Bonita's blog

When looking at photos of the oil spill in the Gulf, I felt flooded with despair, sadness and hopelessness; the well-being of the Earth, the water, the people and animals are so deeply precious to me.  When I consider the quantity of oil pouring out, I fear sometimes that the gulf between our actions and what we value is too wide.  Yet today, connecting continually with the Earth, I feel more peaceful, calm, trusting.  

Deep breath...  Changing cycles, changing flows...  On Wednesday, at another camp, we TRANSFORMED A SMALL PATCH OF MOUNTAINSIDE COVERED IN GARBAGE INTO A COMPOST AND VEGETABLE GARDEN IN ABOUT THREE HOURS. We were about 20-30 people. MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK! 

It is so clear to me in Haiti how interconnected all of these things are. So many of these issues are connected in self-perpetuating cycles...

Approximately 98% of Haiti has been deforested (connected to farming cash crops and collecting wood for cooking fuel) = less transpiration from trees = less rain = farmers have more difficulty farming = some farming families can't grow enough for themselves to eat (25% of farmers in one study said they have to buy food all the time). Deforestation also = loss of top soil due to erosion = even more difficulty farming.

In French, the verbs for crying (pleurer) and raining (pleuvoir) seem pretty close - je pleure (I'm crying) and il pleut (it's raining). I've also often wondered why the weather is preceded by "il" (he) and not "elle" (she). A few weeks before our trip, I started using the verb pleuvoir, saying "je pleut", when I cry. I thought this was kind of a quirky thing to say, the kind of mistake an anglophone would make - I'm raining :) - and I found it fun and silly, turning my tears into smiles.