my dad

My dad’s birthday was Sunday. He is a word’s man – good words mean more to him than basically anything else he could receive. And that is one way I am just like him.

So I wanted to write a really nice card or letter, and I even knew in general what I wanted to say. But I couldn’t really write it.

Even since then I’ve tried. I just want to choose the right words. To not be cheesy. To let the power of what I am feeling come through.

It’s three full days since his birthday and I had sudden inspiration to put down my words, but on this blog.

This song by Joe Pug [below] just came on my Last.fm and it reminds me of Dad. Something about the harmonica, cadence, simplicity, and honest lyrics that represent our duality…[Hit play on the song now, while you read this.]

Dad instilled in me an appreciation for music; I cherish memories of him playing guitar. I admire his calm spirit, his honesty in all things and situations, his faith, his consistency and dedication to family above all, the good and the bad times; his wisdom, his silly jokes, the little things he gets excited about, his love for nature, and the acts – little and small – he does to show his love.

And it is one of those acts of love that is most on my heart lately. About three months ago, I left my hometown after a fun weekend of celebration a best friend’s marriage, and an unfortunate conflict with my family. About 30 miles out of town back to KC, a deer hit and totaled my car.

I called Dad immediately, and he asked if I was ok. I was. He came to get me, and said he’s just as soon drive me to KC that night. We talked the whole two and a half hour drive, which I couldn’t remember the last time we did that. It was really nice.

The next few months, I looked for another car. Some truly generous friends lent me a spare they had for as long as I needed it in the meantime. And thankfully, Dad enjoyed this process and would often look up cars and send me links to potentials. We both had ups and downs with ones we thought were promising, made calls, and he would advise me from the phone each time I went to look at one.

We had both almost reached a burn out point. Work and life was busy, and I was exhausted, needing a break from the process. But Dad found one that looked to be the best yet, in Chicago. He began to pursue it for me.

A few days later, he was in Kansas City to stay the night so I could drive him to the airport the next morning for his flight to get the car in Chicago. He was excited for his adventure. We laughed as I gave him the thousands in cash I took out at the bank, which he had rolled in rubber bands and stashed in his pockets. Yikes!

We talked several times the next day as he drove the car and worked out the deal. Later that day he had it on the road, taking it to visit Granny and Papa in Memphis. The next week I was to drive his car home to make the swap :)

Last week, when I got home, he had cleaned it to sparkle – it looked amazing. And he had made “Erin’s Integra Mix” that he had waiting for me in the CD player. It turns out that it had even needed some work at the shop that he had gone ahead and taken care of.

I love it. And I especially love the story behind it. I am so lucky to have a father that would do all this for me, happily and without hesitation. He raised a strong, independent woman, and often it is hard for me to accept or ask for help. But in this way, I never even needed to ask – he was there. What a weight off to know he was and is actively taking care of me.

I wanted to tell him how much this means to me. Because above it all, this one example mirrors perfectly and completely the love and lengths our Heavenly Father goes to for each of us. How He delights in taking care of us, preparing things go us, taking an active role in our lives…how He is thinking of us, wants us to let Him take care of us all, individually and uniquely based on his special relationship with us.

So Dad :) Thank you. Thank you for everything do and have done, that I know about and have never known. Thank you for the great father you are, and for showing me God’s love and desire and delight in my life. This memory and example is one I will always cherish when I think of you.

I love you! Happy Birthday :)

MOVE!

This stunning one-minute vid pretty much sums up how I feel about life! Holy smokes…

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage… all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ….into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films…..

= a trip of a lifetime.

move, eat, learn

ze health update & further exploration

As many of you know, I have struggled immensely over the past few years with my eczema. With doctors, allergy tests, vitamins, lotions, research, and diet, I have had a great deal ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments.

Last summer I found out I was severely allergic to OATS, of all things!, which made me laugh because I had been eating this healthy dish almost daily for several years. But in the prick allergy test, my skin exploded – and that was the only reaction. Even though a blood allergy test had suggested I was allergic to wheat/gluten/dairy, this other test said no. But when I avoided these things, my skin seemed better.

