I went down the lane this morning wearing a light jacket. Sadie, my Gordon Setter side-kick was ecstatic as usual, as I let her out of her pen to go with me. She went off looking for birds, and I sauntered down to the mailbox, watching the finches fly from their new-found source of nourishment--the wild sunflowers along the driveway. I retrieved the paper from the mailbox and headed back towards the house. Sadie, happy to be loose, was still across the field out of sight. Along the fence line I saw a bunch of birds who revealed themselves as beautiful Eastern bluebirds. I stopped to admire their colors and thought "how lucky can one man be?"
I glanced at the newspaper and then thought of tropical storm Noel. The contrast of the lives of the Haitians and Dominicans against my life is almost too much to contemplate. So, as I usually do, and so do most of us, I headed back to the house without another thought of them, and prepared my breakfast, read the paper and drank coffee.
This evening I read the latest reports about Noel. Fifty-two people are dead in the DR, another two dozen in Haiti. Kids washed away from their parents arms who couldn't hold all of their children at once. Can you contemplate this?
Guess I'll go watch CSI New York.
Not sure where this leaves me, but I had nightmares again last night, all related to Haiti. I'm sure tonight will be worse. God, at least know that I am trying to do something about it. Ron Voss is on his way, but is probably sleeping in some corner in the Miami airport, waiting for clearance to fly in to Haiti. He'll do more there in his month there than I could do in a year because he has lived with them, understands them, and has the networking ability to mobilize some resources. He'll also work his ass off for them.
I tried to talk Jamie Johnson into having our "choir" sing for some local Protestant churches in the hopes that they would donate a "collection" for our ministry there. He said he simply doesn't have time for that, but that it is a good idea. Maybe I'll do it alone. They'll pay me to stop singing, probably.
Sorry for sharing my down time.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
2nd and 3rd meetings
I've been a little remiss in posting after last week's meeting, and it's already the day after yesterday's meeting with the Haiti group.
We got to know one another a little more in the first meeting at Pam's house--played a game of lies and truth which brought out some interesting things.
We have been instructed to send letters requesting donations to St. Francis for the Haiti trip. I really, really hate to do this. It was reiterated yesterday and some have already sent things off. We discussed ideas for fund-raising, including Bingo and dances dinners and crafts. There are so many other activities and solicitations going on at St. Francis, and there are some restrictions on what types of activities are permitted there it seems quite difficult to use the Newman Center for much of this. It was suggested that the Knights of Columbus might be able to serve as the site for some of these items.
My own thoughts for raising funds are, first, to simply donate the money. I don't really want anyone paying for my airfare anyways--I can handle it. Second, I can make lots of arts/crafts objects for sale at the Auction in February. Some of the segmented bowls should easily bring in over $100 each. Crosses and some holy water fonts for the home were one of my thoughts. The fonts could be made with tropical woods, some rare, some laminated, some carefully sawed and joined, some for walls, some for tables, some out of wood with the bark or cambium layer still showing, etc. I'll start making some of the segmented bowls soon.
Third, I have already received permission to post a request for donations on the "Luthierforum," a guitar-making online group, with whom I've been interacting for more than 2 years now. I've met some of them, mostly at our "Build-off" meeting where we judged guitars that were built during the year. Last night my sleep was fitful, and I kept thinking about the trip and the funding. Worried and bothered. Perhaps, I thought, I could enlist the luthiers in the fund-raising process by having them create something--not an instrument because even a dulcimer or uke would be too expensive to auction--but some items many of them "doodle" with in their spare time. A cherry rolling pin comes to mind. Another thing is that they might participate in a "silent auction" (that's not the correct term, but...)in which they would be shown photos of items they might themselves want to bid on. Examples would be Ball State memorabilia such as sports items like footballs, volleyballs, etc. signed by the team members and their coach. I could hold their bid until the auction night. I'm not sure if that would be permitted by the Haiti Core Committee. (?) The luthiers have been a very generous group in the past, and I do expect that something might come of this.
