There are many things that make Haiti a very unique place. The kids there are amazing. In a country where 38% of the population is under 15, the kids must leave an impact.

No matter where you go, there are children. Whether they are washing clothes, playing, sitting outside their house, or running in the streets, they are everywhere. It is so important that the country of Haiti focusses on the needs of their kids. This means that schools must become a priority. With more education, they will be better equipped to contribute to their nation. However, the current Haitian government seems to be content to let their children stay at home, work the streets, hustle at the market, or simply get lost. Without more national schools (government funded), Haiti is going to continue along the route it is on now. The government will be able to stay corrupt with no one around to hold them accountable. The government will be able to keep the people right where they are now – in poverty.

Still, there is a light in this story. That light is the countless organizations who are providing education through their private schools. Sponsorship and other donations allow many children to go to school. Most of these kids would have never had a chance to go to school otherwise. It is not uncommon in these schools to see 7 year olds in kindergarten and 12 year olds in grade 4 or 5. Parents simply do not make enough money to pay for schooling (approx $35/mth/child). So children go to school for a few months and then simply stop because they cannot afford it. They save up money until they can go for a few more months and slowly educate themselves.

In the end, it is the smiles that get me. The smiles that are continuous on the faces of the Haitian youth. No matter the hardships that face them, they are always smiling, dancing, singing, and having a fun time. The resiliency of these people continue to inspire me to be thankful no matter the situation and to look for the positives in life.

D

When I was in Haiti, there were many tent cities. The one pictured below is located just down the road from the airport. This tent city is what the locals call “one of the good ones”. It is considered good because most of the people live in actual tents. There are also toilets and showers available for the people (however not nearly enough).  The tents are crowded very close together and there is little space for actual living between the rows and rows of tents. Though I’m not sure exactly how many people live in this tent city, it is vast and goes on for as long as I could see from the road.

The tent city below is also outside of Port-au-Prince. It obviously is not one of the better ones. There are no bathroom or shower facilities at this tent city and many of the people live under nothing more than sheets. There is a sortage of tents and tarps for people to live under in Haiti. However the people are very resourceful. They are using rebar and sheets to make shelters. Some have even rigged metal roofing into walls for their tents. The living situation for many Haitians is tenuous.

Even for those Haitians who live in housing that has not been damaged by past floods or the earthquake, they still live in places that many of us could not even dream of. Some houses are no bigger than an 8×10 room. They are equipped with a bed (maybe) and some boxes to hold possessions. Most Haitians cook outside. They also spend the majority of their day outside on their properties or at the market. One of these houses is shown below.

Feel free to comment or ask questions…thanks for reading.

D

I am no longer looking at mountains and tents. No longer seeing half dressed people who look as though they haven’t eaten in weeks. No longer helping those who are sick. No longer seeing my Haitian friends…

I’m sure going to work tomorrow and continuing onward with my life is going to be an adjustment. Whenever I go to Haiti I come back changed. This time, I do not want these changes to fade. The people that I come in contact with will know about Haiti. I need to be one of the many people who are communicating about this country and their needs.

Over the next few days I will post pictures and stories from the trip. I hope that this is just the first step in connecting with people and allowing them to also gain a heart for Haiti.

D

The little girl who we treated at camp yesterday morning was met by our doctor again this morning to redress her arm. It was tough I’m sure for the doctor and his assistants to take her dead skin off and redress it, but the little girl was very tough. It never fails to amaze me how the Haitians cope with their pain. Very rarely do I see tears in their eyes, unless they are tears of joy. They have seen so much in this area with the hurricane in 2008 and the earthquake in January, yet the simplest greeting in Haiti is a smile and a quick “bonswa”.

After a full day of work, I went back out in to the village around the camp with the ladies and our interpreter of course (Luc). We dropped off some food to two needy families who live on the opposite side of our wall. We also gave the kids some clothes, shoes, bouncy balls, and some surettes (candy). They loved everything and were so grateful. After lots of hugs and kisses we walked back up to make sure our special family up the hill had received the goat and to say goodbye. As we arrived, the whole family (grandma, three daughters, and their kids) were there to greet us. We explained that this goat is to be a blessing to their whole family and they were so thankful for what they had gotten.

On the way back down the hill, I had lots of donated clothes to hand out, so we just looked for children who would fit into what we had. I was down to about 7 dresses so we decided to stop at Jack Streef’s sponsored child’s house. I was about to give them the rest of the dresses when four ladies came up the street (tiny path) from the market. They saw the dresses and pointed to them. I handed each of the ladies a dress for their children and they were dancing and singing and waving the dresses above their heads. They were so joyful for the gifts. I think that this is why I will always continue to come to work in Haiti; because the people here are so appreciative for the simple things that we take for granted.

