Life & TravelPaul Shetler Fast

Baby Madeline

Life & TravelPaul Shetler Fast
Baby Madeline

We have a daughter! It’s a surreal thing to say. We are blissfully happy to share that after weeks of on-and-off contractions and gestation in three countries, our beautiful baby girl, Madeline, was born at 1 am yesterday in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, weighing in at a healthy 7 pounds. Madeline is a lively little newborn, and both she and Rebecca are doing well. It’s hard to put words to the feeling of being parents for just a few short hours; joy, relief, shock and happiness. We have been finding ourselves bursting into giddy (exhausted) laughter quite a bit since little Madeline arrived. We will be taking the next month off from work to get to know our new daughter, and look forward to introducing her to her family (even if virtually in many cases), with her first introduction to both sets of grandparents when they arrive in Haiti in just a few weeks!

The announcement that we were having a girl is some vindication for me. From the moment we found out Rebecca was pregnant, I just knew that we were having a girl. Somehow the belief (now confirmed) that I would soon have a daughter has made me think differently about many stats that I was familiar with before, but had not felt so personally until I held little Madeline in my arms. Here are some realities that I am pondering anew as a father.

  • Globally, women occupy only 22% of parliamentary seats. Haiti's newly elected parliament has none...and the US lags behind the world average at 19%.
  • Women earn 24% less than men employed in the same types of positions.
  • Women are underrepresented in higher level jobs...making up only 33% of all managerial/supervisory positions, 24% of senior management, and a shocking 5% of top CEO positions. These numbers have barely changed in the last decade.
  • Women are underrepresented in high level academia and research...making up only 30% of researchers in natural sciences, engineering, technology, medical and health sciences, agricultural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.
  • 128 countries still have gender-specific laws restricting women’s economic opportunities and rights.
  • 800 women die every day of preventable causes during childbirth and pregnancy. 
  • In rich countries, 75% of women report experiencing sexual harassment on the job.
  • Globally, 1 in 3 women report experiencing physical or sexual violence in their lives, largely at the hands of an intimate partner or family member. 1/3 of countries have not outlawed domestic violence.

Data from a recent report by UN Women on progress towards gender equity & UN Women’s Step It Up Campaign.

Madeline is only 1 day old, and I am hopeful that we can do better in her lifetime. Who's with me?!  

20 Minutes after birth, she was briefly put on oxygen due to a last minute entanglement with her umbilical cord

20 Minutes after birth, she was briefly put on oxygen due to a last minute entanglement with her umbilical cord

EDIT_IMG_6644.jpg

Life & TravelPaul Shetler FastComment

3 Families After Hurricane Matthew

High in the mountains above the Artibonite river, we pass through villages and clusters of houses that do not appear on maps, past destroyed houses that will never make it into official calculations of the damage fromHurricane Matthew in Haiti. We are miles from the nearest paved road, many hours from the nearest medical clinic, and nearly a full day's walk to the market where people normally sell their produce to purchase necessities like medicine, oil, and clothing. When I asked the local government official with us, why his region showed zero damage on the latest UN maps, he grew angry, "How would they even know? No one has come up to look. No one has even asked." Working with the local governments, community organizations, and a likeminded NGO, we are bringing the first relief supplies to people whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in this area. Within 72 hours of the rains stopping, all our prepositioned aid (water treatment supplies, blankets, food, and hygiene kits) have been distributed to people in need. This is only the beginning for these families on the long path to rebuilding their lives and their communities.

If you've been watching the news on Haiti, you know of the devastation that Hurricane Matthew has wrought; the rapidly rising death toll, the destroyed homes and livelihoods, the statistics of suffering on a massive scale. But for us, and for our organization MCC, the story both begins and ends with the resilience and perseverance of the people and communities we serve. These are human stories better told through pictures of people, pictures of dignity and strength in the face of loss.

Here are the stories of three families after the storm.

