Ironman for Haiti Update

I wanted to let you all know that I survived Ironman St. George last Saturday.  Despite the fact that Utah had a heat wave on race day (95 degrees) that basically negated all the training I did in New Jersey's 35 degree weather, and despite Utah's hills which are most certainly twice the size of NJ's hills, I finished forty five minutes ahead of my projected time.  The swim was a crazy mass start of people kicking and squirming over each other.  During the bike ride I got made fun of for having so many cliff bars tapped to my bike.  The run was brutal but I finished the 140.6 mile race in 14 hours 14 minutes.  If you need to remember what the heck an Ironman is, here is the official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs6vD1GMgDU&feature=fvst

The best part about the race?  We raised $3,500 dollars for Foundation for Peace.  I traveled with Foundation to Haiti during August 2010, and left feeling convicted I had not done enough to help the people there.  Foundation is working on numerous projects from medical centers to keeping kids in school; and they are, in general, amazing people doing great things.  I'll send out another update email with how the money gets used to make a huge difference in Haiti.  


Thanks again for your encouragement.  I couldn't have done it without you.

One Year Anniversary of Haiti Earthquake

First of all, thank you everyone for your heartfelt donations!  You are making a real change in the lives of people who I consider my friends.  I can see their joy when they learn they can stay in school an extra year, when they don't have to worry about clean water for their family, and when one of their family members doesn't succumb to cholera.

Yesterday I attended "Hope for Haiti" in the Carl Fields Center of Princeton University to remember the victims of the Haiti earthquake last January 12, 2010.  The event was alternatively filled with grief and joy.  Young girls shared their traumatic stories of living through the earthquake.  Students read touching poems.  Some sang.  Others danced.  Everyone ate the amazing Haitian food.

Through the tears, people vouched once again not only to remember the tragedy but also to help lift Haiti to its feet.  I highly recommend watching these two videos:

1) This video called "Haiti Get Back Up" is shot by a Haitian cinematographer supported by a Dominican orchestra.  It follows Haiti before, during, and after the earthquake.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq0o4GkZVgA

2) This video is by Foundation for Peace and talks about their new goals for Haiti.  I love this video because I've been to most of the places featured (the school, site for the water purification system, and the worship tent).  You can also see the people's desire to stay strong and build their community.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXbHl18htNM&feature=player_embedded#!

In other good news, we sold some of Sony's art pieces last night and will be wiring the money to him!

Additionally, Wendy from Foundation for Peace informed me that they've started hosting Spanish and English classes in the high school.  125 kids came the first week to attend these classes -- which are in addition to the normal school curriculum.  The numbers of people getting jobs with these important language skills will eventually jump due to their hard work.

Progress is slow, but it's happening.  There is indeed hope for Haiti.

Ironman St. George for Haiti

As some of you may know, my thirst for the next bigger and better athletic challenge has risen to a new level.  After completing the Philadelphia Marathon in 2009 and after qualifying for the Boston Marathon with a 3:38 in the Richmond Marathon in 2010 (with loyal friend Sarah Gerth'12 by my side each time), I have decided it's time to conquer the Ironman.

On May 7th 2011, I will head to Utah (with Sam Ritchie'09 this time around), and take on the 140.6 mile race.  Training began in earnest last week with some horribly freezing bike rides requiring chocolate chip cookies to keep me happy and plastic bags over my feet to keep them from freezing.  The 20mi/hr winds today combined with the 25 degree weather may sound epic, but I actually would have cried had my tear ducts not been frozen.  

That said, I am willing to endure not only for my pride, but this time for an awesome cause directly related to my Dale Fellowship project.  Each mile of my race will be dedicated to Haiti and the people who I met there.  I'm encouraging anyone who feels so inclined to donate five cents per mile of the race ($7.03) or ten cents per mile of the race ($14.06) I'll be suffering/having the time of my life.  All of the money fundraised will be sent to Foundation for Peace -- the organization with which I went to Haiti in August 2010.  Their current goals are to help stop cholera, support a trade school, and keep kids in school in the rural town of Fond Parisien (where I painted my mural).  Having seen them in action, I can't think of a more trustworthy or productive organization to give to.

In addition, under the heading Haiti, I'll keep you all updated on the training progress.  More stories are destined to unfold, especially as I carry my bike around to my different mural projects.  Just last week on the train to Metropark, I met a man named Pop from Philadelphia.  He expressed admiration for my bike and then asked for what I was using it.  I explained my goal and he exclaimed, "Well girl, you got heart. You're little, but you're gonna win."

Well, I then had to nicely explain that I wasn't going to win at all but that finishing was possible.  He didn't want to hear any of that.  "When you be climbing those hills," he said, "you just grit your teeth and think of Pop.  You think, Pop said I'm gonna win.  And then you win, girl.  That's how you do."

So Pop, here's your shout out.  Tomorrow when I hop on my bike and pray the next NJ snow storm doesn't hit early, I'm gonna grit my teeth and think "That's how I do."

Here's to athletics, Haiti, and supportive strangers on trains.  

