Haiti Mission

"What you get is what you get."

2009-10-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

October 8

Pharmacy crew

Some of the syrups pictured on my t shirts.

Today, while riding to Saint Simeon to pick up the other 9 passengers, Dr. Rudolph told of a girl whom he helped through the adoption process to the United States. He said that he saw the child about a year later in her US surroundings and commented that he was almost embarrassed by the riches she had. He said that in Haiti there are no choices for most and that "what you get is what you get."

Pictured above is a child who was waiting with his mother for us to fill his prescriptions. He was limply sitting in her lap clutching a lollipop that Lorelle had given him. Denise happened to notice that the child was starving and offered him part of her beans and rice. The child was so hungry that he tossed the sucker aside and began eating the food with his fingers, not waiting for the spoon Carmel had sent for. He even picked up the single grains that he dropped in his lap so as not to waste a morsel. Carmel then asked me, had I told my own children about people who had no food. There wasn't much I could say to that except that I had tried, but seeing it is believing it.

Most of the day was kind of like that, for me. A child who suffers from blindess due to a vitiamin A definciency was referred to the hospital; Dr. Rudolph said the referrel didn't really matter because they had no money and even if money weren't the issue they would have no way to go. They can't catch a break here. I always wonder why them and not me? I don't think I am anymore blessed or any more loved by God than they; I'm just lucky.

Coming home this evening when there were again just a few of us in the truck, Dr.Rudolph asked what our favorite hymns were. Lorelle mentioned that she really liked "Sanctuary" and before we knew it Rudolph began to sing it with us. That began a 20 minute sing-a-long that was conducted sometimes in our own languages and sometimes in both languages simultaneously. Gosh darn it's a small world sometimes when we allow our barriers to break down and just be people together.

It's been a successful mission but also a successful time of spiritual growth for all of us from the states. Seeing the "body of Christ" in action reminds us of the sacramental nature of our beings as the "outward and visible sign" of His unconditional love for his people. God bless.

Jeannie

Barefoot Soccer

2009-10-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

2009-10-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

October 6

Today I worked in the coolest place - literally the pharmacy was outside today and in comparision to those inside the metal roofed church, we were able to sweat with a breeze to dry us. Pictured above right is Carmel Valdema, the RN, nutrition clinic director, and wife of Pere Val. Below are two of the pharmacist who are letting me work with them, Yulette and Mirna. . Check out the video on Lorelle's blog that includes Emily and Jonka our other mainstays.

This morning we spent an hour in the truck driving about 10 mph and ascended a hand made rock road up into the mountains near Croshu. In order to hold the clinic in a place where none of us had to walk for 45 mins. ,a Pentacostal Church allowed us to use their building. We will also go there again tomorrow. We saw 85 patients today most of whom were less educated than the ones we had seen the day before. Alot of times when filling out the directions for taking medicine, Carmel had me draw circles for how many times a day the medicine was to be taken. Lorelle got a picture of the oddest container for sirops today, a Tide laundry detergent bottle.

Mary, pictured at the top, spent most of her day doing intakes while Lorelle again ran a station under Dr. Rudolph Richemon and Dr. Johnny"s supervision. The view was outstanding and the people as always were courteous and patient. This morning during our hymn and prayer time, I didn't even seem to realize the language barrier. As the Pentecostal preacher prayed and Dr. Rudolph translated, it seemed as if it were all one language. God has blessed us all.

Jeannie

2009-10-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 6

Thomzeau

Today we held our first remote clinic. After an hour ride on a mostly rock and dirt road, we arrived to find more than a hundred patients waiting for us. I think our total for the day was 150 people all of whom were sick. Two exceptionally ill children had temperatures over 104 and had to immediately be seen and cooled. They both were diagnosed with malaria which quite a few of the people had. Other major ailments were staph infections, skin infections, and other bacterial infections.

It's really amazing how all of the people, no matter how sick, wait patiently for their turn. Children were asleep on the dirt floor, others sitting with their heads in the hands, but all stoically waiting to be seen. Probably the most heart rending patient we saw today was a one month old baby with congenital deformities who weighed only 2.6 kg. Her wrists and feet were turned at odd angles and one hip seemed displaced. It's hard to imagine her future.

