Eyes to See

I’ve been so encouraged to see, hear and read about all my friends who are finding ways to help out those in Haiti affected by the recent earthquake. It’s amazing to think of how our “little” contributions may feel like nothing, but together all these “little” contributions can and will make a difference.

I know it can feel overwhelming to think about the various organizations or causes that are working in Haiti, and not knowing what to do or who to give to. But I wanted to share a few things that some of my friends are personally involved with or have shared with me.

[1] Help End Local Poverty (HELP) is selling t-shirts, benefiting Real Hope For Haiti. Taken from the HELP website:

We are partnering with clinic and rescue center called Real Hope For Haiti (www.realhopeforhaiti.org) by selling T-shirts to raise funds for their relief efforts in Haiti. 100% of all proceeds will go directly to Real Hope for Haiti, so they can care for the kids of Haiti.

CLICK HERE to order your shirt!

[2] Benefit Concert in Austin this Monday! All proceeds go to Real Hope For Haiti.

HOPE FOR HAITI BENEFIT CONCERT
Monday, January 18
The Parish – Doors at 6pm – Show at 7pm
$10

T-shirts and prints will also be on sale to raise money for relief efforts.

CLICK HERE to watch a KVUE news interview about the benefit concert.

[3] Craft Hope For Haiti – selling handmade goods, 100% goes to Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.  CLICK HERE to visit their Etsy shop!

[4] Taken from the One.org site:

Take action for the immediate cancellation of Haiti’s debt and to ensure new aid comes in the form of grants.

CLICK HERE to read and sign the petition.

[5] Help spread the word!

Many thanks to all of you who came out to our photo exhibit this past Saturday! I was so excited to see so many people come by, and to be able to share a little more about our trip with all of you.

I was so excited to see people participating in the silent auction and wanting to help the Children’s Home in Zimbabwe.  All but two of the exhibit prints were auctioned off and several 8×10 prints were ordered, raising $520 for HELP! We also received several orders for our Eyes to See book, raising an additional $180 for HELP!

Also…we showed our slide show on Saturday, and I’m working on putting it online so that those who couldn’t make it to the exhibit can still watch the slide show online.

We will also have more info soon on how to order the book online. Meanwhile, if you already know you’d like to order one, feel free to email us at eyestosee2009@gmail.com and we can add yours to an order we’ll be placing soon. Books are $35 each, and $5 from each book goes to Musha Wevana Children’s Home in Zimbabwe.

Thanks again for all of your support!

-B

Just wanted to give a quick update with more info about our photo exhibit tomorrow.

1) You definitely don’t have to stay the whole three hours! (But you’re more than welcome to… ) Feel free to just stop by whenever you can for however long you can. Also, we’ll have some snacks/refreshments as well.

2) We will be showing the 15-minute slideshow at 11:30, 12:30 and 1:30.

3) We will be taking orders for our Eyes to See book. They are $35 each, and $5 of each book sale goes towards Musha Wevana Children’s Home in Zimbabwe.

4) We will also be silent-auctioning each of the prints in the exhibit.  All proceeds over $25 from each print will go to Musha Wevana as well.

Right now, our friends at Help End Local Poverty (HELP) are having a Campaign to End Poverty, and hope to raise money for new mattresses and school uniforms for the kids in Zimbabwe, as well as help raise money for them to build a new orphanage! Liz and I are REALLY excited to do what we can to be a part of this Campaign. For those of you who have heard or read about our experience in Zimbabwe this past January, you know that we were both greatly impacted by the people we met there.

For more info on HELP’s campaign, please go here: http://www.campaigntoendpoverty.org/

We are excited about tomorrow! And can’t wait to see you there!

Thanks again, Blanca and Liz

Liz and I are very excited to announce that our church is hosting a photo exhibit for us next weekend!

Details-

Date: June 20, 2009

Location: Liveoak Bible Church, 7500 WOODROW AVE., AUSTIN TX

Time: 11am-2pm

The exhibit will feature photos from our time in the Sudan. And we will also have a slideshow of photos from throughout our trip. I have been anxiously awaiting to share more photos with all of you, and I hope you’re able to stop by for a bit!

