On Friday we got to visit a SUPER cool place and I got to see where Tara Thorn works. For Brookview's December team members, she was our translator in the deaf community. She is now working for a group called Rebuild Globally. You should check out their website, www.rebuildglobally.org. They make flip flops out of recycled tires! Their programs gives meaningful employment to quite a few women and some super cool stuff is happening there.
Some of you may know that last summer I had bracelets made in Haiti for a leadership camp that I'm a part of in the summer time. The photo above is of Stanley. He is a teenage boy who lives on the streets of Port Au Prince. He is using the money he's earning from the bracelets he made to go to school. I brought a bunch of supplies with me in December to have someone make the bracelets and Stanley scrapped my stuff and came up with his own design. They are AMAZING!!!!! I can't wait to bring them to camp with me.
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Saturday night we got to attend a Haitian wedding. For those of you who were with us on the December trip for Women's Training, the groom was Mannue (sounds like Mono) who translated for us in the deaf community and at We Advance. What an experience! The wedding was supposed to start at 4:00 pm. We didn't arrive until 5:15 pm and we were the first ones there. While we were sweating our brains out, it had to have been over 100*'s in there, the wedding photographer came up to me and noticing my camera on the floor figured he could ask me some advice on why his camera didn't seem to be working. It appeared that the flash wasn't working anymore, and before I knew it, I was dubbed the wedding photographer. He would take video, I would take photos. WHAT?!?!?!?!? It was a blast! I got a five minute lesson on how to take pictures that he liked, how to frame them correctly and then was left to fight my way through every wedding guest who had a camera with them. It was CRAZY. I think one of the highlights of the night was the kiss. They took about five minutes to wipe all the sweat off of each other's faces and at that time a sizable crowd had gathered up front to capture the moment on video and/or photo. The official wedding photographer gave me a stern look, like, "You've got this, right?" And I had to elbow my way to the front, plant my feet wide so I wouldn't get knocked over and aggressively announce, "Eskise Mwen" (excuse me) and throw my elbows around to declare my space. I did the best I could given my brief training and the fact that it was almost completely dark. The wedding officiant was reading things by cell phone light! I only have two photos of the wedding and they are terrible, because I quickly took a picture to be able to put on the blog. I was using the photographers memory card for the night and gave it to him when we left the reception. I WISH I HAD MORE PHOTOS TO SHOW YOU!!!! I think you would have love seeing everything.
The 4:00 pm wedding actually started at 6:30!
Here is the beautiful wedding cake from the reception
The happy couple and their flower girl and wedding princess (not a position we have at our weddings). I know the grooms eyes are closed, but my camera battery went dead right after this photo!
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