HEF

Throwbackkkk-- HEFalump & Woozle, Spring Break '07 :)

One of my best and most precious friends, Miss Hannah Elizabeth Ferrell, is headed back to Jacmel with me this coming Wednesday! A Haiti first-timer, she has taken leave from her job and will be spending the next three months helping me jump start our new women and girls initiatives. I am beside myself with excitement about this! Hannah and I have been friends since high school, and she has walked me through a lot of ups and downs in life. Her presence has a calming effect on me.. it is going to be goooooood to have her around everyday. She has a very natural and infectious interest in and understanding for people from every walk of life, is a great soccer player (something that is bound to earn her brownie points in Haiti!), has amazing artistic talent, and is absolutely hilarious in a uniquely immature and somehow still brilliantly understated way. She has a lot to offer, and I am really looking forward to having her as my partner!

Beginning this past January, I have been serving as Deputy Director for a start-up nonprofit in Jacmel called The Haiti Initiative (THI). Founded in response to January's earthquake and operational since March 2010, The Haiti Initiative, formalized under the name 'Social Tap,' is a voluntary relief project undertaking an asset-based approach to evaluate community needs and provide lifeline resources to disaster victims. THI secures resources and distributes aid in collaboration with established Haitian NGOs, identified local community leaders, and skilled professional volunteers, in an effort to empower the local community and promote sustainable development. (THI's website, http://www.socialtap.org/, is currently under contruction and anticipated to launch this in the coming week. If interested in learning more, please check back soon.)

My involvement with THI over the course of the past four months has taught me a great deal about the challenges and rewards, the costs and benefits, and the barriers and opportunities that make up the messy, often difficult and unrelenting, day-in and day-out of relief and development work. There are certain things that a person, no matter how much they prepare, cannot know and understand until experiencing them for themselves-- and for me, this Haiti experience has been one of them. I am, with each day that passes and in ways that I could never have forseen, growing in my depth of love, passion and knowledge of the needs of Haiti and her people, as well as for the field of development work. I am also growing in knowledge of myself: learning my limits- whether internally or externally imposed- while at the same time growing in confidence and wisdom when it comes to the approaches and methods by which I am able to best utilize the skills, gifts and interests that God has given me to most effectively impact the environment in which I currently live and work.

Many of you will know that my heart and passion have long been to serve as an advocate for and minister to the needs of women and children-- particularly girls-- to whom the world and society have largely turned a blind eye, or, in more cruel instances, a purposefully opressive hand. In Haiti, women and girls have long been living in a state of emergency: In a nation where 80% of the population is unemployed and 76% live on less than $2 per day, 1 in 90 women die in childbirth, and 7 of 10 women report being victims of domestic and sexual violence. In the wake of the 2010 earthquake such previously existing problems have been compounded, resulting in already vulnerable populations being put at even greater risk. Single mothers, homeless or displaced women and girls, domestic and sexual violence survivors, former sex workers and prostituted women, and female ex-offenders are populations in particular need of support.

Knowing this, my next year of work in Haiti (I am committed to staying at this time until atleast May 2012) will focus primarily on assisting, largely as an independent agent, in the development of THI's "Core Areas" of Human Rights and Domestic Violence. In collaboration with this organization and with the support of other like-minded agencies and individuals, I will be be working to develop and expand the following projects: Girl's Empowerment through Sports and Art in camps for displaced persons; local outreach through Hospitality and Community Building; Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Survior Support; creating Opportunities for Economic Empowerment through trade education, business planning training, and the creation of Cash for Work and microenterprise options; and finally, a Women's Prison nutrition, sanitation and medical outreach.

Currently, I am in the States, seeking partners who are willing to join me either in prayer or financial partnership as I move forward into this next phase of work in Haiti. While I have been recieving a small stipend for time spent assiting with volunteer hosting at THI, currently, the organization as a whole is operated on a voluntary basis so as to be able to commit as much funding as possible to ground initiatives rather than to operational costs. For this reason, it is necessary for me to secure my own personal funding for housing, travel, and monthly expenses for the coming year.