Also, alcohol – so beer was out if I was doing the gluten/wheat thing, and sometimes wine seemed to bother me, sometimes not. Sometimes the sun did, sometimes it didn’t. I also couldn’t work out, because when I sweated, it made me itchy. My body felt swollen and inflamed. I have been ashamed to show any skin, extremely self conscious.

So I would do good for awhile, then I would be a bit better, so I’d half ass it, eating whatever I wanted, but paying for it later. The hardest part was in social situations, which I am in constantly per my extroverted personality. I have felt tired a lot over the past few years – more than I can ever remember, and would often want to be by myself. Since it hurt to move, I’d find myself preferring to just go home and watch a movie/show on Netflix. I have struggled with fatigue throughout my day. Which, as you can imagine, has made work a lot harder too.

On top of all of this, everyone has had an opinion or suggestion. Not that it is all bad, but because my suffering is visible, and it has directly affected how I feel in every way and setting, I have succumb to a lot of unsolicited advice. Which can be exhausting too.

Overall, I can tell how far I’ve come and how much I’ve healed! While I have days of absolute discouragement and pain, the majority of the time I still feel hopeful and motivated. Usually, at each wall I’ve hit, another revelation occurs. For example, this past May, I felt extremely anxious about having no plans on a Tuesday night, so I decided to go to a yoga class at a studio I had tried and liked the summer previous. After that night, I was hooked. And since May I have been going 3-6 times a week!! It has changed my life in so many ways, including the owners, who have been a great source of support to me as I try to heal.

One of the owners, Kathleen, gave me a book called You Can Heal Your Life, by Louise Hay. While I don’t agree with everything she says, I do agree with her main philosophy, that often our physical problems are manifestations of struggles or inner turmoil. I found it to be true for eczema. In the back of the book, you can look up a pain/ailment/disease, and it has a “Probable Cause”, and a “New Thought Pattern” that you can repeat to yourself to help you heal. For eczema it said it was caused by “Breath-taking antagonism. Mental eruptions.” Through the book, I came to realize how hard I am on myself, how much I antagonize myself in my head. My inner dialogue can be quite harsh! “I really need to…” “I should..” “You should have…” – constant. Also, as my mind would fire off with things or worries, I would not breath. And as an nervous/anxious reaction, I would hold my breath. I have always been bad at breathing. The affirmation for me to combat this was to say, “Harmony and peace, joy and love surround and indwell me. I am safe and secure.”

It said that Skin is our sense organ, the largest organ. And usually people who have problems with their skin feel like their individuality is being threatened. While I’m not sure that is true for me at this time in my life, I know for a fact that when all of my skin/hair problems exploded at the end of 2007, it had been a year of oppression from a horrible relationship and then five month faith-based internship to Asia. I was a wreck upon my return. It has taken me years to heal from these things, and perhaps my body still is.

When I had the realization a few months back about how hard I am on myself, I happened to be going home. I told my dad about it all, and he said, “Erin, you’ve ALWAYS been like that! Ever since you were in elementary school. It became apparent to your mom and I that we didn’t have to put any pressure on you because you put more than enough on yourself.” A light bulb went on…I said, as tears welled in my eyes, “That answers so many questions!” I had had no idea. What a revelation. I suddenly felt compassion on myself. And I realized that I had never told myself I love myself.

I had verbalized a few times the past few years that I felt like it was easier to love others than it was myself. I have also had this weird mindset battling within that for some reason I was supposed to suffer in my life, whether physically or financially. I know it doesn’t make sense, and I’m not sure I can pinpoint its origin.

The past few months, I’ve made progress I am proud of. Not only have I done really well on my diet and felt better in that way, but with yoga, I’ve settled into type and class I absolutely love: Ashtanga. I have become the most flexible I’ve ever been in my life, I’ve become so much stronger, have slimmed down, and my skin looks better than it has in years. I look forward to every class, and love everything about it.

Then, this week alone, I made a few more huge strides for my health. I got a colonic for the first time [also per recommendation of Kathleen, my yoga teacher, as well as a coworker and another friend!] and it was amazing. The guy who did it is the only certified person in MO, and has been doing it for 30 years. He said he was able to remove so much poison from my body [more than most people on their first time!], and he bet that if I came several times, all my skin problems would clear up.

