I have been carrying my last set of pictures around in my camera since I arrived home. I finally went to buy an SD card reader so I could load them on my computer. I should have done this before I went to Haiti but I didn't know such a thing existed until I was in Haiti. So now I have this handy little zip drive looking thing that I can put my SD card into and load them onto my computer, and I don't have to be upset that the card reader on my computer isn't working.

It is difficult to see, but this tree is FULL of mango's.

It is just amazing to see such an abundance of fruit.

And here is a banana tree with many bananas ready to be picked and eaten!

This sign just cracked me up the first time I saw it. I asked our driver to stop the next time we drove by so I could get a picture of it. He told me the picture on the right is the owner of the house and he loves Obama so he decided to make a mural of Obama and himself on his gate.

View from my bus leaving the bus station in Cap Haitien.
This is the outdoor waiting area at the station.

This is broken glass bottles that have been cemented in the wall to protect the property. I saw this while on the bus entering Haiti. I had never seen anything like this and thought "what a genius idea!". I spent the rest of my trip trying to get a good picture and as you can see I failed! I only spotted these while driving and I knew on my bus ride out of the country this was my lost shot, and this is what I got!

An article about the re-feeding program at the children's hospital in Cap Haitien. This is the program that our sweet baby we've been seeing at MamaBaby Haiti is participating in.



http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-07-01/news/peanut-butter-miracles-amid-haiti-s-chaos-an-american-pediatrician-has-made-ending-child-malnutrition-her-life-s-work/

Hygiene Kits

Michelet giving instructions on how to use the hygiene kit in a village clinic.

This is the hygiene kit that Taryn made!

The kids at my church made hygiene kits for me to take to Haiti. They did a great job! Some of them asked me to take pictures if I could. I did have the opportunity to pass one out myself and made sure to get a picture. When I handed it to the young man I saw that it had Taryn's name on it. It made me smile.

I know some of the hygiene kits were given out, and there are still some at the clinic to be given at a later time.

Many of the children have skin rashes because they bathe with laundry detergent. It is much cheaper and easier to get than facial soap. Many of the kits were given to people who needed better soap to bathe with.

Thank you kids for helping to serve the children in Haiti. I love you for helping!

Finally, a few of my favorites.

Home sweet home for the last two weeks, under my mosquito net. I'm still covered in mosquito bites, though!


I had been wondering what this message on the peanut butter meant. Then after being at MamaBaby for a few days we heard the story. A volunteer that had been there earlier had gotten under the skin of some of the staff. One of the things he would do is eat HUGE amounts of peanut butter from the jar, without even asking if it was ok. (It was a community jar on the table...but still).



This isn't that great of a picture, but it does have a story to go with it. We were walking down the street, it is my first full day in Haiti and I am overwhelmed with the sights and sounds. There are people everywhere, traffic zooming by just inches from where we are walking, garbage and animals everywhere! Someone tells me to to turn around to take a picture of this truck full of people and just as I turn around the driver lays on his horn. I just about jumped out of my skin. Every car and motorcycle honks in Haiti, but this guy was trying to mess with me.



The school children dress in uniforms and many of them look incredibly crisp, clean and adorable!



If I could have taken this girl home with me I would! She lives at the orphanage and had such a sweet smile. She was wearing a white dress that was torn and dirty and I wanted to scoop her up and protect her. This is also one of my favorite pictures because of the contrast of the dirty white door, curtains and dress, and the lovely brown of her skin and love in her eyes. I heard that she had just arrived at the orphanage because her mom had died. I could never confirm that this was true, but I wondered. Her eyes did not seem to have that haunted look of a child that had been neglected for some time.



This little boy lives at the orphanage. I took this in the late afternoon and didn't think there was enough light, but I love it. He was coloring and looked up at me. The people don't usually smile when you take their picture. But if you show the children the picture you took they will usually smile or laugh.


These children I met at one of our village clinics. This was the one we did this week in Balan. These children were the exception, smiling and laughing FOR the picture. I held the camera high and their eyes followed. I love their bright eyes and smiling faces. I took many pictures of them, showing them the picture each time I did. It was fun.


I think this may be one of my favorite shots. This was also taken at the Balan village. I spotted these girls walking, I think they had their arms linked, and they were reading out load to each other. It would have made the best shot. By the time I got my camera out they had turned behind this fence, but I love it!

