Friday afternoon January 25 5:11PM

I am boiling mad. I have just ended another day of over 350 patients-maybe even over 400 and I check my email before dinner-with a glass od cold Sauvignon Blanc wine or two. Incidentally, Jean Michel,one of our main Haitian employees and a Mormon minister, has joined me in hoisting a glass of wine. I nearly dropped the bottle when he asked for it. Ha! Back to the mad. On December 26, I shipped 10 cases of medications to Lynx Air and they got them on January 2 BUT they are still in Fort Lauderdale as they are "backed up" from the holidays. We needed those medications NOW not months later. I wish I were in the States to call them and vent my anger. I would never have dreamed that our meds would be this delayed. You can imagine my tone when I call them next week when I am back in Fort Lauderdale. WE HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER WAY. On the good news side, Dr.. Matha Willi, Dr Patel, Pharmacist Tom Rickey. Sister Rachel Bergschneider and some others stopped by today on their way home from their mission in the Haiti mountains. I ran out of the pharmacy, squirt gun in hand, and shocked everyone as I sprayed Martha with cold water. It was a riot!!! That team had a great mission and it was good to visit with them. It is an early supper tonight so I will stop and continue to boil!!!

Monday morning in Haiti January 2008

Hello again from Haiti at sunrise. We have returned to Cyvadier, Haiti for another medical mission to the people of this area. We left Peoria, Illinois at midnight on January 19, 2008. The temperature was 1 or 2 degrees below zero and we were dressed for Haiti and not for Illinois. So we were quite cold as we loaded our 40 or so bags and totes into the bus. The ride to Chicago started out with a lot of excited chatter but it was soon quiet as everyone tried to rest. Surprisingly, I managed to sleep for about 1 hour of the 2 ½ hour trip. At 2:30 we arrived at O’Hare airport. We scrounged up 4 large baggage carts and hauled our freight into the lobby by the international ticket counter. We have learned, over the years, that there is one of the digital scales available for us to check the weight of our bags. Many were overweight and some under weight so we were able to redistribute some items to keep under the 50 pound weight limit. At 4:15 AM, the American Airlines people were ready to check us in and we had all done that and passed through security by 5:00 AM. The wait at the security line was a mere 20 minutes, even at that time of the morning and with 3 lanes open. It is always amazing to see how people act when going through the security check point. Some folks just do not have a clue, will not read the posted signs, and will not listen or follow directions.

After a delicious cup of coffee and a bite of breakfast from the airport MacDonald's we boarded the plane at 5:45 AM and had a pleasant flight to Miami. I managed another hour of sleep during the 3 ½ hour flight. It was raining and 66 degrees in Miami. We arrived at terminal E and our connecting flight was in terminal D so we only had a short tram ride in from terminal E and a short 15 minute walk to terminal D. We normally go out of terminal A which would have been a 20 or 30 minute hike. In terminal D, we were pleasantly surprised to find a Monitor bar. After 2 of those in a row, I needed to find some food. The wait for a Uno’s sausage pizza was almost 20 minutes and I am sorry to report that it was not worth the wait. The pizza was undercooked and quite blah! Our flight left Miami on time at 2 PM, at least, on time out of the gate. We taxied for a very long, slow time and were finally airborne. We arrived in Port-Au-Prince at 4:10 PM, passed through immigration and into baggage claim with our usual speed. Our baggage was coming off the conveyor belt as we entered the baggage claim area and Boyer was there to greet us. After all the bags arrived we were short on of Garron Lukas’s bags. The rest of us breezed through custom with out stopping and made it to the front door. We were halted there for several minutes to collect the group for our assault on the crowd at the airport’s exit doors. We were met bay several our Haitian employees who helped us to keep the crowd of Haitians, who were trying to help us in order to make money, away from our bags. There were two buses waiting for us and, after about 5 minutes of Haitian debate we piled all of our bags and carry-on’s into one bus and all of us into the second bus. Then, much to our frustration, we sat for 1 hour waiting for word from Garron about his bag. As dusk approached the mosquitoes invaded the bus and we spent a lot of time swatting at them. Finally, Garron arrived and we were off at twilight through Port-au-Prince at 6PM. Our trip through Port-Au-Prince was the usual stop and go, strange smells, crowds of people on both sides of the road, and wild and crazy drivers of cars, buses, trucks, and hundreds of motorbikes. The trip over the mountains was uneventful. You get used to the smell of hot transmission fluid and the smell of burning brakes. There was a full moon so some of the scenes of the mountains were picturesque. At about 8:40 PM we arrived in Jacmel and ran into Karnival so we had to back up and try another route through the city. Our driver did pretty well until he neared the iron market and we were stopped by a rah-rah band of about 300 fans. After a short wait, we arrived at the clinic a little after 9 and the bags were right behind us. Supper was at 10 and some relaxing until close to midnight, then it was off to bed for this guy. I awoke at my usual 5:00 AM and that catches you up to this moment.
Today, we will unpack our bags, the many cases of supplies and medications that have arrived, and set up the clinic for our patients. There are about 100 outside at the present and I am sure there will be many more by Tuesday when we will open. This is a very experienced team so we should have a good clinic in terms of serving the Haitian people. Our clinic is fully operational at the present. There are no known water of generator problems. The weather forecast is for humid days with highs of 85 and lows of 73 degrees. That will be a blessing. I am enjoying a beautiful sunrise as I write this on the third floor balcony, in a rocking chair. The goats who live in the property east of us are crying. Last night, one of the baby goats sounded so sad as we sat here and listened to its cries.
Thanks for reading this blog. Please keep us in your prayers as we are praying for you at each meal and through out the days. As always, your comments are welcome. Bonde bene ou!