I also felt led to seek and see a counselor for the first time. This came from a day of intense anxiety when I couldn’t stop itching and realized I was worried with a lot on my mind, and that I didn’t know why or how to express it. For the first time, I asked myself out loud, “Erin, why are you upset?” Then I verbalized some, prayed out loud, and proceeded to spend some time writing it all out. It was then I thought it would be good to talk to someone about how to better cope and acknowledge stress and anxiety I may have but not realize – which seems to be my problem. If you ask me, I never feel stressed. Yet I have these moments that prove otherwise. I’m a weird duck :)

While there wasn’t any big things that came of my first counselor visit, it was nice and I look forward to more conversations. I told her that I’ve devoted so much time, energy, and money over the past few years to my physical health and healing, and now I wanted to devote some to my mental healing. For example, one thing I told her that I felt like I was punishing myself in my itching. She asked me why would I do that? And I couldn’t answer.

Which brings me to the point of this post ;p I have been thinking – why do I think I don’t deserve to be happy? Why do I think I am supposed to suffer? How does God see me? How can I learn to see and love myself the way others in my life do – my family, Chad, friends?  What is their hope for me and my life?

This morning I began my day at a coffee shop and started to write about these things, stream of consciousness. I felt like it was a great step forward, and wanted to share it with you as a part of my healing process. This is but the rugged babbling of a young woman, fumbling her way through love and faith and hope and thought and healing…

“Lord, how do you see me? Us?

As a Father
I am your daughter
Created in your image
Beautiful
Made with intention
Who I am, my personality, body
Revealing a part of you
Who you are…

Before sin
Created to be whole
To enjoy You
Creation
The partner you gave
The work you gave
Purpose
Love
Nature
Walking with You

Trinity – 3 in 1
Relationship
Laughter
Confidant
Vulnerability
Intimacy
Fun
Play
Sit in nature
Explore – adventure

Your Kingdom
Your glory

Sharing

Enjoying it all through the senses – eating, sex, smelling, hearing, touching, tasting, seeing…

Community

Pleasure…it is good!
Evidence of God’s desires for us
To feel
Experience
LIVE
Not to be numb or sad or broken…

Forgiveness
Renewal
Guidance
All to make us whole

WHY?
A vision for us, to live with Him
In his magnificence, His world
All he has made, Still but just a
fraction/reflection
of WHO HE IS
I AM

He desires for us to let Him in
To know/experience His love
As He expresses in Christ, a sacrifice

I am his -
He gazes upon me
With a smile, delight
That my heart is open
To Him
He interacts with me
Place me with thought and purpose where I am

Give me other people -
His wondrous creations!
To be tangible expressions of His love
His movement in this world/life
Revealing who He is

His desires for healthy relationships
Bring honor to Him

In heaven our bodies will be restored, renewed
As is his original purpose/intent/vision
in our creation

Skin – our largest sense organ
All we experience
Daily
In skin, through our skin…
Air, wind
Touch
Hot, cold
Affection, love – we need from birth!

Made to FEEL
Feel love, touch – physical
Not merely emotional or visual
POWERFUL
Effects our lives in every way

As with the Lord,
the Creator’s vision!
When he made you:

You have permission
to be healthy!
Radiant
To feel good
To have smooth skin
Free from a rash, irritation, inflammation

You have permission
to be happy

“Thy Kingdom Come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is
in Heaven…”

A whole restored body
as with our spirit/mind
Purified with Christ

The Lord wants to heal you
“Get up my daughter, your faith has made you well…”

Lord help me to love myself,
to see myself how YOU see me,
How Chad and family and friends see me
Not on the clock, with expectation
Or disappointment
But knowing what I can be/do
Through Your eyes
A Proud Father

Feeling & action – love
Taking care of myself
Encouragement
Positive self-speak
Life-giving
Admiration
Awe
Christ in me
Delight
Enjoyment
Fun
Beauty
An expression of God’s character, faithfulness, joy, love, vision, beauty, LIGHT, and movement in our world right now!!!

Great vision and PURPOSE
As with Moses, Abraham, Joseph…
everyone in the Bible
How He used them where they were

The Lord has gone to GREAT LENGTHS
To show His love
and faithfulness
In history, in Christ
and NOW
in our daily lives….