During the course of the last nine months, I have been blessed to be surrounded with a community of supporters, friends and partners from countries all around the world whom I have had the opportunity to witness again and again make the choice to believe in and invest thier own money, prayers, and other resources into the work that is happening in Haiti. God has used the generosity and displays of compassionate love demonstrated by my friends, family, and even complete strangers-- some of whom have now become cherished friends-- in incrediby powerful ways to keep me encouraged and teach me perserverence by keeping ever before me the knowledge of His perfect timing and provision when things have gotten difficult. If you are able and feel led to do so, I invite you to join in partnership with me. To be added to my list of prayer partners, to find out how you can become a monthly financial partner, or to get more detailed information and updates on the projects that I am working on and other ways that you can become involved, please email me at mary.hooke@gmail.com or call US (919) 360-3899. For one time gifts, click on the paypal button immediately below.

If you are interested in setting up a meeting or a speaking engagement with your church, classroom community or other small group, I would love to have the opportunity to come speak with you as well. Just shoot me an email or give me a call!

Thank you for your consideration and for your interest in partnering with me to support the people and nation of Haiti!

Un/Re/Packing

Now with just over a week ahead of me before I set foot in Port-au-Prince, Haiti for the first time, I am scrambling to get everything that I don't need for the next few months into storage and to re-pack the things that I will need in the most minimalist but functional way possible. Typically, I am one who tends to overpack, and yet still somehow fail to be prepared with the things that I need the most-- which might very well make me the worst kind of traveller. Fortunately, though, this time I have been provided with a detailed packing list and a plethora of advice from those already on the ground on what to bring and (just as important) what not to bring.

I expect that the reality of Haiti's current situation will throw into sharp relief the materialism and greed in my own heart, and I can't help but wonder as I pack how I am later going to feel about all of this time and energy spent on choosing, and often purchasing, the "right things" to take along. For now, I feel that I am being practical, but I do wonder how my perspective on what is practical or necessary will change after spending some time in Haiti.

*A small snapshot of a few of the "essentials" that I am carrying with me to Haiti:*

Prayer book: Laminated so as to remain durable during the Haitian rainy season (thanks to my kindergarten teacher friend!), and signed by all of the ladies in my women's group from Korea, this book is filled with hand-written messages to remind me that our God is infinitely great and loving, and that He never leaves us alone, not even for a minute; that even in our moments of greatest loneliness and despair, He is never far away. Along with this gift, the ladies also gifted me a signed tie die t-shirt, so that I can keep a reminder of their love wrapped closely around my heart anytime I feel the need. These items are precious to me.

-Antimalarials and mosquito nets: These items are also precious to me, for very different reasons. Remaining healthy and able to work will be a constant prayer of mine over the next three months. Outbreaks of malaria, dengue fever, and other diseases have been growing steadily in the wake of the quake, and with the slow pace of reconstruction and the onslought of the rainy season, it does not seem likely that this trend will be changing anytime soon. In taking the necessary precautions and with the knowledge of my friends' and family's prayers for protection behind me, however, I feel comfortable that I am not taking any unneccesary risks.


-Hiking boots, a cot, and a raincoat: What do these three items have in common? They are all essentials to surving the oft-referenced Hatian rainy season, of which the country will reach it's peak during my stay. You've probably heard by now that this hurricane season is slated to potentially be among the most severe in recent history. With an estimated 1.3 million persons displaced and living in conditions that leave them extremely vulnerable to the elements, even a smaller storm could potentially have devastating consequences. I hope that you will join me in vigilantly praying against this, because another destructive natural disaster is really the last thing that Haiti needs or is prepared to tolerate right now.


-Clothing and vitamin donations from The Summit: This coming Sunday my home church campus is holding a donation drive for my trip to Haiti. I wrote a short post for the Summit West Club Campus blog to announce my trip, and have been asked by the campus pastor there to continue to write updates throughout my time in Haiti. The community at that particular campus has expressed a desire to cover my trip in prayer, and will be setting aside time at the end of each service this Sunday to pray for me and the work in which I'll be participating. I am so blessed and challenged by the generous display of Christ's love that I have experienced in my church, even after being away for so long. And even more beautiful is the fact that I will be able to take the Summit's donations with me to Haiti in my luggage thanks to funds provided by members of my church family in Korea to cover the excess baggage fees. I have been doubly blessed to have found such wonderful community in two distant parts of the world who are each so willing to care for me even when I am physically separated from them by countries, continents and months at a time. I am excited to share their love and care with the people of Haiti.


