Pictures

I went through and added pictures to the posts I did while in Haiti so you can check those out. And here are a few more pics.

Too cute! Some boys after church. This was an all too common scene. It just made you so sad everytime it rained at night to think of the people living in tents.Don't you just want to take him home?! They colored for hours. Working hard. The royal palace. So cute. Bubbles. Michael's pants kept falling down. One of the thousands of tent cities. Time to eat. The babies I fed all day at Miami. All three in one incubator. The ER at Miami Hospital. Dusk at Miami Hospital. Third floor roommies. The men on the trip.

Wings of Hope

3/22
I went up to the orphanage Wings of Hope this morning. All of the kids there have disabilities. They were adorable. There was the cutest little girl who sang songs in English for us. Tonight we are going to have a big end of the trip party with all the employees here at Healing Hands. They have been so good to us. We have been very blessed to have a house to stay in that has running cold water, electricity most of the time, and internet. And the kitchen ladies feed us so well at breakfast and dinner. Compared to what we see when we go out, we are living in luxury. The night before last we felt a tiny earthquake. We think it may have been in Cuba. The poor people here though, they are already terrified to go back in their homes if they are still standing, and every time the earth shakes just a little, they relive the terror of the first earthquake. Me with some of our interpreters. This is how much water came out of our shower.

Wonderful Sunday

3/21
Today was such a great day! We got up early to leave for the Miami Hospital at 6:30, only our driver was late so we left at 7:30 instead. I spent the day (about 10 hours) feeding 3 premie babies in the NICU who share an incubator. The first was Julienne. She was the only one of triplets to survive. She is 13 days old and now weighs about 2.5 pounds (she came in at 1.5 pounds). These babies were so tiny. One was able to drink her bottle, very slowly, but she could do it. The other 2 were fed through feeding tubes. Vivian was the nurse in charge of the NICU and she was great. She really welcomed Sue Ann and I and made us feel useful, wanted, and a part of the team. We were running out of diapers and the shipment of more wasn't going to come until tomorrow. Then miracle of miracles, a girl walks in with some friends and bags full of premie size diapers and clothes! They had told Target that premie babies in Haiti at this hospital had nothing to wear so they cleared their shelves and sent down anything premie that they had. They came just in time. A little boy that had come in the other night with pneumonia was being worked on a lot today. Being Sunday, a few church groups were there. They stood over this baby boy and sang and prayed for him. I'm not sure what they were saying, but I think they were trying to cast out whatever it was that was making him sick. At the same time, some guys walked in with shirts on that said, "Scientology Volunteer Ministers." Kind of ironic that they were at a hospital, but go figure. A little girl came in today who was a recent amputee. She was told they were going to have to amputate her other leg as well. She was hysterical. It was so sad to watch. Also, the lady from the other night that they were going to take off life support was finally taken off today. I'm not sure why they waited so long, but they did.

Indigo Beach

3/20
We spent the day at Indigo beach. It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day. It was a great break from the work we've been doing. And we got to boost the economy a little bit. We drove by the outside of City Del Sol. The tent cities out there were pretty sad looking. Just sheets and plastic strung around sticks. I'm scheduled to go back out to the Miami University Hospital Tents tomorrow for a 12 hour day shift if they need us. We'll see how that goes.

Miami Hospital

3/19
I survived the 12 hour night shift at Miami hospital last night. Think MASH unit, only with white tents instead of green. It was an interesting experience. I had a hard time feeling useful, but I tried to stay busy helping in the pharmacy, holding and feeding babies, and playing with kids until they fell asleep. I played with the cutest little girl. She was probably 8 or so. It was a long, humid night. It poured all night long, then started again in the morning. It definitely was not this humid last year. A 14 year old boy was there last night with his mom. She had surgery, but didn't come through okay. They had her on life support, but no brain activity so they were going to pull the plug. They decided to wait until today so that their church group could come to say goodbye and help figure out what to do with the boy. The only family he had was a "cousin." Sad. When we first got their last night, a local church was there singing with the adult tent. Everyone was singing alone with smiles on their faces. It amazes me every time to see people smile and wave at you even when they are lying in a hospital bed, many of them knowing they will never walk again. They are such a strong people.
We are going to the beach tomorrow. I think we all need a good break and it will be good for the first-timers to see the beauty of Haiti, not just the suffering. Hopefully we have good weather.

CDTI

3/18
Went out to work at CDTI Hospital today. I actually got to be a nutritionist today. We found everyone that had either diabetes or high blood pressure and I talked to them about their nutritional needs. Only problem is, how do you tell someone what they should or should not eat when you know they really don't have much of a choice. Going out to work the night shift at Miami hospital right now so I don't have much time to write.

Back to Notre Maison

3/17
Went back to Notre Maison this morning to deliver supplies they needed. The kids look great there. A bunch of volunteers from Minnesota showed up. They have been here for a week and are going home tomorrow. They wanted to say goodbye to the kids before they left. We drove through a part of town that was hit really hard by the earthquake. People were out cleaning up though. Foreign aid groups are organizing Haitians into groups, giving them t-shirts, and paying them to clean up the city. What a wonderful idea! One of the workers here said that probably over 300,000 people have died from the earthquake. Official reports are somewhere in the 200,000s but he said there are so many people that no one really knew about before the earthquake, that there is really no way to know for sure how many people are gone. As I talked to one of the interpreters, we talked a little about the earthquake in Chile. He talked about how the earthquake in Chile was bigger than the one in Haiti, but that the buildings here just weren't built well. Then he said, "There are still so many bodies in the rubble. Sometimes they stink." This has just become a part of life here in Haiti. I feel like it is no longer earthquake relief, it's just Haiti relief now. Things will never go back to how they were.

