Day 3

Sleep was a little better last night but still woke up quite a bit. About 4:30 realized I needed to use the "little girl's room" and had to try to figure out how to get down from a top bunk while under a mosquito net without disturbing the complete stranger who was sleeping beneath me.  I did not succeed.  Knocked over her water bottle. Doh!

The rooster started to crow at 5:10.  I then went up to the rooftop to do my morning stretches. There was quite a breeze and the sky was clear.  It was so peacful stretching under the stars and seeing the outline of the mountains.  

Sunrise at 6:19

After breakfast we loaded up on a truck and headed down the hill to the MOH clinic to pick up the supplies.  It took about an hour to load up all the supplies and get all the translators there.  While we were there we toured the inside of the clinic.  It's awesome to see how it is growing. They have big plans of eventually having an operating room and maternity room!

Our translators are so funny and friendly. I worked with Williamson today. He has been working on the MOH for the past 2 years. Didn't have time to find out much more than that.  We were busy!

Nikki and Jen on the truck

Shelby, Laura, Amelia and Pat

It took us about 30 min to get to the orphanage in Caberet.  It was a very bumpy, dusty ride.  On the way we saw women washing clothes in the river, up to 5 people on one motorcycle riding and kids running around without pants on.  I did notice that the block homes seemed a little bigger and nicer the closer we got to Caberet.  I also noticed that the goats, donkeys and pigs didn't look as emaciated. 

First view of the orphanage

Figuring out how to set up the clinic 

We set up a weight/height/arm circumference station at the door. Then we had 3 nurses taking vitals and history from the children and teacher.  The patient was then sent one of the two doctors we have.  After that they were sent to the "pharmacy" for their meds and then finally to pray with the preacher. We saw 68 patient between the age of 3-8.  Most the complaints were of stomach pain, cough, headaches and ringworm.  Lots of constipation.  Nikki did find one child that significant infection to both ears.  Another child had a significant skin infection. Overall the children looked very healthy.  We gave them all medication for intestinal worms and sent them home with vitamins.  

One classroom

Our first 3 patients 

Cheese!

Nikki with a patient and her translator 

Jen working

Yes, I was working too 😉

Today was a great day!  We will go back to the orphanage again tomorrow to see the older kids. 

Day 2

The medical orientation went well last night. We learned that two of the mobile clinic days will be in a local orphanage that MOH has never worked with before. Lucky for them this medical team consists of a pediatrician, 2 pediatric nurses and 3 high school girls that are crazy for kids.  God definitely had this planned! 

I didn't sleep very well last night.  It started off very hot but then changed to freezing in the middle of the night.  Nikki grabbed us all an extra sheet this morning so hopefully we will be more comfortable tonight.  By the way, we are sharing one bathroom with 14 girls.... Can you imagine?!   We were literally sitting on the floor waiting in line for showers last night. 

This picture doesn't do the room justice but after seeing the villages today - this is the Marriott!

The bathroom 😳

After breakfast we went for a tour around the central campus of MOH.  I heard so many amazing stories. I can't wait to share them but it's way too much for his post 

After the tour we went to church.  It was an amazing experience to celebrate Easter with the local Haitians.  I couldn't understand what they were saying but could definitely feel their passion for Jesus!   A couple children sat with us and played with our sunglasses and took pictures with our phones. 

After lunch the medical team worked on getting bags of vitamins together to hand out at the clinic tomorrow. 

Then it was off to see Bercy which is another campus of MOH that houses a school. 

Finally we went to a small village called Leveque.  MOH has built 450 block homes for them.  150 other families currently live in tents. They have been in them since the earthquake 5 yrs ago.  They were only suppose to stay in them for 6 months.  

Here we had the opportunity to play with some of the children

Amelia found a buddy immediately

Nikki sharing her camera

Some of the block houses built by MOH

She stole my sunglasses! 

He would let go of the phone long enough to get a selfie. 

