As I look up at the star filled sky, it continues to get harder for me to say goodbye to this place Friendships, the bond they have all given me with such grace. I have felt like my best self here Thank you, team, for being supportive so I could surmount my fears. You all… more →
Our trip is winding down and I am faced with the aching in my heart that always accompanies leaving something that you love. I have learned so much about this country and culture, photography, and myself in these past five weeks that that I can hardly imagine what going back to the States will be… more →
Today marks the last day of field work during our visit in Haiti. The occasion was celebrated in Bois Jolie with a kombit, a large feast with all of the farming families, the agronomists from CFFL, and our Sewanee group. As I sat there with my heaping plate of rice and beans, exhausted from just… more →
This last week has been the last full week here at Haiti and has been slow for me personally, but readying for the last trip which I feel fully prepared for now. Sunday evening I became pretty sick with a gut infection and as such decided to not make the journey to Bois Jolis, after… more →
In only five days, I will be leaving Haiti, and I am uncertain when I might next return. After spending a portion of my last three summers here, two spring breaks, and a planning trip this past spring, I am ending my sixth visit to this place. While it is possible that I may come… more →
The Zanmi Foto program is run by two CFFL graduates, Fontaine Thony and Joseph Monclair. They were involved in the Zanmi Foto training lead by Pradip Malde, Brook Irvine, and Chandler Sowden in 2014 and volunteered to continue working with the program as leaders. Thony volunteered to “continue to work together, for development.” And Monclair… more →
Food has always been the commodity in my life that has helped me acquire knowledge about another person’s culture. I have always witnessed the sense of pride from others and within myself to talk about our cultural food platters. There is that strong sense of connection when you realize that the person can describe their… more →
“You’re from America? What did people tell you about Haiti before you came? What do you think of Haiti now?” We were at the beach on Saturday when I was accosted with these questions, though it was not the first time Haitians had approached me to ask about preconceived notions of Haiti. In these moments,… more →
“In Harmony with Haiti,” Zanmi Agrikol’s fund-raiser this year, was held on June 1st at the Wyche Center Peace Pavilion in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. It was an idyllic summer setting for the event that featured a five piece band and an authentically prepared Haitian meal. There were approximately two hundred people in attendance. (Pictured… more →
This trip is coming to an end scarily fast. The almost now 4 weeks that have passed have been busy. Between working, making new friends and attempting to absorb the culture of another country that is so close to the US yet so different time feels absurd. One of the conclusions that I reached is… more →