to Haiti with love: messages of hope
photos by Renee Dietrich
A pathway is a clear and safe place to put your feet. A pathway leads you to a clear and safe place to rest, to eat, to hope. To find conversation, community, love.
It's felt that way this week, hasn't it? We found something we could give, something we could do.
All of us did.
Thank you to every artist who offered pieces of souls. You shared creative words and visions and stories and those intimate moments that ring like a bell as we peer behind layers of glass and click.
That's how this felt, these past days. Click. Natural and sensible and fortuitous. We posed the possibility and you all went click. Sculptors and knitters and painters and poets and teachers and mentors and mothers and fathers and friends.
We soaked up the vividness, the spark, the hospitality of all of you.
Thank you to every bidder, especially those who added exclamation points. You made us smile. You made Peter and the family at Broken Wings smile, and their American friends at Hearts with Haiti. And in turn, you made the kids of St. Joseph's smile. You came back once and twice and back again, mining for more, watching your favourites.
We loved the enthusiasm of all of you.
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photos by Renee Dietrich
As I write this, the people of St. Joseph's find their new path. They're clearing and planning and feeding and rebuilding, safe and settled in temporary shelter. Surrounding them on all fronts is loss and yet there is still friendship, and spirit. There was art here. There was music, and drumming, and dancing. There will be again.
Messages are getting through as well as hope. What do you wish for them? What made you donate? What made you bid? How did you feel when you first heard the news?
What is your hope for Haiti?
Canadians may donate directly to the St. Joseph's family through Broken Wings, here -- Americans, through Hearts with Haiti, here.
kate inglis | 14 Comments
Reader Comments (14)
Beautiful, beautiful words Kate. It was fantastic to see his take shape and launch and fly. Harnessing the real power of the internet.
Thank you Kate and Rene for all the hard work you have done to pull this together and thank you to all who have responded. You have given us an opportunity to do something concrete collectively, for the most vulnerable in Haiti, and resulted in more than any of us could have done alone.
I usually can't watch footage of disasters like the one that hit Haiti. I carry the images around with me forever. See? I still see a little boy washing in a tin bucket. Someone is pouring cold water over him from a plastic bottle. And then there is the little girl who was crushed by rubble; she was wrapped in blankets on a cot in a makeshift hospital. Her parents died, and no one knew her name. Or the boy that was hit with a piece of cement from a fight that broke out among the looters. And I only watched 30 minutes of CNN. The urge to rescue one (or more) of these children is raw. I keep hearing about the texts you can send to the American Red Cross. You can donate $10 with one text. It's not much. I realize it's something, but it's not much. I emailed Kate at the end of last week looking for a photo on the auction site that I tagged with my heart. It was taken by Heather Wolf Turner and it was of a dirt road set against green grass and a snow covered hillside. I fell in love with it. So when I heard that Heather withdrew her photos, I set my heart on Telluride, mostly for selfish reasons. We live in a gray dome here in Vermont and we ski on vertical ice rinks. We watch as cities like Philadelphia and Washington D.C. get three feet of snow. We feel slighted and long for the sun and blue skies of Colorado, where we took up residence as ski bums for two years. Selfish or not, we were excited that our money would go straight to the children. And we get a vacation away from the kids to boot. My hope for Haiti? That like a writer, who sometimes writes a better draft the second time around, they get to build it stronger and better....for the children's sake.
Thanks to all who made this on line auction possible. It's an awesome idea. And I'll let everyone know the week we're in Telluride. I hope you'll come swim in the powder with me.
Thank you, thank you! This is a wonder thing you did.
As a girl, I grew up in a South Florida neighborhood that included a large number of Haitian immigrants. Some of my favorite childhood memories include playmates who knew little English and yet we could play for hours on end. They were always singing and always smiling, and I joined chorus with them even though I am still to this day off-key.
I have rarely known such beautiful and always optimistic souls. :)
I know Haiti will rise above this tragedy and I am so grateful that the entire world is doing their part to help.
My hope for Haiti is love, health, love, strength, love, nourishment and...love.
What a wonderful, generous outpouring of love from all involved! I am delighted to be involved and will continue to be inspired by the work of this group of individuals, and that of Broken Wings in Haiti.
Peace to all. Isn't it amazing how creative love can be?
I'm struggling to find words, perhaps because it's late in the day, but also because the previous commenters have expressed the thoughts & feelings in my own heart.
I just now read St. Francis's words in the right sidebar. Yes, that's my wish/prayer for Haiti - that through this auction we have sown faith, hope, light & joy.
Thanks & blessings to all who have been part of To Haiti with Love.
You two, plus all the artists that donated, are a marvel. Thanks for allowing us to participate in hope (and get beautiful things).
I'm speechless--and that doesn't happen often--except to say thank you. Thank you, Kate & René, for your amazing work and inspiring vision. Thank you, my fellow artists, for giving such beautiful pieces of yourselves. Thank you, bidders, for helping us raise the grandest of grand totals. Thank you, St. Joseph's, for giving us a channel through which to pump our energies and our efforts and our help and our hope. Thank you, everyone, for shouting from the rooftops, and twittertops, and facebooktops, and elsewhere. And lastly, thank you all so very much for the opportunity to participate. I am thrilled to be sending a few of my little books out to their new homes today, and I hope that each of you, whether sending or receiving, will always remember what we all helped to do this week.
Every little bit counts; let's never forget that.
Enough sap... HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND!!! ;)
erin a.
paperina
you know what i hope? i hope they all find something to smile about soon, whether it is for clean food and water, a soft place to rest, a hug or handshake, but some reason to smile. and then i hope from there, all things grow in strength, grow and become stable and healthy and that the reasons for smiles multiply and multiply. the words and the pictures brought me here. the idea that a few of my dollars could have a direct and profound effect on these children made me bid, made me not really care what the last bid was (though I am so totally glad i have a print to look at in the future).
Doctors without Borders contacted me about going...as a physical therapist. First instinct....I could do this. Second, after looking at my boys, I could not do this....but at least I can do this, help this way. And maybe if and when the need arises, maybe then I can do that.
To the children and staff at St. Joseph's - please know that we are all cheering for you. You have taught us all a lot about what courage and love look like this week. Thank you, friends.
Frandy and Walnes - when things get better, keep on painting. The world needs your art.
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