The Dangers of the Single Story

One of my goals with this ministry is to simply "Tell the Stories." There are so many stories I can tell about this ministry...stories about God's great provision, about His love for people, Haitian families transformed, Haitian culture, and the list goes on. There isn't one single story I want to tell. There are many stories. In this interesting TED Talks video, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, warns about the dangers of "The Single Story." Although she speaks primarily about Nigeria, the same can be said about Haiti or any other country.

Here's a few important remarks she made:

(5:05) My roommate had a single story of Africa. A single story of catastrophe. In this single story, there is no possibility of Africans being similar to her in any way. No possibilities of feelings more complex than pity. No possibility of a connection as human equals.

(9:35) So that's how to create a single story. Show a people as one thing, and only one thing, over and over again and that is what they become.

(13:22) The single story creates stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they aren't true, it's that they are incomplete.

(14:00) The consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of their dignity and makes recognition of our equal humanity difficult.

I hope this website gives you a glimpse into some of the other stories about Haiti and the Haitian people. If you do have a single story about Haiti, and many Americans do, I hope you will take a few minutes to check out the video gallery to watch even more stories, because there are dangers of the single story.

God is Faithful

I just received some exciting news this week from Diana. God has been faithful, and has answered our prayers about where to house the sewing program. He has provided us with two rooms in a building that will be perfect for this ministry. We've also found two sewing teachers for the program! Thank you Lord for your faithfulness! Deuteronomy 7:9 (NIV)

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."

More details to come!

Learning Haitian Creole

At the end of my 8th grade year we selected foreign language classes for our freshman year. Spanish would have been a good choice, and something I could have used on a daily basis, but instead I signed up for French. My friends were taking it and we all thought it would be fun to learn the "Language of Love." Well I survived four years of French in high school, and if you were in class with me, then you know that "survived" is an accurate description. To put it plainly, I wasn't very good - probably the worst in the class my senior year.

As if four years wasn't enough, I decided to take another three semesters in college to fulfill my foreign language requirement. I did much better in college - straight As. I even briefly considered minoring in French (ha, very briefly).

Little did I know that years later all of those French classes would help me with learning Haitian Creole, which is based largely on French, with influences from various West African languages. It has been one of Haiti's official languages, along with French, since 1961.

I've been studying Haitian Creole periodically since my trip in 2012. I thought I'd share a few of the resources I use. Learning just a few words can dramatically change your experience. I'd encourage anyone traveling to Haiti to at least watch the video above and try to pick up a few words to use while you're there.

HaitiHub - Online Haitian Creole courses

Sweet Coconuts Blog - Free resource and learning site for learning Haitian Creole

byki - Haitian Creole mobile app

Creole Made Easy Book -  A simple introduction to Haitian Creole for English speaking people