D

On our way out of camp this morning a little girl was waiting for us at the gate with her mother. She had fallen in a fire the night before and had burnt through a layer of skin and underneath the arm she had third degree burns. As we loaded the bus, Dr. Mike and a few nurses took care of her. It is for situations like this that I am glad that I am part of an awesome team in Haiti. Some of the highlights of the day were holding all the little ones as there were several babies. I even took care of one baby who has bronchitis. It is heartbreaking to see all the sick people when I think that if teams like ours were not there who would be taking care of all these people. 204 people made for a very busy day but it is so good to know that these people were able to walk away from the clinic with the care that they needed.

When the team got back to camp tonight, a few of us brought a goat up for the little baby who lives up the hill. My mom bought the goat for this family and we delivered it tonight with so much joy and anticipation. When we arrived at their house, the mama and baby and grandma were still at the market. So we left the goat with the baby’s uncle and we will go there again tomorrow to check on the family before we leave. An important part of this goat give-a-away is explaining to the families that when the goat gives birth (as they are all females) they need to give one of the babies away as a way to pass on the blessings that have been given to them. The uncle was very excitied when we explained this concept to the family and he asked, “Could I have the first baby and that would be a blessing to my family?” Our translator (Kadesh) told him that would be just fine.

Overall, it was another amazing day in Haiti. I cannot believe that this is the second last night that I’m here. I know that I will miss my friends here and I am going to spend the rest of the night hanging out with Bisson, Luc, and the ladies, and of course my family!

D

We had a few cases that stick out in my mind tonight…there was a woman who came through who was 30 years old and she only weighed 88lbs. She has been living in the rubble since the earthquake and has no food and very limited shelter. She was given medications to help her to get better as she had several ailments as well, but perhaps the most important thing she received was food. As an addition to this she was given baby formula. Baby formula is one of the easier ways for us to provide nutrition to Haitians who are unable to access food.

There were several very small babies who came through the clinic today, they are always everyone’s favourites and we even got to see a 13 day old little one. A few of them were quite sick, so it was good that we were able to see and treat them. All the people who are sick in this country are on my mind tonight. I pray for all the people who we saw today as many of them will need prayer along with their medications to live a better life.

Today was super busy on all the other teams too. The construction team poured the foundation and footings for a new house at the camp (for Meno the gardener) and they started the footings for the bridge from the road to the camp. Even though their cement mixer broke, they were still able to get a lot of work done today. The sponsorship team was able to visit a new temporary site for Christa college (until they can resume in their building). They also signed up about 10 more children to their list of children who need to be sponsored.

There’s a lot going on here in Haiti, just through reading my twitter and checking the news I see the first lady was here … I’m still not sure whose side to be on as the corruption in Haiti seems to be growing deeper and deeper. All I do know is that its NGOs like MTH Canada who are going to make the difference. We have the ability to buy and distribute supplies to many people and today I know we made a difference. In the end, even helping one person, that is the reason that I am here. The smile on the kids faces, the smile on our interpreter’s faces…the ability for the Haitian people to be so resilient with so little…that is why I come back. I have fallen in love with this country and the beauty even amongst the devastation and blatant government corruption.

That’s all I got for tonight, bonuit…

D

The girl who I sponsored to go to school got adopted after the earthquake so I was looking for a new girl to sponsor. Instead of a new girl, I found a whole family. The mom of the family walked to the clinic today and discovered that she has three broken ribs. They were broken in the earthquake when a wall fell on her. Thankfully her three children (daughters – 13 & 5 and son 11) are okay and so is her husband. However her three kids have not been in school for some time. I was able to sponsor their youngest daughter and I have a friend who may sponsor the oldest one. Now I just need one more friend to sponsor the son. It is very exciting to have a connection with some kids in Haiti again.

Tomorrow the team is heading to Christa College just on the outside of Port-au-Prince. It will be very interesting to be in town and I’m sure we will see a lot of damage and many tent cities. I pray tonight for continued guidance for the medical team while they are assessing and treating the people. I also pray that the construction team is able to get a lot done at camp. The rains have slowed us down a little, but by God’s grace we will be able to accomplish something while we are here.

Thanks for the comments, even a hello from home is encouraging.

As they say in creole…Meci, bonuit, Bondye beni (thank you, good night, God bless)

D

We saw many different patients today, but my role on the team was to educate Haitians about condoms. I really don’t know how I got elected to this job, but I think people are figuring out pretty quickly that I’m willing talk about anything. I worked with the pharmacy dispensing the meds and organizing them. It is very fulfilling work to be able to provide people with the simplest of things. Most of the meds dispensed today were Tylenol, Advil, vitamins, antibiotics, eye/ear drops, and other everyday medications. Many of the Haitians do not have access to these types of medications. A lot of them had very simple infections that unfortunately had progressed.

