursop): This is another fruit that I had not encountered till I moved here.  A few weeks ago one was given to me and I just kind of looked at it funny and said, "What do I do with this???"  My Haitian friends had a good laugh...thankfully one of them helped me out and made it into juice for me.  It's absolutely delicious and I highly recommend trying it if you ever come across one!  

Bannann fri (fried plantains): This is one of my favorite foods here!  These are often served as a side with goat.  Side note - bannann in Creole means plantain, fig in Creole means banana (there were several very confusing conversations with my Haitian friends till I figured that one out)

Pikliz: The best way to describe this is as spicy coleslaw.  This has quite the punch of flavor to it and is eaten on the bannnann fri.  

Patat fri (fried sweet potatoes): Another yummy food, but one or two of these will fill you up quickly since they are very dense.

Bannann dous fri (sweet fried plantains): These are also quite delicious and make a nice dessert.

Labouyi: This dish has many varieties and is very similar to a sweet porridge.  It is cooked with anise giving it a slightly licorice flavor.  Normally this is eaten in the evenings.

Gato (cake): Okay, so not necessarily a Haitian food, but I had to share with you my first Haitian birthday cake!  Thank you again to all the birthday wishes and love this past Saturday! (Note: my cake did not originally look like that, but Kelsey accidentally sat on the box on ride home.  I think it adds character.)

That's just a little taste of what meals are like here.  Everything has been quite scrumptious and I have already started to make a list of dishes I would like to learn how to make myself.  Thank you my sponsors from these past weeks Paulette Jennis and Don and Yvonne Bingaman.  Also a thank you to my sponsors from this week Bruce and Doris Trant!

When Worlds Collide

As you read in my last post, I had a special visitor this past week from Virginia!  I was blessed with a visit from my priest, Webster Gibson, the rector of my parish Christ Church in Winchester.  Unfortunately we had a little hiccup in his visit (flight cancellation delaying him a day), but once he finally got here we had a great time together!

After picking up Webster from the airport on Friday, we had an exciting ride back to the hotel.  Part of experiencing Port-au-Prince is going for a ride in the traffic...never a dull moment!  A particularly funny moment of the ride was after the two of us got caught up I started explaining some Haitian things to Webster.  One of which was the tap-taps, a mode of public transportation here (see picture above - we were in a car behind one).  I explained to him that you ride in the back and when you need to get off you tap twice on the ceiling to let the driver know to stop.  As I was telling him this, I banged twice on the roof of the car we were riding in as a demonstration, to which our driver slammed on the breaks....Whoops, guess I'll leave my "tap-tap's" to riding in the tap-taps only!

The rest of evening consisted of more catching up and Webster's delivery of all the love from home.  A big thank you to my family, friends and parish for all of the well wishes and birthday fun!  Your support while I am serving here is so very, very much appreciated!!!

The next morning, we got up early and headed downtown for Webster to fully experience a Saturday at Holy Trinity Music School.  This morning was a little different, since I was helping adjudicate auditions for the youngest orchestra at Holy Trinity.  I must say the children did a great job, especially since this was their first audition!  And Webster was a great sport to sit through every audition with me and Fritz, the conductor of this group.  

Afterwards Webster was given the grand tour of the facilities and observed me teach a flute lesson.  In the picture above my student jokingly told me he forgot his flute and that's me saying "What???"  I'm glad to know my students are feeling comfortable enough to joke around with me now!

In the afternoon I headed to choir rehearsal; normally i just sing but this time I helped the students with a song they were doing in English.  I was asked to aid with the pronunciation of the lyrics to which I said a silent prayer in my head to not mess them up too badly!

On Sunday morning Webster came and delivered the sermon for both the English and French services at St. Jacques.  I especially enjoyed listening to the translated version during the French service.  Favorite moment: No one knowing how to translate the word "faithful," leading to a brief pause and some laughter.  

Another beautiful moment was watching my priest stand side-by-side with Pére David to serve the communion.  We were one big family with no one excluded not even the smallest (as you can see above!).  It was fantastic to see the two parts of my worlds come together again! 

The rest of our Sunday was spent relaxing and reflecting; as always I appreciated the conversation and wisdom.  Taking a step back to reflect is a vital part of serving and I was grateful to have Webster here to chat with and to help me see my ministry from a different point of view.  Sadly on Monday afternoon, he headed back to Virginia, but I am so happy for the time were we able to spend together (he was also happy for a reprise from the winter cold!).