If we are only open
He uses everything
For His purpose

Look to Jesus -
God in skin
His SON on earth
Revealing Himself
Love in action

How did He interact with others?
Peace, community, healing, friendship, miracles, meals, simplicity -
trusting in, walking with the Father

That is his WILL for us!

Lord may this be true!
Take my life & use it!
Shine through me!
Purify, sharpen
Guide
Where we go
What we do
Who we meet
Our relationships

Create a strong bond rooted in your love
that will transform us,
that we may never be the same…

Help us to ACCEPT
and KNOW
Your LOVE!

May our actions, words and lives
Be a response
Outpouring from this truth

I AM FULLY AND WHOLLY KNOWN AND LOVED
I was made with purpose and love,
for a relationship and beauty
in the fullest expression of the
Creator’s being!

He goes to great lengths to make this truth known
- Sending and giving his Son Jesus
- The Spirit to guide us
- The Word to tell us
- Gifts to remind us, to use
- Blessings to enrich us
- Prayer to connect us
- Creation, nature, science, miracles, to awe us

He looks on me with delight and joy,
He is faithful,
protecting,
Yearns to do life with me…

God is VULNERABLE
to me,
to be open, to want my love

But it is my choice.
He has put himself out there
Revealed himself in so many ways
Hoping that I just might love Him back
That I would see and accept His
Magnificent Love,
greater than I can even grasp or express…

Whether I accept or betray
He loves me the same
Loyal
Enamored
Believing in me
Desiring I choose Him
To live my life to the FULLEST
With HIM
His vision and original intent

Yes Lord!
You do not give up…
Your search
As for the coin
The Sheep
and the daily greeting me with open arms as
The Prodigal…

Your daughter!
Throwing a huge party upon my return
to You, Your arms, Your House!
All the very best,
It was waiting
All along.

You were sad to see me go – whether by heart or action
But you let me…
Hoping I would realize you would not give up,
but be waiting with open
forgiving
arms
for my return!

MY HEART SOARS!

Thank you Lord for this victorious love!
Greater than anything…”

Thank you, dear friends and family, for letting me share these intimate parts of who I am; for walking with me on this long road to healing, for your patience, and for supporting me in the many ways continue to do. Your actions, encouragement, and prayers have undoubtedly carried me!

I am blown away by all that this year has held, despite the low points, pain, or self-criticism. I have traveled often – Haiti, California [2X], and Alaska – one of my favorite things to do! I fell in love for the first time with an incredible man, continued to thrive at Water.org and be a part of amazing work, discovered yoga and a new strength I did not know I had, seen best friends get married, had friendships grow and be strengthened, learned a lot, and welcomed a new wave of adulthood in various forms.

I am so happy I get to share this life with YOU! You make it…you make ME!…better…rich.

Thoughts From a Well

Hank Green is one of the popular YouTube vloggers I took to Haiti for Water.org three weeks ago. I haven’t shared any of his great videos yet, so here you go. Well done. He cracks me up.

Part 4: successful wells

I think that in our American culture, things that take time and involve any degree of uncertainty are often painful for us. This is true whether it is in business, in church, a nonprofit, a task, a house project, etc. We like to be as efficient and productive as possible. And that is usually how we define success.

One of the most important things I learned in Haiti, and heard over and over from our local partner Haiti Outreach (HO), was that these projects take time and trust. Every community is different. Each community will inevitably encounter a problem that they need to address, but it is always unique. And the community needs to be taught to confront it, address it. At first they may revert back to old habits of ignoring a problem, or being secretive. But the HO animator’s walk with the community and help them work out the problem and move on. And once they do this with success, they see that they can do so again should another problem arise.

When I finally stopped to think about it, the same is true for us. We are a part of different group dynamics and strong personalities in our school projects, workplaces, sports teams, book clubs, and religious institutions, etc, and they affect all of those groups differently. And most of us are bad about addressing our conflicts in these groups up front, too. Funny what we all have in common across the world.

 

This community recently inaugurated their newly repaired well! Laura talks with community member in Kreyol.

Neil, Haiti Outreach Director. He has lived in Haiti for 23 years.

