The “Love Will Not Be Shaken” slogan has been requested for another Haiti Benefit. Kudos to Ryan Stauffer for the great words. The group wanted something simple and cheap so they can raise the most money possible to benefit Haiti. Thanks for helping Haiti! Printed while listening to Matt Banta, Eric Peters, and Jon Foreman. 
Archive Page 3
Yesterday I had coffee in the morning with Renee and then had a great day. I felt joyful and energized. After a uneventful (which means I didn’t get a chair thrown at me) day at my school, I screen printed an order for musician Nate Drege. I worked on my Haiti slideshow. I guess you could say life was back to normal. To be honest though…I think I actually hoped for the feeling of normality to wait a bit longer. I’m afraid of what the “normal life” can mean for me. Its too easy to forget. The pictures take me back. This one is my favorite of the whole trip.
After church, we walked to a nearby homeless shelter. I’m still not sure what that means in Haiti. There are probably hundreds of thousands if not millions of homeless in Haiti right now. What it meant for these people was a shelter where they slept. It was littered with garbage that a goat was picking through. It wreaked of urine and the people we saw sat quitely around a small makeshift stove. A mom was braiding her daughter’s hair. It felt empty. Alone. It was hard not to seem like a tourist in search of a good pic to take home that showed the disparity of it all. I took a couple of pics because I can’t help but want to capture the beauty of these people in hollow place of trash. Beautiful people.
Later a team of doctors came back to the shelter… Continue reading ‘Death around the corner…’
Taking pictures of boys in Haiti is challenging. Girls can be uninterested and bashful, which makes for some beautiful candid and true moments. Boys will be boys, whether in the U.S. or in Haiti. They fight to get in front of the lens putting thumbs up and flashing peace signs. I love it. When I saw this kid, I thought….Hollywood.
No words can explain where I am right now. I have never returned from a trip with a heart as heavy as this. I want it to go away. I want it to stay forever. 
I don’t know what to do with myself when I get back from Haiti. Mostly, I’m just sad for awhile. Then hopeful for a bit. Then sad. Its good to reflect and somehow try to process, but after, I need to do something…anything. I’m learning for that for me, these are the times when creating helps me sort through the mess of thoughts and emotions that keep me awake, even when I’m exhausted.
One of the last things I heard a college student (who was one of several translators that worked with us at our med clinics) say to me before we left was, “Ayiti pap peri.” I asked him what it meant and he said, “Haiti will never die.” Thanks Anthony Charles, I will never forget your words and the way you served us in Haiti. This poster and eventual t-shirt is dedicated to the young men whose universities, friends, and families fell in the earthquake but still wake each morning with the hope that they will find a way to change Haiti for generations to come.
Taking some shirts to Haiti in a week.
“…but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint”
Isaiah 40:31