Sony's Artwork online for sale!

http://worldofgood.ebay.com/Painted-Egg/150539999160/item

Here he is!  The artist who I met in the tent city of Fond Parisien and who helped me paint the school mural along with several other volunteers.  After Carine and the rest of the Westerly Road Team brought back a suitcase of his goods to the United States, we decided to try and find a market for his goods.  With the suggestion of Mr. Barmeier, we're currently posting his goods on worldofgood.com

http://worldofgood.ebay.com/Painted-Egg/150539999160/item

Empowerment Works Article

Very exciting - my article about Haiti is up!

http://empowermentworks.org/inspired/?p=125

Westerly Road Tent City

Haiti remains in the headlines if not in the limelight.  Heart breaking titles such as "Cholera Moves into the Beleaguered Haitian Capital" and "Winds Pummel Haiti" seem to roll too easily and frequently through the press.  Beleaguered is right.  When will Haiti catch a break?  If history continues in its seemingly inexorable course, then the answer is not anytime soon.  Even so, as long as the people still hope and we do not grow lax, the tides of time do not have a total say in Haiti's state.

As part of the continual effort to raise awareness about Haiti's condition, Westerly Road Church has set up a weekend long event to show people in the church and community just what Haiti is like.  Today, we turned the youth room into a mini tent city.  It took us almost five hours to set up dirty camping tents, two wash lines, and some basic cooking items.  Most of the tents were bigger (aside from shared community tents) than ones used by the families in Fond Parisien.  Imagine your family on a camping trip, all cozily in the same tent.  Now imagine it's almost 100 degrees out.  The tent traps the heat.  Imagine cooking dinner and lunch in the same space.  Imagine the rain that comes with the billowing storm clouds.  Your mattress, if you have one, is soaked.  There is no end in sight.

In addition to talks, slideshows, and my and sony's art displays, the children who come to experience the tent city will get to make cards (and learn some basic Creole to write inside) for children in the real tent city of Fond Parisien.

Rutgers Newark Fundraiser

Last night, Rutgers hosted a Symposium about Haiti: why it is the way it is, what needs to be done, and what we can do.  Vickie, Carine, and I set up a table with my paintings and Sony's artwork.  We raised over two-hundred for the trade school!

Logo for Trade School.. digital version

Painting for Haiti

As I plan to return to Haiti, I am getting more involved in what people can do for Haiti from the United States.  Groups traveling to the country are currently doing a lot economically for the country -- employing construction workers, maids, cooks, security guards, drivers, etc -- as well as emotionally.  The Haitians told us that seeing us there remind them that they are not alone and that the world has not forgotten about them.  We have the time and resources to do things they cannot yet, such as make over 400 sandwiches for kids in the tents, play with the kids, buy supplies for benches.  However, eventually, we want Haiti to stand on its own without anyone having to come from foreign countries.

This is a big task.  The first step I'm taking is attempting getting Sony's (the tent city artist) work on worldofgood.com.  We are in the last phases of doing so (we're working on getting approval from our chosen trust provider).

The second step is making a logo for the new trade school Ecole Professionnelle MEN NAN MEN that's being built.  Here's the first sketch:

The next step is raising funds.  Things in Haiti are only getting worse as the cholera outbreak spreads. I've created these paintings to show at the Rutger's Haiti fundraiser in Newark Saturday.  All the pieces combine scenes from Haiti that I saw with the drawings that people made during VBS.  I would love to paint more murals with more people from the tent city who are still jobless as a productive and creative way to stimulate their minds.

This was a tilted house in Port-Au-Prince.  The flowers and "I love you" were parts of a drawing made by a little girl in the tent city.

Here you see the Presidential Palace, a common theme of Haitian artists' pieces.  I added a woman carrying a basket of fruit on her head with a little boy holding her hand; a talented man named Andre drew a picture incorporating the mother and the boy.  They seemed perfect for this painting.

I call this one the band-aide tree.  The building was a bank in Port-Au-Prince, and the tree was designed by a woman in the tent city.  I thought it would look beautiful on this building if we could paint it there!

You see abandoned cars and machinery on the side of Haitian roads all the time.  They often seem strange in contrast with the almost unearthly, stunning sunsets that occur at nights.  I expanded the idea of putting Haitian designs on buildings or walls to making them "live" in the setting of the painting.

This piece shows the children in the middle of a game of limbo.  Instead of putting in the stick we used as a limbo bar, I added these bright shapes that some small children created which better express their joy and fun during the games than any other background.

Another building in Port-Au-Prince.  Another beautiful Haitian tree.

This piece may turn into diptych.  I wanted to address the issue of houses and building in Haiti.  Most people who died in the quake died because houses were constructed poorly.  You may see one building totally destroyed next to one that's standing perfectly upright.  The red house you see in the foreground was drawn by a woman whose dream was to have a house with one light, two chairs, a window, and a table. Very different from our American dream...

To learn more about what is being done to change the way things are built in Haiti, check out Peter Haas' site: http://www.aidg.org/

He was kind enough to put Fond Parisien on his waiting list for teaching masons...thank you, Peter!

Coloring in Tents

After gathering together one to two hundred kids from the tent city, the WRC team led an afternoon of activities in the big church tent.  We sang songs, put on a skit, and played games.  I decided to bring paper and crayons for those who might want to color too.  The response was enormous.  Nearly everyone wanted to draw, including many adults.  

