On our way to the airport to drop off my parents, my mom asked what I’ll be working on when I go back to work (as of last Wednesday we are in the office again after a somewhat lengthy Christmas vacation). I realize that we tend to blog more about our playtime than we do our jobs. Though it may seem that our lives in Haiti are all beaches, kittens and gardening, we actually spend most of our time here trying to do something like this with them.
It’s not as easy to write interesting posts full of pretty pictures on our work (which often feels vague and unmeasurable) as it is on a hike in the mountains or a great pot of soup on New Years day. If we mostly talked about our jobs, you probably wouldn’t still be reading this blog. (That said, you might not want to continue reading this post).
Nevertheless, I am still enjoying my new job. I feel that as a foreigner working in Haiti, advocacy is one of the most appropriate things I can be doing. I’m working for MCC’s North American advocacy offices on projects mostly related to immigration, food sovereignty and militarization; working in various capacities with KPL (also hopefully getting around to updating their blog sometime), with Defi Miche (the Micah Challenge campaign in Haiti) on an advocacy campaign to encourage voter turnout and engage election candidates in debates surrounding the Millenium Development Goals, PAPDA (Haitian Platform to Advocate Alternative Development) on an urban gardening and youth advocacy training project, SKDE (Christian Center for Integrated Development) on a curriculum for teaching social justice, human rights and advocacy in their seminary; working with our Connecting Peoples Facilitator to plan and receive learning tours; and working on a few projects of my own. At some point in the year, I’ll visit MCC’s advocacy offices in Washington D.C. and Ottawa and will possibly meet with legislators in both places to act as a voice for our Haitian partners on the effects of American and Canadian policy. Basically, I have a lot to do, even more to learn and am honored to be able to work with so many dynamic, local organizations.
Due to working in the field + illness + vacation, Ben has been absent from the blogosphere for awhile. Now that he’s fully recovered, he’s planning to go to North Carolina soon to spend some time with his sister Martha. According to him, what he’s been doing work-wise recently is neither exciting nor interesting. He’ll write about it when something happens that is worthy of putting on the world wide web.
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