- Messages from Korean Children: In my final weeks of leading summer camps at Choji Middle school, I showed my students a video of Haiti, and I talked with them about my trip and what I plan to do while I am there. I then gave them the opportunity to respond by writing or drawing notes to convey messages of solidarity with the the children of Haiti, which I plan to hand deliver to the kids that I will be working with.

In yellow: "I hope your country will heal soon and grow strong."

COMING HOME!

A big part of living life in another country is learning to deal with being separated-- by distance, and even time-- from so many of the people that you care about. This struggle becomes especially potent at times when you know that your loved ones are facing particularly difficult challenges in their lives. In response to these times, God has used this year to stretch my faith and trust in His love and provision for the people that I care for... and it has truly been a blessing, but it has definitely not always been easy.

It is mainly for this reason that I am very thankful to be able to come back home about five days earlier than I had originally planned-- this TUESDAY July 27th. Time is precious, and valuable, so I am really looking forward to having those extra days to spend time with my family and close friends. While I have grown to really love and appreciate Skype-- and even believe that Skype relationships and distance can in many ways grow and strengthen the bonds between people in unique ways-- I have always greatly valued physical presence and sought it out if at all possible. Whether we are celebrating, fighting, comforting or mourning, if I can be physically present with a person I care for, I want to be. Even if it is 2 a.m. and I need to drive an hour to get to them. Body language, touch and eye contact are powerful communicators for me, and they are ones that I can't wait to share (oh-so-soon!) with the people at home that I love most!

I have a post in mind to say farewell to my first year in Korea-- because I'm going to miss this place a lot!-- but I will have to save it for a little later. I will be without internet access from now until the time that I leave, so this will be the last that you hear from me until I am stateside!!!

With LOTS of love and EXCITEMENT,

Mary

Sweet tea, pecan pie and homemade wine

"In the South, the breeze blows softer...neighbors are friendlier, nosier, and more talkative. (By contrast with the Yankee, the Southerner never uses one word when ten or twenty will do)...This is a different place. Our way of thinking is different, as are our ways of seeing, laughing, singing, eating, meeting and parting. Our walk is different, as the old song goes, our talk and our names. Nothing about us is quite the same as in the country to the north and west."
--Charles Kuralt in "Southerners: Portrait of a People"

"All I can say is that there's a sweetness here, a Southern sweetness, that makes sweet music... If I had to tell somebody who had never been to the South, who had never heard of soul music, what it was, I'd just have to tell them that it's music from the heart, from the pulse, from the innermost feeling. That's my soul; that's how I sing. And that's the South."
--Al Green

This week, as I begin the process of preparing for the trip back home, I am finding myself getting downright giddy-- not at the thought of being back in the United States, but at the thought of being back in the South. This sentiment has come as a surprise to many of my friends here, who don't necessarily view me as a very stereotypically southern kind of girl. And truthfully, the extent of my longing for the South has come as a bit of a surprise to me as well.

But southern culture is COMFORT to me. Its what I associate with a sense of HOME. And there is nothing like travel to bring that appreciation and sense of belonging to light. Southern summers have grown idyllic in my memory. Nights spent under the stars on Carolina beaches, country music concerts on the lawn at Walnut Creek, barn parties, family reunions, and barbecues (the kind where you smoke a whole pig and gather everyone you know to help you eat it)-- where cold beer, smiles, and slow conversation are always available in plenty... my heart feels at home there.

My grandparents are currently in the process of putting all of their old home videos onto DVD. They recently sent me footage of the first few years of my life in a care package, and it brought back a lot of sweet memories. When he was younger, my granddaddy built a houseboat by hand, and I grew up spending the majority of my summers doing back flips off its front porch. In a movie of my life, this Craig Morgan song could easily serve as the theme song for my childhood summers.

