Countdown: 34 days

Oh man...just a little over a month and we're all packed up on our way to Haiti! I can't believe that just about a month ago I wasn't even sure I'd be going. Now I'm frantically trying to learn creole, get to know my AWESOME teammates, and figure out how exactly I can actually help while I'm down there. I'm not exactly the most globally minded person and before I applied it would probably have taken me a while before I could even find Haiti on a map (really...never the geography all-star). After I got accepted to the program I did a little bit more research and needless to say I'm really eager to experience Haitian life and help them out any way that I can.

I first learned about the Haiti Compact through one of our wonderful trip leaders, Katie. Admittedly I wasn't as inspired as she talked about her last trip before she actually left, but I got to talk to her once she got back and the experienced just seemed so...moving. Coming from my not-so-international background I was (and still am) really curious to see what people live through in a world so drastically different from my own. I do a lot of volunteer and service work in communities similar to my own, but I've never really seen what its like for the average Haitian. As we talked about in my first meeting, one of my biggest goals in this trip is getting a better understanding of the conditions in Haiti and how all of us can help from wherever we are in the world. I don't expect to change their world in 10 days, but if we can increase awareness and actually volunteer action from ourselves and others in similar possitions, I think I'll consider this trip a success.

Coming into this trip I really only knew Katie and Hannah well, but it seems like we have a great team put together and we're all only going to get closer. I'm excited to see that we have some "experts" on our business and education teams. We still have a lot of planning to do, but I know having Taylor and Nick helping with some business planning and Kylee and Billy for some educational instruction will really help us get some direction and will help us get the absolute most from the team that we can.

I guess that's about all that I have for now. Much, Much more to come in the future. T-minus 34 days.

-Brian (I'm the guy on the right)

Inspiration

Like many of my team members have mentioned, in just about a month we will be on our way to Haiti! It’s extremely hard to believe how fast everything has happened. It seems like the idea of going on a service trip just popped into my head a week ago; and to think I’ve gone through the application process, an interview, been accepted, and have gone to meeting for the past 2 months!

I think my interest to do a service trip was sparked partly because of my brother. As somebody who has always been of the generous type, he really went above and beyond the past few years; sponsoring children from Rwanda and Kenya, going on service trips over college breaks, and most significantly and recently, taking a year off from college to do an 11 month mission/service trip to 11 countries in need of help. His selflessness, generosity and dedication to making a change has inspired me to also become more actively involved in making a difference. It’s made me realize how much I take for granted, how privileged I am, and how much I want to give back to the world.

I’ve been abroad many times before, but it’s always been for personal pleasure. I’ve always stayed in nice hotels, haven’t had to think twice about not having basic amenities such as a warm shower, clean drinking water and a comfortable bed to sleep in. I am excited/nervous/scared/happy to say this won’t quite be the case for Haiti. As surprising as it may sound (especially coming from me, for those of you who may know me) I’m itching with excitement to put my personal comfort on hold, to constantly be sweaty, to go beyond my comfort zone, to push myself to new limits, to not know what is coming up around the corner but just going with the flow anyway, to work hard (both mentally and physically), to meet new people, to expand my relationship with my team, and so much more.

Before I sign out, if you haven’t gotten the message yet, I just wanted to reiterate how excited and honored I am to be traveling with my team with the mission we have. I’m confident we will work well together, and put all our effort into being productive and helpful. So, here’s to all the inspiration from my brother, the preparation we’ve done thus far, and my amazing team.

Until next time,

Hannah

New Challenges Can't Stop the Haiti Compact Team!

Hello everyone! Katie here, with another excited post about how amped we are to be heading to Haiti in only 34 days! I seriously can't believe it.

I really am interested to get back this year and see how things have changed and reconnect with the great friends we made in May. This time, I also feel like we will be able to see such a greater difference in the impact that we can make on our trip because, like Nick said: we have a focus! And I am seriously so motivated and anxious and inspired and nervous that sometimes I don't even know what to do with myself. To be honest, though, as nervous as I am about being able to give our community partners the absolute best - which they deserve - I have such complete faith in our team this year that I know we will do really well.

I always find myself looking forward to our weekly meetings, knowing that Taylor will have something sassy to say or Kylee will have a great story to tell, and I've realized that that's what alternative breaks are about too: You serve a community and that service does something for you, but you're also a part of a team that's growing and becoming closer and stronger with every day. The team is the greatest asset that I'll have when I'll be in Haiti. I know there will always be someone with a great idea, or the new plan, or even just a funny comment or a "hand to hold" (cough, Billy, cough), and I couldn't be happier to be heading to Haiti with a group of the best people I've had the privilege to meet here at W&M.

As I sign off every team email (every one of the 10,000 I send):

HaitiLove,

Katie

Haiti On My Mind

Quite a few months have passed since our maiden voyage to the Caribbean. Although most memories are now limited to digital pictures and journal entries, the team and I will never forget how much our service means to the people of Haiti. For those who are new to the Haiti Compact blog, I welcome you and encourage you to follow our travels in January via this blog.