A little girl sings a beautiful song for us and the community in Jan Brile.

It’s a process, not a formula

Neil Van Dine, the director HO, has been asked to consult for large and small nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) all over Haiti in the past decade on how they, too, can implement HO’s model of successful water projects. Many groups have even shadowed Neil and his staff to see it for themselves. But Neil said that most are not willing to take the time needed with each community to make them the pillar of the projects, and then adapt the schedule according to any issues that may arise. These groups have funding, so they want to put in a well now. It is easier for them that way, and then results can be reported to the donors. And unfortunately, they would rather just go back and fix the well once it breaks (or hire HO to do it), if they even do that.

Just like us, the people in Haiti that need water are not numbers; their communities are not merely checklists; programs cannot be mass executed like an algorithm; and problems that may pop up won’t magically dissolve if they are ignored.

I am encouraged by more conversations around this topic over the past year, not just in the water sector, but in the aid and development communities as a whole. And I am so grateful to have seen firsthand the hard but important work our partner, HO, is carrying out. I believe work like this brings real hope in a country that has been ravaged for decades with hardship and failed projects. My hope is that we can educate more donors on this important topic. And I know that you, like me, would like to see a higher success rate of functioning wells, to see more people receive sustainable access to water and sanitation, and ultimately, to be empowered to meet their own needs.

Water.org’s program with Haiti Outreach will rehabilitate 40 broken wells and drill 20 new ones in the rural areas of Pignon and St. Raphael, as well as carry out health and hygiene education, serving a total of 18,000 people. To date, 100% of wells drilled or repaired by Haiti Outreach are still operational.

 

This community made this happen! Clean water, a protected pump, a guardian who opens it every day, and rules and a plan of action to keep it mainted and operational. Beautiful :)

We stopped at Latanye, a community with a well that was just dug as part of Water.org's program with Haiti Outreach.

Want to help?

• Follow the real-time progress of some of these villages in Haiti as they get clean water: my.Water.org
• Donate to help us reach more people in need with safe water and sanitation.
• Donate your voice on Facebook or Twitter an ongoing basis to help power our efforts.
• Sign up for our monthly email updates.
• “Like” or “Follow” us to stay updated.

Thank you for being a part of this important work with me, friends.

- Erin Swanson, Water.org Communications & New Media Coordinator

Part 3: sustainability and ownership

 

Kids collecting water from a unsafe water source in Fonten, Haiti.

When we visited these communities a few weeks ago, I watched Haiti Outreach’s (HO) “animators” in action. Each community is assigned an animator who will walk them through the process of getting a new well or rehabilitating a broken one. The animator’s job is to encourage, guide, and help community members execute the most important part of this process – communication.

 

Kiki, a Haiti Outreach Animator, talks with the water committee of La Kabouy about the process they will go through together to repair the well and maintain it so it lasts a lifetime.

A woman on the La Kabouy water committee.

The president of the water committee speaks.

Communication must occur not only between community members, but between the community and HO. The animators try to help the communities realize and respect each person’s voice, not just the leaders’. Cultivating this new dynamic in a community is crucial to sustainability. Without it, the project will fail.

New opportunity

These communities are capable, smart, and could absolutely take ownership of their project. But unfortunately most of the people in these rural areas have never had the opportunity.

But taking ownership will bring many benefits to communities in the long run. Once people learn how to run their new or rehabilitated well like a business, and manage their own resources, they can really take their future into their own hands. Many communities even begin to save money for the first time. Our local partners in Asia, Africa and Latin American say that the communities that are truly empowered often organize themselves again to take on other projects, like a road, school, or hospital.

Kiki talking with the La Kabouy water committee.

I really like this quote by Gary, our co-founder:

“People on both ends – the poor and the powerful – must believe that the poor can meet their own needs. I know I do; I’ve seen it over and over again first-hand. This is why I believe every person can have access to safe drinking water in my lifetime.”

- Erin Swanson, Water.org Communications & New Media Coordinator

Part 2: why do wells break?

Passed this woman from Savann Tabak who had just collected water from the river. We were on our way to see this dirty water source.

Charity marketing can make it seem so simple: drill a well, tap into clean water, and everyone is happy. Right?

