Dinner Tickets

If you would like to purchase tickets call 770-355-2690 or e-mail me at thethinkers_thedreamers_and_me@yahoo.com.

Wonder and Amazement

I think about a lot of things. I say think when that is not what I really mean. What I mean I don't think has a word. My thoughts stay in my head until they are resolved, the word is not obsession. I would like to not think about these things so much, it would be nice to have a nights sleep where I don't wake up going "Oh crap!!". Not all of my nights are like that sometimes I lay in bed until I fall asleep. I just lay there, thinking. Not of anything in-particular but just of how the day went, what I am doing the next day or why I can never fall asleep when that is my goal.

As of late my thoughts have been on this dinner. I may have mentioned it once of twice before...it keeps me up because of all of the things that need to be done before December 5th. This seems to be consuming my life right now. This and classes. I am not sure what possessed me to take on such a monstrous task. Now that I think of it, it never looked this big. I never realized how much planning goes into something like this. Next week I think that I may be up for 120 hours straight. There is so much to be done. In the end I know that it will be good and we will be in Haiti and things will be amazing. The problem is that the wonder and amazement is not the end result for me right now. I am sure it will be when the dinner is over but as of right now the wonder and amazement is that I am able to get up at 8:30 for my 9 am class and then be up until 2 am and do it again the next day. All I can say is that God has to be there holding me up because I am sure that by myself I cannot run on 4-6 hours of sleep for 3 months straight, that is the wonder and amazement.

And I know that this picture for this blog has nothing to do with this blog but it is what popped up when I typed in wonder and amazement into the google bar. So I thought it worked just fine.

What its like living in an etch-a-sketch...

So...I know that I start my blogs with the word so a lot but I am not really sure what else to say when I start typing. I am amazed that I can even write sometimes. Most days I feel as though I have perpetual writers block. Then when I start to write and think about what I am saying it seems to go away. Anyway I wanted to write a blog about preparation. For the dinner and for the trip, which has been moved from leaving the end of June to leaving in the middle of May. That just happened like two days ago, so it seems that we can be as prepared as we want to be and things change. I think that, that is ok but I do like to have things set in stone and not an etch-a-sketch. We have been planning the Many Nations Dinner for a couple of months now and there has been a huge response, which is a good thing. We are hoping to make at least $1,000 from this. Then we could book tickets and sort of be out of the etch-a-sketch phase of that part of the trip. 

I am using an etch-a-sketch as an example because you can draw pictures in it and then you can shake it up and redraw the same thing just with a few changes. That is how the planning process for this trip has been going. We plan to leave on June 25th, nope you will be leaving May 13th. We plan to get all of the food for the dinner donated, nope, let me show you that I can do things through broke college students and not huge corporations. We have been so shaken for the last few months that I am literally shaking. This has been a stretching project for me because as I said before I like stone, not etch-a-sketches...but what are you going to do when you are trusting in God to get you to a place that only exists today because of Him. I am going to have to get used to living in a etch-a-sketch if this is what I am planning on doing the rest of my life. 

