Haiti Mission Trip: Day 3-5

So sorry it has taken me this long, but work has been a bit busy and then I went out of town this past weekend, so let the story continue... Monday morning was our first day to run the clinic. Our morning started at 5:45 AM, because Kristen forgot to adjust her alarm the time change, so that provided a good laugh when Georgia, who is 11, corrected her:) We had oatmeal, bananas, bread, peanut butter, and jelly this day. I think this was the day I tried my first peanut butter and banana sandwich, not too bad. I couldn't really stomach the oatmeal, as it was basically the sweetest oatmeal you have ever tried, Kristen said, "it tastes like playdough," I thought that was funny, as personally I haven't ever tried playdough. Around 9 AM We headed down to the clinic with Jaques. Patrick, Tony, and Kevin all went to the hospital this day, so they let Jacques (family practice doctor), Kristen, Mary Alice, Beth, and me handle the clinic that day. It was a little overwhelming being the first day, but I was able to keep up and fill all the prescriptions. Beth and Mary Alice were the amazing triage team, and we couldn't have pulled it off without them:) Jaques and Kristen made quite the team, and they saw 38 patients that day. He even did some simple procedures, so that was pretty impressive, we quickly learned how valuable or appreciative the patients were for tylenol. Honestly, I had a moment back in the pharmacy thinking these people have waited in triage/waiting area for hours all for a bag of tylenol; something so many of us take for granted. A lot of the kids needed oral antibiotics, so I went back to the days of mixing up oral suspensions. In addition, we also had to mix IVs, so I used my knowledge from the oncology pharmacy at UNC Hospitals and was able to help in that area as well. We did not have power after about 2:30 pm this day, so imagine running a medical clinic with head lamps/lights and no running water, it was quite challenging at times. I had to hold a little baby to get her weight at one point during the day, who couldn't have been any older than 9 months and it hit me that she did not have on a diaper or anything, just a dress. Little things like this are an everyday thing there, but it was hard to process at times. We didn't think to take cloth diapers or any kind of diapers, and I felt so helpless. I gave lots of doses of tylenol to little kids, but one stood out, he was five years old and only weighed about 22 -24 pounds. He was so tiny, and I just wanted to pick him up, hold him, and feed him.

We returned to the guest house around 6, so this was quite a long day and we had dinner served by Mia. We had carrot slaw (which I really liked), rice and beans, fried plantanes, and meat balls. No one seemed to know what meat was in the meatballs, but I thought why not try it. It was the only meat that I tried the whole time. I didn't have another one. Our power was very spotty this night, but it finally came back on around 9pm and we were all able to shower and sleep:) Pastor Lewis came by to speak to us this night as well, while Jackson played a movie, Finding Nemo (in French) for the kids. They LOVED it:) Pastor Lewis was able to share with all of us the mission and vision for ESMI. Tuesday, Day 4, started at 6:30 AM. We had french toast for breakfast, can we say i loved it, oh yes:) I don't even get that at home, because I am too lazy to cook that in the morning. This was the day that Jazmine came to join me, she was such a great little helper. She would wipe down the pill counters with alcohol wipes or throw stuff away. I could tell she didn't feel well the first day, and all the days that I saw her, she was always so tired. I gave her a very small dose of tylenol and made her a palette on the floor, a concrete floor, made of a few surgical drapes and she slept there for like an hour. It was one of those things where you are happy that she is sleeping, but I was kind of sad that it meant that her sleeping conditions at the girls dorm are probably worse than a concrete floor. When she woke up from her little nap, I asked her if she knew Jesus Loves Me. She didn't talk very much, so I was expecting her to say no or not understand me, but she surprised me, and she started singing Jesus Loves Me in English first, then I asked her to sing it in Creole. It was beautiful. I had tears in my eyes, but quickly pulled it together. Patrick came in and tried to sing with us, but she got a little shy:)

When we got back to the house, we had dinner, which was rice with broth/sauce (yummy), squash, and beat salad, oh goodness I tried it but was not a fan, haha. Unfortunately, this was a rough night for me, as we lost power at maybe midnight and I just couldn't cool off. Wednesday morning I was so on edge, as I hadn't slept a lot, and still couldn't cool off, so I had a moment where I had to really put things into perspective. On a side note, some of my best friends had all written letters for me each day that I was there, so I will say this helped tremendously Wednesday morning. Wednesday, Day 5, we opened the clinic for half a day, as the second half of the day we were going to La Savan (sp) or the slums. The first four hours at the clinic were really hot, and I could barely cool off. A bus was waiting on us to take us, and I had a bad feeling. I didn't have any dramamine that day, and I was hoping/praying for the best. You see, the roads and traffic patterns (or lack there of) are a bit crazy, so the bus ride, the heat, and the bumpy roads provided a great combination for this girl to get a little lightheaded and sickly feeling. We arrived at the church plant, which is basically a warehouse, with no power, no bathrooms, and lots of people already waiting on us. I had to set up the pharmacy, but everything I did made me feel like I was going to pass out, so I had a moment when Kristen came up and was like, are you alright? I started crying and said I think I am going to pass out. All the docs and Kristen took great care of me, and got a fan off the generator and were fanning me with whatever they could find. They gave me their cold water, whatever it took. About 15 minutes I was back to normal. The heat there is no joke, yall. The medical team saw so many patients that we ran out of a lot of our medications, ran out of baggies to put the meds in, and we had to close the clinic around 4 in order to get back to Cambry. The poverty in this area definitely could not be put into words. Lots of very small children ran completely naked through the streets unattended to.