Our last night at the FOTCOH clinic

Why did I take that shower before supper? I am sweating as much as when I finished work. Today we served around 200 patients for a total near 2600 patients. No wonder we are all tired. I understand we were unable to see about 16 patients at closing time today. One young man was about to be turned away when he suffered a severe asthma attack and was rushed to the breathing treatment area. I have no concept of time when we quit for lunch. After lunch I had some really great help with inventory and I was able to review it and check out the questions that I had. Most of the questions centered on Dr. Bill’s handwriting. Dr Nelson is here and we think he is in love with one of the volunteers-no names mentioned. The child that Donna and I recently acquired as a sponsor child came to the clinic during inventory and I fell in love with him immediately. He has red curly hair and a very proud papa. Red hair in this population means malnutrition, so I inquired if he had been seen during the clinic. Renel acted as interpreter and told me that the boy was well but I asked Dr. Bill to look him over just in case. He is a fine healthy boy. I gave him s Snoopy with a soccer ball, another soccer ball and a small rubber ball and one of my gliders. I think it was Jane who shot the pictures and I am anxious to see them. I wish I had shaved today for that picture and the further video interview with Dan for us to use to recruit more pharmacists. There is nothing like seeing me at my worst.
This has been a great team to be apart of and sadness abounds among the team as we realize that the experience is about over. -Of course, we still have the adventure of Jacmel airport, the flight in the small planes to the small airport in Port-Au-Prince, the ride in the truck with all of our luggage to PAP airport and the zoo that is PAP airport. We purchased rum in Jacmel today and it is in our checked baggage, We fly into Ft. Lauderdale and I hope to be on the cell phone to my wife as soon as I get my feet on the ground. I have tried to reach her on the VOIP phone but have missed her each time. I am going to post this. You will not have to hear from me till sometime on Saturday when I am back home. Thanks for being my readers. Thanks for all the kind remarks and most especially thanks for the prayers. Bonde Bene Ou! May God bless you!

Thursday 5:30 PM

Just a short note as I am happy to sit down. Pharmacy is closed. I had extra help in reducing the line and we were done at 6 PM. However, for anyone who has been here, imagine 10 people in the pharmacy trying to fill orders at the same time. Or, for you h=who have not had the pleasure, picture a 15 x 15 foot room with shelving and then 10 people with trays. Cramped? Noisy? Confusing? I am, however. most grateful for the help. I was really getting tired.
Later this evening or in the morning I will discuss the visit by the Haitian police. I may make mention of Marna's squeeze, Becky's lip, and Sue's rash. Of course, I could hold that information and sell it to the highest bidder.
I did have to remind a provider that she was a medical provider and not a lawyer when it came to shingle. I've encountered some interesting dosing when one forgets a zero here or there or even a tiny, insignificant decimal point. Also today in the pharmacy, I was just about given a flying bird by a provider. I leave that to your imagination.
The news I do want to share concerns a baby that I just saw. She was born Sunday and dropped in a toilet (yes,a latrine). The baby was rescued by the actions of an alert 17 year old. He had seen the pregnant lady and just a little later noticed her leaving and trail a path of blood. The UN assisted, broke into the concrete and lowered a Sri Lankan soldier down to rescue the child. Luckily the toilet was almost brand new and not as gross as you might be imagining. She came last night and tonight for a shot of antibiotic. She was adopted by an American family that has an orphanage here. The baby's name is Kristala and I may not have spelled it correctly but it means, in Kreole, Christ was here!
With that said, it is time for a Prestige or something stronger. I have to stop crying!!!

Early Wednesday

It is another beautiful morning on the balcony. As I sit on the rocking chair, a nice cool breeze from the North floats over me and the sun will soon jump out of the ocean. I managed to rig up my fan so that it blew cool (?) air over me last night. I propped it on the headboard and aimed it on my body. The fan is tall and somewhat square in shape so it stayed out all night. I realized this morning that I am not hydrating enough as I have slept two nights in a row with out awakening to urinate. So it is more water for me today for sure. Carol and I remind each other to drink but not often enough for me, it seems. There has been nobody being sick so that means health is excellent. That is a good thing.
The fishermen are rowing their boat around the point now. Today there are only two men on board. The waves are crashing on the rocks and there is a constant sound, like a big jet plane passing overhead, coming from the nearby rocks.
Time for some more coffee. It is fluid, isn't it.