During the month that I have at home, I have planned to cram in as many of these kinds of uniquely and stereotypically southern activities as I possibly can. These plans include a trip to the Andy Griffith museum in Mount Airy (aka Mayberry) and a Zac Brown Band concert. I only really know one of their songs well, but could any song be more southern than this one?

"What can be more Southern than to obsess about being Southern?"
--Elizabeth Fortson Arroyo

PLANS!!

After MUCH debate, a few complications, and a flight change, I have finally set firm dates for my plans in the upcoming months. I can't say for sure that these won't change, but at this point I certainly don't intend for them to!

THE PLAN:

July 31st- Aug. 11th HOME!!
Aug. 12th(ish)-15th GEORGIA
Aug.15th- 22nd Back in Durham/Chapel Hill for a week
Aug. 23rd- 27th CHARLESTON
Aug. 28th-31st St. Petersburg, FL with my parents and brother
Aug. 31st Arrive and get settled into my compound in HAITI!!
Sept. 1st Volunteer orientation
Sept. 2nd- Nov. 27th Work in the IDP camps
Nov. 28th Back home in time to spend the holidays with my family

There is not a single part of the plan that I am not literally jumping-out-of-my-chair excited about! I'm beside myself with gratitude to my beautiful family and friends for your continual prayers and support-- I can't wait to see many of you *very* soon!!

Inarticulate...

It is in my nature to search for answers-- to always strive to make sense out of things; to find meaning in paradox. But sometimes-- often times-- I can't. And right now, as I look forward to my trip to Haiti and as I delve deeper in my knowledge of both the spirit and the suffering of the people there, I feel that inability perhaps as acutely as I ever have in my life. I am living in a kind of in between world-- knowing that I am about to experience something in which I will certainly be changed, knowing that my heart is necessarily already being given to people I have never met, and yet remaining committed to my day to day life in the here and now. And each time I sit to write about the tangle of anticipation, fears, hopes, sadness, uncertainty, sureness of purpose, burdens and blessings that all seem to somehow move together fluidly through my spirit during this time of preparation, words fail me.

In many ways music has been a lifeline for me through this time. One song in particular has given me rest by articulating what I feel I cannot. Its lyrics are unafraid of paradox, of ellipses, of the unanswered. And when I feel incapable of doing it myself, this song speaks the turmoil of my heart out into the world, and speaks the turmoil of the world into my heart.



Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief,
And graft my soul upon your grief.

Oh my God.

HAITI: Art for Change

The following is an email I received from the president of GVN, the organization through whom I will be traveling to Haiti in August. I read it and felt compelled to share.

Dear Mary,

The devastation that occurred in Haiti touched every one of us and I think we have all dealt with the pain and sadness in our own way. From volunteering to fundraising to prayers, each of us are giving what we can. Today I would like to introduce you to Kelsey Montague, a remarkable young woman who is helping in the best way she knows how - through her art. Kelsey has created a series of Haiti pen and ink drawings exclusively for GVN Foundation. Her unique work incorporates 'drawings within drawings', giving each print multiple meanings, emotions and perspectives. The drawings were inspired by both the plight of the Haitian people and by their indomitable spirit.

"After the news broke about the earthquake, and the immense loss and suffering of the Haitian people, I felt a terrible sense of helplessness. I wanted to contribute in any way that I could, and the most natural way for me was through art," says Kelsey.

"I was incredibly fortunate to travel to Haiti and to see the fortitude of a people who have lost so much but have such a will to recover and try to re-build their lives. I was most struck by the beauty and kindness of the Haitian people. On our last day in Port-au-Prince, after a gruelling 10-hour day, we were meeting with a group of GVN volunteers when the camp leader leaned over to tell me that some of the Haitian women who were cooks in the compound had rushed to prepare a meal for us. Even though we had only been there an hour, they had managed to put together a feast. These women had endured so much loss, and yet they wanted to share with us. I was both humbled and inspired by their generosity.

"It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the situation in Haiti because the needs are so great, but this is exactly why we must get involved. When a nation of people has lost everything, even the smallest gesture is a great gift. Every effort, no matter how large or small, will have an impact, whether through donations, volunteering or spreading the word and encouraging friends and family to get involved," says Kelsey.