Think of it this way. One day a construction team from some group in China pulls into your neighborhood. You and your neighbors are curious, watching them unload their truck. They begin to build a structure on an empty plot of land that has not yet been developed. A school, you come to find out. But they never asked any of you or talked with you beforehand.

What if your community was mostly retired adults? What if someone owned that land and was about to build their house on it? If it stays, who will pay for a teacher? Who will organize a way for kids to get there? Enroll? Did they talk to your city officials? What if you there was something else they could’ve put in that would be more helpful to your community? How would you feel?

Unfortunately, this fictional scenario is not entirely off base. According to our local partner Haiti Outreach (HO), an organization that has been in the country for 14 years and has an excellent reputation, this situation occurs pretty regularly. Church groups or nonprofits with the best of intentions just want people to have clean water. So they look at an area that looks ideal to them, and begins to drill. And sometimes these groups don’t even have experience in water projects, let alone the knowledge to implement long-term solutions.

This woman sifts through the sand in this creek bed to collect water for her family in Savann Tabak.

So why do wells break?

When thinking of anything that breaks, you might deduct that it is because of shoddy workmanship or wear and tear with time. And you would not be wrong. But there is something more common than that when it comes to broken wells: no community involvement. And therefore no community ownership. It is not “theirs,” in the most basic sense of the word.

And so we must ask, what does community participation and ownership look like?

The community and their water committees must ask and figure out answers to questions such as:

• Where should we put the well? Who owns the land?
• What kind of technology makes the most sense?
• How much money should everyone in the community pay to use the well?
• Who will collect the fees?
• How often will the fees be collected?
• Who will keep records of water committee meetings and fee payments?
• Will the well be protected and locked, to keep animals from scratching their backs on it, or kids from playing on it, and possibly breaking it?
• If it is protected and locked up, who will open it each day?
• What times will it be open?
• Can exceptions be made?
• Should that guardian be paid? If so, how much? How will we get the money? If we collect if from the community, when will we collect it?
• Who will be trained to fix the well if it breaks? How will we fix it? Where will we get the spare parts?
• What are the rules for well use that we want to develop?
• What happens if a community member breaks a rule? What will be the consequence?
• What do we do if a conflict arises? What if someone won’t pay their monthly fee?

The water committee and Savann Tabak community meets to talk with Haiti Outreach about what will be needed to repair their broken well, and how to make it last.

Jan Raymond, the Haiti Outreach Animator, will walk with Savann Tabak over the next few months, guiding them in the process to have a sustainable clean water source.

Gerna, a member of the water committee, speaks about their need for clean water. Those are her kids! Too cute.

Precious!

New friends from Savann Tabak who took the walk with us to the river where they get water currently.

Chewing sugar cane at his family's sugar cane mill. We got to try some too, pretty good!

Jan Baptiste, a member of the Savann Tabak water committee, led me to their current water source - the reason she is standing up for her community to get clean water.

It’s a lot, isn’t it? I had definitely never thought about any of this until working at Water.org. It has been fascinating to learn about, and then to see firsthand on this trip.

- Erin Swanson, Water.org Communications & New Media Coordinator

Part 1: too many broken wells

Hauling water from the river to his home in La Kabouy.

Only a few weeks ago, I returned home from my first trip to Haiti. Like you, over the past year, I have seen how Haiti just can’t seem to catch a break – the earthquake, cholera, and now, elections with no particular promise. I was unsure what being there would be like.

But it was one of my best international trips yet. Mainly because of the laid back, enjoyable group I was with and the time we spent with Haiti Outreach (HO), Water.org’s certified local partner. We were in and around Pignon, a rural area in the north, where our projects are located.

HO took us to three communities with broken wells from programs with other organizations. These communities — Savann Tabak, Fonten, and La Kabouy —just organized themselves to do what they can to get them fixed. This involves steps such as forming a water committee, writing a letter to request assistance from HO (first submitted to their mayor), and then meeting with HO to determine next steps.

People in Fonten collect their water in this dirty creek. It was a long, hot walk to get there.

A graveyard of dead wells

Historically, the water sector has a pretty embarrassing track record with water projects. I’ve heard it said that the developing world is a graveyard of broken wells.

