Our Mission Has Just Begun

Where do we begin?
The past 2 days have been full of adventure and excitement. On Friday, we started off to the Iron Market which is down town near Cite Solei. We were able to pull inside the market to park our truck off the streets. The poverty in the street was overwhelming but yet the resilience of the people was amazing. They were selling everything you can possible want even the kitchen sink. The rubble from the earthquake was evident everywhere. It is amazing how much repair was done in the new buildings. While several of us have engineers for husbands it would never passed inspections. The Haitians were working as vendors at the base of the crumbling
buildings as if the earthquake never happened. There were two sections inside the Iron Market. One was a tourist market with lots of Haitian artisans and the other sold food. We
were hooked up with a vendor who took us through the market starting with his family’s
booths. We bought paintings, jewelry, wooden boxes and soapstone souvenirs. There
was everything from clothing, drums, and art to large hats, which Kelly could not resist purchasing (She kept telling us she was going to garden in the hat…I guess we will have to wait until spring to see). We checked out the food market. There were many choices of open
beans, rice and spices. Our big purchase there was wooden spoons….they were only 25 gouds. On our way home we hit the Apparent Project again to buy some additional items and supplies for Sandy. We had planned to have a short return visit clinic on Friday after our outing…the short follow-up visits turned into a 30 patient clinic. It was a bit overwhelming because we
still had to organize and pack for our Saturday Adventure clinic. The team came together to make the unknown Adventure Clinic as organized as possible…we made a plan for the most common complaints and pre-packed the meds for treatment. There was a lot of laughter
and singing as we made labels in Creole…not as much fun as cutting out sheep or peanuts. J Saturday morning were going into the mountains to a village called Belo. We met Ann
Farkelson at Frémont and she led the way for our unknown adventure…..

SATURDAY: There are no words to describe our day. The scenery was simply beautiful. From the hills, mountains, the fields plowed into the hills, the Haitians working in their gardens on the side of the mountains, the animals tied up grazing but clinging to the side of the hill. When we met up with Ann she doubled checked if we had 4 wheel drive……we soon found out why. There really were no roads. There were occasional two-track cement sections of road every so often, otherwise it was wet lateritic clay with lots of dolomite/quartz stone road. Big trucks which take the food down the hills from the fields have torn the roads up causing lots of ruts and occasional small ponds (okay slight exaggeration but it seemed that way as we drove through them) . The ruts were HUGE and the cliffs seemed closer since there were no guard rails for most of the road. Add to the mix motorcycles and other vehicles that didn’t seem to care that they had to share the road. Alix did a superb job concentrating on getting the team to their destination safely . Those in the back of the truck bounced their way up the hill. Laura’s laugh was contagious as she thought she was on a Cedar Point ride from all of the bouncing. Housing consists of metal or wooden twig dwellings or small cement shacks. We stopped to let one man know that Ann would check his blood pressure on the way back home. The trip up the mountain from Fremont that we were assured would take only 45 minutes took closer to 1.5 hours. We had a running joke about directions…”it is just there, around this bend over the hill and around the corner” There was a large tent which was their school and church. We were greeted by the local pastor and we quickly unpacked and set up. If you know Deb she doesn’t pack lightly and we were loaded to the brim with army bags on top of the truck….we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. Our first thing on our list was the skit with Jonah and the Whale……They loved it! All of us participated and it was so much fun to see their expressions and they probable watched the first play in their life. We saw about 85 patients in 4 hours with just 3 nurses and one Nurse Practitioner ~ Nancy Knowledge or the Nancenator!!! That is an example of what an awesome team this is.
While we were seeing patients the other half was doing VBS with activities, crafts and handing out flip flops. When we finished we headed back down the hill. The drive back was a little nicer. We were stopped once by the pastor who said our truck was smoking and he pulled out the filter and smashed it on some rocks to clean it out. Apparently he just finished automotive school and wanted to show us some of his talents. We filled the back of Ann’s truck with flip flops and medications to share in Frémont. Our Saturday evening was spent packing up for our trip back
to Michigan. We had the traditional basket on the head race between two teams which had everyone laughing as we competed to carry the “Chico’s” to market and back. As we were packing we heard a Carnival parade pass by in the streets as some Haitians were celebrating Festival early. We watched and danced from Three Angels compound. They had Uluu horn so we were reminded of the Olympics. We were able to pack to the sounds of early Carnival celebrations.

Sunday: We promised Alix that we would go to his church and we were blessed with a Haitian
Service. Part way through the service they had us stand as they thanked us for serving their people. We were then off to the airport. The trip up the mountain provide a different
perspective for our travel on Sunday… it was a comparative breeze to travel. As our trip is coming to an end we realize our friendships will continue and we are already planning our next
trip to Haiti as we have only just begun.

