Imagine This...

First and foremost, I want to thank these wonderful contributors to my fundraiser:

Alison Christie and Thomson Terry
Maria Rider
Mary Lalime & Ed Mueller

So far I've raised $560.00.  I'm 1/4 of the way there.

I'm reaching out to friends, family and my community for financial support. My goal is $2,000. 

Any extra will be put towards filling luggage with school supplies, medical supplies and clothes for the children at http://wingsofrefugehaiti.com/..

Donation Amount                                    Incentives

$25 & under                                            Handwritten thank you
$50                                                           Homemade friendship bracelet & thank you
$100                                                         Haitian momento & thank you
$250 & above                                          Hand chosen art piece from Haiti & thank you

*All donators will be recognized on the blog. (unless otherwise noted)

Imagine this:

Aboriginales of Haiti living a simple life, eating sweet potatos, a root called "manioc" and corn.  Imagine this culture with industrialization, before it's time, of axes for carving out boats, making pottery and fishing.  Imagine a people that are leisurely, have fun and joyously, assuredly sing songs.  These were the natives to Haiti that are no longer there.

 Sadly the Spanish worked the natives so hard, digging gold mines and for other precious riches.  The Haitians weren't accustomed to this type of work and they died by the thousands. Resulting in their exterminated by "Columbus and the first wave of European explorers" around 1492.

Much has happened since then, slaves from Africa were brought to Haiti to work for the French in order to farm and harvest the sugar fields and work in the factories.  To this day the forests have been almost eradicated, leaving horrid growing conditions, with continued soil layers eroding into the sea.  Their planting methods are ancient, and the irrigation system is swallowed up by on-going erosion. 

With a population of 7,000,000 people living in 11,000 square miles.  That's approx. 650 people  per square mile. It's impossible to grow enough food for the entire population.  Some immigrate to other countries to make money to send home; the rest have sparse meals, maybe one meal every other day.  

The more I talk, read and learn about Haiti, I'm realizing the more I know about Haiti's past the better equipped I will be.  

My resources: Voodoo in Haiti by Dr. Andre Louis,  http://www.pih.org/pages/ihsj-issue-haiti