We were given a few words to learn in Kreyol at the meeting. Some of the group have studied French in school, so we have a background that might be helpful. I have at least one song book, some reel-to-reel audio tapes of Kreyol singing at church in the Bahamas, and some audio CDs or tapes for Beginning Kreyol. It was suggested we look at the Lord's prayer in Kreyol. In the Dominican Republic, even though I have learned quite a bit of Spanish, I cannot say the prayer in Spanish well enough to keep up with the congregation. I think I'll make it a duty for myself to learn it in Kreyol. Our year in the Bahamas meant that Mass every Sunday was in English/Kreyol but I can't remember if I had ever learned it then. Well, I can say it in Latin, having memorized that during my altar boy studies as a 8- and 9-year-old in Detroit.
Ron Voss has written back to me a couple of times, providing me with some background on Haiti and the politics involved both in Haiti and in the U.S. All of which puts the burden of the economy on the backs of the poor masses there. It is so unfair! He promises to send more upon his return from Haiti. He leaves this coming Tuesday, if the Tropical Storm Noel allows for travel. The storm threatens heavy rains in Haiti, sure to wipe out large numbers of their homes, shacks on unstable hillsides. Just adding to their woes...
Ron also sent a few phrases. Here's a quotation from yesterday's message:
"Kembe fem...pa lage!!! Hold on....don't let go!! Put that in your dictionary for your trip. Haitians say that a lot as they take leave of one another!!!"
As Father John would say, "So-ooooo," well, that's about where my thoughts are right now. If you read this, feel free to comment or add your own blog. Perhaps, though, you ought to do that on the Haiti Blog. So should I, but this preserves my own sense of independence, while at the same time giving you the link shows my interdependence and need for belonging.
I'm happy to be part of this team!
Jim
We got to know one another a little more in the first meeting at Pam's house--played a game of lies and truth which brought out some interesting things.
We have been instructed to send letters requesting donations to St. Francis for the Haiti trip. I really, really hate to do this. It was reiterated yesterday and some have already sent things off. We discussed ideas for fund-raising, including Bingo and dances dinners and crafts. There are so many other activities and solicitations going on at St. Francis, and there are some restrictions on what types of activities are permitted there it seems quite difficult to use the Newman Center for much of this. It was suggested that the Knights of Columbus might be able to serve as the site for some of these items.
My own thoughts for raising funds are, first, to simply donate the money. I don't really want anyone paying for my airfare anyways--I can handle it. Second, I can make lots of arts/crafts objects for sale at the Auction in February. Some of the segmented bowls should easily bring in over $100 each. Crosses and some holy water fonts for the home were one of my thoughts. The fonts could be made with tropical woods, some rare, some laminated, some carefully sawed and joined, some for walls, some for tables, some out of wood with the bark or cambium layer still showing, etc. I'll start making some of the segmented bowls soon.
Third, I have already received permission to post a request for donations on the "Luthierforum," a guitar-making online group, with whom I've been interacting for more than 2 years now. I've met some of them, mostly at our "Build-off" meeting where we judged guitars that were built during the year. Last night my sleep was fitful, and I kept thinking about the trip and the funding. Worried and bothered. Perhaps, I thought, I could enlist the luthiers in the fund-raising process by having them create something--not an instrument because even a dulcimer or uke would be too expensive to auction--but some items many of them "doodle" with in their spare time. A cherry rolling pin comes to mind. Another thing is that they might participate in a "silent auction" (that's not the correct term, but...)in which they would be shown photos of items they might themselves want to bid on. Examples would be Ball State memorabilia such as sports items like footballs, volleyballs, etc. signed by the team members and their coach. I could hold their bid until the auction night. I'm not sure if that would be permitted by the Haiti Core Committee. (?) The luthiers have been a very generous group in the past, and I do expect that something might come of this.
