Day 5
with Marie Hortense Dossous-Parris
Storytelling | Nature | Community
INSPIRATION
In this session:
We explore INSPIRATION as a principle of Interior Alchemy
She share her stories of growing up in Haiti, her connection to nature, and how she celebrates her culture in her daily life to stay connected to a sense of home, and how she helps others in her community to feel a sense of belonging to keep home alive within.
Hortense leads us in in a creative practice of creating a macrame keychain as a reminder of our keys for our journey home.
Supplies :
Journal or Paper and pen (for documenting your insights)
yarn, string, macrame supplies
keyring (optional)
Marie Hortense Dossous-Parris was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti a tropical Caribbean island. She is a biologist with a specialization in Environmental Sciences, an educator, and mother of two. Although she has made homes in many parts of the world, she is currently living in Australia.
Hortense is the Co-Founder of Maisha Bora skills appreciation Program where she supports migrants from Africa to Australia to feel at home in their new country through a range of classes, workshops, and discussions that foster self-sufficiency, workplace preparedness, and a sense of community.
Hortense's love and support for her home country Haiti has always been constant and strong. From being involved in Reforestation activities starting as a Girl Scout on to working for the Haitian Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts and presenting at the school's conferences on The Impact of Climate Change on Small Islands in the Caribbean (with a strong emphasis on Haiti's fragile ecosystem). After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti she presented a research paper at Brown University on Rebuilding, focusing on Emergency preparedness and Agroforestry in Haiti. The earthquake inspired Hortense to create the Collective Hands (Chands) Foundation that empowers young women through developing their craft skills.
She believes that the best way to help Haiti is through education. Her motto is that children are the adults of tomorrow - they need to be well educated. Haiti's greatest asset is human capital if given the right tools the children of Haiti will make a difference tomorrow.
Hortense strongly believes in the Montessori ideology that children learn from their environment and given the right tools they will make a difference while learning. This approach ties together her love of teaching, learning and nature.
Her connection to Nature continues to grow including her interest in sustainability and recycling which lead her to start a campaign in Barbados to encourage the use of reusable bags, to her current Podbean Podcast: Our Journey in a Box where she shares research on medicinal plants, to growing her own food, making mixed herbs for cooking right in her own home.
Website: Our Journeyinabox's Podcast, journeyinabox.podbean.com