In 2009 it was estimated that 50,000 wells were broken down in Africa alone. Report author Jamie Kinner of the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development also estimated that $300 million has been wasted in attempts to bring people clean water.

What’s the deal? Is it simply that long-term safe water access hasn’t been the main focus? Perhaps a technology was used that the local people couldn’t fix due to lack of skills, knowledge, or the proper parts? Perhaps many groups have never thought through some of these things? Is anyone monitoring and evaluating these projects? Do donors know their money has been wasted? Who is talking about this problem?

- Erin Swanson, Water.org Communications & New Media Coordinator

Flying Haitian rats, but mostly fly vids

For those of you I haven’t told, picture this: a football-sized rat, scurrying across a busy airport floor. The Haitian airport employee kicks it, and YES! It becomes airborne. People are screaming. It hits a man’s shoulder, but somehow latches on, clinging. He swipes the rat to the ground, and as it hits and flails about, another airport employee swiftly ends its life with his foot. RIP scary rat.

Just a casual Saturday morning at the Port-au-Prince International airport. I’d be REALLY cool if 1) I had a REAL photo, or VIDEO even! Can you imagine?! and 2) If I had been the one to see it…yes…confession. This was actually witnessed by the woman I sat next to on the plane on the way to Miami. I was jealous. And crying laughing.

I was going to post more pics, but EVEN better! Two of the three prolific YouTubers I went with posted their videos, and they are great. It especially gives you a good feel of the trip, our experience, and the communities we spent time in:

Lisa Nova

Timothy DelaGhetto

Soooo great :) Will post Hank’s videos soon. Hard to believe we have been back for a little over a week!

AND tomorrow is World Water Day. If you want to do something, celebrate by standing up with millions in the name of clean water for all: DONATE YOUR VOICE online!

Haiti: a glimpse of day 1

Dry river bed, flying over Haiti

Yesterday I had two of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had! One you will see several photos of below – taking the small plane from Port-au-Prince to Pignon. Sometimes it was like losing your stomach on a roller coaster, but the only difference is you had no idea when that would happen! But so incredible, to see a country that way. The other, was after grabbing some beers downtown, I rode a motorcycle back with Roudy, a guy I met today that works for Haiti Outreach :D Too fun.

Roudy! With his sweet new helmet Laura brought him back from KC.

It is 6:30 am and I think the sounds just reached a crescendo outside my window. Roosters through the night were accompanied by the occasional chicken or bird. Now dogs howling, fighting, goats bleating, motorcycles speeding by, people yelling in the distance, someone sweeping, Creole being spoken, and more roosters. Haiti is beautiful, and yet you get the sense it is not even close to the beauty it could be. I’ve never seen land look so thirsty. And the deforestation…wow. More adventures from our day::

Waiting at the Miami airport - Hank, Tim and Lisa.

Into Haiti.

We find Laura quickly (yay!) and head out to meet Lazaare, our driver.

Laura and Tim slip back through the fence to buy a sim card outside the airport.

This is apparently how we exchange money is Haiti, $USD for Gourdes (goots)...!! Just off the street.

No water or sanitation infrastructure, fact of life in Port-au-Prince.

We all get weighed for our placement on the next plane to Pignon.

There she is!

Laura! My Water.org colleague. She has taken this flight 4 or 4 times. It has been amazing to see her in action here, in her element. Best guide.

Tim fell asleep, don't ask me how.

Lnaded on the grass strip - the airport. Welcome to Pignon! Lisa filming with her Flip cam.

Made it to the Haiti Outreach guest house, a 2 or 3 min walk from where we landed.

About to go visit a community that just inaugurated a well, met with Haiti Outreach at their office next door to where we stay.

The drilling rig blew a tire, so they are kicking out the rim to change it.

We have to go so I will show the rest of the photos from visiting Jan Brile community and then chilling after, later. I just talked to Neil, one of the guys who started Haiti Outreach. He has been living here for 23 years! Originally from Wellsville, NY. But we were telling him we felt so swanky in this guest house, and asked why it is so nice. And he said that their vision is for Haiti to be a developed country. So they wanted to create a place where visitors could come to Pignon and it was not a camping experience. I love people with vision… More to come!