Wednesday update January 2008

Tuesday morning January 22

Back again at the computer in the quiet of another morning dawn’s light. I had a restful night’s sleep as I went to bed just after 9 PM for a change. I was very tired after a very busy day here at the clinic.

Fist of all, I can report that my wife had her eye surgery yesterday and it went very well. Papa Dick allowed me to use the cell phone and I was able to call her just as she got back from the hospital. That surprised her very much and relieved my worries here. It seems strange that a cell phone call is the least expensive way to call.

After a great coffee cake breakfast by Larry Shank we began to tackle the task of setting up the clinic. Dr Raj and Sharon Doran helped me at the start and after lunch the rest of the team pitched in to help. We were able to package almost all of the drugs that are pre-packaged as our fast movers by 3:30 PM. In the seven or eight times tat I have been here, I have never been as ready to open as I am this morning. However, we are missing the six cases of product that I shipped out on December 26, 2007 and we will try to contact Lynx Air this morning to see what the problem is. I am very concerned about that.
Many of the team members went to the beach yesterday afternoon for a swim. As usual, I stayed behind to finish up and clean up from our set up. My goodness, that was a lot of up’s. Ha! Later in the afternoon some of the group of us who stayed behind walked up to Son-Son’s bar for an outing. For those of you who have been here before will know that is a rare thing for me to go to Son-Son’s. On my first visit to Haiti and my first trip to Son Son’s I lost the bridge to my glasses in the dirt and never did find it. So I resorted to try to make do by putting a band-aid on my nose so the wire bracket would not hurt as much. I was rescued by a local eye doctor who had come for a visit. He took my glasses back to his office and repaired them for me. So going to Son-Son’s is not among my favorite experiences. This time, we were met by the group who had gone to the beach and we had a nice time. A pick up truck pulled up to the bar, with a load of blancs. Blanc is the name we are given by the Haitians as a team of respect because they do not know your name. The driver of the truck was Michelle. She runs the orphanage nearby and has adopted the child named Cristala Belle. Christala Belle was the baby born in the latrine last July when we were here and we cared for the baby. Michelle will be bringing the baby in for a check up and I am vey happy about that.

Last night’s dinner was chicken pot pie and I managed to wolf down two helpings. I must have been hungry. I realize I forgot to tell you that our supper on Monday was one of my favorites. I enjoy the rice and beans and the tomato-onion sauce that is put over it. We finished up the left-over’s at lunch on Monday. Can you tell that I have not been down to breakfast?

This is quite an experienced team. There are only three people here for their first visit. Dr Wendy, Dr Raj, and Carla, our student nurse are the rookies. However, they have jumped right in to the mix and I know that they will do well. There are no strangers here. Only friends that can take the teasing. With that in mind, I must report that Jodie Moody was the recipient of the “Monkey Butt” award. This was given in recognition of her very bad rash that she acquired in May 2006.

It is time to eat breakfast and get to work. The internet satellite is down so I will not be able to transmit this until later. Darn, we can’t call the cable company to complain because we can’t get a dial tone to an outside line..

Here I am, back at you at noon. The satellite is still not working so that we can get out onto the internet. The lunch time gossip is that we have already let over 200 people through the gate so we will have a big day. The other news report is that there was an accident on the road between Port-Au-Prince and Jacmel last night and three people were killed and an unknown number are injured. As you know, that is the road that we were on the night before. We rode, in fear of such an event the entire route. We are still suffering from the absence of the six cases of medications that I shipped out on December 26 and delivered to Lynx Air in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 2, 2008. We are attempting to contact the people of Lynx Air to get our shipment here. It contains medications for surgery, baby vitamins, and some other very important items. It breaks our hearts to tell the people today that we do not have what they need on hand-especially on the very first day of clinic. We MUST look for other ways to get the medications here in time.

It is humid, warm, and sunny here as I take a lunchtime break. We called back to the November team leader this morning and she was busy shoveling snow off of her driveway. I am very pleased to report that the team is working very well and adjusting to the work load. It is always a little rough on the first day of clinic. The internet is still not up so I’ll get back to my post and publish this later.

Hello again. It is now early Wednesday morning and the internet connection is back. I will catch up with the blog later today but I’ll publish this now. What’s with this snow and cold in Peoria???

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!

January mission to Haiti soon.

Heello from sunny Florida. I am here resting up for the next mission to Haiti with The Friends of The Children of Haiti (www.fotcoh.org). We leave late Saturday night, January 19 and will return on Friday evening, February 1. This years team is made op with many experienced members and some new ones also. I will miss my wife this time, as she has elected to stay in Peoria, especially since I'll be making 3 missions in 2008. I believe that I have shipped all of the medications that we will need for this mission. I will have to carry in some supplies, however that I just realized that I had not sent. I'm looking forward to another great mission. I do enjoy my work in Haiti and I do believe we are making a difference in the lives of many people there. I will try to post to this blog on a daily basis-depending on how tired I am at the end of the day.

Soon to be off

Tomorrow we will begin the July mission to Haiti. I am excited that I can return to assist the people in the Jacmel area as best that I can. I am hoping to meet up with Brother Nego. He is a youth minister in Jacmel. We've corresponded via email so far.
Our packing party went smooth but my bags are very overweight so I've had to remove some soap. baby blankets, lotions, food, and other items in order to accommodate some last minute medications. I hope we do not have problems at customs!!! Our new tote boxes, in response to American Airlines cargo embargo, do not hold as much bulk and 50 lbs comes very easily. Our weather forecast is for hot and muggy conditions. Please keep us in your prayers as you are in mine.