Some of the people that we talked to today had been affected by the earthquake. One woman was seven months pregnant and she had lost her husband, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. All she has left now is her brother. Before coming here, I had been under the impression that the earthquake had not affected that many people in Messalier (the community where our camp is). But it has in fact affected many people around here. Just on the small dirt road coming into camp there are four houses that are collapsed and destroyed.

There has been good news while we’ve been here. Yesterday afternoon a team of men went out and looked at a new property where there could be a possibility of building 250 houses. This could be an amazing link to the community as there would need to be a lot of communication and relationship building between MTH Canada and the mayor’s family.

Today I’m feeling like we got a lot accomplished. The construction team did an amazing job as they started the rebuilding of the bridge. This task will hopefully be finished during our week here.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day. I’m going to be in the medical pharmacy again, but my highlight will be finding a new sponsored child. I’m looking for two young girls, preferably sisters, as a friend and I would like to sponsor them. I pray that God brings two girls here tomorrow who need to be in school. I truly believe that if you can educate a woman you can educate her children. It is imperative that the kids have education in order to find a better life in Haiti.

I’m still pretty awake tonight, but I’m sure the sleep will be good. It’s going to be another night with a lot of laughter, as it has started already. The jokes are priceless and shall continue for a long time.

Thanks for reading

D

Our day started with a great breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and lots of watermelon. We then headed to church. Church is always a great time in Haiti. Today we were able to share some songs with the Haitians. While singing you could see how much they appreciated our songs and we enjoyed worshipping together.

After church, lunch, and some time with the kids at camp, our team headed to Foveau. We went to this village to give out about 300 bags of rice and beans. Our team worked really hard to organize these bags, several times. The people in Foveau are quite poor; many of them live in single room homes that are very small compared to anything in Canada. These people were very grateful for the little that we could give them. Every family received enough food to hopefully last them for a few weeks, or up to a month.

After handing out many “surettes” (candies) to the children around the church in Foveau, the team headed back to the camp to collect supplies to bring out to the village around the camp. We collected some clothes and materials for one special family.

Last year we met a child who was 8 months old and had only been fed water for most of her life. Through love and rehydration, this baby was nursed back to health by members of our team. We then were able to buy supplies from town to share with the family (grandma, mom, and baby). So this year, we hiked up to their house to see how they were doing.

They have moved from their house, which is a small one room house, to a tent made of bed sheets in their front yard. They are too scared to live inside their house because of the earthquake so this new shelter has become their home. Mom has a new baby this year, which is 9 months old now. Through the donations of the team, we were able to bring pedialyte, food, clothing, and more teaching to this family. The new baby looks very healthy and has obviously been breast fed which shows that through education we can help the Haitians help themselves.

I am quite tired tonight, and as I sit here typing I can hear the rains coming down. All I’m thinking about is that family up on the hill. I pray that they feel safe enough to go and sleep under the corrugated steel roof on their little house so that they are not soaking wet all night. It’s been coming down pretty steadily for about an hour now. The rains bring so much trouble for the Haitians. It could derail our plans for tomorrow too as we planned on pouring the footings for the bridge to the camp.

Right now, I think it’s time to head to bed. I know that God is here and that he is working. Looking on the faces of the people who were receiving gifts from us today shows that. It shows that even when the world is looking bleak and like nothing is going right, the people here are still grateful for whatever they are able to receive.

I pray that the rains will stop, or at least slow. I pray that God works in many ways and continues to be present. I know that we have a long week in store; your prayers for strength are appreciated.

D

The trip was long but not as tiring as some trips, there was a lot of card playing, laughter and jokes from the team. I was doing really well until I looked over Haiti from the plane. The landscape has definitely changed. There are blue tarps everywhere and white tents. The most interesting of all of the tent cities was one that Bisson said was called Obama 2. The people called it this in order to get the attention of the US and President Obama. There was a lot of talk about the camps and how some are better equipped than others. Some have bathrooms, many do not. Even those camps with bathrooms, they are few  and far between.

The hardest part of today was driving past the mass grave. This site is more massive than you could have ever thought. I will post some pictures when I have time to upload more. Tonight will be a short post. Tomorrow I will write more as it will be Sunday and we will have more down time.

Really today was about travel, getting unpacked, and we’ve already had a team meeting for the medical team.

I’m really tired tonight and ready to head for a cold shower and a sleep, I’m sure I will have a clearer head tomorrow.

Bonswa (Goodnight)

D