In the Middle: Between Haiti and Home

I cried when the car left MamaBaby Haiti this morning and I cried until I got to the bus station. I kept it under control and good thing I had my sunglasses on. I don't know what I was crying about. Saying goodbye to friends, old and new. Knowing their work was going on without me. The sights and sounds. Especially the people. The people of Haiti, for good or bad, mean something in this world.

I was so immersed in the work that I didn't take time to think about what I was feeling. I figured as I left Haiti it would take time to process. I would step back and think about the experience over time. Giving myself to Haiti wasn't just about waking up each morning and working. But what was it about?

On my last day of clinic one of our last patients turned to the interpreter and asked him to thank us for our patience and for helping her. And our last patient remembered me from the week before and smiled a warm smile at me, telling the interpreter that she remembered me. I didn't come to Haiti to be thanked, but having these woman respond to me in that way just warmed my heart.

I can say at this time, in the middle of Haiti and Home, is that I am thinking about the people. Each patient I saw, each baby I held and the impact their life had on mine. Each one suffering in some way, each one a dignified and deserving human being.

I hope I shared my love and compassion with them in spite of cultural and language barriers. Barriers that were and continue to be difficult to overcome. I can not understand all things about Haiti and it's people, but I am filled knowing that I tried.

Had a fun night last night. The young men put on their music and they were dancing and drinking. Some of us girls sat outside in the cooler air and had some good conversations. I celebrated with a Tampico. This is a sugary fruit punch drink that has some juice in it. Many, many Haitians drink it (along with other sugary drinks) and I spent every day in Haiti telling patients NOT to drink it. So it seemed fitting that I would at least give it a try. It is sweet and very good!

I had some very connecting moments with Susan and Nancy. We will forever be tied by our experiences in Haiti and I feel appreciative to have had this experience with them and built a friendship with them in this way. They are both strong, forward women and I sometimes feel that I have nothing to bring to the table when I am with them, but I know this is not true. We each have our gifts.

Haiti's goodbye gift to me has been a cooler night, a sunny morning and power on for over 24 hours straight. But Haiti has given me so much more! I haven't been able to begin to process. I have been here working and living and having fun, but struggling with what each day and each moment feels like. I am sure it will come with time.

I will miss so much about this place! I am surprised by how quickly I feel at home and how adapted I have become to the sights and sounds and smells.

Orevwa for now!!

Last day in Haiti

The baby that is severely malnourished did make it into the clinic this morning. Her sister brought her in and Marie and one of the students accompanied them to the hospital. The hospital put her on a re-feeding program. They will be doing blood work on Monday, and the clinic staff will be following up closely and providing transportation to the hospital. This little girl is so precious and her life is in jeopardy. She is unwanted by her father and I'm sure she is a burden to her sister, who is trying to go to school and is a young woman. I think the sister cares but is overwhelmed. As I was holding this precious child yesterday and trying to feed her it was difficult to not want to protect her and provide for her and take her away from here. But this is not the answer in Haiti. There are so many who suffer and those of us who come here to give can only do so much.

I feel emotional today and wonder about the bigger picture of Haiti. I have seen things I could not have imagined before. I wonder about the impact of my visit to Haiti and all the other volunteers who care so much about the work they are doing here. The problem is large and I am small. I don't know the answer.

There is a Haitian proverb that says "Deye mon gen mon", Behind mountains there are more mountains. The meaning of this is Haiti is much more complex than meets the eyes.

But another Haitian proverb says " Men anpil, chay pa lou", With many hands, the load is not heavy."

People will continue to come to Haiti to try to help. These many hands will make a difference. But the real changes need to come from within. That is a much bigger and longer story to be told.

Our Day Off

We had a good day, but it was exhausting! Susan, Nancy and I (along with our interpreter, Guy) went to The Citadel which is a tourist place (though I did not see another white person where we were) so everywhere you go people want to do things for you or sell things to you. It was insane. When we first arrived two guys were walking with us and we realized one was trying to be our guide (which means we would have to pay him). We finally had to be rude and say we were not paying for a guide. He said ok and stayed with us for awhile. Of course we all gave him a few bucks because we felt bad. When the first guy left the second guy tried to smooth his way in. We said absolutely not, we were not paying for a guide. Then you have to go through this locked fence and we wondered if we should have given that guy a tip, especially when we came back down the hill and had to wait a very long time for someone to come back to unlock the gate.