We were given a few words to learn in Kreyol at the meeting. Some of the group have studied French in school, so we have a background that might be helpful. I have at least one song book, some reel-to-reel audio tapes of Kreyol singing at church in the Bahamas, and some audio CDs or tapes for Beginning Kreyol. It was suggested we look at the Lord's prayer in Kreyol. In the Dominican Republic, even though I have learned quite a bit of Spanish, I cannot say the prayer in Spanish well enough to keep up with the congregation. I think I'll make it a duty for myself to learn it in Kreyol. Our year in the Bahamas meant that Mass every Sunday was in English/Kreyol but I can't remember if I had ever learned it then. Well, I can say it in Latin, having memorized that during my altar boy studies as a 8- and 9-year-old in Detroit.
Ron Voss has written back to me a couple of times, providing me with some background on Haiti and the politics involved both in Haiti and in the U.S. All of which puts the burden of the economy on the backs of the poor masses there. It is so unfair! He promises to send more upon his return from Haiti. He leaves this coming Tuesday, if the Tropical Storm Noel allows for travel. The storm threatens heavy rains in Haiti, sure to wipe out large numbers of their homes, shacks on unstable hillsides. Just adding to their woes...
Ron also sent a few phrases. Here's a quotation from yesterday's message:
"Kembe fem...pa lage!!! Hold on....don't let go!! Put that in your dictionary for your trip. Haitians say that a lot as they take leave of one another!!!"
As Father John would say, "So-ooooo," well, that's about where my thoughts are right now. If you read this, feel free to comment or add your own blog. Perhaps, though, you ought to do that on the Haiti Blog. So should I, but this preserves my own sense of independence, while at the same time giving you the link shows my interdependence and need for belonging.
I'm happy to be part of this team!
Jim
Monday, October 15, 2007
First meeting
Sunday evening we met at the Forgille's. I better not try to write the names of the other 8 people who are going to Haiti as part of the team--it will take me a few weeks to learn everybody's name.
The other people seem like people I will easily get along well with. They all have a dedication and seemingly realistic expectations of the trip, and an ability to handle whatever comes their way. I pray we all will.
It shouldn't have been a surprise, but we are expected to do all we can to raise funds for the trip and for the Haiti mission in general. Perhaps I can make a series of segmented wood turnings (bowls, etc.) that can be auctioned off in February at the annual spaghetti dinner. They should bring a good price. I wish I could build a guitar to be sold, but it would really have to bring a good price to be worth the effort and the materials and would probably be too expensive for that venue.
I plan on corresponding with the "Luthierforum" an online group of guitar makers with whom I've been interacting for about two years. They have taken on some philanthropic ventures in the past, and they might be willing to chip in. We'll see.
So, my growth towards this project is beginning to take form.
The Haitians I worked with in the Bahamas back in the '70s were poor, but even they were able to send most of their money back home. They earned $10 a day--a 10-hour day and lived in make-do shacks on somebody else's land. I enjoyed their company and was able to help lead the singing at the Creole Mass each Sunday.
I learned to sing in Creole, but sometimes rhythm became more important to the Haitians than did the melody. I was left hanging--trying to figure out what key they were singing in. It was often NOT the key we had practiced in!!! The American and Canadian visitors to mass would look at us strangely wondering what was going on musically. I often wondered that also, but enjoyed the wonderful cacaphony that resulted from their (our) enthusiasm.
I'l have to get out my Creole tapes and re-learn some of the basic words and phrases. Jezi Kris leve'.
Ron Voss, a former priest at St. Francis has had extensive experience with the poor in Haiti. Perhaps he can help guide my efforts. I have told him that I'm going there and await his guidance.
The other people seem like people I will easily get along well with. They all have a dedication and seemingly realistic expectations of the trip, and an ability to handle whatever comes their way. I pray we all will.
It shouldn't have been a surprise, but we are expected to do all we can to raise funds for the trip and for the Haiti mission in general. Perhaps I can make a series of segmented wood turnings (bowls, etc.) that can be auctioned off in February at the annual spaghetti dinner. They should bring a good price. I wish I could build a guitar to be sold, but it would really have to bring a good price to be worth the effort and the materials and would probably be too expensive for that venue.