Contrary to our exploratory trip in May, the Compact has honed its focus for 2012, concentrating on two service opportunities: education and small business marketing. Each team member has been assigned a specific focus and tasked with the responsibility of "making it work". I, being a part of the marketing team was, at first, overwhelmed. I am neither a business major, nor have I taken a SINGLE marketing class. At first (and even now occasionally), I am not quite sure what I am doing. Being a part of this effort has forced me extend beyond my own knowledge base; but I suppose that's what alternative breaks are for. Right, Melody? Despite our limited experience, the marketing team is in the process of brainstorming business strategies. Stay posted, in the following weeks, as we debut our game-changing ideas. As for the education team and their curriculum planning, I can't say much but I'm sure someone else will...

On a light-hearted note, I found a gem in our photo archives worth posting: Melody riding the smallest horse in the world. The original caption read, "high-fiving that horse all the way up the mountain".




#love4haiti,

Nick et al.

Shots

Hello to my blogging followers (I know there are thousands of you flocking to soak up every word),

My name is Billy Rison and I am a senior here at The College. The picture to the left is of my brother and I dancing... I'm on the right. I am an American Studies major and I heard about the WM Haiti Compact Trip through our lovely trip leader Kylee Ponder. Next year I will be teaching Elementary Special Education in New Orleans through Teach For America. Traveling to Haiti was something I wanted to do because I am in the class "Haiti and the US". I focus on ethnic minorities and their personal experience in the US within my American Studies major, and traveling to Haiti would allow me to experience would be a broader understanding of US and Haiti relations. I am looking forward to the personal experience I will have with the Haitians, not only in helping them with basic needs that affect their everyday lives, but also because they will help me understand our broader impact on Caribbean countries. Haiti is rich in culture and I'm excited to learn from it.

In preparation for our trip to Haiti, I have had to learn about all of the fun and exciting diseases we have the opportunity of contracting while in Haiti. Before Thanksgiving Break I was stuck like a pin cushion to prevent Typhoid and Hepatitis A. One shot in each arm. I could hardly feel each needle, but later in the day it felt like a starting lineman from our football team had punched both arms. I soon got over the soreness, but it made me think a little more about why it was necessary to get all of these shots to visit a country that is a next door neighbor of ours. A country ravaged by natural disaster, both earthquake and hurricanes, extreme poverty, political strife, and little medical help has left the country vulnerable to diseases easily controlled in the US. It really makes me think how silly it is for me to be worried about what I'm getting friends and family for Christmas or how I haven't seen the latest Twilight movie (I got jokes). In all seriousness, though, I anticipate an eye opening trip in which I will experience extreme poverty and inequality. I am ready to help, and to spread the word after the trip. We have a little over a month until go time.

Best,

Billy Rison

allow me to reintroduce myself.

i wrote this on thanksgiving - yet neglected to post it! so here's one of our first (billy beat me to it!) blogs with our new team!

here it is - thanksgiving day in my hometown. i'm nursing a large cup of coffee, bundled up in a sweater, and waiting for my mom to get ready so that the two of us can tackle the southern feast that lies ahead of us to prepare for the next hours ahead. and although it's hard to believe that it's thanksgiving, it's even harder to believe that we depart for haiti in THIRTY EIGHT days. wow. when did that happen? we're so excited to head back, but i figured i'd post a little introduction post so that you as a follower get to know the type of people that are going with us to port-au-prince and limonade in january. hopefully, there will be more posts to follow this - as katie & i decided we'd make our team members write blog posts in the upcoming weeks to help facilitate some discussion and excitement about everything that is to come. so....allowme to introduce the 2011-2012 william & mary haiti compact team to you!

kylee - kPr - co-leader of the william & mary haiti compact, kylee was brought in to help brian (the original leader) in september of 2010 and works primarily with organizing communication with ICC, one of our community partners. kylee enjoys monograms, diet sundrop, crying because she's graduating so soon and she's not okay with it at all, being a

hot mess, telling stories, singing a cappella, tridelta,

beatboxing, and sending cracked-out e-mails.

katie - the other co-leader of the haiti compact, is in charge of all communication with gabrielle vincent, our contact with sonje ayiti (our second community partner), as well as organizing creole lesson. a fluent speaker of french, katie trolls websites to check the news for haiti and has been a wonderful source of information forour w&m haiti compact team. katie enjoys buying women's cargo pants from the maternity section in target, francophone culture, giggling, and working at the rec (okay, so maybe she doesn't exactly enjoy the whole working at the rec part, just the hanging out with friends at the rec part).

