Day 1 - T.I.H. *This Is Haiti*

December 26, 2010
Day 1 - T.I.H. *This Is Haiti*

A view from the plane.

A video of the drive to our compound.

The U.N. and the nicest building you will see in Haiti.

I'm finally here!!! I made it to Haiti and boy has it already been an experience. I got off the plane and you get shoved onto a bus with about one hundred other people and taken to a small warehouse that is customs. I had no idea what to do and I couldn't understand anything the people were saying because they were talking in French. Thankfully after a few minutes of panicking, I met up with two girls from my group named Teasha and Natalie. They have been here before. Unfortunately, our troubles didn't stop once we met up. We had to go through customs three times. The first time we got sent back because Garry didn't give us an address to write down. The second time we wrote in green pen. The third time we finally got through and saw Garry. Once we met up with Garry we moved into another room where everybody's bags were just thrown on the floor. You had to go through the huge pile to find yours! After we got our bags and supplies, we loaded everything onto carts and made our way through the crowd to the outside.

Once we stepped outside, BANG! We were right in the middle of a mob of people in downtown Port Au Prince. People were around you everywhere you looked trying to take your bags so that you would have to pay them money to get them back. Garry instructed us to just hold tightly to our stuff and push through the crowd. Once safely inside of the car we made our way to our compound which is breathtakingly beautiful. I didn't expect us to be staying in a house, let alone a mansion!

The alley to our compound.

Our beautiful house!

Once we got to the house we put our things in the "girls bedroom" and we went downstairs to meet the rest of the team. People are from all over the states and even the world here. We have a doctor, Bagdhen who is from Holland and a lady named Leanne from Bermuda. Luke, Mikall, and Ben are from Utah. Sean is from Boston. Tony and Chris are from Washington D.C. and go to Georgetown. Dr. Anita is from Washington D.C. as well. Teasha is from Arkansas and Natalie is from New Jersey. Brian is a third year medical student from Vanderbilt University. We gathered for a quick meeting and introductions and talked about what our days are going to look like. It sounds like we are going to be super busy and in the middle of all of the action! I can't wait!

After our meeting we had our first experience with Haitian food. I have to say...not a big fan of goat and I'm pretty sure I'll be steering clear of all meat products this week. They don't eat cows here, they are sacred animals. They make this amazing spicy coleslaw and absolutely amazing fruit. We had fresh pineapple and guava juice. I could live on those two things alone for the next ten or so days I think!!

After dinner we started bagging up medications to hand out and then just spent the evening meeting everyone. The boys started an intense game of soccer in the courtyard and are screaming at each other in French and Creole, it is pretty entertaining. We also have acquired a rooster who everyone already hates. We are trying to convince our group leader Garry to kill him and let us eat him...he doesn't seem so into it!

Donations!

 This is called a tap-tap. We all lovingly nicknamed it the "death trap". It takes you where you need to go. When you want off, you bang the sides of it and the driver stops.

I can't wait for this experience to begin. I am definitely prepared. Mind, body, soul and spirit!

Day 2 - This Is What We Came To Do

December 27, 2010
Day 2 - This Is What We Came To Do


The day is finally here! We got up extremely early and packed everything up and headed to our first tent city! When we got there, it was amazing to see all of the tents for the first time. We had to drive in between tightly packed tents to get to the small makeshift clinic we were going to run for the day. By the door I was stationed to triage and assess patients while Chris took blood pressures. Behind a small wall we had the pharmacy set up where Kelci and Brian worked. Behind them was Anita and Bagdhen, our two doctors. Outside of the clinic some of our other group members went down the line of people waiting to be seen getting their name, age and what their symptoms were.

The line outside of the clinic.

It was an amazing and crazy experience. We saw over 150 patients!


While we were working inside of the clinic, Sean had brought his guitar with and was playing hymns for all of the kids. Tim, Teasha and Natalie all played soccer with the kids while we were trying to get through the patients.

One of the patients I saw today was a little boy who was only 8 years old. His cousins were picking on him and beating him up and threw him into a fire all because he has a mild form of down syndrome :( He was absolutely precious. After I cleaned his burn up, I let him spend the rest of the day being my helper because he was just so sad. It broke my heart!


After we had a solid clinic day, Gardy, Isaac, Roody, and Stefan wanted to take us to the orphanage that they had grown up in. When we got their, the kids came swarming the tap-tap. It was amazing to see them and how happy they were. There were children from infants to about twelve years old. In this orphanage was also a wing for handicapped children. I didn't take any pictures in there because I didn't really think it was very appropriate. The kids were all in great spirits though. Teasha worked a lot with them because she is an occupational therapist. It was great to see them get some attention. On little boy we saw was completely bed ridden. He was fifteen and had been suffering from polio his whole life. The poor this was just so sad to see.