I plan on corresponding with the "Luthierforum" an online group of guitar makers with whom I've been interacting for about two years. They have taken on some philanthropic ventures in the past, and they might be willing to chip in. We'll see.
So, my growth towards this project is beginning to take form.
The Haitians I worked with in the Bahamas back in the '70s were poor, but even they were able to send most of their money back home. They earned $10 a day--a 10-hour day and lived in make-do shacks on somebody else's land. I enjoyed their company and was able to help lead the singing at the Creole Mass each Sunday.
I learned to sing in Creole, but sometimes rhythm became more important to the Haitians than did the melody. I was left hanging--trying to figure out what key they were singing in. It was often NOT the key we had practiced in!!! The American and Canadian visitors to mass would look at us strangely wondering what was going on musically. I often wondered that also, but enjoyed the wonderful cacaphony that resulted from their (our) enthusiasm.
I'l have to get out my Creole tapes and re-learn some of the basic words and phrases. Jezi Kris leve'.
Ron Voss, a former priest at St. Francis has had extensive experience with the poor in Haiti. Perhaps he can help guide my efforts. I have told him that I'm going there and await his guidance.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
I've been accepted to the Haiti Service Team
Today Pam F. called me and told me that I have been accepted to go to Haiti in March with the team. I'm a little surprised, and of course, quite happy. The reason I'm surprised is that they interviewed me on Monday evening and I think I just babbled my way through the process. The second reason is that I would have thought they worried about my age and physical abilities.
The questions were easy but when it came to explaining my spirituality, I was at a loss. How can I help others spiritually? I like to do things, to make things, to be totally involved in a process, particularly a new process. I don't like to talk about spirituality.
Telling that to the committee brought up a curious questions from BJ McKay, who asked "If you weren't able to actively be involved in a hands-on activity, would you feel you had wasted your time?" Or something like that.
Yes, I would feel that I had wasted my time. But he went on to note that we are there to be a real presence of St. Francis to the people and that might be all that is necessary. So I wrote him an email, which I intended to place here, but cannot access my "sent items" folder. I tried to explain that yes, I want to intereact with the people, but I'm never satisfied interacting in a passive situation; that only in sharing in an activity, sharing sweat, labor, problem-solving can people begin to know each other's hearts.
"Teaching is an act of love." I forget the source of that quotation, but I believe it. However, I often told my college students (pre-service and in-service elementary school teachers) that it is not enough to love children and to show them your love. You have to know something, you have to find ways to teach that something in interesting and meaningful ways. That's how you love them.
I fervently hope that there will be opportunities for me to share my labor with the Haitian community in some meaningful ways.
The questions were easy but when it came to explaining my spirituality, I was at a loss. How can I help others spiritually? I like to do things, to make things, to be totally involved in a process, particularly a new process. I don't like to talk about spirituality.
Telling that to the committee brought up a curious questions from BJ McKay, who asked "If you weren't able to actively be involved in a hands-on activity, would you feel you had wasted your time?" Or something like that.
Yes, I would feel that I had wasted my time. But he went on to note that we are there to be a real presence of St. Francis to the people and that might be all that is necessary. So I wrote him an email, which I intended to place here, but cannot access my "sent items" folder. I tried to explain that yes, I want to intereact with the people, but I'm never satisfied interacting in a passive situation; that only in sharing in an activity, sharing sweat, labor, problem-solving can people begin to know each other's hearts.
"Teaching is an act of love." I forget the source of that quotation, but I believe it. However, I often told my college students (pre-service and in-service elementary school teachers) that it is not enough to love children and to show them your love. You have to know something, you have to find ways to teach that something in interesting and meaningful ways. That's how you love them.