Flood Revisited

Rain, rain on my face

It hasn't stopped raining for days

My world is a flood

Slowly I become one with the mud

But if I can't swim after forty days 

And my mind is crushed by the crashing waves

Lift me up so high that I cannot fall, Lift me up

Lift me up

When I am falling 

Lift me up

I'm weak and I'm dying 

Lift me up

I need you to hold me 

Lift me up

Keep me from drowning again

Downpour in my soul

Splashing in the ocean, I'm losing control

Dark sky all around 

Can't feel my feet touching the ground

But if I can't swim after forty days 

And my mind is crushed by the crashing waves

Lift me up so high that I cannot fall, Lift me up

Lift me up

When I am falling 

Lift me up

I'm weak and I'm dying 

Lift me up 

I need you to hold me 

Lift me up 

Keep me from drowning again

Calm the storms that drench my eyes

Dry the streams still flowing 

Cast down all waves of sin

And guilt that overthrows me

But if I can't swim after forty days 

And my mind is crushed by the crashing waves

Lift me up so high that I cannot fall, Lift me up

Lift me up

When I am falling 

Lift me up 

I'm weak and I'm dying 

Lift me up

I need you to hold me 

Lift me up 

Keep me from drowning again

This is how I have felt the last couple of weeks. I am sure that many of you have heard this song and said "oh yeah, its great" but have you ever really felt what it is like to feel like you are drowning and you are calling out to God and it seems that he doesn't hear a word you are saying. I really have lately. 

As you may know I am planning a trip to Haiti or should I say that God is planning a trip to Haiti this summer and I am just the person he chose to use to get it done. I am not sure but there must be a reason because I am not this crazy on my own...ahem...not to say that God is crazy but this is not something that I would do on my own. And I am not. I have my friend Calah who is helping and Jonathan who is also helping. They have both been there helping me get things done and keeping me sane. We have made a lot of progress. It is just that there is a daunting task ahead of us and we feel as though we "are splashing in the ocean, losing control". we are having a hard time seeing the finished product of the smiling faces of the kids at World Harvest Orphanage. We need a lot of supplies to help out there and do what we want to do there. We are believing that God will supply all of what we need for us. So we know that we shouldn't worry but we can't do all of this on our own without asking like it says in Luke 11:10.

So if you wish to send donations or money send it to the following address:

Alyssa Hallaway

2317 Westland Mill 

Acworth, GA 30102

We will be there for six weeks so...if you cannot help in giving money, give your prayers, support and blessings.

Alyssa

Pennies...

I have realized in the last few months that the only reason that Calah, Jonathan, and I will be going to Haiti this summer is because people have an ample amount of pennies that they want to get rid of. I am not sure when the penny became such a problem for people but, that is ok with me because people are giving them to us. I am not sure how many I have counted in since we began collecting "donations", (whatever helps you sleep at night, I know you hate your pennies...) I think that I have counted at least 1800 pennies. I am not exaggerating either. That is $18.00, just in pennies. I counted 955 just last night, which makes me think that we have counted closer to 2500 pennies. Thats $25.00. 

I remember hearing once that they, whoever they may be, wanted to do away with the penny as currency. HA. Like they could really do that, it is convenient to have two pennies when the change on your bill is like .22 or .02 exactly, then you don't get more pennies back. I laugh a little when people say that they only have like two pennies after we finish our little speech saying what we are doing. The conversation goes a little like this:

"Hi. My friend, Calah, and I are going on a mission trip this summer to Port Au Prince, Haiti. We will be there for two months and we will be working at an orphanage for part of the trip. We are going around asking for donations of spare change to help raise money for supplies for the kids and to actually get us there. Is there anything that you would like to donate?"

"Yeah! Let me look...........................I have like three pennies?"

"That is great! Every little bit helps get us closer to our goal!"

That is about how the conversation goes. But, there are some people that have mountains of change that they give. I mean like eight dollars in change, its crazy. Some people have given us $20 bills when we are just asking for spare change, college students have given us $20 bills and checks for $50. We are so grateful of the kids here on campus. They are all so willing to give. Even when you start slurring what you are saying and tell them that you are paying to get their change or that you are collecting supplies, instead of collecting change. You think it would be easier to repeat the same thing 300 times but you my friend are wrong....11 pm does not agree with my brain and I tend to be incomprehensible but people still hear what I dod or did not say and they give. We have two more dorms to go to and I am hoping that they are as generous as the last 8 that we have been to. 

Then we have to go to all of them again next week to sell dinner tickets...it is going to be great...all in one night... 

The power of the penny amazes me, all day.