Also, very exiting news – we’ve finished our book!!! Many, many thanks to our friend, Michele Bennett, for helping with the book design. And thanks to Rebecca Evans and Ellen Rees for helping with the editing. I cannot believe we’ve actually done it! We will have a few hard copies on hand at the photo exhibit, but we will also be taking orders that day. (More info to come on how to order the book online as well.)

Also, $5 of each book sale will goes towards helping the children at Musha Wevana in Zimbabwe get new mattresses and school uniforms!

I am REALLY excited!!!! I didn’t realize I was going to be this excited…BUT I AM!!!

I wish I could have printed a billion photos from ALL the countries we visited, but I’m excited to have the exhibit focus on the Sudan. And actually, towards the beginning of the exhibit time, I plan on sharing a little more about my heart and thoughts behind choosing this specific country for the exhibit.

I hope to see many of you there! Feel free to email us with any questions: eyestosee2009@gmail.com

Thanks!!!!

-Blanca and Liz

Blanca checked the World blog today and found the following comment that made both of us smile.  Kristin Hagen sent us an email a week ago that helped prepare us to rejoice instead of doubt — thanks Kristin!

Women should not be traveling alone to foreign countries. I hate the fact that churches promote women missionaries going to foreign nations without fathers and husbands. Women get crackpot ideas to go be missionaries in foreign nations, and it’s all in their heads. God has not called them.

Our dear friend, Kristin, emailed us in the beginning of our trip asking what types of food we were eating, and requested that I take pictures of local foods whenever I can.  I must confess, I often forget to photograph our food…  I’m just always so excited to eat it, that I forget!  And then after my belly is full of all it’s yummy-ness, I remember, “Oh yeah!  I should have taken a picture!”

Well…here are a few pictures from food we had in Thailand. 

Pei and I bought some cereal from the Family Mart across the street from our hotel.  I knew we didn’t have a bowl or spoon in the hotel, so I just accepted that I’d have to eat it dry…  But then when we got back, I saw Pei’s smart idea!  And I was a bit jealous that she was enjoying a “bowl” of cereal… 

Ok, some of you may know how much I love popcorn…and I’ve been super-bummed ever since I got my braces because popcorn is a big “no-no.”

But what you may not know about me is how I love anything that’s strawberry flavored.    And if given the option, I’ll always choose the strawberry option…  Strawberry milk, strawberry cupcakes, strawberry ice cream, strawberry yogurt… love it all!  Well, you can imagine my excitement when Liz, Pei and I went to the movies in Bangkok, and they had STRAWBERRY POPCORN!!!  I knew I probably shouldn’t eat it because of my braces…but really, how could I not?!?  So yeah… I definitely had to buy some…   Mmmmm… it was good!!

I don’t know how I’ve gone this long without ever having tried Thai food…especially with Madam Mam’s right there on campus!  I must say, one of the best things I’ve had this entire trip has been Phad Thai….  SO GOOD!!!  I think I had it at every day we were in Cambodia, and once in Thailand.  MMMMM!!!!

And last, but certainly not least…we had some delicious Mango with Sticky Rice at the airport in Bangkok.  YUMMY!!!  I love mango!  And this dessert was pretty much awesome!

When I was a little girl someone told me that my father had been in a war.  I distinctly remember asking him once, “Daddy, did we win the war?”  He said, “No.” My simple young mind equated defeat with the death of every single soldier, so I incredulously asked, “Well, then how are you alive?”  This is where my memory gets fuzzy.  I can remember imagining a black and white war scene, other soldiers covering my dad with gunfire, and my father running to safety.  I highly doubt that’s what he told me, but that’s how my child’s mind interpreted it.  That’s the only conversation I have ever had with my father about his tour in Vietnam.