Life & TravelPaul Shetler FastComment
3 Families After Hurricane Matthew
Favorites, Life & TravelRebecca Shetler FastComment

Food and Thoughts of 2016

We catapulted into 2016 in a new country, jobs, and language. Learning Haitian Creole together had moments of both frustration and hilarity. We practiced our new vocabulary at the maternity clinic, when two months after we arrived in Haiti, we became parents! Paul reflected about becoming a father to a daughter, pondering some of the global challenges that girls and women face. Madeline could not have a bigger ally in her proud papa. This year, our first as parents, we have felt deep gratitude and joy for our little daughter. Along the way we also started trying our hand at Haitian cooking, learning to make some of the iconic sweet, savory & spicy dishes we had learned to love. And through it all, our little baby kept growing, and so did we...

Favorites, Life & TravelRebecca Shetler FastComment
Food and Thoughts of 2016
Life & TravelPaul Shetler FastComment

Birthday Joy

I turned 31 today, ate cookies, watermelon pie, and ribs, and I had to change my clothes three times because our daughter's outdoor play got unusually messy! It was a great birthday. Two years ago on my birthday, Rebecca and I were living and working in Pittsburgh. Last year we were new parents, in a new country, in new jobs. And this year we are expectantly waiting. Rebecca is pregnant, and due to a complication in the pregnancy, we are both working remotely from the US during this last trimester. If all goes as well as it can, our baby will be joining us about a month ahead of schedule towards the end of June.

Life & TravelPaul Shetler FastComment
Birthday Joy
Gluten Free, Appetizers, Regional Specialties, Side Dishes, VegetablesPaul Shetler Fastbeet, eggs, clove, cinnamon, cider vinegarComment

Pickled Eggs & Beets

Rebecca loves pickles: pickled onions, pickled vegetables, Haitian style pickled cabbage, sauerkraut with juniper and caraway, red cabbage sauerkraut with apples and cloves, and of course dill pickles. Whether by nature or nurture, our 2-year old Madeline is developing the same taste. Our current strategy of getting her to eat veggies is to make them sour. This weekend, with piles of fresh beets and local eggs from the market, I was remembering an old fashioned Pennsylvania Dutch classic from my grandparents generation -- Pickled Eggs & Beets. I adapted this recipe from a few of our old Pennsylvania Dutch/Amish cookbooks (yes, we brought them with us to Haiti), reducing the sugar significantly and boosting the spices and vinegar. The resulting magenta pickles are sublime, and super easy to make. Our fridge version of Pickled Eggs & Beets will keep for at least two weeks, and works beautifully as a side, a quirky topping to salads, on toast, in a grain bowl, or as a toddler snack (well at least for our funny girl). Happy pink pickling!

Gluten Free, Appetizers, Regional Specialties, Side Dishes, VegetablesPaul Shetler Fastbeet, eggs, clove, cinnamon, cider vinegarComment
Pickled Eggs & Beets
Appetizers, Favorites, Mains, Meat, Life & TravelPaul Shetler Fastcheese, cream cheese, baconComment

Grilled Cheese & More Exciting News!

Rebecca has always had strong food cravings; from adventures across the city to find the most mouth puckering sour candy, to a months long quest to reproduce a Vietnamese street food from our travels. While spousal cravings can get a bad rap, I'm personally a big fan. Spur-of-the moment homemade rice crispy treats, check. Ten versions of fried potatoes in a week, twist my arm. Or, most recently, a grilled cheese to beat all other grilled cheese sandwiches: perfectly crisped bread, an extra creamy cheese mix (including cream cheese), and smokey bacon. Not an everyday meal, but a craving induced celebratory treat. In addition to our upcoming move to Haiti, Rebecca and I are celebrating another exciting life change. Rebecca is just entering her third trimester of pregnancy, and we couldn't be happier! We're expecting our little son or daughter to make an appearance in early February, with a planned delivery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. And if they come out craving ooey gooey cheese...we'll know why!

Appetizers, Favorites, Mains, Meat, Life & TravelPaul Shetler Fastcheese, cream cheese, baconComment
Grilled Cheese & More Exciting News!