Tracking Ed Monroe as he travels to Haiti and other exotic(?) places

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Packing for Haiti once again 2007

Hello! It's time once again to restart the blog. I'm just sure you have all been waiting anxiously for a new posting. Today was our packing party. We have a very large team, 27 members in all. We will have 9 medical providers. That will keep us busy in the pharmacy. We will also be doing a project for the Haitian patients. We will be placing small sticker on the pill bags for the chronic medical problems such as hypertension, diabetes, heart problems, breathing problems and others. These stickers will have a graphic picture of a heart, or a blood pressure cuff, or other symbol so that the patient will know, a little more clearly, what medical problem they are taking those little white pills that are in that bag. It is our goal to increase compliance and better their health by better understanding. This will likely require another volunteer in the pharmacy to work on this project. Yes, as usual, I will have a full plate.
My wife, Donna, and I are excited to be a part of this team again this year. We will have some new people who will join quite a few veterans on our time. We should have a good time. One other bit of news for you. American Airlines has changed the flight schedule into Port-Au_Prince and we will arrive too late in the day to be able to fly on to Jacmel on the smaller planes. There are no landing lights at Jacmel airport and it would be risky flying over the mountains in the dark. So our options are to spend the night at Wall's guest house, as we did last May, or to ride the bus over the mountains. The trip is only 75 miles but due to the roads and mountains, it takes from 3 to 4 hours if we are lucky. The decision has been made to use the bus. That will give us a look at Port-Au-Prince, the mountain roads, and a better idea of how the people live in Haiti. It could also get us in some problems. Please keep us in your prayers!
It is my plan to try to write to this blog on a daily basis once we get to Haiti. Since we leave Peoria at midnight on Monday, February 5 and arrive at the compound around 8 or 9PM on Tuesday, I doubt that I will get computer time until February 7. I appreciate any and all comments you would care to make to this blog during our trip. I will post them as they come in. I get an email from blog spot to let me know you have a comment. I would also enjoy answering any questions that you might have.
Thanks for your love and concern. Ed