What are the odds?!?!

What are the odds that a little bit of Haiti would come my way this summer?

That's right, Walnes is here with me in IN for the 2007 Presbyterian Youth Triennium.
To be honest I've only seen him twice in three days with no more then 10 minutes to spend before I take off working again.

I'm leadership for the outdoor recreation team. That means I get to be on stage and make a fool of myself leading 5,000 youth in games and energizers. I love EVERY minute of it.

Today I FINALLY got to go to worship and Walnes sat beside me. It's great fun to watch him watching everyone around us. He made me laugh really hard after an amazing story was told and we all clapped while Walnes yelled out "BRAVO!" I just smiled. It's great to see him but it makes me miss them all... and I had a little piece of Haiti all day.

There was a guy in SCOC who had on a very cool pair of sun glasses and you could just tell that he was cool, that reminded me of Jean Bernard. Then a 11 year old boy had a solo and I thought of Woodrot singing in God Spell. Then a man named Jay looked like George and acted like Papi. I also found a little girl dancing and playing with a little drum and it made me miss all the kids at the O. I was just a wave after wave today but it was wonderful.

Hope in the Dark

"When Jesus commanded up to care for the widows and orphans, He wasn't speaking in metaphor. He really meant it. In Africa, that's the greatest thing anyone could do."

I think that goes for Haiti too.

One death is one too many.

If you want to know the pulse and strength of Haiti, spend a day with the women of a village. In the midst of deep suffering, domestic abuse, societal and poverty constraints, the women are the stability of Haiti. They will carry the buckets upon their heads, touch the wounds of the sick, accept the burdens of helping the villages survive - and all the while, they will be singing praises to God.

Everybody smiles in the same language.

The longest journey is the journey inward.

There is such tragedy and yet such beauty at the same time. Overwhelmed by the insanity of their broken world, I find it difficult to understand how the pieces of it all fit together. The same earth an hold the fragrance of a field of flowers while also occupying the stench of urine on hot concrete.

I smile because they are beaming with promise. I cry because they have lost their parents to AIDS. I ache because their hope will be stolen from them. "Who will care for me now? Who will show me love?" they ask. I hope the answer has something to do with you and me.

I have not forgotten you

I know none of you will read this but I wish you could. To all my dear Haiti friends and to the people I have yet met. I want you to know that I have not forgotten you. I want you to know how I am sharing my story, your stories. I am showing your beautiful faces to everyone that I know in hopes of changing their hearts to care more about others in this world. To show them that you all have dreams and goals just like we do. I am going to teach Sunday School this Sunday and talk about my trip to Haiti. I will talk about you and I pray that they will hear the passion in my voice. I hope to sparksomeing deep within their hearts that will overcome their apathy and become motivated to care, to act, and to stay devoted to helping the ones around them.

I will never forget you. Never. I miss you with all my heart and think of you daily. My mind flashes back to Jonas in my pink sun glasses. To Noah pointing out that the cat in on the chair. To Steven dancing for the first time. Angela painting in my room.Fritzon's enthusiasm, Mia's attitude, Alixson's loves for cars, Jimmy's singing, Bethany's laugh, You-You's orange quilt. I remember the dirty looks I got for my muched loved haircut, the girls sitting outside every night saying hello. The old women we would always pass who didn't have any teeth. Popcorn, pasta, movies,soccer, and swimming in the road.

I am caught up in my life right now working at the church. A lot has happened and I have a lot of responsibility. Yet every chance I get I travel back to Haiti in my mind and tell people about the amazing people who live there.

I miss you, I love you and please know that I have not forgotten.

a new chapter

This week is the beginning of a new chapter of my life.

I'm working for the Riverside Presbyterian Church this summer being their youth intern. The senior high youth group came up to montreat for week one and I've been spending all my time with them. It's been a blast so far and it's nice to get to know them on my turf before I go to theirs.

Last night the youth were looking to dig deeper and some questions came up that directly related to my story. ......so I jumped in and shared a bit about my story and calling. Most of the youth cried at this because they are at the point where I began, unhappy. They are lost and searching for their calling. I gave them hope to hold onto as well as my hands to hold. In God's time you will know your calling, have faith! It was kind of scary to share my struggles with youth that I don't know yet but they were so hungry for my story.

The theme for the conference this year is turning the page, (your story). As I reflected about what I had shared I realized that I not only told my story but the story of Haiti. It's now one in the same. Haiti's story is now mine and mine is apart of Haiti. While I tell my story I'm also tell the story of all the kids at the O, you-you, St. Joe's boys, Jimmy and Junior, and the parents waiting for their kids in the states. We are all connected. I love this thought. I have a responsibility to share what I have learned and it's not only what I've learned but is now a part of my life. It is very humbling and an honor to speak for the people of Haiti. The truth and passion rings true and loud from my heart. This summer I will talk a lot about Haiti for my theme is Global Issues.

Now I start this new chapter in my life. I've very excited to work with the youth, to flip their world, to educate and empower them. I just pray that the people of Haiti will one day understand how much I care and love them.

I feel like.......

DANCING!!!

