Tag: Language

How to describe your experience in Haiti to friends, colleagues and family (Who’ve never been there)

January 8, 2015

People want easy answers, bite sized portions of all the complexities that make a country what it is, and so when they ask you about your trip to Haiti, most people are looking for something along the lines of:  It was great!  We got all this work done and now the community is better off! … More How to describe your experience in Haiti to friends, colleagues and family (Who’ve never been there)

Celebrating the Holidays in Haiti: New Year’s Day

January 2, 2015

For Haiti, January 1st as a day for celebration dates all the way back to 1804 when Jean Jacques Dessalines officially declared Haiti an independent nation. Now, year after year, Haitian families continue to usher in the New Year with a heightened sense of national pride as they gather together to celebrate their freedom and independence. … More Celebrating the Holidays in Haiti: New Year’s Day

Celebrating the Holidays in Haiti: Christmas Traditions

December 27, 2014

This Christmas season we gathered together with some of our Haitian friends now living in the states; their collective recollections gave us a glimpse of what Christmas looked like for them as children growing up in Haiti. It was exciting to watch as they became increasingly animated, sharing stories of the Reveyons that lasted all night, games … More Celebrating the Holidays in Haiti: Christmas Traditions

What we take and what we leave behind. (Photography in Haiti Part 6/6)

December 11, 2014

We know that the members of this community go to Haiti to “do good”, but for those of you who have been to Haiti before, you already know that good will is barely the first step. Partnering with communities in Haiti and working for a better future for the country is a grueling process of … More What we take and what we leave behind. (Photography in Haiti Part 6/6)

Subject matter: Who’s on the other end of your camera? (Photography Part 5/6)

December 4, 2014

Who’s on the other end of your camera? Cameras and photography continue to represent tricky terrain; how should we react to the people in front of our cameras? Please don’t forget that these people are so much more than the subject of your photo. People care about how they’re represented, both in the U.S. and in … More Subject matter: Who’s on the other end of your camera? (Photography Part 5/6)

Photography in Haiti: The Stories We Tell (Photography Part 1/6)

October 23, 2014

After our talk with Elizabeth Turnbull and our discussion on storytelling in Haiti, I started to wonder, how do we tell stories? And then, how do I tell stories? It turned into a pretty slippery slope, so bear with me. As my siblings and I grew up we filled close to a dozen photo albums. … More Photography in Haiti: The Stories We Tell (Photography Part 1/6)

Interview with Children’s Author Elizabeth Turnbull

October 16, 2014

What inspired to you to begin the Janjak & Freda series? I noticed that there aren’t many children’s books about Haiti, and there are even fewer that are accessible to Haitian children in Kreyol. Most books published are in French, and I really wanted children in Haiti to have the opportunity to read a book … More Interview with Children’s Author Elizabeth Turnbull

Getting the Job Done

October 2, 2014

One of the biggest cultural adjustments that most Americans experience when visiting Haiti is schedule.  “We’ll leave at 2” or “We’ll meet at 5” or “Church starts at 8” don’t mean quite the same thing in Haiti as they do in the U.S. Haitian culture tends to treat time with a greater sense of fluidity, … More Getting the Job Done