We returned to the house and Mia had dinner served to us. The only thing different this night was fish; I decided to pass on that. We also had an animal cracker baggie production line going in the dark:) I seriously loved the team I served with. Melissa had a great idea to divide evenly all of our animal crackers, which I gladly did the math, and we put 9 in each ziplock. It was a lot of fun, Mary Kate and I worked on this together, as she had her flashlight with her:) This day I prayed a lot for the kids that we all fell in love with to get a good night's sleep. It is like all that you see day in and day out, is so difficult for us to process... I would return to the guest house, showering with bugs, lizards, spiders (maybe), sometimes with power or without for some of us, and feel so defeated, but then quickly realized that I have so much to be thankful for and that this guest house is nice in comparison to what the children leave in. By the last day, I will say I had grown better accustom to the conditions and realized how selfish I was being. Okay, stayed tuned for Day 6-8 soon:)

My Trip to Haiti: Part 1 (Day 1-2)

So, I am going to do my best to sum up my trip in a few blog posts, I don't think I can do it in just one, but I will say this. I don't think you can really put into words all that you experience, all that you see, all that you feel emotionally, and all the hope and despair you see all at one time. My heart is forever changed and there are many times when I am doing something that I do in my everyday life and think of one of those little kids. I wish little Jazmine could be here with me, or I could see her again, but I trust that God is in control and looking after all of the kids at Cambry. We started our trip on Saturday morning, October 1, 2011 at 4:00 AM. The Charlotte airport is pretty dead, but we got on our plane to Miami with no problems:) I could already tell we were going to have a great time, and our five younger girls were already providing lots of entertainment. We landed in Miami and had a few minutes to get some breakfast, so Kevin, Kristen, and I headed to an all you can eat buffet:) So, our last meal was fantastic and we were set for Port au Prince. We arrived in Haiti, and customs/immigrations was a little chaotic. Praise the Lord they didn't go through our medical bags, so once we got outside, we were bombarded with men trying to help us. They all want to help you, so they can make the money. Ted, who helps with the orphanage and is a translator somewhat, helped us and we got on our bus with all of our bags and we started on our bus ride to the orphanage. After about 4.5 hours and one bathroom break, we made it Cambry. The kids were SOOO excited to see us. We first had to unload the bus and get settled into the guest house, but after that and dinner, we headed down the hill to meet the kiddos for the first time. I was a little overwhelmed, but at the same time, so excited for the week ahead.

The next morning we woke up around 5:00 AM (yes, this girl, the non-morning person) was up in this hour almost every day. We had two church services to attend. We went to the church that Pastor Lewis preaches at in the community of Les Cayes. It was definitely one of those moments where you put things in perspective. It was SO hot in that service, but all of the people were so joyful and ready to praise God. They could have worshiped God all day long, regardless of the conditions. I felt horrible as I knew in that moment how spoiled we are. I thought, what if we showed up at church and it was nearly 100 degress outside and we had no AC and no fans, would we stay and praise our Lord and Savior? Although we didn't understand a word that was being said, it was a good experience to see all praising God. After this two hour service, we returned to the orphanage for breakfast. After breakfast, we walked down to attend church with all the kids at the orphanage:) It was this day that I met little Jazmine:) If any of you saw any of the pictures that Blessback posted, she was the little girl that I was always holding. She stole my heart:) She fell asleep on my lap at church. To hear the children singing and praising God in Creole and we were singing in English, was just a glimpse of maybe what Heaven will be like:) I could have listened to the singing all day long. After church we went to the clinic to get ready for the week... LET THE FUN BEGIN.

Many of you know that one of my gifts is organization, so the pharmacy definitely needed it. Melissa and I were happy to get to work, but we could not have finished without Jaques, Patrick and Jackson. Such team work:) We cleared off two whole countertops/tables and that made my day. If I could work in an organized place, that would help me tremendously. I think the pictures show it best. They are in my photo albums on FB, but here are just a few. I will post Days 2-4 tomorrow, hopefully.

To be continued...