Nations Dinner and other stuff

So life has been crazy lately. I say lately meaning the same as it normally is...anyway I have been planning a trip to Haiti this summer, if you don't already know, with a couple of friends. It has been a long, hard, crazy and amazing thing. We have been doing a lot of fundraising and there is even more to be done. We are getting ready to have a big one actually. I have been making banners for it for the last three or four days, they are the photos in this blog. It is the nations dinner. This is going to be really fun I think...we have gone through a lot of preparation for this dinner and I am praying that it goes off without a hitch. I know that it will lord willing. We are hoping to raise like $1,000 dollars for this and then that would cover at least 3 plane tickets maybe 4. We found tickets for $372.40 and that is round trip! Ok so doing the math that covers like 2 3/4 tickets but, that is closer than we are now. We are going to be doing other things as well. We want to raise like $5,000 dollars total and I am realizing that getting 5 people there is harder than getting 1 person there. I know that the Lord will make a way for all of us to get there no matter what. 

I am really excited about this trip. We are going to be working at a orphanage in Haiti, some of you may have heard of it, called World Harvest for Christ New Missions Children's Home. This place really is like a second home to me well, all of Haiti is like a second home to me but WHC is where my Haiti experience began when I was 12. These are the kids that really changed my outlook on life and made me realize that I had a great life and things are not as bad as I think they are. I love these kids and we want to do great things for them this summer. We want to bring in new sheets for all the kids, maybe slap a fresh coat of paint on the walls in the rooms. Who knows? We really just want to love these kids though and spend time playing and caring for them. That is the goal of this trip, to show 

the kids at WHC that they are loved and that someone cares. 

I feel stupid doing this but if you would like to donate to the trip make all checks payable to me, Alyssa Hallaway and send them to me at:

2317 Westland Mill

Acworth, GA 30102

And if you don't feel like you want to send money, send your prayers to us and with us as we go in this trip in June. 

Last Minute Recap.

So lets see what has happened the last few days...Oh yea. I went to the BEACH for the weekend with about 60 people! It was a retreat/VBS for our friends, the Hojo's/Manesaros (sp) kids, The Light House, and it was so much fun! Go to meet some new people, play volleyball against some Brazilian UN soldiers (this was one of the more enjoyable things of the day...except for the fact that they were wearing speedos...gross), got a great tan, got a little sun burnt , got to sleep in an air conditioned room (yes that is something you never do here and I loved it), got to swim in the CARIBBEAN, broke a dock/raft out in the water playing king of the raft (which later turned into let's see how many people we can knock off the raft and then into try to stay on the raft or try to get back on the half sunken raft),got a great tan, it was a lot of fun though. I met a lot of great people and got to hang out with some of my friends that live here, like Ari and Charmaine. 

English Camp starts tomorrow (Monday). I am really excited but really nervous. It is going to be loads of fun because I am in my element, Arts and Crafts. I have been dubbed The Craft Nazi. Haha. I am really going to have a ton of fun. No craft for you...(you have to watch Seinfeld to get it...The Soup Nazi).

Calling It For What It Is

June 25, 2008

That big thing hurdling toward you, in some wacked out game of chicken, is called a cameo. That little truck looking thing with eighty people on it is called a tap-tap. The boys in the road, the one that this picture is of, they are called restivecs. Whats that? A child slave. Oh me! I am called blanc or give me a dollar. I hear it so many times a day that I am considering changing my name to Blanc Givemea Dollar. All of the things mentioned have a name that suits them but, what do you call a country that has a eighty percent unemployment rate, a illiteracy rate that is just as high or higher and has so much trash that it flows in the street like water and it is one of the most beautiful place that you have ever seen...I guess that you would call it Haiti.

