The purpose of this blog.

A Re-Cap -

When I started this blog a few months ago, my intention was to write about my seven day trip to Haiti that I would be embarking on with some amazing women from Colorado including my sister, Angel.  Their goal was to share their "gently, worn shoes" that had been collected with Soles for Souls with the children of Haiit as well as beautiful hand made clothes and lovingly created home made baby dolls. My personal goal was to see what types of technology existed for children and then go back home to Florida, write about it and possibly use the information for preliminary dissertation work. Well, once again, God works in mysterious ways, because in less than two months, I find myself back here in Haiti for a one year committment (maybe even longer) as Director of Technology at a private school just outside Port-au-Prince; and I couldn't be happier.(Although I am already missing a few very important people in my life - but it's only a year, right?)

So, for the next "year", this blog will cover my experiences - good and bad, in Haiti.  I will talk about the people that I meet, the children that I will be working with and the culture of this beautiful country and I will not forget the reason that I visited here a month ago, which was (and still is) to try to understand how children on one side of the country can have access to a great education and "state of the art" technology while in other parts of Haiti, children don't even have a pair of shoes let alone, a computer. My goal is to see how I can help change that.

Afterthoughts

So, after an amazing and incredible trip to several places in Haiti, Angel and I arrived home a few days earlier than the rest of the group.  Haiti is a beautiful country and her people are diverse, courageous and have incredible stamina to endure their unchosen lifestyle. 

Back at work, everyone at NSU has asked me how I felt about the trip and my response has been, “I am still processing it”.  Two weeks later, I am just beginning to understand the profound conditions that I witnessed especially in the area that is dear to my heart, which is technology and education. I am still trying to comprehend how children on one side of the country can have a completely different academic experience from the other.  

During the week that I was there, I met people from all lifestyles.  I visited with Haitian people who lived, worked, and slept in the same spot on the street during the day and night. In contrast, I was invited to have tours and meals with the movers and shakers of Haiti who were building hospitals and schools. Once again, the diversity of situational lifestyles was immense to me. 

Throughout this experience, I realized that there are many opportunities for anyone who wants to help those less fortunate and they don't have to fly to Haiti to find it. Most likely, it is in their own neighborhood and in their own backyard.  

One door opens . . .

I love the saying, "When one door closes, another one opens" because that is exactly what happened tonight. The past few weeks, I was becoming very concerned that I seem to have lost contact with the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) folks that we were hoping to visit in Haiti.  This was not the purpose of our mission but since we were going to be the area where I was hoping to interview teachers and students about the OLPC deployment, I didn't want to waste an opportunity to learn more about the program.  However, after initial contact with these guys, they seem to have fallen off the planet, (so to speak) but no worries now!  As of this evening, I found out that one of my current NSU professors, Dr. Mary Clisbee is working one hour north of Port-au-Prince (PAP) setting up a new school and we will be very close the entire week!  I'm so thrilled to be able to have "my" professor literally down the street!   How perfect is that?

God works in mysterious ways!  Haiti, here we come!

Sawing Logs

My sister, Angel was given her immunizations & survival advice for our Haiti trip, yesterday in Denver.  The survival guide covered items such as emergency tips, DEET mosquito nets, and many other things.  She then emailed me the required itemized list of what I will need before departing Ft. Lauderdale. I have to say that I am not looking forward to my doctor visit tomorrow since I do not like needles.  She did save me fifty bucks however.  Since she decided to proceed with her shots before I did, she was able to tell me what I needed instead of me going to Passport Health and paying a $50.00 consult fee for the same information. Thanks sista!


Even though she gave me some great information and saved me a bit of money, I'm not so sure I believe everything on her email because the last item on my survival list was "snore strips".  I think she may be trying to tell me something.  

  

Preparing for Haiti

Hi everyone! 

The Lehman Family at Disney

Me at Ormond Beach, FL 

This will be a quick run down of the goal of this blog. My sister, Angel Lehman and I will be headed to Haiti for a mission trip in early June with some of her friends from Denver, CO.  While visiting there, I will have an opportunity to visit a school where a few of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiatives have been deployed. My goal for this trip is to find out what type of dissertation research I can conduct (in the future) regarding Mobile Technology aka M-Learning which are being deployed in developing countries throughout the world. My mission in Haiti and in my life is to work with, educate and play with children of all ages.  My passion is to make sure that they all know that they are loved!