After we visited the handicapped wing for a while, we went back to the main wing and played with the other kids. Isaac and Gardy played "Frogs and Minnows" and "London Bridge" with the kids in French and the rest of us just played soccer or read to the kids. They were all so adorable. They love having their picture taken and love taking pictures too! "Un photo?" They would ask. It was such an amazing experience. I can't wait to see what else God has in store for this trip!

A video of the kids playing "London Bridge"

"But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. Take courage." -1 Peter 3:14

Day 3 - Toumazu Orphanage

December 28, 2010
Day 3 - Toumazu Orphanage


Today we made about a 2 hour drive into the mountains outside of Port Au Prince to a very poor village called Toumazu. On our journey there, we had to go straight through the market district of Port Au Prince and got to see a bunch of the locals working. It was very interesting. We saw a woman with about fifteen chickens in a basket on top of her head! We also had to make a stop at a gas station and while we were stopped, we convinced Stefan (one of the interpreters) to jump off of the tap-tap and buy Haitian rum. He jumped off...and we might have left him in the market!! All of us were screaming at the driver to stop and there comes Stefan sprinting down the crowded streets in and out of all of the crazy drivers and cars carrying a bottle of rum for us crazy Americans!

Everyone loading on to the tap-tap after a pit stop.

When we got to the village, there was already a line for us waiting. We climbed out of the tap-tap and the orphanage director showed us around the compound. In one room was 7 beds for all 30 orphans to squish together and sleep at night. We also got to meet the orphans. In order to pick them out in a crowd and keep track of them so they couldn't run away from the compound, they had to wear bright green shirts.

The line that was waiting for us.

A shot of the orphans and Garry (orange shirt)

Garry started GCOM when he was only 18 years old.

The room where all 30 of the orphans sleep.

We set up our clinic, pharmacy and donation room and went to work. Chris and I worked in the triage area today with Matt and Tim. We saw so many children. Even though most of the children were orphans, they were still unbelievably happy and so polite. Every person we have come across here in Haiti is so polite and kind. Everyone says, "Merci" and listens to every word you are saying very intently.

Kelci working the pharmacy.

This man was the oldest member in the community. He was only 62. That is reallllllly old for Haiti. Their life expectancy is only about 50. He is a prestigious member of their community.

Kelci and Me :) Love that girl!

Isn't she just beautiful?!

While we were working in the medical rooms, Ben and Luke were filming for their documentary. The kids just thought this was great and Ben and Luke let them help film and take pictures. They loved it. Tim, Sean, Natalie and Teasha set up cinder blocks in the form of soccer goals so the kids could take turns trying to score goals past Luke! Their laughter was great to hear.

A video of the kids playing soccer with Luke.

On our way home, we learned it was Chris' 20th birthday! Good thing we bought that rum, huh Chris?! :) When we got back to the compound, everyone showered and gathered in the kitchen where we had a traditional Haitian meal and then the ladies presented Chris with a huge birthday cake! We sang to him in Creole, French, Spanish and of course English! One of the ladies, Watsue took a huge chunk of icing off of the cake and smeared it all over Chris' face. Happy Birthday! That started a huge frosting fight through out the whole house! No one was safe!

Happy Birthday Chris! :)

It was a great day and we feel like we are making a great difference to these people. Tomorrow we are going to the largest tent city in Port Au Prince. Garry told us we need to be well rested because tomorrow will be an experience we will never forget... As if we could forget all we've already done!

"Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, what you shall drink, or about your body, or what you will wear. Your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom." -Matthew 6:25,35

Day 4 - Aeropuerto Tent City

December 29, 2010
Day 4 - Aeropuerto Tent City

The airport

Today was one of the most intense days of my life. I have never been more scared and relieved all while having an indescribable adrenaline rush. We traveled through the busy streets of Port Au Prince to the largest tent city in the heart of the city. Aeropuerto is about two miles from the airport and is a place that is absolutely incredible. I have never seen some many tents or people in my life. Everywhere you looked is just surrounded by tent after tent and line after line of clothes. There are so many tents in this part of the city that people are setting up camp in the MEDIAN OF THE HIGHWAY.