No I am not sure of all of Haiti's history but, I know that throughout its entire existence there have been revolts, dictators, coups, dictators, coups, dicta....you get the point. There have also been many promises made by by good men that have changed and the promises of others that say things will change and they will get better, they never did, as you can see. So the money that is promised by the government for this road here and that city there never made it to this road here and that city there. The people are really the ones that suffer when the politicians start to line their pants with money instead of fabric, because they can, and they put the money for this road here and that city there in those money lined pants. Why am I here?I guess it is because there is a new generation coming that can change all of this. Those restivec boys up there? Yes they are apart of it. I believe that if they are given a chance to start over and they are no longer forced to work in the streets of Delmas for money that they will only see twice, once when it is handed to them and twice when they take it out of their pocket to give it to the person that is forcing them to do this, no they don't do it just to bug you. Anyway, yes they are the ones that can change the corruption and the political system because they live it, someone bigger and more powerful taking the money that you earn. The children are the ones that will change Haiti. They are why I am here.

(to see the refereed to picture:http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=665873&id=546378177)

What Is In These Words That We Say?

June 17, 2008

What to say, What to say? I am not really sure what to say. It has been a few days since I posted...sorry. I don't think that 5 have stopped since I got here. I have taken like 500 pictures that and have been trying to upload them for 3 days. Things seem to take a lot longer here than anywhere else. People here seem not to have a sense of time and a sense that things need to be done at a certain time and they have to be to a place at a certain time. It is weird but it is ok to show up 2 or 3 hours late and to knock on your door in the middle of dinner. People don't seem to understand that there are certain hours that knocking on your gate at eight at night is not an ok thing to do. Another thing is that they seem to think that it is not a problem to show up to class. Its like why should I do that? Ummm, because you need to come and learn that its not ok to just leave your baby in the crib you have to play with it, its not ok to give your baby things that it your mind are ok for the baby when in truth they can kill your baby, its not ok that you don't come to meet Korin and get to DASH to get your AIDS meds, its not ok that you don't know what color red is (THAT IS WHY YOU ARE IN LITERACY!). No one here seems to be aware of things that are not ok...well what is not ok in my mind may be perfectly ok in their minds. And it is not ok for the ladies with AIDS to have the mind set that they are going to die because they have AIDS. 3 out of 20 women in our programs have AIDS. They think that they are going to die and that there babies are going to die. Not true. If they come to us, to go to DASH (where they get there meds), get there meds when they need to and take care of themselves, they can live long and normal lives. But it is such a taboo here to have AIDS that the ladies will not admit that they have it, even though in the back of their minds they know they do.They just won't admit it. 

I still am not sure how I can run around like a chicken with its head cut off all day and deal with all of this all day and still want to be here. But its like that line from OneRepublic called Stop and Stare, then one that goes "You start to wonder why your here not there". When I hear that I think well, why am I not in Haiti? There are normally a number of reasons but I always want to be here even though it is so hard. I love it here, I really do.

Oh Who Would Ever Want to Be King

So there is this song called Viva la Vida and I think it is my most favorite song that I have heard in a long time. It is by ColdPlay for all of you music people. It has two lines in it that seem to stick with me: #1 is "Now I sleep alone, sweep the streets that I used to own". I think this sticks with me so much because of what I have seen in Haiti. A long time ago people used I guess "own" the streets. They were not afraid like they are now to be out at night. To see a lot of people out at night is a rare thing. If you do there is most likely something up or about to go awry. People also are very poor to, it was not always so but as things went on with corrupt and inept rulers that have wanted power and cared more about themselves than their people that they were supposed to be protecting. #2 is "Who would ever want to be king?". Really no one wants to rule Haiti, unless you want all the power or want to try to do some good. There have been few rulers who want the latter and to many to count that want all the power. Those that have tried to do good have been killed by someone who wants the power. Papa Doc for example did what he had to do to get to the top, killing many people along the way and he ruled till he died at the end of the 60's. The president now, Prevale, has done many good things. He has put garbage trucks on the streets to create jobs and he has tried to clean up all of the gangs and now he is trying to get rid of the drug trafficking and the drug lords, who in a way keep the people poor.