Yesterday as we drove down the busy streets with whole lanes devoted to motorbikes, despite the familiarity of shop fronts reminiscent of those lining the streets of China, I felt a bit of culture shock instinctively rising up within me.  My mind wondered what my teenage father felt landing in this foreign place made even more strange with the subtraction of over 30 years of progress and the addition of a gun and orders from the U.S. Army.  I could only imagine.

Today we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Cu Chi people were forced underground for 21 years due to the designation of their homeland as a free fire area.  The video we watched repeated an ideal of the time – Every person is a soldier and thus a hero. It highlighted a young girl, fueled by hatred of the Americans that killed her family, who took up arms herself killing so many she was given the award of “American Killer Hero”.  Others were not so successful, apparently 50,000 children died fighting.  In a time where the use of child soldiers in Africa is viewed as a violation of human rights, I could not imagine. Can a true hero be born of hatred?  Is it choice that makes the difference?  Is a hero anyone who freely decides to defend one’s land and liberty regardless of age?

Later as we walked doubled over in the dark through the modified tunnel, I took another shallow breath longing for the fresh yet humid air above ground.  I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to be trapped beneath the surface for years coming out only occasionally at night.  I felt claustrophobic.  I then thought back to those soldiers ordered to enter newly discovered tunnels only to find themselves the victims of booby traps.  The words “booby trap” seemed too light as our guide said them, conjuring up fun memories of the movie The Goonies from my childhood.  These gruesome contraptions all involved sharpened poisonous bamboo spears.   I doubt laughter was the response of GI’s as they heard of the use of such booby traps.  Were the Cu Chi people driven to such brutality or is it simply the unveiling of our true human hearts blackened by sin?

In the afternoon we visited the War Remnant Museum in the city previously known as Saigon on maps now as Ho Chi Minh City.  It was almost entirely a museum of photographs.  I saw my father in every picture of the American GI’s …. almost.  I couldn’t see him in the soldiers dragging the enemy behind tanks, the man wearing the skull of a Viet Cong fighter, and never ever in the one holding up remnants of the shredded body of a human being.  How could I imagine that?

Over the last two days my heart has both relished the sudden unexpected connection with my father and mourned for what his eyes must have seen and for what his scarred heart most likely still carries as a result.

I wanted to share a couple more photos from India…there are more, but my crazy computer seems to hate me these days…and it won’t let me upload them… 

But here are a few photos of some men doing laundry by the river in Delhi:

Blanca found this on Ashley’s (one of the nurses from Harvesters in Sudan) blog a few days ago.  We decided to post it here to remind us all to continue praying for justice to come to Sudan.  A link to Ashley’s blog in located on the sidebar.

We have a new orphan. Today a baby girl was brought to us by the father saying the mother was killed by the LRA. It is a horrible story and the father is completely traumatized. Looking into this poor man’s eyes was like looking into a desert of sorrow and loss. He was bringing the child to us because he could not care for a four month old baby. She is beautiful. Her name is Sikili and she is adapting well so far. This was a difficult decision to make because it is most the time best to keep the child with their parent. But truly this man seemed incapable of caring for himself let alone a four month old baby. I dont think I have ever seen eyes that looked so lost, or desolate. I had a very hard time during the initial time of questioning hearing his story and watching him with the baby. He was so gentle and caring, but we could see that he saw no other option.

So please be praying for this man who has lost so much through violence. I pray that he can turn to the only One who can give him peace and rest. I struggle when I hear these things because my strong sense of justice cries out at the horror, that its just not fair! How can there be people like this out there that would do such things. Please be praying for the hearts of these people doing these horrible things. They are so lost and need to be brought back Home. Please also continue to be praying for all of our new children. They need prayers for smooth adjustment, building of friendships and a sense of belonging. God is so good and He has a great plan for each of these children. I pray that they will follow Him and set their feet towards His path. God Bless all of you!!

As we mounted a bicycle rickshaw for the second time that day, I thought to myself, “I’m done…”

Up until then, I was doing ok at taking in all the different sights and sounds and smells of Delhi. But all that changed as soon as I sat in the back of that old man’s bicycle…

I suddenly pictured my grandfather being the one to haul three grown adults on the back of his bicycle…hopping off every now and then to push us uphill. And it literally made me ill… Hundreds of thoughts raced through my head – “How old is this man? What if his body is aching? Surely he can’t do this ALL day… And for such little pay! Why is this country so crazy?!?”