The past two days have been fully bright and happy.
I wish I was back with the kids and nannies singing,
clapping, and dancing around the o. I'm just happy
and miss their songs of praise and joy, their passion.

that's something that I do miss. In Haiti when people
dance, sing, or even clap their hands they do it with
such passion you feed off of each other till everyone is
overflowing with life. It's was such a blessing to be a
part of that. This is funny but I loved my shower time
because I could count on hearing the nannies sing in the
baby room. My favorite song was one they sand witch
incorporates all the kids names into it. The joy on the
child's face was fabulous and they were always dancing.
I also think of Mia and how she could never sit still in church
when Bill was playing the drum and how Noah doesn't have
a care in the world when he dances. Then there is dear
Steven how is learning to dance at St. Joe's and growing up
so fast. I think of that moment when my heart as well as
Angela's swelled with pride.

I've been doing a lot of dancing myself and just called
a 2 hour square dance. I don't think Haitians have
ever heard of that but as long as it makes you happy I
encourage you to dance any way you like.

DANCE!

venting

Today I walked around the mall expecting to find some clothing that I just couldn't live without. I went home empty handed. I tried lots of things on, some worked and some didn't. The truth is that I just couldn't bring myself to buy the overpriced pieces of material. I didn't want to pretend that buying this shirt would somehow satisfy me, fulfill me when I know people that live off of a dollar a day. The top that I was wanting was 68.00


I went to Haiti to learn, to make new friends, to fix and humble myself. That happened. I've grown and changed and have taken so much back with me it's been amazing. One thing that I didn't count for is how hard it would be coming back to America where most people don't understand what you just experienced.

For example I learned that one of my friends is sick. I've know this for a while and have been fearing finding out the true facts of why his side hurts, why his eyes are yellow. Tonight I learned that he has bleeding ulcers. I know that he doesn't have the money to go to the hospital for surgery, for meds, for help. He told me that he misses me and is scared to die.

His name is Junior. Junior is my dear brother and acted like my big brother while I was in Haiti. He took care of me, he made me laugh, we played soccer together and fell asleep under the stars together. Junior honestly acts like a 7th grader but I love him very much. I don't want him to die. He has faith, he has morals, and is such a great guy. When I will tell people about this most of them will say, that sucks...I'm sorry and I'll pray but Megan you can't save them all and if he dies then he dies. NO, that is where you will not understand. It sucks when death can't be prevented but this can. You could do something about this, you could help. I hate money but the fact is that money does matter and in this case it could save Junior's life. People just don't
understand that poverty is personal to me now. I know the names and faces of the people that live in poverty, that will die because they lack basic humanitarian needs. These people are no longer numbers or facts, they are my friends.

Most people just don't even know what to do or to say when I tell them things like this. News like this first brings tears to my eyes and then comes the fire. This is something worth being angry over, this is something worth fighting for, this is something worth crying over. I know you will never understand and I can't ask you to but I do ask you to care, to pray, to donate and
educate yourselves. You truly can make a difference so start now, open your heart, listen to their cry.

please pray for Junior.

moving forward

it's been too long.

I've been really busy at home doing lots of things but I do have some news.

1. I went to a conference two weeks ago called ARW, the Annual Recreation Workshop. There I took classes and my Grandfather started the conference with a friend so my family is very involved. Every year there is an auction where people bring donated items to put in the auction and all the money goes toward the scholarship fund. I decided to print and frame 4 of my Haiti pictures. Well, these turned out to be the talk of the conference. It was great. I got to educate people about my trip and Haiti. One of my pictures sold for 145.oo. They were hot items and everyone seemed to want them. This caught me off guard completely and I was overwhelmed with complements. After the auction I then had people come up to me telling me that they
wanted to buy my prints. I had no clue what to say or do but here is my plan. I sell a print for 50.00 and the print framed for 75.00. Half of this money goes to the orphanage. I'm just about to put up some prints in our local coffee shop to see if they will sell and raise more money. What a great way to share Haiti with others, raise money, and educate all at the same time!

2. With my attention being brought to my photography skills some people have pushed me to look into going to a photography school. I'm talking just photography, like an intense 1 to 2 year program that I can graduate from. This is just kind of a new door that has been presented to me and I don't know if the Lord will open it for me but it's just a thought. Photojournalism might come of it but i really don't know where
that could take me.

3. I'm still very excited about this summer. I'm a youth intern at a church in florida and I'm working on my lesson plans for the kids. I am going to flip their world, I hope to change their lives. My passion is loving children, orphans. My theme for this summer will be global issues, to educate, take action, andempower the youth. Haiti has taught me so much. It's no longer a "global issue" to me, it's real. I know the names, faces, and hearts of the ones that are suffering. Haiti has changed my life.

4. I feel like all my friends are going to Africa. I'm jealous. That's where I wanted to go from the very beginning but God had different plans. Now that all my friends are going I have mixed feelings, I'mjealous but at the same time it makes me not want to go to Africa. They've got it covered, and my job is to find the invisible
children of the rest of the world, like in Haiti. I never would have thought Haiti would be where it all starts but God is good.

5. How I miss it. All of it. I have a pain in my heart that won't go away. I want to go back now. I miss the kids, I miss you-you and her moon, I miss the boys, I even missWa-Wa . Oh how my heart drifts back to you every day but even more so now. I am praying for all the kids, for the staff, for all the parents waiting to bring their child home, and for you-you...for strength, wisdom, dedication, and peace. I feel as if I am your number one fan (other then your mom and dad) and still sent all my support and love from the states.