I am not sure why this song sticks with me and I am even more unsure why a country such as Haiti sticks with me even harder. I think that it is a good thing that I am here, I know it is actually. 

So Today

So today. Great way to start a post. I think so and it is all I can really think of to say at this time. So today...I got up at 8:30, we almost got in 3 accidents, we went to 3 different super markets to find ONE thing, we went to Epidor (my favorite), we played with the kids at the boys and girls houses, my moms plane was late, Hillary missed the plane because AA is stupid, we ate dinner at Beth's, rode in the back of the truck, dropped the girls off at the girls house, and came back here unpacked my mom's bags, put all that crap away, took a cold shower and here i am now writing this. Maybe not all in that order, but pretty close to that order. Today was pretty uneventful. The ladies in sewing got a kick out of me and they are all wonderful. I am not really sure what else to say but we are all having a good time and my mom and family is here now so I am happy about that. I hope I will have more to say tomorrow.

Bienvenue Ay'Haiti

(not sure if I spelt Haiti right in creole...) 

OK so day 1, well kinda 2. It would really be day 2 if my plane had been on time yesterday evening. I had no problems in ATL but when I got to MIA some of our flight attendants were MIA. So of course we had to wait for them, i actually only think it was one and she was stuck in customs. Then the plane was having an issue so they had to fix that...they decided to fix it after the flight attendant showed up, not while we were waiting, after...so we ended up leaving at about 4:30 instead of 2:30 which given that it is a 2 hour flight, we were four hours late. Well that was really ok because Beth had some girls coming in on my plane and their plane had been late arriving in MIA, if our plane had not been so late they would not have made it. wait let me rephrase that, if we had not been missing a flight attendant, if the had fixed the plane while we were waiting for the flight attendant they would have not made it to the plane in time to be in Haiti now. But needless to say I am in Haiti and I am enjoying my fan and our dog that decided to lick my toes this morning for about five minutes. I think that Beth is going to come and kidnap me today...not the best choice of words there she is going to come and get me and we so I am not stuck here all day...but that is really it up to now. I will keep you posted. Oh and we got to eat dinner at Beth's last night OMG!!!!!

Farewell Lee University

Farewell my fair school. I will miss you but I will not miss the cramped living space and bad food. Nor will I miss all the random mail that you put in my mail box that I do not need because it will just end up in the trash along with everybody else's. I will miss my friends and the "free" Chick-Fi-La but I will not miss Sodexho. I will miss all my friends as we scatter back across the country and to other countries, even though I think that I am the only one doing that. I really wish I was exempt from Global Perspectives, alas. Freedom of the summer has come yet now I will be bound by boredom for a month while I work and then there will be no time for boredom because I will be in Haiti, which I am going to start referring to as the country that never sleeps. But Lee University i will be back in the Fall to grace you with my presence once again. Thank you Jesus that I do not have to stand in registration lines next semester. ( I took and edited the picture al by my lonesome...) 

Destination Darfur

So. I have recently discovered an organization called HELPSudan International. They were formed by The Lost Boys of The Sudan. Why, you may ask, did I find them? I found them because I have really wanted to go to the Sudan, specifically the Darfur region, for a long time. I started reading this book called A Billion Lives by the former UN Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs and Former UN Emergency Relief Chief Jan Egeland and in the book he talks about the Sudan. In the story he talks about a women who has come to a hospital because the Janjaweed had come into her hut and terrorized her and her children and shot her 2 year old in the neck. The only way the child survived was because they were taken to the hospital by the local chief and was abel to get immediate medical attention. The sad thing is that this is not uncommon. Women and children are the ones who are getting the brunt of the violence. They are raped because the soldiers feel like it and they are being beat because they are weaker. They are the reason I want to go there. To do something to make a difference in the lives and the women and children of the Sudan.

