VIP Client

Short of the fashion industry (maybe), in what other profession could you find clients this cute?

How rich are you?

The Global Rich List is one of the most humbling/striking object lesson I've ever experienced. It answers the question "How rich are you?" relative to the rest of the world's population. The obvious answer for most North Americans: VERY RICH...but you should see it for yourself here.

PS - Thanks to Ellen in Haiti whose blog I've stolen this and other interesting links from!

Nap tann - We are waiting

The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, who look forward to something greater to come. For these, it is enough to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself comes down to us, God in the child in the manger. God comes. The Lord Jesus comes. Christmas comes. Christians rejoice! - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Over the last two weeks, a small group of my fellow blan friends working for NGOs in Haiti have met together to celebrate Advent. Both sessions - the first focused on Hope and the second on Peace - have been encouraging times of reading, reflection, singing and prayer. A recurring theme has been the need to "look forward to something greater to come" (and to remember the good that is already here) for those we love in Haiti -a place where so many are troubled in body and soul.

I didn't grow up knowing anything about Advent. The year after we graduated, our household of three college friends tried to meet for a few minutes each evening to light a candle, read a passage and sing a carol. (None of us are musical but we did manage to pull of a pretty fun rendition of Go Tell it on the Mountain) Since then, I've managed to have some form of Advent celebration each year with friends or on my own. The daily reading calendar I use most years can be found here (Note: this is not a general endorsement of FOTF). I also really like some of the reflections in this book.

For a totally different perspective, check out these postings of images taken with the Hubble Space telescope for 25 days of Advent. Incredible.

weekend in Les Cayes

I spent the weekend visiting my friend K in Les Cayes - Haiti's third largest city located on the south coast about 4 hours drive from Port-au-Prince. I traveled with K's godson Garysson - a very cute six-year old boy. Several years ago (when G was 3) K, a pediatric nurse, accompanied G to the DR when he underwent 2 months of radiation therapy for eye cancer. The treatment was successful but G lost his eye. K has been trying to get him a prosthetic and wanted him to come to Les Cayes especially to see a doctor at the Brenda Hospital - a specialty clinic with ophthalmologists and ENT docs. Unfortunately the news from them was not what we hoped. It sounds like he is going to require reconstructive plastic surgery to create an eye socket before he can successfully receive a prosthetic eye. They didn't know of anyone practicing in Haiti with the training and tools needed for the surgery - which means another long wait while K tries to find a specialist, procure a visa and funds for surgery in the DR or Cuba. Despite the disappointment, it was such a joy to watch G splash in the ocean, ride in a speed boat and clean off huge plates of food- all of which are a pretty big departure from his day-to-day life in the slum community where he lives with his parents and two older siblings in Port-au-Prince.

This was my second trip to Okay (the Kreyol name) and I'm making an early New Year's resolution to try to get back at least one weekend per month next quarter. It's a lovely quiet town with walkable streets and easy access to some even lovelier beaches - such a contrast to Port-au-Prince in most every way. Below is the slide show I pulled together of photos from the weekend trip taken with my new "research tool"- a digital SLR camera.