And for the first time in all of our weeks of travel, I wished I was home.

Away from all the people and the foul smells of trash and feces… away from the sights of all these old men lining the streets with their bicycle rickshaws, waiting for their next passengers to hop on… I wanted to be back in Austin, where it’s clean and comfortable, and where I can have conversations with people because they all speak my language…

After that point, I felt pretty numb for the rest of the day…. Pastor Yarav continued taking Liz and I to temples and markets, but I had mentally checked out.

When we got back to the guest house, I tried hard to figure out what it was that made the day SO difficult for me… I mean, we’ve been to all kinds of places on this trip. And MANY of our days have been PACKED with activity. So why was I all of a sudden getting slapped with some pretty intense culture shock?

I think it was probably a combination of several things… Liz mentioned at one point how all of her senses were sort of on overload. And I felt the same way… Delhi is SUCH a busy city… I mean there are people and taxis EVERYWHERE… So your eyes get overwhelmed at all the busyness of the place, and your ears, too, with all the honking and the people talking. And then you have the smells… and not just the foul smells of trash and feces, but even just the smells of Indian food and spices can be overwhelming. It’s just all so different. And it’s all so INTENSE!

So there was all of that…coupled with the fact that I could only understand about 20% of anything Pastor Yarav was saying… That made it hard, too, since we were going to all these places but I didn’t really know what was going on.

As I sat in our room, I finally asked God to help me see His beauty here…’cause it was REALLY hard for me… But I know the Lord loves these people, this country. And I didn’t want to be the snobby American who wishes she was back in her comfortable Austin neighborhood, where it’s clean and safe and familiar… I prayed for God to give me the strength to not feel so overwhelmed, and to really ENJOY my time in India…

He truly answered our prayers the next day… Liz and I planned to spend the entire day in Agra, visiting the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. Mica had warned us that Agra would probably be even WORSE than Delhi, as that seemed to be everyone’s experience. So we tried to prepare ourselves for another crazy day…

Well, the day was WONDERFUL! Oh my goodness….I cannot even tell you how sweet God was to us… Pretty much everything about the day was great… There were few tourists at the Taj Mahal when we arrived. And even though we were warned that the street leading up to the Taj would be filled with beggars and souvenir salesmen trying to get in our face, we saw NO beggars on our walk to the Taj, and only a couple of guys came up to us asking if we needed a guide. But after a quick “No”, they would walk away. And on our way back from the Taj, there was just one little boy who kept insisting that we buy one of his little Taj Mahal snow globe key chains…

But yeah…everything was great… It was a gorgeous day. Our taxi driver/guide was very helpful and kind, we had a great meal for lunch, I fell in love with Agra Fort, and we saw all kinds of fun animals… And overall, I felt like I could really appreciate the places we visited without ever feeling overwhelmed by too many people or a bunch of crazy sounds or smells.

I was SO thankful that we had a nice visit to Agra… And that I DID get to see and appreciate His beauty just as I had hoped.

But I’m thankful that He had me wrestle with those thoughts the previous day. And it helped me to just realize more things about the way I’m wired. For example, I’ve learned throughout this trip (and felt this especially in India), that it’s REALLY important for me to not just be a photographer, but to also INTERACT with people… I can’t just snap pictures and walk away. And I can’t just travel to a bunch of cities around the world to only see monuments and museums. And I think because we were just playing “tourist” on our trip around Delhi that day, and not really talking to anyone at all, it was just really hard for me…

It’s really important for me to sit with people…to talk to them… even if it’s just a short time, and even if conversation is limited because of language, I HAVE to interact and communicate…hold a mother’s hand, or pick up a little kid… play games, laugh, make a fool of myself trying to dance around…

I want to weep with those who weep, and laugh with those who laugh… I don’t just want to stand back and document…I want to get in there and live life with people!