Welcome to Haiti

It’s Tuesday morning at 5:15 AM. The sun will be up in about 30 minutes. I am on the third floor balcony looking out to the Southeast. There is a small boat out on the water with 3 men fishing. The skyline is gray with the morning haze. The small breeze is refreshing and nice. It is probably 15 degrees cooler outside than in side the clinic so it is fun to sit here and watch the sun come up as I type.
On Sunday night at 11PM, I left for the airport. About half way there, I realized that I’d not packed my passport so we turned around and returned home to retrieve it. No matter, our bus did not show up until midnight. It took just a short while to load the bus and we were off on this adventure. The bus ride was uneventful. The DVD of “The Simpson’s” was the movie. I dozed a bit after that as it was hard to doze with the noise. We arrived at O’Hare at 3 AM. There were, already, several people there and a couple of large groups ahead of us in line. When we stated to check in at 4:30 AM we encounter our first problem. American Airlines, with its announced embargo, would not take our tote containers that we had specially purchased in response to that embargo. They told us that totes are, boxes and no boxes are allowed due to the embargo. It took many calls and almost 1 hour before we were allowed to check in. Whew. We managed to get checked in, through TSA security, etc with minimal problems. I had failed to remove my quart sized bag of shave cream so my bags were checked by TSA and I did not loose the product. Fortified by Starbucks coffee, we got on a full flight to Miami and arrived on time at the D concourse. Our next flight, in 3 hours was from the “A” concourse and that meant a 20 minute walk between terminals for our exercise. We ate lunch at the Mexican restaurant and Jane Mai, a second year medical student from Tampa, met up with us. She is a lovely young oriental who, influenced by meeting Dr. Paul Farmer, was inspired to work in Haiti and found out about our team. She is friendly and personable and will be a great asset. On a side note, this team has come together quite well and it will be another fun adventure.
Our plane was late and full leaving Miami. What else is new? When we arrived in Haiti, we cleared immigration in record time and I complimented the agent on the swiftness of the process. That was a mistake as it took more than 1 hour for our plane to be unloaded and, to our joy and surprise, our containers were the last to be unloaded in typical Haitian fashion. Now the process begins of getting your bags and boxes and get through customs. Someone else had my container so I switched with her and faced the music. After I had to show the agent how to open the ties-much to his surprise, he merely pawed through the box, picked up the bag of very powerful injectables, much to my dismay, and promptly put them back neatly and I was on my way. About 8 of us seemed to be targeted for inspection but no seizures and no customs charges. Yeah!. We departed the terminal, into the mob of people and our Haitian helpers guided us to the truck that would take our luggage to Jacmel and also take us to the small airport. We loaded up, like sardines in a can, and raced to the other end of the airfield. It too Carbintair about 45 minutes of Haitian stalling for us to get on the two small planes for our 18 minute flight over the mountains to Jacmel. Dick, Barb, Bruce, Dan, and, of course, Digone met us at the Jacmel end. We loaded our carryon and ourselves into the two trucks for the short trip to the clinic. Jean Michel, Eric and I rode the back bumper and Jean Michele and I chose to walk from the min road back to the clinic as Son Son’s Tap-Tap was dragging bottom as we drove over the rough rocky ground. It was fun to spend that time with Jean Michel, one of our main men, here in Haiti.
The clinic was as clean as ever and the new team members marvel at our luxurious accommodations. I began to uncover the pharmacy and prepare it to open. We ate one of my favorite meals, Thanks to our Haitian cooks, of tomatoes, onions, lobster in a stew, with rice and beans and pickly, the hot Cole slaw. It was a nice welcome. Our main bags arrived at 10 PM and we had them broken down in about a half hour. There was some leakage of shampoos inside the bags and boxes but no real damage that I can see. A quick note to the pharmacy committee that the new light bulb did not solve the problem with the pill counting machine so I will have some one here look at it but I will not count on it for this mission. Soon it will be breakfast and off to work. We give thanks to God for our safe journey here and for the many blessings He bestows on us.

Here in Haiti

We arrived late into Port-Au-Prince but were able to catch the plane to Jacmel so you know we have arrived safely. I am very tired and have been up now almost 45 hours so this will be brief. I just wanted you to know that we got here. I'll write more about our adventures tomorrow when I am rested. Yes it is hot and sticky. I am sweating quite well, thank you. Please know you are in our prayers.

Team preparation for July Mission

We will soon have our second team meeting for the upcoming July medical mission. We will have a team made up of some first timers and some old timers. It should be a fun trip. Today I heard that the April-May team had some problems with American Airlines and did not get to arrive in Haiti until later than planned. That forced them to spend the night in Port-Au-Prince. They were also expected to arrive in Jacmel late this morning so that will cause them problems today. I'll keep you posted as I hear more.