Good Times

So this weekend I went over to my friend Bethanie's house and we went to the mall and out to lunch and went and got our nails done. I think that it was the most fun that I have had in a long time. We talked about old times in 9th and 10th grade and how dumb we were. For example the language of Ong...yeah don't ask...you don't want to know. YCJCYAD...Yaks Can Jump Canyons Yeah Adam Disser...it really stands for Your Curiosity Just Cost You A Dollar...so pay up...I am not kidding I am a broke college student I don't make jokes. We talked about the guys we like and why we seemed to like the ones that were complete jerks or adorkable© (my word, its copy righted). It was so much fun. I am really glad that I am connecting with all of my old friends from high school here in GA. I really have missed them over the years and have thought about them a lot (some I am not sure why I have thought about them?) But hey I like that I am in touch with them now and I think that it is for a good reason that they are coming back into my life...

Old Things Made New

So I did something that I haven't done since the summer or maybe before I went to Europe...I put labels on envelopes for my parents newsletter. Yeah I know...My mom would be so proud if she were here and not in Haiti. The amazing thing is that I offered to do it to! I find that to be a small miracle. Maybe God will make another miracle tomorrow when I go see my dad...

Skype

So I think that I have decided that I am not the biggest fan of the Skype Internet Phone System. I mean it is a great thing when it works but, when it doesn't it is just annoying. I am not so happy with it when it cuts me off mid sentence when I am trying to tell my mother something important. Thats annoying. I really don't like when it refuses to dial or call when it is the only way that I can see and physically talk o my mother. iChat is not a great thing either but it connects and stays connected but for some reason the video does not work. I guess I will just have to deal with Skype until something better comes along or I can actually go to Haiti and see my mother. It would also help if my mother got online...then there wouldn't be issues with mommy withdrawals.

You and me God. Right?

So, Haiti. A far away distant place right? No, not really. Being a two hour plane ride from any airport in Florida and the fact that my family is currently living there, makes it very close to my heart. My family moved there in November 2007. A few days after Thanksgiving actually. We had been going back and forth for seven years and with the sewing program and the women's program starting up, it would get rather expensive. So why not make it your permanent place of residence...BECAUSE ALYSSA IS IN COLLEGE AND CAN'T GO WITH THATS WHY NOT! No really its great. I get to go more often and get to be there and it is a great. It s one of the most amazing places that I have ever been to. The people are great and it is so beautiful...in some areas. So are you considering moving yet? So quit your job...oh yeah that thing that seems to be eluing me right now...you need one of those don't you? Well all you have to do is pack up your stuff, ship it all through customs, and trust God that he will provide all for you...God do you want to tell me the plan ahead of time? *silence* No? Didn't think so...IT WOULD BE HELPFUL! *silence* No? OK then...So it has been 4 months now that my family has been there and they are headed to their 5 month, unlike me who is almost done with her first year of college and still has 3 more to go and... GOD! PLAN! *silence* Guess I'll wait then. Not that I am going to like it or anything. Without my family...my mommy, alone in Nascar Central, which would make NAscar the biggest sporting event of the year or whenever it is on ( I never really considered it a sport and still don't...its more of a talent driving at 200 mph)...PLAN! No? HELLO!? OK then, I'll wait. I won't like it. I guess with a BS or whatevs I can do more in Haiti than without it and get more help with it to... now only if lee would stop trying to get me married...sorry ADD... But the whole starting a school thing is all that I know of any plan that has been set in motion, all I know of any grand cosmic plan so far. WANT TO TELL ME SOME MORE OF THIS PLAN YOU HAVE GOD? FILL ME IN JUST A BIT? *silence* I am really getting tired of not getting an answer there God...*silence* Fine be that way...I mean... I guess that I will wait here patiently until I hear something rather than nothing. I suppose waiting for you to tell me what to do it better than me trying to do it myself...it is also like watching the grass grow...I mean...ehggg...cause we both know how it ends up if I do it myself...I WOLD STILL LIKE TO KNOW!!! HELLO!!! *silence* Ok, you and me God. Right?