melody - melody is the associate director of the william & mary office of community engagement and we are more than thrilled to have her expertise and her as a member of the william & mary haiti compact. she enjoys babies, weighing babies, playing with babies, taking care of babies, her nephew (who is a baby), doing the double skinny arm, and did we mention it? babies. did we mention she also actually got to weigh a baby when we were in port-au-prince in may? because she did...

nick's hair is getting longer and longer by the day - and we all know what that means - that dreads like djaloki's must be coming soon. and we're excited about it. nick is a valued member of the w&m haiti compact team and often brings his love for the environment and wisdom to team meetings. when not getting excited to travel to port-au-prince, you can find nick longboarding throughout life, painting murals, working at the blue talon bistro (go visit him & grab some mac n' cheese), or having a love for music (except not country).

timmy - timmy, also known as "the mute," is a wonderful addition to our william & mary haiti compact team. he pioneers our fundraising efforts. when not getting excited for the haiti compact, you can find timmy being involved in every other organization on campus, from being an RA to leading branch out regional service trips to expressing his excitement for owning a john boat. timmy also tries as hard as possible to make other people on our haiti compact team the scapegoats so that it won't have to be him.

now that we've re-introduced our old team members - let's introduce our new ones. the four wonderful new team members that we cannot WAIT to take with us to haiti in january (btw - our trip is from the 2nd to the 12th).

hannah - we love hannah, despite the fact that she's from new jersey (JUST kidding) and are excited about all that she has to offer the william & mary haiti compact team as a sophomore. when hannah's not coming to haiti compact meetings, you might find her getting ready to apply to the ed school, hanging out with her sorority sisters in k∆, or loving lilly pulitzer.

brian - brian is also a new addition to the team and we love nothing more than his enthusiasm for learning everything he possibly can about haiti. brian got involved with the haiti compact by working with katie at the rec, and clearllllly by seeing how wonderful she was, he decided he just had to apply to be a member of our team. when brian's not being bff's with katie, he spends his time at the rec, helping organize the red cross blood drives that take place at william & mary, or hanging out with his brothers in ∆x.

billy - billy's a little bit of a late bloomer, and by that, we mean that he decided to be a member of the haiti compact as a senior - which we LOVE because it means that we get to hang out with him. he wins the award for being the first member to write a blogpost from here as well as being the only team member that is a twin. #winning. besides being a twin, billy works in the admissions office with kylee (he's SO lucky, right?), is on the end of his time as president of beta theta pi, and gives a rousing karaoke rendition of "deep inside of you" by third eye blind.

taylor - taylor seems to not be special because he doesn't have a facebook...and is a new team member. which means that i don't have any sort of picture to provide for him. maybe that's to his benefit (JUST kidding, everyone). taylor is great & is so excited to head to haiti with us in january not only because of his family connections to haiti, but also because he's using his expertise in business to help us in creating a business plan for sonje ayiti. taylor's sassy, sarcastic, and loves singing selena gomez in the shower - what could be better than that?

lots and lots of haiti love -

kylee (and the rest of the haiti compact team)

Lessons Learned

Since the Haiti Compact's exploratory trip in June 2010, I have developed a post-AB practice: after every alternative break I go on, I compile a list of things I've learned. This way, when I get back and people say "How was your trip?," I have something more substantial to respond than, "Um, it was great!" Summing up an AB experience can be difficult, and sharing what you learn is one way to do it while extending the knowledge to others.

Here's my list from this year's Haiti Compact trip:

1) Haiti is recovering, physically. There is much less rubble than a year ago, and very few signs that the earthquake has happened. (Frequently we discussed what was the effect of the earthquake and what was the effect of long-term poverty.)

2) Still, true recovery, or health in a holistic way, is a long way off. Tent camps still exist, and were being destroyed while we were there - but people living there had nowhere else to go. Poverty, unemployment are still very widespread. Much of this was the case before the earthquake, and has been heightened because of the earthquake. People have hopes for their new President, Martelly, but it's unclear how long the honeymoon will last. The announcement of Martelly's pick for the new Prime Minister - Daniel Rouzier (since rejected by Parliament) - led to widespread disappointment and upset.

3) People are going about their daily business, showing resilience. There is also recognition by health workers with whom we spoke that there is a great need for mental health care to address post-trauma issues.

4) Relationships are important above all, and returning to Haiti year after year not only builds relationships but builds credibility. We as US Americans must value relationships because we have something to learn from Haitians.

5) Basic infrastructure (electricity, water) is very hard to come by in areas even just outside cities. We saw this in Cap Haitien and in an area just outside Port-au-Prince. The expense, difficulty of access, and most of all the lack of political will to make it happen, are all prohibitive.

6) Education is deeply important, and accessible only to the luckiest/most wealthy. Lack of access = lack of opportunity.

I continue to process what I learned in Haiti even today, 32 days after returning. We invite your thoughts and comments in the continued conversation and will look forward to adding to our posts as we recruit our new team members and get back in full-time planning mode in the Fall!