Lorelle again functioned as a physician's assistant while Mary handled most or the triage. I am permanently assigned to the pharmacy where I functioned more independantly than yesterday. We were slammed with prescriptions and had 4 people working most all of the time. I am really glad that I learned some Kreyol before I came as it helps me to be more useful. One interesting thing is that the people have to provide their own bottles for medicines in liquid form. I put medicines in every type container from baby food jars to beer bottles.

The day was long and even though it is barely 8:00 pm Lorelle and Mary have headed to bed where I will join them as soon as I finish this. Took some good videos today and can't wait to share them. The work Carmel and her staff do is phenomenal and we are proud to assist. Love to all of you back home and God bless.

Jeannie

(by the way, if anything is spelled incorrectly it's because the spell check is in French)

Oops.

2009-10-05T17:30:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention that the picture below is of Carmel and myself holding a bag of $300 which was raised by my confirmation class. We made cookies and sold them at church. Good job kids!

October 5

2009-10-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Bon sois. A great first day at the clinic. The three of us worked hard along side our Haitian brothers and sisters in the first medicial clinic held at the rented house used for Lespwa Timoun. Lorelle and I began the day weighing the children 3 and under in a hanging scale. We also had some fun handing out piwili (suckers) that we bought yesterday when we visited a grocery store.

While we were weighing children, Mary was quickly put to work as a triage nurse where she remained all day. Lorelle then worked the rest of the day with her own station consulting Rudolph, one of the Haitian doctors when necessary. I worked all day in the pharmacy filling prescriptions, having them checked for accuracy and then handing them off to the Haitian workers for depsensing and instructions. Had a great day - have to go, my ice cream is melting.

Keep praying, it really works.

Jeannie

2009-10-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

October 4

Holy Smoke!!! Thank goodness some priests still believe in "smells and bells." Today we worshiped in Pere Val's church where we were treated to more incense than I have enjoyed in years. He chants, too. Church was a delightful experience, at least for the first hour. Several hymns that we sang were familiar tunes with French words. One song was Kreyol and I recognized many of the now 200 words in my vocabulary. The BCP was in French, but the sermon and scripture was in Kreyol. I made some new friends (kids of course) who were trying to be good even as I distracted them. I guess my behavior is the same no matter where I am.

Lunch was a feast and because Lorelle assured me that she personally had washed the lettuce in clorox, I experienced a culinary first outside of my own country. Time will tell as to whether she was thorough. Dessert was a sweet potato flan type cake tht was just sweet enough. Of course lots of water was also on the menu.

The afternoon was spent swatting gnats and packaging pills, a task I'm very familiar with. I think that I will be assisting in the pharmacy tomorrow. Right now, I smell like a multi vitamin with a splash of diuretic.

Dinner was good and I plan to follow it with a fiber bar. Wonder why? Our night plans include hoping to find more that one channel on the tv.

Bon sois,

Jeannie

Pics from Saturday.

2009-10-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Day 1

2009-10-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

Lorelle has provided the commentary for today while Mary and I took a swim. We all agree that that the work we will do is exciting, rewarding, and just plain fun. I've already amused myself by speaking at least 20 Kreyol words and have been rewarded by their understanding me.

Tomorrow we will worship with Pere Val's congregation which Lorelle has warned will last about 2 hours. After lunch we will ready the medicine for our first clinic on Monday. Pere Val's favorite gift from the states appears to be the truck tire compressors. I guess men are the same everywhere - they love tools. Pray for us and our work.