To tired to post!

Baaaaaaaaaa

Over worked but blessed for a life time……..I am extremely proud of this team. There were many patients to check in today. We started off with MANY sick children. We are so proud of Renee who successfully started an IV on a very dehydrated boy. He spent most of the morning with us getting rehydrated and an IV antibiotic. There were many respiratory treatments given, a pregnancy was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and sent to hospital, “sour water” (GERD), coughs and 94 year old grandma (granme) who said God has preserved her. Karen counted and labeled many tablets for all of the patients. Deb was crazy in triage again today. There were more patients requesting appointments than tickets and adjustments that had to be made. There were many children throughout the day waiting to be seen so we kept them busy with music, coloring and sidewalk chalk. Shirley, Renee and Nancy worked out a system to finish all of the patients just in time for another delicious dinner of sauce poul including the vegetarian version.

Bible adventure class was definitely a blaaaaaaast today. Will he not leave the 99 on the hill? It was very rewarding seeing hundreds of sheep pins everywhere. We sang “When the Saints Go Marching In” all over Three Angels grounds. The medical clinic was not impressed each round as they tried to listen to heart murmurs and fetal heart tones. Kelly, Brittanie and Laura were busy all day. Kelly was the lost sheep with the pink nose, Laura was an angry lion (RRRRoar) and Brittanie was David the shepherd (Kung fu artist). We have been blessed to have Kelly who planned out the Bible adventure classes with skits, games and crafts everyday for all 280 students and our team including provision of all costumes and craft supplies. Tonight we
practiced making beads and designing new necklaces. Sandy was busy today making WONDERFUL baklava. It was simply delicious.

We are all exhausted. There is a lot of work that we plan to accomplish before we leave and we are running out of time. The team is off to practice yet another skit…..Bonwit.

The morning was a bit of a lay about since we didn’t get started until 7:30am. Today was about the orphans and sick children at Mother Theresa’s Hospital. Alix was our driver and we got there in record time. Karen was appalled by the driving or “lack of basic road rules”
that Alix had to contend with, she spent most of the trip with her hands over her eyes. Nancy told her she thought perhaps Karen had control issues…she said if we put in the blog her family would “never believe” the control issues. We spent the morning feeding and loving on sick babies. There were many bowls of rice and beans to go around. Some babies were too ill for rice and beans and only received formula…they were aware that other babies were getting rice and
beans and would point to the bowls. It was impressive to see how hard the Haitian workers and nuns were cleaning, feeding and making everything work. There was profound sadness to see so many children suffering from malnutrition. We went to the Epidor for a fine Haitian version of Western food. Kelly and Nancy engaged in a French baguette duel to entertain the troops. Karen almost ate an entire pizza herself…she said her family wouldn’t believe it. We also got to visit a supermarket, Kelly entertained the people in the parking lot when she bought her Haitian broom and road it across the driveway like a horse. Brittney and Nancy provided horse clopping sound effects. Kelly had several armed UN peacekeepers, bag boys, and drivers laughing uproariously.
We also visited the Apparent project, which helps parents rise out of extreme poverty in order to keep their children. The Apparent artisan’s program, educational programs and relief workers are trying to make the needs of Haiti apparent to potential helpers through media & the arts. (http://www.apparentproject.org/). For us it was a chance to SHOP and Alix was wondering what he had gotten himself into with 9 women shopping for a Haitian gifts for their family and friends back home. Fun was had by all viewing the creativity of the artisan’s, it was amazing to see what they could do with cardboard turning them into beads. The evening was spent getting the props ready for Bible Adventure Class. We repaired the sheep that looked like other barn yard
animals, dogs, seals, llamas…you get the picture and cutting out more sheep so that we would have the 300 sheep necessary for the story of David the shepherd and his faith. Brittney is the champion sheep shearerJ. Kelly is the queen of costumes and Laura is a ferocious lion (ROAR!).
Deb is a lady of leisure as she allows her crazy friend to write the blog…her friend thinks Deb had planned a wonderful day and deserves a little break. We are planning for tomorrow’s clinic…follow up visits and the need for some basic medications. We are looking forward to another busy day of health clinics and Bible Adventure Class! ROAR
Bonwit!