The common theme running throughout Kelsey's drawings is the message of hope for a people who have endured so much, yet have such strength, passion and faith in the future. Please show your support by sharing her artwork with your friends and family or by purchasing one of the drawings which will give the gift of hope to so many. 50% of the sale price of each print will go directly to the Haiti Relief Fund. [The other 50% goes directly to the artist.]

HAITI - ART FOR CHANGE: http://www.gvnfoundation.org/programs/art_for_change/


With gratitude,

Colin Salisbury
Founder and President

Global Volunteer Network
http://www.globalvolunteernetwork.org

HAITI

There is not a single person I know who was not rocked by the news of Haiti's January 12th earthquake.


As updates about the extent of the devastation in Haiti filtered out to the world, we were all overcome with heavy hearts for the people of that nation. The horrifying images and stories that emerged were made all the more heart wrenching knowing that the poverty and destitution left in the earthquake's wake was not a far cry from the kind of abject poverty in which many Haitians have long been living. And despite the fact that the news about Haiti has begun to fade into the background of our world's media consciousness, this burden on the hearts of the world community to meet the needs of the Haitian people persists.

In response, I have decided to take a few months off from Korea to go to Haiti and offer what I can to the relief efforts there. I have secured a volunteer position working with internally displaced women, children and youth living in camps Pinchinat and Kay Wolf near Jacmel. I am scheduled to begin work this coming September.

If all proceeds as planned, I will be coming home from Korea at the beginning of August to prepare for my trip. I will leave for Port-au-Prince on August 30th and begin working September 1st at the IDP camp. I hope to save and raise enough money to be able to stay in Haiti for at least 3 months. I then plan to return to South Korea in January 2011.

As we all well know, Haiti cannot currently afford the cost of hosting the many volunteer workers that they so desperately need, so it is going to cost over $4000 out of pocket to make this trip possible. Though this amount looms large alongside its July 1st deadline, I am confident that through hard work, pinching every penny, and the generosity of others, this goal is achievable.

If you are able and feel moved to do so, I invite you to partner with me by offering your financial support. Even if you can only give a dollar or two, every little bit goes a long way, and by working together in this we can each play a small but vital part in helping the people and nation of Haiti to regain their strength, health and security. (Please contact me at mary.hooke@gmail.com if you are interested in giving or learning more-- Or click on the button below to make a secure donation through PayPal.)

I have spoken to many friends and family members who would LOVE nothing more than to be able to go themselves and offer support and aid in response to this crisis, but who for various reasons have ties that prevent them from being able to pick up and leave home for months at a time. I realize that I have been given a HUGE gift in the degree of freedom and flexibility available to me right now, and I want to honor you all, as well as our world community, by making good use of that gift.

To those who have been reading this blog for the last 9 months, I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for following along with me on my journey so far. The support of my friends and family has meant the world to me throughout my time overseas, and I want to let you know, in case you didn't already, just how much I value your thoughts, prayers, letters, care packages, and emails. Knowing that you are there for me and that you still go out of your way to show me that I am loved despite the distance between us has meant more than you will ever know. You have inspired me to continue the adventure and, more importantly, to take the love that you give and pay it forward.

8 Months!

This upcoming weekend marks the 8 month anniversary of my arrival in the ROK.

EIGHT MONTHS!!!

It is wild to me that it has already been so long. It is even wilder that the time until my contract is up is suddenly looking so *short.* 4 months is really no time at all.

As I have begun to realize that decisions are soon going to have to be made and have started to give a lot of thought to just what those should be, there are only two things that I have been able to conclude with any sense of certainty;

1. God has a good and perfect plan for my life.

2. I will drive myself crazy if I try to figure out exactly what that plan is.

So, rather than try to figure it out, I have resolved that I will simply go along with it. Uncertainty is what brought me to Korea in the first place, and my time here has proven to be a literal God-send. I doubt I've made it clear through my blog just how much perspective I have gained and how much I have grown up since being in Korea, but, believe me, it has been happening. And the knowledge that, despite my own best efforts, I ended up where God wanted me to be, is truth that I am holding onto tightly as I navigate through a very muddled pool of intentions, desires, and job applications in looking towards my next step.

Updates to come as I figure out just what that step will be....