I fervently hope that there will be opportunities for me to share my labor with the Haitian community in some meaningful ways.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Haiti Service Team Application
Haiti
St. Francis Newman Center, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47304 has established a twinning program with St. Michael's church in Plaisance, Haiti. For a number of years (I'll put in the dates soon) St. Francis has sent teams of people to St. Michael's. I have been requested by a member of the Service Team organizing committee to submit an application for this year's trip. This is the written part of my application.
1) Explain why you feel called to serve as a member of the Haiti Service Team?
Looking back on my life in teaching it seems it has almost always been a life of service. Most of our 5 children have gone on to similar careers. I have been engaged in activities with the Newman Center since 1968, mostly to do with music groups. I also have served on the Parish Council. In 1974-75, my wife, Audrey, and I and our family of 5 little kids (ages 3-10) took sabbatical and moved to the Bahamas to teach for a year at a Catholic school, which served the local community of Marsh Harbour, Abaco. Many of my 5th grade students there, and virtually all of Audrey’s first grade students, were children of Haitian refugee immigrants. Now that my 38-career as professor of technology at Ball State is over, I find myself pondering the great question of what to do with the remainder of my life. In fact, I’m obsessed by this problem. It is truly a “Passage.”
Obviously, my family is my prime focus—we have 13 grandchildren, all under the age of 12. We have built a nice house in the country with fields of native grasses and wildflowers, a pond with a small beach and lots of fish to catch, a woods and more toys and games outside and in the house than I fear is morally justifiable. I have a woodshop with lots of tools for my own enjoyment where I’ve been making woodturnings, small wood-crafted projects and guitars.
Audrey and I have worked in the Dominican Republic to help out a public school, heavily funded by Fe Y Alegria, in a very poor area in the arid southwest of that country. The principal of the school, Sister Pat Stringer, is a Dominican order nun, with whom we taught in the Bahamas. The work there a “nice fit” for us.
But all of this seems mostly self-serving. I realize that I have more earthly goods than most of the world’s poor. So much more…
Growing up in a single-parent family (our father died when I was 11 and my sister was 7), and living with our poor German-immigrant grandparents, we had little more than the bare necessities. My sister often says, “My friends all said we ‘grew up poor but we didn’t know it.’ but we were poor and we knew it!” She’s right. We were the beneficiaries of a number of charity donations.
So, coming from that kind of background, working and obtaining college degrees, raising children on a fairly meager salary, we now find ourselves in a position of, well, not luxury, but with the ability to eat out frequently, own a new house and car and have enough funds for our family and for some travel. I feel truly blessed, and want to share some of my abilities and time with those less fortunate. Having worked with the Haitian community in the past and in subsequent trips to Abaco, the St. Francis connection with Haiti seems to be another “nice fit.”
2) Why would you make a strong addition to the team?
I am healthy, albeit not as strong as I once was, but still very creative and active. I have carpentry skills, and am able to finish concrete, do some electrical wiring, and can play the guitar and sing (not so much that you’d want to pay to hear it, but adequate for fun with kids). I travel well, relate well with others, and enjoy working and being active. I have lived and worked and visited the Caribbean many times and am comfortable with the climate, the ecology and the living conditions.
In the Dominican Republic, Audrey helps out at the convent and in the school and I have been able to organize and arrange a large amount of donated machinery and tools (sponsored by the French-Catholic Fe Y Alegria organization) so that the school can offer vocational instruction. I’ve also, with the help of some of the older students, constructed tables and tool cabinets, and revised some of the shop’s electrical wiring. I’ve also taught a little bit about computers to some of the teachers at the school.
3) What do you expect to get out of this mission trip? What do you expect to give?
I know the feeling of satisfaction that comes from working with people who are less fortunate—I expect more of the same. Ever since working with the Haitian community in Abaco, I have wanted to visit Haiti, the poorest nation in this hemisphere, and have come close to that with my trips to the Dominican Republic, where I have worked directly with the local population as well as students in the school. I strongly hope to be able to provide some real help with the skills that I have in building construction and carpentry.