Day Two = Success

Day Two = Awesome team!Our morning ran very smooth for the medical clinic and Bible Adventure class. The first patients of the morning were students they had a variety of issues. In the afternoon our patiently waiting community patients were seen. Renee, Shirley, Nancy and their translators Chlotide and Monica were working like well-oiled machines, they found their rhythm today and were seeing patients more efficiently. We seem to be having blue light specials on worms and asthma issues. Nancy had a little girl dancing after her respiratory treatment. Triage was a bit less hectic for Deb today and she did not have to put on her bouncer shoes. One boy had been playing on a wall and fell yesterday. He came into the clinic with a broken nose, stiches and a concussion for a dressing change. We continue to have patients with depression because of the earthquake, loss of their family members and still living in tents. The clinic is out of many medications so we are going to tackle a Haitian pharmacy tomorrow…….it actually sounds fun!George Washington Carver came for a visit to the Bible Adventure class today. There were several of the school boys who donned a mustache and played George Washington Carver. The joy of laughter filled the school yard today lifting hearts. The wonderful activity had children exploring their dreams of future based on the inspiration of George Washington Carver and his discovery of 300 different things to do with peanuts. We also heard beautiful strains of Swing-Low Sweet Chariot to the accompaniment of Brittanie, Kelly & Deb’s ukulele.Karen shared her devotion tonight about building relationships and serving in Haiti. Tomorrow we are going to Mother Theresa’s Hospital to help feed infants and toddlers, lunch at the Epidor and the Iron Market in the afternoon. This will be our first adventure to the Iron Market. We will continue to try to post pictures but the internet is very slow.Bonwit!

Day One = Success

Ready set go.......... Monday started off with a bang! Bible adventure class was spectacular. Kelly, Brittanie``, Laura and Sandy were very busy with Cindy Sparrow, Roy Robin and Sandy the Owl (Whooo, Whoo). Cindy Sparrow learned to trust God to provide for her needs and the students trusted their partners to lead them to their gummyworms while blind folded. It was amazing how everyone jumped into action to help these four team members entertain 280 students.

The medical clinic was off to a start with Karen in the pharmacy counting and dispencing her medications. Renee and Shirley were matched up with their translator Monica and Clotide was very excited to be back working with Nancy. There were many respiratory issues. Thank goodness for Nancy......"Nancy Knowledge" She answered many, many, questions. Deb played bouncer trying to keep the crowd calm, taking vitals. Many flip flops, were given out and teeth brushing demostrations were shared with our Haitian friends.

We are missing Linda again tonight as we are cutting 900 peanuts & 200 sheep for tomorrows school project.....Kelly..."Gepetto" is sewing away making puppets and we are happily critiqueing each character. Hugs to Linda, we miss you.

Joanne and Joanna came today to spend the night. Joanne is a very special girl who was in Midland Michigan 3 years ago on a medical VISA. We were so thrilled to see her and Laura was in her glory hanging out with her old friend.

Once again I have been blessed with such a flexable wonderful team. I am very excited to hear team member quotes.....well next time when I come to Haiti......
Bonwit

We are here! We arrived Saturday after traveling with 13 bags weighing #50 each, 8 carry on's and 8 backpacks on and off several planes and hotel. We were very happy to see Alix and Sandy at the airport and unload the bags. Customs inspected all of our bags and were full of questions but all they could really find were hundreds of flip flops.

Today we got our bounce on at Port Au Prince Fellowship. Service was fantastic as usual.....loud, alive and full of life. Everyone worked hard all afternoon sorting goods and cleaning to get ready for clinic and bible adventure class with the Three Angels students. We had to count and inventory everything that we brought in our bags. Nancy and Karen were busy in the pharmacy organizing the medications. Renee and Shirley were dragging equipment every where. Laura was folding diapers, flip flops and wiping tables. Kelly simply is so organized and has her bible adventure days all maped out and posted on the walls of the old orphanage. Brittanie was busy folding the pillow case dresses......and trying them on.

Bible Adventure class will consist of a story, craft and song. We are in the process of cutting out 300 sheep, making birds and practicing skit lines. Sandy has been practing her line all day. She has been assigned to the owl.....Whooo...Whooo...I think she is rather excited!

We have been blessed with several Haitian meals already~yummy bean sauce and rice & chicken and JonJon. We also had experimental strawberries and mango ice cream. It was a success!

Brittanie had devotion tonight and told us how we are Gods hands and feet serving in Haiti. We are truly blessed with everyone on our team. Everyone has step out of the box and tackeled many tasks that they dont normally do. We are missing our buddy Linda who could not make our trip. Prayers and thoughts go out to her as she faces surgery. Nancy says she is really going to miss Linda's private yoga lessons! :)

We ended the evening with a jam session with 3 ukuleles, spoons and everyone else with shakers......This team rocks!