We were told it was a 7 mile walk to the top of the Citadel, we didn't want to ride a horse up (or pay for it) and we didn't want to pay for a motorcycle, so we just walked for about a mile. It was killer. We were followed by the horses and motorcycles for almost a half mile. I'm sure they thought we were some crazy blanco chicks. We kept trying to tell them no, go away (in creole) and that we didn't plan to walk the whole way to the top. They just kept following us, I’m sure they thought we were going to give in and ask them for a ride. But guess who won? I felt so claustrophobic surrounded by all those men and stinky horses walking up that hill in the heat, I was so happy they finally went away.

On the way down some random guy was walking with us and talking to us and then out of nowhere he's carrying these paintings and trying to sell them. He was driving me crazy! I made him my final offer and he wouldn't back off. Then he tried to threaten me that he was going to go back home...haha. I must look like a sucker, because no one would leave me alone.

After coming down the hill we walked a little through the town. It was a quaint little town, the buildings were nice and colorful and the streets were cleaner with sidewalks. We were looking for a place to eat or buy souvenirs, but when I saw a pan of chicken feet I wanted to go into Cap Haitien and find something a little more reliable. Our driver and interpreter didn't know of anyplace in the town so that was not reassuring either. We ended up going to the same restaurant we ate at last week.

After lunch we went to a supermarket downtown. Nearly no fresh fruit or vegetables. Very limited supply of food in general. We wanted to buy some fruit so we were going to go to the outdoor market across the corner but decided not to. It was very intimidating to be in the middle of town surrounded by all those people. And the smell is retched! On our drive home we stopped on the side of the road but all we could find were grapefruit and lime. Nancy bought three coconuts for a dollar.

We dropped off our interpreter to run some errands so I sat in the front seat on the way home. I got a chance to videotape the drive because you really can not believe the way people drive here. The other day we were driving somewhere and we almost had a head on with a huge tanker! Susan said it seemed like I was getting used to the driving. I think I'm getting used to a lot of things around here. I am still in awe of so much, but am aware that my reactions are much less than the first few days I was here.

When we arrived home the students were still doing pediatric clinics. I found out that the little baby I saw last week with severe nutrition deficiency was in the clinic, so I sat in on the rest of her appointment. We saw her last Monday and asked her sister to take her to the hospital and come back on Thursday and we did not see her back until today. I'm glad to see her bring her back, but things are not improving. She is 7 months old and now weighs 10 pounds, having lost 6 more ounces in the last week and a half. The plan for now is to have her return early tomorrow morning and Marie will accompany them to the hospital. We need to have blood work done to find out exactly what is going on.

Tomorrow is my last full day in Haiti. Hard to believe my time is coming to an end. It has been amazing.

What a day!

After getting only a few hours of sleep this morning, we woke up and headed with the students to do a village clinic. We heard that there would be pregnant women there so they wanted the midwives to go. We were going to a village that MamaBaby Haiti had never been to before, to a church in a village that was a distance away. We were treated with a tap tap ride. So happy to not have to walk, already feeling so tired.

The tap tap ride was fun and I tried to get video but I don't know how successful I was. The village was remote and the roads were rough so we couldn't get all the way by tap tap and had to walk the last little bit. This ended up to be such a treat as we were rewarded with amazing views of the ocean, an island in the distance, a bay and the lush jungle. Many people were walking with bunches of bananas on their heads. A couple of people wanted us to take pictures of them.

As we arrived in the village there were many people watching us and waving, following us as we entered. We arrived at the church were many children were around in their school uniforms. The pastor has a school behind the church. I got so many good pictures of beautiful children.

We saw several pregnant mamas in our clinic. Marie arrived later because she had stayed behind with our postpartum mama. When she arrived we gave her our last few patients. Susan and I were losing steam and running low on water. We sent a Haitian woman (the friend of the mama who gave birth last night) with money to get us a drink. I really wanted water or Tampico, but she came back with Coke and Sprite. My second Coke in one week! And it was cold! At that point I didn't care and it was just what we needed. Later we went on a little walk through the village looking for some vegetables but all we found were cookies and candy. So we bought some! We were kind of laughing at ourselves; the dietician and two midwives who have been preaching every day to drink more water, no coffee, cookies, Tampico or soda, and here we were drinking and eating crap in front of them. We worked until 3:30pm without lunch so we now know that drinking sugary drinks and eating sugary food does suppress your appetite.