Jim Kirkwood
St. Francis Newman Center, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47304 has established a twinning program with St. Michael's church in Plaisance, Haiti. For a number of years (I'll put in the dates soon) St. Francis has sent teams of people to St. Michael's. I have been requested by a member of the Service Team organizing committee to submit an application for this year's trip. This is the written part of my application.
1) Explain why you feel called to serve as a member of the Haiti Service Team?
Looking back on my life in teaching it seems it has almost always been a life of service. Most of our 5 children have gone on to similar careers. I have been engaged in activities with the Newman Center since 1968, mostly to do with music groups. I also have served on the Parish Council. In 1974-75, my wife, Audrey, and I and our family of 5 little kids (ages 3-10) took sabbatical and moved to the Bahamas to teach for a year at a Catholic school, which served the local community of Marsh Harbour, Abaco. Many of my 5th grade students there, and virtually all of Audrey’s first grade students, were children of Haitian refugee immigrants. Now that my 38-career as professor of technology at Ball State is over, I find myself pondering the great question of what to do with the remainder of my life. In fact, I’m obsessed by this problem. It is truly a “Passage.”
Obviously, my family is my prime focus—we have 13 grandchildren, all under the age of 12. We have built a nice house in the country with fields of native grasses and wildflowers, a pond with a small beach and lots of fish to catch, a woods and more toys and games outside and in the house than I fear is morally justifiable. I have a woodshop with lots of tools for my own enjoyment where I’ve been making woodturnings, small wood-crafted projects and guitars.
Audrey and I have worked in the Dominican Republic to help out a public school, heavily funded by Fe Y Alegria, in a very poor area in the arid southwest of that country. The principal of the school, Sister Pat Stringer, is a Dominican order nun, with whom we taught in the Bahamas. The work there a “nice fit” for us.
But all of this seems mostly self-serving. I realize that I have more earthly goods than most of the world’s poor. So much more…
Growing up in a single-parent family (our father died when I was 11 and my sister was 7), and living with our poor German-immigrant grandparents, we had little more than the bare necessities. My sister often says, “My friends all said we ‘grew up poor but we didn’t know it.’ but we were poor and we knew it!” She’s right. We were the beneficiaries of a number of charity donations.
So, coming from that kind of background, working and obtaining college degrees, raising children on a fairly meager salary, we now find ourselves in a position of, well, not luxury, but with the ability to eat out frequently, own a new house and car and have enough funds for our family and for some travel. I feel truly blessed, and want to share some of my abilities and time with those less fortunate. Having worked with the Haitian community in the past and in subsequent trips to Abaco, the St. Francis connection with Haiti seems to be another “nice fit.”
2) Why would you make a strong addition to the team?
I am healthy, albeit not as strong as I once was, but still very creative and active. I have carpentry skills, and am able to finish concrete, do some electrical wiring, and can play the guitar and sing (not so much that you’d want to pay to hear it, but adequate for fun with kids). I travel well, relate well with others, and enjoy working and being active. I have lived and worked and visited the Caribbean many times and am comfortable with the climate, the ecology and the living conditions.
In the Dominican Republic, Audrey helps out at the convent and in the school and I have been able to organize and arrange a large amount of donated machinery and tools (sponsored by the French-Catholic Fe Y Alegria organization) so that the school can offer vocational instruction. I’ve also, with the help of some of the older students, constructed tables and tool cabinets, and revised some of the shop’s electrical wiring. I’ve also taught a little bit about computers to some of the teachers at the school.
3) What do you expect to get out of this mission trip? What do you expect to give?
I know the feeling of satisfaction that comes from working with people who are less fortunate—I expect more of the same. Ever since working with the Haitian community in Abaco, I have wanted to visit Haiti, the poorest nation in this hemisphere, and have come close to that with my trips to the Dominican Republic, where I have worked directly with the local population as well as students in the school. I strongly hope to be able to provide some real help with the skills that I have in building construction and carpentry.
Jim Kirkwood
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
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