Although many lack formal education, most of the farmers I have met are a proud reminder that our world has plenty of brilliant people with minimal education, and highly educated half-wits. In this reflection, I would just like to share some of the surprising, pleasing, and humorous anecdotes and information I have received while doing… more →
Author Archive for Chris Hornsby
trip logs
The Estime Empire
What is the “story” of Haiti? In part, this is the story I have come to hear, to look for, and to learn from. I have written about my own “stories”, as they shape my reality, but there are bigger stories too, that whole cultures and nations tell themselves. One of these is the official… more →
trip logs
Seeking Shelter
As I was sitting down on the porch of our house in Mirebalais to write this blog, the afternoon rains slowly began to creep in. Dark clouds loomed off in the distance and were soon above us. It began raining in the mountains first, and a thick carpet of water made its way towards the… more →
trip logs
Emerging from the Sewanee Fog
Reflecting on the events of the first week back in Haiti, several things have occurred to me, on which I wish to focus throughout the next few blog posts. I found the metaphor in the title to be perfectly fitting for this week, which was an acclimation full of surprisingly disorienting and difficult situations. The… more →
trip logs, Zanmi Agrikol, Zanmi Kafe
Humid Greetings
My plane landed in the late afternoon heat in Haiti, and as I walked off the plane on to the tarmac, the warm, wet Haitian air rushed up to greet me. The following evening and day have been full of greetings with friends I have not seen in a year. The first face was of… more →
Uncategorized
Nearing the Return
Following are some of the thoughts bouncing around my head as I prepare for my second summer in Haiti. Close to a year has passed since I left Mirebalais in July last summer, and a year has been spent in reflection and preparation for this summer. The days are slipping by and I feel, at… more →
trip logs
The Story of a Landscape
(Photo Courtesy of Dr. Alyssa Summers) Along one of our last trips up to Bois Jolie, I paused with Jean Francique, an agronomist in his late twenties who worked with us throughout the summer, to take in a sweeping view of the L’Artibonite Valley. I commented to him that I thought his country was very… more →
trip logs
Breaking Bread with the Haitian Mountains
Photo courtesy of Dr. Alyssa Summers I have felt myself hit a wall, which cannot be breached, a mountain, which cannot be scaled. This obstruction forms before me as soon as the words slip out of my mother’s, father’s, friend’s mouths, as they ask me, “How was Haiti?”. “It was good”, is my first response,… more →
trip logs, Uncategorized
Looking Through the Window
A majority of the traveling we have done in Haiti has been in vans provided by one of our partner schools, CFFL, and near the end of my internship, after many hours in these vans, I began to notice a peculiar affect arising from this mode of transport. We drive around in a sealed… more →
trip logs
Mache
Photo Courtesy of Dr. Alyssa Summers “Mache Mache!” Shouted a young boy who passed me among the hubbub of the Thursday Mirebalais market.The buzzing energy of his exclamation matched the general frantic of the market, and I imagine he could sense the overwhelming sensations I was experiencing as a blan in the Haitian markets. The… more →