Since Susan, Nancy and I spent a lot of time sitting around in the afternoon the children were hovering and staring, giving us many photo ops. I think I got some good ones and can't wait to upload them.

Before we left the church the pastor gave us a beautiful thank you. So sincere and said he hoped we would be blessed for our work and that we would be able to come back again. It is a village of 5,000 people and no clinic or doctor, so when people get sick it can be serious. He said a prayer for us before we said our final meci's.

We had to hike a little out of the village, but the tap tap was waiting for us not too far away. The real adventure was when we piled 19 people in the back of the tap tap and two in the front and headed home on the roughest roads I may have ever seen. I had Michelet's bony butt on my knees for a while and I could not feel my legs or feet. Our Haitian friend who bought our Cokes hitched a ride with us and when she jumped off Michelet took her place and I could feel my legs again. Having 19 people in a tap tap is a true Haitian experience.

Susan and I were at the back of the tap tap so we jumped off first and headed to the house quickly, hoping the power was on and we could get a shower. I was a little thrown off when I saw the charcoal going outside, but YES the power was on. We got the first showers and feel much better after also having a bowl of shrimp soup.

A bunch of us went together and bough some fresh lobster in the village, so that's what's for dinner.

Truly a rewarding and exciting day. Glad we decided to go, in spite of feeling tired.

Baby Boy

At 1:53am on April 6th a baby boy was born at MamaBaby Haiti.

It was a very long day.

Santo woke me and Marie up at 7am Tuesday, I woke Susan up and we went downstairs to welcome mama. Today was prenatal day so Susan spent the day doing that while I labor sat. Mom was definitely in labor, but things were progressing slowly. After dinner Susan joined us and we started brainstorming ways to get things moving, thinking that possibly the baby was in a less than ideal position.

We tried homeopathics, lunges, position changes, herbs and acupuncture. I'm not sure what really worked in the end, but while I went to take a nap around midnight things shifted. I was woken up around 1:15 am and mom was pushing. Her beautiful baby boy emerged vigorous and healthy.

It was difficult for Susan and I at times because things are managed differently that we would do it at home. We realized that trying to change things would be unrealistic and we just tried to step aside and let Marie do things the way she is trained, while still supporting her.

After the birth the mama's mom and sister came in to greet the baby with big smiles. The sister is pregnant with her 4th baby, but her 2 year old died just a few months ago. She was seen in prenatals today and was dealing with grief around that. She was also given some rice because she has no food and hadn't been eating. When she walked in the room she was so full of joy and love. She took the baby and swung him around and laughed. It was so sweet. I notice the people of Haiti don't smile often and don't show much emotion, so this was a surprise. She was happy to have this little boy in her life.

Now I realize I must get some sleep. The troups in this house will be waking up in just a few hours and tomorrow we have a village clinic and prenatals!

Election Results are In

The election results came in today and Michel Martelly won. There was a little anxiety about what would happen when the results came in, but it appears that the community around here is happy. There is honking and shouting (more than usual!) and it sounds like a party out there.

Feeling Sick

Mid morning I started feeling queasy and lightheaded. Thought maybe I was just tired from last night, but now I think it's a little more. I didn't eat lunch! It must be serious!

Zeenia gave me some probiotics and I've slept the day away. SO thankful the power is on so I didn't have to sleep in a pool of sweat. My goodness, we've been lucky with power the last two days. I am now out on the couch, so bored of laying in my bed. Ate a handful of nuts, but wishing for some fruit or something cool.

Hope I'll feel better soon, this sucks!

I did see two patients this morning before I started feeling bad. One was the tiny girl I saw last week whose mother has mental health problems. She disappeared a few days ago. Her grandma brought her in and she was looking better. I weighed her and she had gained a whole pound! We told grandma she was doing a great job. We gave her more formula and told her to return in one week.

Nancy is teaching a nutrition class tomorrow. Susan and Eve have been helping her all afternoon with the planning of that.

The wind is blowing like crazy! It whips through the vents of the house and makes a whistling sound that sounds like music.

