Life's a Journey, Aye!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Hi All,

Travel in Haiti, at least for the medical personnel for Samaritans Purse, is limited to/to and from the airport when you arrive and depart, and transport back and forth from the compound where we live (Titanyen) to Cite Soliel cholera treatment centre. As I think I said, we travel in a convoy of 2 landrovers with motorcycle outriders. It is difficult to take pictures of the contryside and its people because the vehicles never stop on the road for anything. Drivers are trained for that. Feel a little important (lol) being so well protected. I think we have more security than our Prime Minister does :)

So I will try to capture some on the move pictures tonight. I will have to try for that because the sights of the contryside and city are really beyond description. Everywhere there are people, even at night, all along the highways, fires, dogs, goats, cattle, little kids, ladies with baskets on their heads, people foraging for wood, bananas, anything they can find. There are tent cities everywhere. All strung together, crowded, dusty, hot, and unruly. There are so many folk with no jobs (80%) unemployment, and many just hanging around with nothing to do but bake in the heat and......

The site around Cite Soliel is unbievable to see. As the sun began to rise this morning (I had only seen the site in the dark coming in) I was heartbroken to see the wasteland of rubble upon which it had been built. A huge field of nothing but ruined concrete buildings and rubble. Concrete dust is still a huge problem as well and very hard on peoples eyes.

The translators here are so much fun, and when there is time you can ask them about Haiti and they want to know about your home. We were talkig with translator Andy last night and he told us about Haiti customs, how they celebrate holidays, and how the day of the earthquake was for him.

Andy says that there will be a govt announcement probably around the 1 year anniversary that a third political candidate (the one that appears to be the people's popular choice) will be added to the other 2 names in a political run-off election. He is worried that if a third person is named, and it is not the name the people want, that there will be trouble. All this is speculation of course, but I can't help but hope that they will delay any political maneovering until after Jan 22!!!! Selfish, I know.

The people here deserve so much better than a government that really isn't interested in making things better. The Haitians are beautiful people, and have such good humour. They dance and laugh, and love to talk.

As for me, I am doing alright. Going in for first shift was terrifying. Took me a long time to settle down, but then I did. Glad that's in the bag. No assumptions for how other nights will go, but at least the first one is out of the way.

The cold showers are a bit of a shock here. After the initial blast knocking the breath of out you it becomes quite pleasant. Although it isn't my fave thing to do when you come home from night shift, though we do have to because it is part of the decontamination process.

Well, I better go to the mess hall and top up on water. I can't imagine how much fluid I sweat out in a day.....!!

Love ya all,
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"

Monday, January 10, 2011

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