When I got the email about Will’s vision I was interested!  I wanted to go!  Then I really got to thinking about the logistics of it all.  Whoa.  It was 5 days away from my family and kids.  It was right in the middle of November and a holiday (Veteran’s Day) weekend when I’m usually super busy with portrait sessions.  It was my first international trip and I would need to get my a passport…and shots!  So many things totally freaked me out right away.  But thankfully the desire to want to do this was greater.  I pitched it to Bart and he said I should go.  I took a deep breath and committed.

I blocked off my calendar and prayed it would all be okay.  My kids were excited about it and we got to talk a lot about what I might see and do.  Over the course of a couple of weeks other photographers and support persons committed and we had a team.  It was made up of three photographers (Nick Drollette, Billy Pope, and myself), a videographer (Will), a sign language interpreter (Josh Brewer), a team leader (Butch McPherson), and a wonderful administrative assistant  (Diane Klaaren).  We met a few times to try to figure out how to accomplish our mission with all the obstacles before us.  What equipment would we take?  Where would we set up?  What are the conditions like? Would the people be interested in doing this?  Will we have enough time?  So many questions.  I was so nervous.  Like I said from the start God’s hand was in this the entire time.  Due to baggage limitations we decided to keep our equipment light and just use what we could find when we got there as far as backdrops.  We were just going to have to go with an “environmental” approach.

Being that the trip was so quick many of us had to scramble to find the necessary funding to make it happen.  Knowing that time was already limited for sessions I didn’t know how I was going to be able to increase my business enough to make up for the additional funds.  Again God pulled me through.  Client orders came in and some were larger than expected that helped tremendously.  YOU, my friends and family, helped me more than you know bring it all together.  I just want to thank you for being the blessing to me so I could pay it forward and be a vessel for God!  I am so incredibly grateful for your support.

L to R, F to B: Butch McPherson, Josh Brewer, Will Adams, Billy Pope, Me, Nick Drollette, Kyle Reschke, Diane Klaaren, Tompei (our driver)

Thankfully travel was pretty uneventful.  The team bonded immediately and we had such a wonderful time together.  I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much!  We arrived in Haiti and the culture shock was pretty immediate.  So much debris from the earthquake was still everywhere – two years later.  Many many people living in such a small area.  Resources of every kind including basic necessities are at a premium.  It was evident that it is a daily struggle to survive.  The average family lives on less than $5 a day and with so many people in the area to support work is sometimes hard to find.  Huge tent cities are everywhere.  The road are in horrible condition.  It took us 30 minutes or so to get from the airport to the children’s home compound where we stayed and it was just a few miles very near the airport.  It just breaks your heart to see it all.  But you know what?  The people are smiling – they are friendly – they are appreciative of every little thing they do have.  You can see this immediately everywhere and it warms your heart.  It really makes you re-evaluate yourself and what you have.

So after settling in at the compound we drove out to the deaf community for the first time.  It is an extremely rough ride to get there.  Traffic is insane and there are no traffic laws!  Josh came up with a good description of it – “Driving in Haiti is like walking down a crowded hallway where everyone is trying to get somewhere as fast as they can – lots of dodging and weaving around folks.” Everyone had to sit in the front seat at least once to truly experience it!  Wow.  So after passing many tent cities and makeshift housing we pull into the fenced deaf community and I was immediately struck by how NICE it was.  American Red Cross had come in several months prior and built these one room temporary houses (known as T-houses).  They were small but so much nicer than the tents we had seen.  Each one was painted a bright cheerful color.  There was lots of room for the children to run and play.  It was a breath of fresh air.  But danger was very near.  Just outside the gate and across the street is one of the most dangerous and worst slums in the western hemisphere known as Cite Soliel.  Google it.   From the moment we pulled into the community and the children saw Kyle they came running.  They love to see the new teams come visit each month.  We were greeted by tons of children, hugging us, laughing, wanting us to play with them.  It was amazing.  Of course the first thing we were all doing was immediately checking out the location and where we were going to do these portraits we had come so far for.  Just as we got out of the truck there stood before us a huge white tent enclosed on three sides with beautiful light streaming through!!  It was just put donated by UMCOR only about a month prior for them to use for meetings and classroom space.  IT WAS PERFECT!!  The entire team just stood there with our mouths open.  Thank you God!

The leaders of the community met with us and gave us some history of the place and took us on a tour.  The entire time the children were jumping all around us.  They loved seeing their picture on the back of our camera and would yell “Photo! Photo!” and pose for us.  Many of the children are hearing and speak Kreyol.  Their parents are typically deaf as a result of illness over the years.  Kyle has learned quite a bit of Kreyol during his short time here and translated for us.  Josh was our incredible sign language interpreter.  He did an amazing job helping us communicate!

After we made new friends the word got out that we were going to start taking pictures and the families started to come.  We saw them rush home and change everyone into their “Sunday best” and came with huge smiles on their faces.  After we took the picture it was so neat to see their response when we showed them the image on the back of the camera.  They lit up immediately and signed “Thank you! Thank you!” over and over.  We told them how beautiful they were and we loved them.  Such an amazing experience.

The next two days were the same and in the end we did over 120 portraits.  God’s hands continued to be on this project as our next challenge when we returned home was to find affordable framing and to get it here with a super quick turnaround.  A wonderful team of volunteers showed up to help us frame and package them all for travel with just two days to spare before the return trip.

Because of the holidays the airlines had a restriction on boxes coming into Haiti.  All 120 of the frames had to be packed in duffle bags (limited to 10 to avoid high baggage charges since there were only 5 people returning) and meeting regular luggage requirements!  AAAHHHH!!  Logistics of this was a nightmare but we finally figured out in the end how to make it happen.  Thankfully the frames made it through baggage claim unbroken – which is truly another miracle to be told in this whole project!  A team of leaders returned to Haiti just last week to deliver the framed portraits.  Dorothy Thompson went along and documented the distribution.  Here’s a short video showing the families receiving their portraits.

I am happy to report that this week the first set of 50 families are moving to a new home in a nearby area called Leveque just outside of Port Au Prince.  It will offer permanent housing, top schools for the children, and a safer environment to raise their families.  It is so exciting to see all that is happening for this community!  Follow Kyle’s blog – http://kyleinhaiti.com/ – for all the latest!

I can’t thank you enough for all your support through this project.  I knew from the start I would be blessed far more than those receiving our services and I can say that is definitely the case.  I have a new love for these people and want to help them in any way I can.  I hope and look forward to returning to see my friends in the coming year.  I can’t wait to teach Katelyn sign language and make a return trip back with her in the future.  She needs to be 10 so it will be a few years.  I encourage you and will help support you if you would like to go as well!  Frazer is planning 12 more trips in 2012 (one a month) so there are lots of opportunities.  You don’t need a particular skill – just a willingness to go and help love on these people!  Let me know if you would like more information.

Here are a few more images from the trip (images by Lori, Nick, & Billy):

So needless to say I couldn’t wait to get back and hold her in my arms.  Here she is at 13 days – so fresh and new!

And every month after that Aunt Lori was back to capture her growth every step of the way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL!

Check back tomorrow for the wrap up post on her monthly photo sessions!

Look at them now!  All excited for their big first birthday party very soon!  It’s a sock monkey party and they are going to have so much fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS!!