Three Impressions of the First Day!

Hi, this is Ryan and as I embark on this trip to Haiti there are many things flowing through my mind. I started today by being honest and telling the other members of the group that I am scared. From the sounds of it, I wasn't the only one. We spent the day listening to many different people telling us all about what CRS is doing, and in turn what we will be doing. After these meetings and a satifying meal before leaving tomorrow, I feel less scared. I still have some anxiety, but it helps to know that the others have the same anxiety and in that we will have each other to lean on during the trip. Hi everyone, this is Missy. We began today with an orientation at the Catholic Relief Services downtown. I've passed this building dozens of times and never realized how enormous it is. Today, I learned more, much more about the work of CRS. It is no wonder the building is so immense! Their work with the global church is extensive, requiring many hands and hearts to accomplish the work of peace, justice and solidarity. It was a delight to meet our delegation of other educators. We are quite diverse. Despite some anxieties and rising at 3am I think we are envigorated by what lies ahead. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel...pray for us and all who have much less than we. This is Kathy...Ryan and Missy just left to get a few hours sleep before we fly out of Baltimore early in the morning. We fly to Newark and then to Haiti. I, too, want to share a little about today. It is so hard to focus on only one impression of this day. I guess, for me, I spent the day listening but also "people watching." There are two groups of folks I met that have already inspired me--the group with whom we will travel and the presenters who work for Catholic Relief Services. We travel with educators from two other schools--one a small k-12 school on the border of Arizona and Mexico. As you can imagine, they are faced with many immigration issues since half their students live in the United States and the other half in Mexico. The other school is in New York and is an all boy's college prep high school associated with the Christian Brothers--no financal woes on their hoizon! I wondered if we had any "common ground" but was delighted to discover that we are all rooted in the same desire to serve our kids, make the world a better place, and remain focused on the mission of Catholic education. I cannot wait for the conversations that I know will happen this coming week. We will talk about kids, curriculum, technology and what is right and wrong with the world. One of the things that is right is the commitment of good people like those who journey with us. We are in great company! The next group we met are those who work for Catholic Releif Services. What an energized, faithful group of men and women whose dedication is completely focused to insure that we have a safe and positive experience and we are prepared to spread the message of social justice to those we teach and touch. Each person was joyous and inspiring in his/her own way. This trip promises to be transforming! I hope we can live up to their expectations of what needs to be done. So, in only a few hours, we will fly to a different reality. I hope that the experience makes our hearts bigger without breaking them. On a much more practical note, I hope that we all remember to drink only bottled water, take our malaria meds and look with understanding eyes on all we see!