Jeannie

We're here. Safe and sound with all of our luggage. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.It's been a great day and I'm so happy to be back here in Haiti. What a day it's been.Our day has gone something like this:4:45 (eastern time)- Wake up.5:45- Take shuttle to the Atlanta hotel.7:30-Depart to Miami.9:00-Arrive in Miami9:45- We were suppossed to leave for Haiti but our plane was delayed because there was a "mysterious bad smell" that they had to investigate.11:15- Finally leave Miami.12:30 (Haiti and Central time) Arrive in Haiti.12:30-1:45 Wait in the VIP lounge while Mr. Mirat gathers our luggage and takes our passports through customs for us.2ish- Arrive at St. Simeon Episcopal Church where we were greeted by our hosts for the week and were served an amazingly delicous lunch. We were served fresh avocados, green beans, beef, potatoes, rice and beans, and fried plantains. It was the first of many yummy lunches served by our hostess Carmel.3ish- We unpacked all of our medical supplies and organized them in preparation for tomorrow.3:30-We took a scenic tour of the area with a stop at the new Nutritional clinic that has recently been rented for Carmel. (Carmel is a community health nurse and is also the wife of the Episcopal priest Pere Val and together they are our hostess/tour guide/ chauffer/ mission organizer and much much more.)4:30- We arrive at our hotel, the Visa Lodge, and get settled.Right now, Jeannie and Mary are taking a dip in the hotel pool while I blog to let everybody know that we made it safely.It is such a great feeling to be back. When I was here last year, I was very nervous. I didn't know what to expect. This time around, I feel much more prepared. It was pretty neat driving around today and recognizing the area.Some moments that I'd like to remember about today are the looks on the children's faces when I gave them teddy bears that I had brought with me. At first, they looked confused when I handed them the bears. Carmel informed me that they had never seen a stuffed animal before. My heart broke. All I could think about were the dozens and dozens of stuffed animals that kids back in America have and take for granted. The kids' faces lit up when they realized they got to keep this cute, soft teddy bears. It was a very special moment.We also saw a funeral procession. It was quite a sight. The first thing that I noticed was the hearse that was absolutely covered in flowers. Then we noticed that there were probably 200 people following (on foot) the hearse. The most amazing thing about the procession was that it was lead by a marching band. Now, it was a small band, but a band nonetheless. Apparently, this parade is a Haitian tradition and they will process from the church to the cemetary.During lunch, the subject of gasoline came up. I asked Pere Val how much a gallon of gas cost. He said it cost 150 gourdes per gallon. That is equivolent to over $8. Unbelievable.I also learned that Haiti has the highest incidence of HIV/Aids in the western hemisphere. I had no idea that until today. There is so much heartbreak here. Driving down the road, I want to get out and help everybody I see.Pray for us, for our clinic, and that we are able to help many people and that we can show them God's unconditional love.

2009-09-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

September 30, 2009

I hoped that I could return when I left Haiti two years ago. I had been on the Diocesan construction mission to build school desk for Haitian children and wasn't sure that there would be an oportunity to go back. My parish, St. Thomas has been heavily involved in Honduras for 15+yrs. and I didn't know if we would want or be able to support an additional medical venture. However, St. Thomas being the mission minded church that it is, decided that committment to this project was feasible. I even got my youth confirmation class involved. Last Saturday they made cookies and then sold them on Sunday so that they could give me money to donate to the nutrition clinic.

So, here I am, three days away from a return to a country forgotten by most, poorer than any other in the western hemisphere for a joint medical mission through the Episcopal Church. For my part, with funds from St. Thomas providing the medicine and hire of Haitian medical personnel, I will lead (escort) two nurses from our diocese to Port-au-Prince on Saturday. Mary Wengrowski (Huntsville), Lorelle Johnson (All Saints, B'ham) will fly out of Atlanta, Saturday morning and will be met at the PAP airport by the priest of San Simeon Episcopal Church and his wife, an RN who directs six nutrition clinics that are associated with the six parishes her husband leads. They are our sponsors, protectors, and shepherds for the week.

Today, I'm a bit stressed trying to make lists and remember all that needs to be gathered and packed. Pere Val has asked for 2 tire pump compressors which I need to go to Sears to buy and also for some printer cartridges. It's so difficult not to go out and purchase every thing that they request. I've been there and know that nothing they ask for is frivolous.

If you are reading this, then please stop and say a prayer that all goes well.

Lepe'

Jeannie