Becoming a pharmacist and a CNA all in one day

3/16
I was assigned to the tent clinic today to work in the pharmacy with Daryl and Stew. We have more medications than we know how to store. It is amazing how many medications were donated. We'll probably take some of them over to Miami hospital to fill their shelves as well. I was running supplies down to the tent and Amanda asked if I'd help her dress some wounds. Sure. It was a lady, frail as can be with three bed-soars, one deeper than anything I've ever seen. She hardly has hair and is wearing a diaper. She's 27 years old. Her brother and boyfriend are with her, carefully caring for her. Amanda says her wounds look pretty good, consider the conditions. Only the smaller one on her ankle is infected. I ask if there is any way they will heal. She says no, but at least we can clean them and hope she doesn't die of sepsis. This woman probably has AIDS. They said she got sick about six months ago. Her brother showed us a picture of her. She was BEAUTIFUL! Healthy, beautiful hair, shining face. In just six months she has become what we saw today. Her face is still beautiful. She has kind eyes. But she is so weak. As her brother carried her away when we were finished she looked at me and waved, trying to force a smile even though you can just see by her face how much pain she is in. It was her way to say thank you.

Notre Maison

3/15
Got up early this morning to got to the orphanage Notre Maison. There are about 40 kids there right now. About half have disabilities. They were so stinking cute. Very well taken care of, happy, and they have enough food. While we were there 2 Chaplains and a couple other soldiers from the US Army came and dropped off some supplies.

Mikel was a cutie. He would just dance and dance to the tape they had playing-classics like "This Little Light of Mine," "The Lord said to Noah," "Onward Christian Soldiers," "If You're Happy and You Know it," etc.
When using 98% DEET, how many applications are too many? Hopefully the consequences aren't worse than malaria.
Schools have been canceled, potential until next year. The neighborhood by the orphanage decided to organize their own little school. They have about 150 kids meeting each day so they have something to do. It's great to see people trying to make the most of the situation.
A bug just flew up my nose.
There is a turkey outside that competes with the rooster. They make noise all night long. Usually the dogs drowned them out though.
Sorry about all the random thoughts. I'm having a hard time remembering what we've done since my last entry. I blame it on the DEET. Some of the boys at Notre Maison showed me how good they are at writing

Count Your Many Blessings

3/14
Last night felt just like my first night in Argentina-hot, sweaty, dogs barking until the wee hours, roosters crowing, but somehow you eventually fall asleep.
We got up and came to church. The people are so strong. I just wanted to cry I was overwhelmed with the spirit they have. So many members! We met Margerie who has AMAZING English. The church just hired her as an interpreter/translator. She told us the members are strong. They are still paying tithing and fast offerings and fulfilling their callings. The church is helping the members who lost homes rebuild temporary structures if they have property. Members with homes have taken other families in with them. Every 2 weeks the church sends more food supplies to them. They are all taken care of! Isn't the church great?!
Sad story-back in December one of the bishop's here had his 3 year old son kidnapped. A lady walked into primary and took him. They later received a ransom note for 150,000 g (about $4,000). But then the earthquake happened. They found the lady who took the boy, but they have no idea where the boy is.
On the way to church we drove through one of the thousands of tent camps. I don't think I've ever experienced such a thick stench. It's amazing to me that people can survive these conditions. But the Haitians know how to survive. They are fighters. I guess the government has given the people in tents an ultimatum that they have to be gone by the end of the month. They aren't helping them relocate, just telling them to leave. Don't they think if they had somewhere to go, they would have left already?
I'm so impressed with the members (I'm sitting in church right now). They are truly a family here. And such quality people. They are hard working, compassionate people. You can just feel so much love from them.
At the end of relief society, a sister shared a quick testimony of how blessed she feels. Her home was broken in the earthquake and her little boy was inside doing his homework. Right where he was was where it was broken. But he was fine.
They had testimony meeting today. Before they began, the counselor reminded everyone that a testimony should be about what God has given you. There was never a break in someone sharing their testimony. The closing hymn was "Count Your Many Blessings." Imagine seeing a huge congregation of Haitians 2 months post-earthquake singing that song.

Sprinting

(I'm trying to keep a journal with me and when internet is available I'll copy it in here-I'll have to post pictures when I get home. Sorry if the entries aren't very coherent)

3/13
I didn't think I was going to make it to Haiti today. My flight out of Salt Lake was delayed an hour and a half, cutting my layover time down to an hour and a half. But then bad weather in New York had us circling for 20 minutes, we sat on the runway for another 30, and then 10 minutes to get off the plane left me sprinting from the Delta terminal to the American Airlines terminal. I got to the counter with 5 minutes to spare, but luckily the flight was delayed 30 minutes. So after sprinting through security and then to my gate, I actually got on board (after they opened back up the gate for me) and made it to Haiti. My bags weren't as lucky though. Hopefully the come tomorrow.
Haiti so far is mostly how I remember it. It smells a little stronger though. It was crazy driving to Healing Hands though and seeing the damage from the earthquake. Some buildings appear untouched while right next door is completely demolished. People seem like they are trying to resume life. There are all the street vendors out, clean-up is taking place, and repairs and going on.
It's really hot. Not much else to say about that. Hopefully we can sleep. We're going to church in the morning. it will be great to see the members and find out if the work has been moving forward with the earthquake.

T-Minus 3 Days

I leave on Friday for Haiti.

Thank you so much for everyone that has donated supplies and money. I am very grateful. I'm not sure how much access to the internet we will have while I'm there, but there is going to be a mass email sent out with updates sent through two of the team member's phones. Let me know if you want to receive those updates by sending me your email.