To my surprise, everyone came and handed their work to me (or one of the other volunteers) when they had finished.  I tried to explain they could keep their work, but they insisted on handing it in.  They were gifting the art back to me.  Their desire to create and then to give the beautiful objects away they had just made overwhelmed me in its generosity.  I have and treasure almost all of the three hundred drawings created.

The subject matter of the drawings varied, but common themes included hearts, houses, flowers, trucks (every little boy drew one), and plants.  Despite the suffering and the difficulties these people have experienced, beauty and hopeful words such as "God is good", "God loves you", "transcended the pieces.  Here are a few samples:

Thank you to the Haitian artists who made these!  I hope to make a series of paintings based off the shapes, colors, and themes presented in these drawings to raise awareness about Haiti.

Another view of the tent:

All the colors of the wind

I have to preface this post by saying that my twelve days in Haiti with the Westerly Road Church Mission team was much more than I can contain in a single entry.  The time I spent with them and our Haitian brothers and sisters was invaluable spiritually, emotionally, and artistically.  It was a blessing and a privilege to participate with the team members of Foundation for Peace by serving Haiti in the small way we could.  There is much more work to be done; but God willing, Haiti will see restoration.  For this blog and for brevity's sake, however, I will concentrate solely on the experience of painting the school built by FFP for the residents of Font Parisien and for those living in the tent city nearby.

Below you see the beautiful but blank-walled school.  The building exists as a huge source of pride, status, and symbol of hope for the people in the area.  The concrete structure protects those inside from rain, wind, and sun in a way the tents simply cannot.  To decorate the school, one of the builders created in stucco the images of a globe and of a Bible.  Pastor Valentin, who heads the FFP effort in Haiti, told me the community had been praying for an artist to add the special, finishing touches to their initial efforts.  I was lucky enough to answer that call.

Here's a quick view of the "after" with all four parts of the painting finished: 1) the globe and Bible, 2) the children holding hands, 3) the collaboration with Sony, a Haitian artist, and 4) the name of the school

Close-up of the globe:

Knowing how much the school meant to the people, I was touched by their willingness to lend me their walls.  I was also extremely nervous since a small crowd had gathered to watch me paint. In a nod to Haitian pride, I decided to paint the flag on the bottom of the globe.  Dessaline and Wesley -- two of our beloved Haitian team members -- held up a flag for me the entire time!

The finished globe:

Below Vickie, a WRC team member and coveted translator as well, gives a quick geography lesson:

Task number two was to jazz up the Bible image.

For the design, I took inspiration from the numerous, beautiful butterflies fluttering about and from the brightly painted public transportation vehicles.

(CM^2C are initials of the school).  I focused on pattern, color, rhythm, and vibrancy.

Here's the side of the school.  The director, Jerry, asked me to paint children holding hands.

To get the kids watching involved, I decided to trace their outlines on the wall.  They loved this and held up their arms for quite some time while I dabbed paint on the stucco wall.  What troopers!  

I decided to take a break from painting to get some shade.  When I came back, I found these Haitians had taken up my paint brushes and started to help me fill in the blocks of colors!  They were looking for something to do and a way to leave their mark on the community.  I was happy for the help, and we made a great team.  Among some of the people who came back day after day was a deaf girl and a man with one arm (victim of the earthquake) who could no longer do the construction work he used to do; I grew close with both of them and ended up counting on them to explain to the others what I wanted done as the mural progressed.  Here they are:

Another regular (the man in the vest below) told me he had only one complaint with the mural.  He said, "People will think we are racist here in Haiti because of this mural."  Me: "Why is that?" The man said, "Because you didn't paint any white people."  

This gave me quite the laugh, but to address his complaint and to satisfy Pastor Valentin who wanted Stephanie (an amazing volunteer for FFP) painted on the wall, I added a Colombian to the mix!  Here's Stephanie and mini Stephanie.

Me and Pastor:

Kids posing by their outlines:

The finished mural:

Later in the trip, we met Sony.  He used to paint for the President before he lost his entire family in the earthquake.  He continues to paint on canvas and on pottery, but he now lives in the tent city.  I asked him to paint the second half of the school with me, and he agreed!

Here, me, Sony, and Emily (an artist at SPU who came to volunteer with other college students later in the week) begin work on the second half of the mural.  Sony outlined the figures and we filled in the colors and added detail.

Pretending to be good at soccer:

Here you can see the school alive with color and joy.  The mural processes in Haiti was much more than a final product.  It was a process centered around building community.  We made friends, laughed, and overcame difficulties together (language barriers, unrequested additions to the mural, shortage of brushes, etc).  It will remain as a reminder to the Haitian people that others care about what they care about and that others share their ambitions to build a better Haiti.

Lastly, I added the name of the school by standing on one of the benches crafted by the rest of our team for the school:

I want to thank all of those who supported me in this missions trip and all of the members of WRC (Carine, Vickie, Naomi, Josiah, Keith and Chris -- I love you guys!) and the amazing volunteers and members of FFP.  I can't wait to go back!