Ok. Well that's enough for tonight.  We are doing great. Tomorrow is the first clinic day so be praying that everything goes smoothly!  

We made it!

SssWe arrived in Haiti around 2:30 this afternoon and immediately felt the heat and humidity.  We immediately regretted not filling up our water bottles in the Miami airport.  We were greated at the door by cheerful music consisting of banjos, bongo drums and maracas. The scene was beautiful at the first window we stood by.  The mountain range was so pretty.  It took about 30-45 minutes to get through customs.  Then the madness started in trying to get all our bags from baggage claim and then finding our transport.  Once we got on the bus it was a mad dash for Mission of Hope campus.  There were a couple times when our bus was playing "chicken" with the oncoming traffic.  The scenery was an eye opener....to see the tiny huts made from sheets of metal.  We saw chickens, goats and cows roaming freely.  Once we got to MOH campus we were able to turn in all the medical supplies and get situated in our room.  We have already met so many friendly women.  Everyone has been so welcoming.  After getting set up in the room we went upstairs to sit on the roof of the guesthouse.  There is an amazing breeze!  

I'm currently standing in line for dinner and we will have orientation afterwards.  It has already been quite an experience.  Can't wait to see what the rest of the week has in store!  

First glimpse of Haiti

Nikki and Amelia in tax collection line.

Supplies laid out

View from the rooftop. 

The roof is the "hangout" area 😜

First meal in Haiti

Day 1!

So the day started early. I woke up at 3 am. Could not sleep with the excitement and anticipation for today. Cory and Parker took me to the airport to meet Nikki and Amelia at 5am.  The flight to Miami was quiet and peaceful and we landed safely around 8:30am.  We have a 4 hour layover and then will be on our way to Haiti.  

Another "God moment"

ISo I woke up this morning to do my stretches like I normally do and while I was stretching I was running through my check list of things to do before Saturday.  In just 2 days I will be flying out to Haiti.  This week I have been experiencing all kinds of emotions about this trip.  Excited and scared at the same time.  My biggest fear is that I will not know how to care for the people we will see in the clinics.  For this reason I have been studying flash cards on different diseases.  This morning around 6:10 I was in plank position and trying to run through the signs and symptoms of Cholera in my head when Cory turned on the TV. Immediately a preacher on the tv said "if God calls you to do something, he will equip you to do it!"  All at once I went from a feeling of anxiousness to joy and peace. I am amazed at how perfectly God set that up.  From the timing, the words, and the way the preacher said it.  It was almost as if I could hear God saying " I've got this, I'm taking care of you ... Why do you not trust that!"   God thank you so much for opening my ears to hear your message this morning and for being so patient with this hard-headed servant of yours.  

On a side note, I just want to thank each and everyone that contributed towards this trip through donations and prayers. Our wonderful women in our bible study contributed half of the medical supplies we need to carry.   I feel so blessed! 

Some of the supplies that I brought home

Supplies that Nikki collected.  And this isn't all of it!

Bottoms up

It's getting real. Just took my first dose of my malaria medication.  Praying for no side effects. I can't believe that next week at this time I will be sitting in the Miami airport waiting for my flight to Haiti!

Progress....

So a lot has happened since my last blog.... As most of you know, when traveling out of the country you often have to get vaccines and medications to protect yourself from diseases that you may not normally come in contact with.  I went for my annual check up and received my Hep A and Tetanus vaccines.  I also requested the Typhoid vaccine.  I didn't realize that this can be taken orally over a week period.  I was given a prescription for the vaccine.  This happened the beginning of December.  I decided to hold onto the prescription and have it filled over my Christmas break just in case the vaccine made me sick. Well on Christmas Eve my son was diagnosed with Strep Throat.  I decided to go ahead and pick up the Typhoid vaccine along with his antibiotic for the strep.  I knew that his medication needed to be refrigerated so when I got home I immediately put his medication in the refrigerator and put my bag with my vaccine on the kitchen counter. I then also developed Strep and decided to hold off on my vaccine until I was over my illness.  I finally went back to take my medication a few weeks later.  I took the small box out of the pharmacy paper bag and started to open the box when I realized that this medication should be refrigerated as well.  Ugh....  Did I mention that this vaccine is NOT covered by insurance and costs around $60-70.  So... I admitted my mistake and was given another prescription for the vaccine and followed directions this time.  Finally, I am vaccinated against Typhoid as well.  I will start the medication for Malaria a week before I leave for Haiti.