As we pulled into the city, children and adults just started pouring out of everywhere. Everywhere I looked people were coming out of tents, between tents, behind tents, through the streets to our tap-tap. They surrounded the tap-tap so much, we have to stop moving because we were afraid that we would accidentally run someone over. Our interpreters got off of the tap-tap and explained to everyone they had to move out of the way so we could get to the tents to set up the clinic for the day.

Some of the kids running to greet the tap-tap

As people began to move away from the tap-tap they formed a massive line following us onto a huge cement slab next to a irrigation ditch that ran through the city. The ditch was surrounded by people doing their laundry, gathering drinking water, bathing and going to the bathroom! It was amazing to see all of these thousands of people.

We were supplied with two tents. One for the clinic and the other for donations. We set up our stations and got to work. This day was extremely hot and there were so many people that we needed to see. We had to position four grown men at the door of the tent to keep the crowd from just running in and causing complete chaos.

The tents we worked in

As the day progressed, we saw more and more severe cases of dehydration, chicken pox and a lot of malnutrition. Then, Matt (an EMT from Washington) came to me with a nine month old baby girl in his arms. She was covered in chicken pox and was breathing very erratically. We called in the Red Cross Emergency Response Team and Matt and I climbed into the back of the jeep instructing the driver to take us to University of Miami Hospital which was only a mile away from the tent city. As we were on our way through the crowded streets, the baby stopped breathing. It was all Matt and I could to do stay as calm as possible as we were trying to get her to breathe again all while trying to communicate to our driver that we needed to get to the hospital NOW. The driver did not speak any English so Matt was trying his best to make up some French that meant STEP ON IT BUDDY. When we finally made it through the crowd to the gate of the hospital, the guards wouldn't let us through. Matt and I scrambled out of the van with the baby in tow and ran to the gate trying to show the guard the unresponsive baby. He finally let us through and we ran into the already over flowing emergency room. The doctors listened to Matt as he gave them the rundown and literally moved a patient from the bed to a chair so we could lay the baby on the table. All I could do was pray. Pray that they could get her to breathe again, pray that she would be okay, pray that everything would work out. All of a sudden, she let out a wail and everyone in the room breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. How amazing and wonderful was the cry of that baby. Definitely an experience that I will NEVER forget.

Our day didn't stop there though. We loaded right back into the jeep and headed back to Aeropuerto to continue with the clinic. When we got back, Matt went with Tim (another EMT) back to University of Miami hospital with a teenage girl who was so dehydrated she started convulsing in the tent. All while this was happening, the crowd was becoming more and more tense because a man in the tent city was being arrested. We gathered as a group and discussed whether we should leave or not and decided collectively that we had a job a mission to do and wouldn't leave until we ran out of medication or patients.

As the day began winding down, I was working with Mike, a physicians assistant from Pittsburgh. He taught me a lot about de-worming medications and also about wound care. Just in time too because a teenage boy was brought to the tent with a severed finger and was bleeding profusely. Mike, being the jokster he is said calmly to me, "You might want to apply pressure to that wound." Gee thanks Mike. As I began to apply pressure to his hand and began to clean the wound, the boy told the interpreter that he worked at the gate of the city and got his hand caught in the gate as they were closing it. He was in some serious pain, poor guy. We gave him Vicodin and began to dress his wounds as best as we could and then sent him to the hospital as well. We saw over 200 patients today and didn't lose a single one. :)

Dr. Mike

After we began to pack up the clinic, us health care workers got to go into the donation tent and help hand out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Pedialyte to the children. One by one the kids got to come through the tent and received a half of a PBJ and a cup of Pedialyte. One little boy that came through was about two years old and was trying to eat his sandwich through the wrapper. Oh man was he precious, I helped him and he just kept grinning through the whole thing. (I might have snuck him an extra half because he was just so adorable!)

My little buddy :)

Finally we left the tent city and took the long way back to our compound so that we were able to see a lot of the city. The destruction is still amazing and unbelievable, but no matter the destruction these people just keep pushing along through their lives.

Today was absolutely exhausting but we decided that after all of that drama and adrenaline we needed to go out and let off a little steam. We went to a Haitian disco party. It was a lot of fun. It is just a big black room and everyone just dances. You can't see anything! It was definitely an experience and we drug ourselves home at about 2 am. When we got home, me, Anita, and Kelci had a little pow wow in the bathroom that involved a ton of laughter and more contemplation of killing the rooster because he began to crow AGAIN!

I learned so much today and am still absolutely loving this county, it's culture but most of all it's beautiful people.

Another beautiful Haitian sunset