Life's a Journey, Aye!: First Anniversary

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

First Anniversary

At 457 pm today the anniversary of Haiti's worst day will be marked.

I walked out from the IV tent this morning at 545 and watched the Haitian sunrise. This morning a beautiful show of colours over the city. Watching from inside the walled and barbwire enclosure I had the weirdest sensation of being held a prisoner. The sunset was still beautiful, but to banish the feeling I went back in the iv tent to make things ready for day shift.

Setting off for the compound today wqe drove by a UN tank squadron. Is nice that they are here, but seems surprising to me anyway to see them there in full combat wear. Waiting. Watching.

On the way home from Cite Soleil night shift, we asked our guards if they could drive us to the memorial site (we could see just off our highway) and at first he was very reluctant. He must radio our base at the compound when he leaves Cite Soleil - and we are timed to be sure nothing has happened. He must have gotten permission, and we turned in to the memorial site.

Covered with raw broken rock, the burial site for some unknown 200,000 people is an emotional and indescribable place. For the anniversary date, hundreds and hundreds of black crosses, big ones and small, have been planted into the raw site, row after row. Our guards allowed us out to walk the site as there were no other folk around yet (it was very early). All on our team stood and stared and all you could heard was the sniffs and clearing of throats. A completely overwhelming site for every person who will see it and remember. The rest of the trip home very quiet and somber. We all did our decontamination stuff quietly, ate, and went to bed.

Up now, and sitting in the open breezeway between the womens dorm and the mess hall. There is a covered area with open walls. Very nice. I have just enjoyed a large glass of mango juice on ice. I have to ask special for ice, but I do!! Such a treat!! Can smell dinner cooking, barbeque something. Suddenly I am hungry despite the brutal heat.

Just before we do eat tonite there is a special church service here and one of our Haitian pastors will give his testimony about the day of the earthquake. We will listen, eat, and then head of for shift 4.

As the night progresses I will answer some of the questions I have been asked. Thanks for your emails. It is a huge treat to hear from home, thanks!

Michelle

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone! And as we let our light shine, we give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Get out there, and let your light shine! (and yup, that last bit added by me!)

A quote often attributed to Nelson Mandela, but written by Marianne Williamson. Shared with me by my sister Noelle.

Change in Direction

Have been watching with more and more horror the images which reach us here in our nice, warm, safe home of Haiti, post-earthquake.

Many calls have gone out for help, and many have responded in ways they are able - donations, time, with prayer, and deeds.

The thought of all they are suffering has been niggling at my conscience. So. I asked my sister if she knew of aid agencies taking volunteers She did, and put me in touch with a very large and well known one. One with resources and 'pull' - one which is respected and known around the globe. Seemed snesible to me to volunteer with one which is well known, and has resources to support its activities and its volunteers.

So. Tuesday I sent in my application to go as a paramedic to serve in the field hospitals/clinics of Haiti.

If accepted I will go.

So from you dear readers, I will need a continuous supply of positive thoughts, and encouragement. My stint will be for only 2 weeks but I fully expect it will be a life changing experience.

So this will be a different sort of blog that I usually write. No night shots of the Eiffel Tower, no cathedrals, no castles, no Scottish countryside scenes, no flower gardens. I expect the only monuments I will see are those of human spirit - struggling to make themselves and their country right.

I will start by posting some facts about Haiti, and you shall learn about this country right along with me as I do.

I have always known a certain saying, and have always felt it applies to me, in that I have been quite blessed in life. The way I remembered it is:

"To whom much is given, much is expected".

-Michelle, to whom much has been given - and who is staring into the near future, hoping to be more than adequate to the job ahead.

The History of the Scottish flag - The saltire

From http://www.scotlandsource.com/ -

It has been believed by generations of Scotsmen that the national flag, the white saltire on a blue background, the oldest flag in Europe, originated in a battle fought here in Athelstaneford (and I am going there, wahoo!!) in the Dark Ages between the Picts and Scots on the one side and the Angles of Northumbria on the other. (around 832 AD).

There are many versions of the story but they generally agree that an army of the Picts under their King Angus (or Hungus) aided by a contingent of the Scots was invading Lothian (then and for long afterwards Northumbrian territory), and found themselves surrounded by a massive force of the Angles under their leader Athelstan. King Angus and his host prayed earnestly for deliverance to God and the saints.

That night St. Andrew (the Patron Saint of Scotland) appeared to the king and promised him victory.

On the next day when battle was joined, the vision of a white saltire (the diagonal cross on which the Apostle had been martyred) was seen by all against the blue sky. This so encouraged the Picts and Scots and frightened their adversaries that the former won a signal victory.

In the pursuit, so the tradition goes on, the Northumhbrian leader Athelstan was slain at the crossing of the Peffer or Cogtail Burn, the site of which is marked by Athelstaneford Mains Farm, about half a mile south-east of the village.

The probable site of the battle is at nearby Prora Farm,where there is a field called "The Bloody Field, close by the Peffer Burn, (this burn runs into Aberlady Bay, to the west, whereas the first mentioned Peffer Burn runs east to the sea).

The Saltire is also known as the Saint Andrew' s Cross.

Robbie Burns

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a "light" Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these pieces, his political or civil commentary is often at its most blunt.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world, celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was voted by the Scottish public as being the Greatest Scot.

Life's a Journey, Aye!

In the words of Ewan MacGregor, "The Long Way Down"

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

First Anniversary

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Lands end in Dorset....... next stop... FRANCE