As for the fundraising......THE LORD HAS PROVIDED!!!!  Through my amazing family and RPA family, God made it possible for me to pay for my plane ticket and what I owed Mission Of Hope by the end of December.  I also have some money left over that will go towards the medical supplies and food that we will be carrying with us.  We have an extensive list of medications, medical supplies and food that we will need to carry with us to help run the mobile clinic. Over the last couple months Dr. Parkerson and I have looked at different stores to compare prices on the medications.  It looks like the total cost of the supplies will be more than we originally thought.  But God is in control and he is handling it.  Dr. Parkerson and I are both involved with a Woman's bible study at church.  They have made our trip their mission project for this session.  Last week they passed around a sign-up sheet for the medical supplies and the wonderful ladies of this group will be bringing in medications and supplies over the next 3 weeks.
He also used our RPA family again.  The clinical staff had a successful bake sale on Friday to raise money for the medical supplies.  I was brought to tears by the love and support shown by the staff. Nurses stayed up late on Thursday night to bake, woke up early to bake Friday morning, came in on their day off to deliver goodies, juggled being moms and wives with making decorations and baking. People went out of their way to go by the bank or check their accounts to be able to donate.  All dealing with the stress that comes with our daily lives.  Despite the road blocks, including a power outage (makes it hard to bake when your oven doesn't work), the bake sale was a huge success.  I am so grateful for this amazing group of people and their generosity.

 I was blown away by all the details...Sloan even wrote a poem and put my picture on the plane!

                                               I loved all these sayings on the donation jar.

                               Just a small group of the ladies that contributed to the bake sale

                                                              Dr. Parkerson and I

Spiritually, the Lord is still working on me.  He is making progress though.  As the trip is quickly approaching I am frantically trying to prepare.  I have been reading blogs and books trying to understand the conditions.  I have been making flash cards of certain diseases that we will most likely see.  I have been trying to learn some Creole - it's pretty funny hearing a country girl trying to say Bonjou or Tre byen, mesi. On a side note - one of our physician's speaks French and when he heard me say Bonjou he laughed and said "I hope they don't say it like that." He then referred me to a medical translator app....he knew there was no hope for me...LOL.
As I try to learn all this, my confidence is quickly wavering.  I signed up for a medical mission trip because medicine is "what I know."  In the first blog I explained that I was hesitant to do a mission trip that involved building because I didn't know how to do those things.  Well I am quickly learning that medical care in Haiti is going to be completely different from the medical care that I practice here in North Raleigh. In our bible study we are studying "Bad Girls of the Bible.." by Liz Curtis Higgs.  Last week we studied Eve and how she ate the fruit because she wanted "knowledge", "to be like God" or in other words " to be in control."  We also learned that Satan will get to us through our weak spots which for women are usually  "physical, emotional and spiritual in nature."  I am learning that Satan can lead us into bad situations or, in my case, keep us from good things by our desire to be in control.  I have avoided doing God's work because of my insecurities.  I have a need to be in control, to know what to expect, to know exactly what to do.  I have thought several times over the past few months that I have made a mistake by agreeing to go on this trip to Haiti because I don't know what to expect or how I am going to treat these people.  I keep forgetting to put my trust in God.  I am trying to put my trust in myself and my own earthly skills.  God is The Great Physician. He is working through us.  He is not relying on our skills but our trust in Him.
Please pray for me.  Pray that my trust in God will continue to grow.