Raising Little Spirits

Sad

Throughout my life, I have found myself dealing with some heavy shit.  I’d love to possess a more eloquent  phrase than that description, but sometimes it’s just easier to say it like it is.

I would count our experience trying to adopt from Haiti as the MOST heavy, although it consumed the least amount of space on the “heavy shit”  timeline.  It remains alarming to me to think that something that should have been so meaningful could leave such an acrid taste in my mouth. (more…)

Tags: adoption, emotions, healing, journey

Semiversary

Six months ago today I sat with my children in front of the television weeping.  What else could we do in the moment as we watched their birth country crumbling before our eyes?  Or in the days that followed?

Eventually, we found a few things we could do to help.  We donated money to organizations helping in Haiti in lieu of gifts to friends and family.  We organized and administered a supply drive for the orphanage where our children stayed just before coming home;  then drove the supplies to an air cargo company in Florida, who flew them to Haiti.  The kids raised a small amount of funds by selling their art.  We prayed and drummed and prayed some more.

Now, after six months, I am sure Haiti could use just as much aid as they needed six hours after the earthquake.  Here are a few ideas and projects that I think deserve some attention:

Gibbs’ “Hippo” water roller project is bringing water “hippos” to Haiti.

Doctors Without Borders is administering healthcare in tent hospitals.

Partners in Health is breaking ground on world class teaching hospital in Haiti.

Free the Slaves is mobilizing emergency child protection and trafficking-prevention programs.

CHOOSE HAITI is working to create jobs in Haiti by building demand for Haitian-made products and services.

I am sure their are many more projects out there worthy of mention.  I would love to hear about them!

Tags: earthquake, healing, media

Interviews

I am looking for people to interview who fit the following criteria:

1. teens/adults who joined their families through adoption
2. parents with children (of any age) who joined their families through adoption
AND
1. are raising/were raised in their birth religious tradition (that is different from their adoptive parents’ tradition)
2. are raising/were raised in their adoptive parents’ tradition (that is different from their birth tradition)

Crossroads

A while ago, a commenter on this blog mentioned that she has explained to her daughter that their practice of Vodou needs to be a “family secret”.  I completely understand this decision.  It is very scary to consider the vitriolic responses that people have towards religions outside of Christianity, much less those that aren’t usually even on the common person’s ecclesiastical radar. (more…)

Tags: faith, journey, lwa, ritual

Lakou

Tags: faith, lakou, lwa, prayers, ritual, worship

Legacy

My daughter, “O”, just emerged from her bedroom wearing a wide, bright orange headband, holding back her bouquet of gorgeous, narrow locks.  Her dimples practically sparkle when she pulls her hair away from her face, revealing a dream-like glimpse of the face her birthmother stored somewhere beneath all her deep lines of poverty and oppression.

She glows, our daughter, this child I share with the soul of Haiti.  Every inch of her long, sinewy legs, the same ones our first pediatrician said might never straighten after Rickets, reveal her strong, swift ancestry. (more…)

Race

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Tags: race

Anthropologist

National Geographic currently has an article about Vodou from an anthropologist’s perspective.  It’s a worthwhile, quick read.

Laws

Newser posted an interesting, albeit brief, story about the rapid progression of child abandonment in Haiti post-earthquake.  It’s almost absurd to use the term “abandonment” here because “abandonment” implies choice.  It hardly seems like the parents leaving their baby at a hospital door are making the choice to do so.  There comes a time in abject poverty when one is stripped of such luxuries as choice and opportunity. (more…)

Tags: adoption, fundamentalism, misconceptions

Memories

"O" the first day I saw her in person.

In honor of my daughter’s tenth birthday, I am re-publishing here an article about homeschooling “O” that I wrote a couple of years ago.

Ruminations of a Nerd-cum-mother-of-a-jock

I am a nerd and a bookworm.  I confess that one of the things I love about parenting is the mountains of literature on the subject.  That I live in a world where I can attach an academic imperative to anything that interests me is at once comforting and slightly erotic.   My husband is my technological equivalent.   He finds computer code romantic.  When we decided to learn at home with our children, we envisioned our relaxed, studious children snuggling serenely with us while reading the theology of Miguez Bonino or programming software. Of course, we publicly preached, we would certainly honor their particular learning styles and needs no matter how different they might be than our more sedentary styles.  That was the core of our educational philosophy, the axis of our decision to home educate: each child would be free to explore their personal gifts, flourish within their individual learning styles, choose their unique paths to brilliance.   Secretly, we mused that two people who consistently failed the Presidential Fitness Challenge in elementary school would surely never raise highly energetic, physical kids, and so we would certainly never have to step outside of our comfort zones for this particular lifestyle.

Then we met our daughter. (more…)

Tags: adoption, emotions