Finale blog of Mission 2014

Teresa – Why is Haiti special? In Haiti you are your real self. You bring what you have to give and its always enough.

Dennis  - If I were selling Haiti to a TV network, I’d call it a cross between ”Survivor” and “Naked and Afraid’ with a hint of “Glee”.

Dennis with veteran engineer Roy (Papa Noel)

Rick and Betty: Haiti is a country that has had so much hardship, yet the people still have hope and are proud to be able to show their hospitality and they are very appreciative.

Francklin - one of our faithful translators.

                              

                                      Rick: Final comment – hot and humid

Elva: Haiti reminds me to be grateful everyday for the overflowing blessings we so often take for granted. I am so blessed.

Elva - this is church - are you listening?

 Dakota: My trip to Haiti was only 2 weeks but will have an effect on me for a lifetime. It truly changed my idea of who is rich and poor, in the pursuit of happiness and what really matters.

This girl came in with major ulcers on her legs but after a few days treatments we were rewarded with as much change in her countenance as we were with the improvements of her legs.








Lynnise: Haiti has taught me that I have to be thankful for each day. I will not take healthcare for granted. So thankful for our doctors, hospitals, technology and supplies. God bless one and all!
 

Sharon: Haiti has taught me that Prov.3:6 “in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths” is absolutely true!

                   

Martin: Haitian people are very receptive of new ideas and use of new equipment but find it hard to let go of old practices and traditions.

                           

Dave & Monique:
This trip has been another small glimpse into the lives of our Haitian friends.  Time and again they persevere through hardship and limited resources.  We have witnessed warm smiles and hopeful eyes, gracious hospitality and abundant thankfulness.

 

 

Ceiligh: It was fun and I'm coming back.

  Braam: Humbleness

Elma: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Elma's day includes keeping the team in good working order.

Even the Doc needed TLC!

We have haven't mentioned the other activities around Haiti ARISE. On the compound is a busy elementary school, technical school with an active agricultural class of 80 students, lead by Laurens and Louisa.  Progress is also being made on the Children's Village and the goat farm.

Gardens beside the medical clinic

Active church

A duplex home in the children's village

Elementary School

140 kids plus adults went on a field trip to Port au Prince in this school bus and 2 taptaps.
Haiti personal space is very small - there is always room for one more on the church pew, taptap or motorbike.


Heading home - sitting on the tarmac at PAP

The unexpected delay we had by missing our flight connection in Miami proved to be such a blessing as we had an expense paid night in a lovely hotel with meals included and it gave us time to unwind, shower, get a good night sleep and spend these last few hours together. The Lord is so good and has blessed us abundantly.

Thanks to all who followed our blog.... Sharon


Stalled in Miami

Well, here were are staying in a hotel in Miami. We had a 2 hour delay getting out of Port au Prince and thus missed our connecting flight. After a 3+ hour negotiation we got food and lodging vouchers and finally got a meal after 15 hours! We will blog tomorrow, but just so you know we are alive and well and just came in from the patio because the temperature is only 18 degrees C and we were chilly!!!

Sharon

It's the Last day ... time to say goodbye to our Haitian friends

Its time to say….so long for now to our Haitian friends

We had another very hot and humid day but have enjoyed our last day in the heat. We had planned for this day to be a day of cleaning up and sorting the supplies that are in the clinic. A few follow up pts came back today for various treatments. The lady that has been coming back 3 times a day for her antibiotic treatments is showing signs of healing in the ulcers on her legs. She is walking much better and it is so good to see her health improving.  The little boy we saw the first day with the traumatic cataract was back and it looks like he will be able to get his surgery in Petit Goave and the Haitian medical staff here will continue to organize that. Many of the team today went to Petit Goave which is a city about 10 miles south west on a good highway although narrow and winding. It gave us a great view of the mountains and some of the beauty in Haiti. While in Petit Goave we toured the local hospital where we had referred several patients to during our time here. The conditions of the hospital were very unlike anything you would imagine to be a hospital. The beds were about a foot apart with no divider curtains, not gender specific, and most beds had no sheets. It seemed the criteria to be in the hospital was to have an IV although the IV bags and tubing were all empty and full of air. No one complained about hospital food as there was none unless your family brought it in to you. Some patients wore masks which seemed to be their isolation technique.

Patient being showered outside hospital.

Tour of Operating Room

While the rest of us toured, Dr Dennis and Teresa stayed back to fix the teeth of 5 translators we had worked with.  The translators got complete care….the largest case getting 3 fillings and 6 extractions. They had a very busy morning.

Goats and chickens arrived at the compound today and we had the pleasure of giving them to their new grateful owners.

 One of the elderly ladies was so grateful she planted a great big kiss right on the  donors lips!! He was some surprised!!

    Thanks to the donors who made  
             this possible.

Teresa finished making the signs and Martin and Rick  got a couple of them installed.  


Thanks again to JB Printing for these beautiful signs.

Tonight we went to Mondy’s, a local Haitian restaurant and had the choice of goat or chicken entrees.  Coke in the big bottles were served thus the restaurant is known as Goat and Coke. It was very delicious with the beets in the potato salad giving it an interesting color.

 

From there we walked to the ocean to watch the sunset. It was an interesting walk back thru town as it was dark and the community members were coming out to the streets to socialize. Most homes do not have power, so the occasional solar street lights give some light to visit by. We passed many homes that had a pot of something cooking over hot coals.

Dr Braam gave one last lesson to the Haitian doctors about ECGs. They are so excited to learn. Dr Braam is such an incredible teacher and they are such eager students.

Tonight Dr Fritz and Dr Jacob, along with Leah made a special trip back to say good bye and gave us such beautiful thank you cards. We were very touched at their thoughtfulness. They want us to come back in 2 months!



Dr Jacob, Administrator Leah, Dr Fritz

 The day concluded for some with a lively game of up and down the river with none other than Papa Noel.

Blog by team effort.....

We thought Monday was busy…Tuesday proved to be the killer day!

We woke this morning feeling so refreshed and thankful after a great night sleep that was supported by the coolness of working air conditioners!  Dakota had recovered from whatever had her feeling under the weather.  Since the time change on Sunday, we are on the rooftop just as day is breaking and so enjoy the coolness and the sounds of awakenings surrounding us. The thick Haitian coffee has become a welcome ‘get me going’ in the morning as we enjoy the sunrise over the mango trees.

Our routine circle time with our interpreters that proceeds every clinic day was very special this morning as Leah, the clinic administrator and Dr Fritz spoke from such grateful hearts for the many accomplishments that have happened over the past couple weeks.

 

 

 

 

Such a sense of unity and friendships have developed and grown over our time here. It truly was two teams that became closely knitted together to a single team.

It seems appointment times are really only viewed as suggestion times at Dr Dennis door. The beginning of the day starts a bit slow despite trying to schedule ‘appointments’. By the end of the day the line up of those with tickets seems never-ending as the patients, expected early in the day, show up after lunch. But, we have come to understand that Haitian time is part of the culture that is difficult to change. One lady was extremely nervous about the dentist visit although she was eager to see him. I knew we were in for a ride as she was crying long before Dr Dennis had the anesthetic near her. We managed to get the freezing in and it just went downhill from there!

This 2 mos old baby with possible aspiration pneumonia
would be in ICU if she lived in Canada.

Clinical skills put to the test with these pediatrics.

Many crocs became new footwear.

Patient registration

Elma diligently caring for her patients.

These are the children seen in the community.

 

These are the children when they come to the clinic.

 

 

We are so tired and heading to bed now ,

Group effort on the blog tonight.