Good Morning and Happy Birthday to my mama!

We monitored our "laboring" mama all night and still no dilation. We think that her pain is caused from her constipation and probably dehydration. We hydrated her, gave her Emergen-C, more herbal laxative and magnesium and sent her home. We also checked her iron level, which was extremely low, so we sent her home with iron and asked her to come back in a week. She is only 36 weeks so there was no reason to encourage labor.

I got a little sleep and the heat level was at a much improved comfort level. This morning is also more comfortable, I took a shower a few minutes ago and I'm not even sweating yet! Nice!

Pediatric clinic and as we sit here here eating our fruit and oatmeal we can hear the little ones lined up outside.

I love you all!

Mama in Labor?

Just as I was setting up a bed for myself on the deck (I did not want a repeat of last night's miserable, hot suffering) I saw some lights down the street (unusual, since the power was out). I watched for a minute then realized it was a car coming and it stopped in front of the house. There was a knock on the gate. Then another knock. We waited for the guard to open the gate, but when he didn't Sara and Zeenia went to check things out.

Sure enough it was a mama in labor!

We set things up and she seemed to be having regular contractions. We monitored for an hour. She was having a lot of back pain and pubic pain and couldn't pee. (She had brought her own pee bowl and was squatting over it on the floor trying to pee many times). She finally peed and then Marie decided to check her. She found that she wasn't dilated and that she was constipated. I also checked her and agreed.

We gave her an herbal laxative and tucked her in bed to see what happens. Then the power came on, giving me a chance to take a shower, update the blog and head to bed to see if something progresses tonight.

It got very windy tonight and rained a little. Outside is much cooler, and even inside the house is a bit cooler. It feels really nice.

Goodnight from Haiti!

Now I understand why the Haitian people spend the day outside of their homes. When there is no power it is hotter than hot inside! I spent the afternoon laying outside in the shade of the deck where there was a lovely breeze. I read and napped and it was wonderful. Still hot, but better than inside.

This morning we went to church with Santo and Marie. Now that was a Haitian experience! The pastor sometimes translates for us, so he is familiar with those of us at MamaBaby Haiti who come to visit. He invited us to come up and speak and Susan did. She thanked everyone for welcoming us and told them about the clinic.

The music was wonderful and loud. They dedicated a couple of songs to us, and I got them on video. A beautiful baby girl was dedicated. I have the sweetest picture of her in her fancy white dress. The pastor did some of his sermon in English and we wondered if the people didn't like that this made the sermon much longer in length. The people wear their finest clothes to church, which is amazing when you see how they live and how dirty it is everywhere. One little boy was wearing an all white suit and was adorable. I didn't get a picture of him. I did get a picture of three children sitting near me who stared at me the whole service. Every once in a while I would smile and wave at them. We must look pretty funny to these kids!

Pictures

I've been able to put a few pictures up on Facebook. It is taking about 15 minutes to get up a few pictures, so at this point there aren't many. We usually don't have power very long, and the internet is crazy slow. So if you are my facebook friend come take a look at the pictures. I have lots more I'll be putting up next week when I get home.

A conversation between Savannah and Regan (so cute):


Reg: Fannah you go home now?
Me: Not yet, when do I go home?
Reg: Night-time. After mommy done working.
Me: Yeah, night-time.
Reg: Go home and see you mommy. Fannah you see you mommy?
Me: No, where is my mommy?
Reg: Uhm......Haiti!
Me: Yeah, do you remember what she's doing there?
Reg: Kelli helping babies.
Me: Yeah, she's helping babies and mommies feel better.
Reg: Yeah help babies. Like a doctor!

Saturday!

The Bastyr students left this morning so the house is quiet. We welcomed Nancy and Eve and have been unpacking their bags and showing them around. The midwives spent the morning organizing the prenatal room. Susan has gone wild, decorating, putting up shelves and replacing the horrible plastic bag curtains we had. She used baby blankets and zip ties and they look much better! She had the drill out and is keeping us on task! Leesha and I organized the bins and drawers. We have no shelves to speak of, the price of wood and nails is outrageous in Haiti.

We took a break for lunch and now I'm finding it hard to get the energy to return to the prenatal room and finish the job.

We have had two short episodes of power today, which is unusual. Hopefully I'll get this posted before we loose it again.

