One Heart One World

Haiti Innovation reports on the economic and social trends in Haiti that are affecting their environmental issues. The largest such issue is the cutting of trees to create firewood and charcoal. This was very apparent in our recent trip to Haiti as the hills and mountains are bare of most vegetation. This clear cutting has resulted in large flooding problems during hurricanes.

The report contains a lot more information on all the factors that influence the environmental issues. Please take time to read it as it offers a lot of background and advice for changing the situation in Haiti.

Here are two ideas that may be ways to get involved.

Bio-toilets – Toilets that save the off gases for cooking. It’s not as gross as it sounds.

Lambi Fund of Haiti – They have a tree planting initiative.

Technorati Tags: Haiti, Environment, Innovation, trees, firewood, vegetation, Toilets, Lambi, tree, initiative, trends, hills, mountains, hurricanes

Recently a school in our area did a series of fundraisers to purchase beds for orphans in Haiti. They ran a competition among the grades to see who could raise the most money. Also they had a Wii bowling tournament. Altogether, it was a very successful and fun fundraising campaign. They raised $800, almost half of the amount needed for the beds.

Thank you to all the students, faculty and staff that participated in the fundraising. We appreciate your generosity and efforts.

Technorati Tags: Orphans, Haiti, competition, money, Wii tournament, students

Haiti Reborn has a petition to be sent to President Obama. The purpose is to request that President Obama give Temporary Protected Status to Haitians already living in the United States. Having just returned from Haiti, this would be a great help to Haiti as Haitians in America are a great source of aid to Haiti and would lessen the burden on the Haitian economy and infrastructure as they recover from the hurricanes. Please consider signing the petition.

Technorati Tags: Petition, Haiti, President, Obama, Haitians, America, Haitian, infrastructure, hurricanes

Having taught music to a group of musicians six years ago, it was a treat to return to Haiti and teach music again. Along the way, I had the chance to see two of my previous students: Normil and Blasmake. Normil was able to make it to all four days of teaching but Blasmake I only had the chance to see after the worship service Thursday evening.

The class was quite lively and fun. We took on a lot of subjects and we made some excellent progress. They were intelligent and willing students. Here are the basics of what we studied:

1. Scales
1. Major
2. Natural Minor
3. Melodic Minor
4. Harmonic Minor
5. Blues
6. Pentatonic
2. Chords
1. Major
2. Minor
3. Diminished
4. 7ths, 9-13ths
5. Added 2
3. Jazz
1. Basic chord voicings
2. Democracy in Jazz
3. Call and response
4. Blues
1. 12 bar blues
2. Use of blues scales
5. Music History
6. Chord progressions
1. Common pop progressions
2. Tonic
3. Dominant
4. Sub-dominant
7. Key Signatures
1. Circle of Fifths
2. Tricks on figuring out what key to play in
3. Relative minor
8. Sound for Performance
1. Determining the liveliness of a room
2. The parts of a sound board
3. Setting up the speakers and monitors
4. How to use effects and how to order them
9. Basic Recording
1. Isolation room
2. Click track
3. What tracks to lay first
4. Microphones
5. Using a mixer to create drum track
6. Effects

While in Haiti, we had a great time. It was a blast to be with a group of Christian men who just enjoy life. Here are some general notes about what we saw and did:

As expected, Geno made friends with all of the children. In fact, he taught a couple of the girls to say, “Yo”, “Give me five”, and “Good job” with hand slaps and thumbs up. He got such a kick out of it.

The coffee in Haiti is stronger than typical US coffee. It seemed to have its effects on Jonas who was always on the go and pushing the group to working harder and faster. He was the unofficial “boss” of the group.

My dad, Joe, had some troubles with sickness during this trip. The first time it may have been heat stroke or dehydration. The second, a bad reaction to mangoes.

Jonas had the opportunity to go to see Revenel’s quarry. He was excited to see the equipment. Revenel wants Jonas to come back after a new piece of equipment arrives so that he can teach the workers how to operate the machinery.

One of our interpreters, Samuel, enjoyed coming up behind the guys and surprising them. He would call out, “Yo Geno”.

On our last  morning, some of the guys got up early, crawled over a railing and watched the sunrise from the hotel rooftop.

When we arrived in Port-au-Prince, Revenel was late to pick us up. He said that we need to get used to “Haitian time”. We joked about it. After about three days, we had a different driver and we realized that “Haitian time” is probably more accurately “Revenel time”. We gave him a hard time about it until the last day when Revenel had to drop some paperwork off at a government office, which was not open on time. We thus said that “Haitian government time” is slower than “Revenel time”.

We had a good Bible study during the week based on Matthew 4-7, the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry and the Sermon on the Mount. Our last night in Haiti was the most profound as we reflected on the week and prepared to come home.

Some of the food quickly became favorites of ours. Creole sauce was an instant hit. The oatmeal that we had one morning was also a favorite.

The worship service on Thursday evening was beautiful as we felt the Spirit moving. It was awesome to sing together in two languages the praises of our Lord and Savior.

On the way home, we had a long lay over in Ft. Lauderdale. Jonas and James took naps on the floor, using their backpacks as pillows. When it was time to check our bags, at the prompting of me, Bob went over to Jonas, kicked him and said, “Security, you need to get up and get moving”. Jonas woke up in a start and looked around confusedly.

I’m sure there are more stories to be told, but at least this gives you a flavor for the trip.

We are resting now the night before our plane leaves for the US. The team has taken some time to relax in the ocean and enjoy a well deserved rest. They accomplished a lot this week, working very hard. Here is a quick summary of what we (more accurately, they) have been able to accomplish:

1. Installed a tin roof over a cistern to protect it.

2. Built 25 – 2’x2’ lockers for the orphans to store their personal belongings in. They are equipped with locks to encourage responsibility.

3. Built two tables for the dining room.

4. Built 200 – 2’x1.5’ trays for putting wet cinder blocks on to dry.

5. Mostly built 25 pews. There were some boards missing and they couldn’t finish.

6. Installed a ceiling in the kitchen.

Pastor Revenel Benoit was very pleased with the work that was accomplished. He commented frequently at the expertise and speed at which they did the work. I even learned some tricks for cutting plywood.  Overall it was a very successful trip that we won’t quickly or easily forget.

Things are beginning to come together for the trip. Our building projects will be:

1. Pouring concrete
2. Laying cinder blocks
3. Plastering walls
4. Roofing

We will not be doing any Bible teaching but I will be doing 2 days of some sort of musical training.

Above is a link to a letter from Pastor Revenel Benoit, the pastor we will be helping on our mission trip at the end of March. Please notice the extreme adversity that he and his family has been through and the great work that they are doing. Please keep them in your prayers.