Today is hot and humid. Not much new to report today. But that's a good thing, too!

April 1^st

Today was a pretty easy day! We had a morning of prenatals followed by a pretty good lunch. Rice of course, but today there was chicken and a wonderful salad made from the garden. It was so nice to eat fresh greens, I loved it! We thought we had a mama in labor this morning, but it was just braxton hicks contractions. We were scurrying about getting ready for prenatals and I was so excited that Suzanne would get in on a birth before she left tomorrow, but it didn't happen!

In the afternoon we went swimming. I wish I was able to post pictures and show you how lovely this place was. The other day when Susan and I had to go back to the airport to get her luggage our driver took us to this pool. He wanted to show us to drum up some business, I’m sure. It worked. For $5 each we were able to have the entire pool to ourselves. The others were happy to have a poolside bar as well. It was so refreshing and the first time since I’ve been in Haiti that I not only wasn’t sweating, but I actually felt cooled off. It was wonderful. I was dreading the one mile walk back home and Susan I were considering catching a motorcycle back. Then we heard that our driver from the other day gave us a pretty good deal-not only was he going to drive us home from the pool, he was going to wait for us to change our clothes and drive us into town for dinner, wait for us and drive us back home.

We went to a nice restaurant near the sea. It had a Caribbean feel to it and for a moment I forgot we were in Haiti. It was outdoor seating with music and dancing. There was a lovely breeze and it didn't feel hot at all. It must be a wealthier part of town because there were very well dressed people there. The food was pretty decent, but the best part was the ice in my coke (I had a real Coca Cola, in a bottle) and the ice cream for dessert. I could have sat out there much longer and was disappointed when we had to leave to go home. It was already later than we should have been out, it's just not safe to be out at night.

We came home to a dark house and sweltering house. I sprayed myself with deet and hung outside for awhile. I just couldn't take the heat! Power is on and I've been able to check my email. A good day! Looking forward to Nancy arriving tomorrow and seeing what the weekend brings to MamaBaby Haiti!

Easy day today. A morning of prenatals followed by a wonderful lunch that included a little chicken and a salad from our garden.

We found a pool to go swimming in and now we are heading into Cap Haitien to have dinner. Pray for power tonight so I can catch you all up on the happenings!

March 31st

I forgot to mention yesterday that I did my laundry!

OK, you’re thinking, Big Deal! Remember there was no power so first I had to get my water from the well. This is a physical job! Then I had to carry the water upstairs to the bathroom. I could have done the job outside, but I didn’t want to be in the sun. I had one tub of water with some laundry soap and one tub with clear water for rinsing. After soaking and scrubbing my clothes, wringing them out, rinsing and wringing again I hung them up to dry. I was exhausted. I had Susan take a picture of me because if anyone thought I was a princess before, this would prove them wrong!

Today I rode on a motorcycle between two Haitian’s, one was the driver and one was our interpreter. Each day I think I couldn’t possibly have more of an adventure, but I do! We were all working at an orphanage, building a fence, and we ran out of wire fencing. I volunteered some money to buy more fencing, which meant I had to go back to the house to get the money, which then landed me the role of going to buy the fencing. First we stopped off at a place to change my US dollars into gourds, then we went to three different building supply places before we found one open.

The orphanage was the most humbling of places. The children are so incredibly sweet, and obedient. When we arrived the children came out and lined up. We colored with them and played with them. They helped plant a garden and build the fence. When we left they sang a song to us.

They live in such meek conditions. Their home is a brick building with dirt floors. One volunteer said they were wearing the same clothes that they had on when she visited last week. There was not evidence of food anywhere. The kitchen was a small brick building outside the house. In one corner was a place to build a fire. There were several small, dirty pots. There was what looked like a charcoal pit of some sort. But no food. We brought rice and beans and decided to cook some up for them. We worry that the food will be sold.

The orphanage is surrounded by a brick wall, as are many of the buildings in Haiti. Climbing those walls were many older children, watching us as we worked and played at the orphanage. Most were wearing no shoes. One had a pair of Crocks with holes covering the soles. They were begging and I was asked for money, my sunglasses and my shoes. It is truly heartbreaking. I spent the evening contemplating their circumstances and wondering how much help we really bring these children. Does a little food and play and a garden make a difference? I want to hope that it will.