The Rest of the Story

We've now been in our respective homes for the last 10 days, which gives one a little perspective on the experience. We are always amazed at the numbers of patients that we see in a short period of time. This trip, we saw more than 800 medical and dental patients over 3 days. As in the past, the last day of clinics was the busiest with the sickest patients who walked the farthest - 4 hours one way- to see us.

We feel that we are making some progress toward our goal of sustained, and sustainable, healthcare for our communities. We succeeded in hiring a nurse - Evins Joicin, who is the director of clinical programs at the Episcopal Nursing School in Leogane. Evins will consult with Dr. Alex and Dr. Patrick, our Haitian physician team members, as necessary. He will travel up the mountain every two weeks to provide patient care and additional meds as needed.

Before we left for Haiti, we checked the weather to see whether a storm was brewing in the Atlantic, since this is hurricane season. There was nothing there. Every night, it rained ard and then would clear by 8am. One morning, Tuesday or Wednesday, I walked into the courtyard in front of the hospital and chatted with a couple of our interpreters while we waited for others to come down. There was a beautiful rainbow in front of the hospital entrance. I commented that in the United States, rainbows are good luck. Mario, one of the translators, told me that in Haiti, rainbows are bad luck. I expressed my surprise and then Valeri, the other translator, explained that rainbows in that direction mean a hurricane is coming and that rainbows behind the hospital are good luck. I assured them that no hurricane was coming since we had checked the weather before leaving the States.

A few days after we returned to the US, Hurricane Sandy hit Haiti. There was massive devastation and more than 30 deaths. Leogane was flooded waist deep. Then Sandy proceeded to the US and hit the northeast. The last few days, we've heard of hundreds of thousands of people without power and homes being destroyed. What we don't hear from the US is the news we heard from Haiti - the gardens are destroyed and there is no food. The people are hungry. There is no reliable electricity in Haiti, so lack of power is not a hardship. Lack of food is.

Please pray for the people in Haiti and in the US as they recover from Sandy.

Greetings from Leogane! We have no internet at  the guesthouse. The person who can fix it is in Canada, so we've bought an air card with some minutes, just to give everyone a quick update and say that all is well. Everyone sends love to their friends and family.

We've had two wonderful clinic days, yesterday in Gressier at St. Phillippe and St. Jacques, and today at Jasmin at St. Joseph's. We saw more than 250 people  each day in the medical clinics and more than 100 each day in the dental clinics. John has  had a fabulous time interviewing our  patients with the assistance of his translator, Mario. The Gressier people would like a permanent medical clinic and the Jasmin people would like a better road. That's not surprising. The road to Jasmin is the worst I've ever seen it.

The school at St. Joseph's is finished! It is amazingly beautiful! There are two buildings with 3 classrooms each, a separate adjacent building with biofuel toilets - separate rooms for boys and girls, and a separate building for a kitchen. Of course, there is no food, but they have hope for food! There are solar panels on top of one of the classroom buildings and 6 batteries, which will be powered by the sun and the poop! There is also a huge cistern under the buildings which is filled from the rain collected off the roofs of the buildings. The youngest children will continue to meet in the church and grades 1-6 will meet in the classrooms, in actual separate spaces in which their teachers will not compete with other teachers for their attention.


I don't know if you can even imagine what a gift this school is to the children. When I first went to Jasmin in August 2007, there were 120  students, who met inside the church. They had a couple blackboards with holes in them and few books for the teachers. With Christ Church's support, the school grew and spilled into the yard around the church. The equipment and supplies improved and the teachers have been paid regularly. This last school year there were 420 students who met under a tarp at the top of hill behind the church as the school was being built. These students now have beautiful buildings in which to learn. Thank you to eveyone who contributed to the fund to buy the land and thank you to the Finn Lutheran Foundation for the buildings!

I brought  gorgeous wall maps donated by my cousin's husband who works for National Geographic. The lay leader was excited to see these and they will be proudly hung in each new classroom. The rooms have blackboards, but they need desks. So, stay tuned for details.

Of course, the reason I and others return to Haiti again and again is the people. Our priest Kerwin has been his usual gracious host, and we got to see his wife Rholcie and children Kercie and Rholker briefly over the weekend. Our guesthouse host is Janeene, who is ably assisted by her staff. Dr. Gladys, the medical director at the hospital warmly greeted us. We were surprised to see two of our student nurses working at the hospital when we returned today. They both graduated and have jobs there now! We have most of the same translators from prior trips, and of course Dr. Alex is with us again. When Dianne and I were here after the quake, Patrick, a Haitian doctor worked at the field hospital with Dianne. He is helping out in our clinics this trip.

Of  course, we love seeing our friends in Gressier and Jasmin. We see many of the same patients each time that we come. Today, as I was working in the pharmacy, my little friend Sopharia, who helped me in the  spring came running  in and gave me a huge hug! That was wonderful! She came with her mom  and 5 brothers and sisters this time. She remembered how she had helped complete the medical labels and fillthe bags and helped me for awhile as she waited to see Dr. Dianne.


Tomorrow we go back to Jasmin and will treat the patients who walk from Nicholas to see us. This is a 4 hour walk one way! Today Sandra told me that here renews her soul and reminds her of what is really important. I think that everyone of us would agree with her.

Terry

October 12-20, 2012 Pilgrimage to Haiti

Our team is completing preparations for our next Haiti adventure. Our team is transcontinental once again. Our largest contingent is from Christ Church, Norcross and includes two new team members - Sandra Durbin and John Duke. This is John's first Haiti trip. John is a professional filmmaker and he'll be filming our exploits.Sandra and her RN sister Jennifer Scheible who is joining us from Arkansas have traveled to Haiti to work in mobile medical clinics with another group in the past.  Returning team members from Norcross include Daphne Gary, Leslie Freeman, Steve Franzen, and me. Our Minnesota team from St. John's includes our medical leader Dr. Dianne Pizey, and RN/acupuncturist Cynthia Miller. This is Cynthia's second trip with us. Dianne's son Graham Chapman will be traveling from LA for his second Haiti trip. Our Iowa friends are returning with us - dentist Dr. Terry Shively and his wife Stevie. They are joined by their friend Jane Weist.

As in the past, we will have several Haitian team members,including Dr. Alex Lebrun and dentist Emmanuel Bastian, a new Haitian doctor whom Alex is arranging, five nursing students and seven translators.

There's always something different every trip. This time is no different. We will not have American guesthouse managers this trip. Mr. Louissaint, the accountant at the hospital is our contact and will be  runnning the place while we're there. Dr. Bob Sloane, a past guesthouse manager, has been instrumental in communications, etc. We decided to order meds in the states from Blessings International in an effort to reduce the cost of the medicine. It's less expensive, but we have to haul it with us, so that has presented a few issues. The Haiti Health Ministry is trying to have more control over meds coming into the country so we  had to get a letter  from Dr. Gladys Memnon, Hopital Ste. Croix's Medical Director, acknowleding our work, and confirming that the meds are current and  will not expire for at least 6 months from our entry into  the country, and that the meds will not be resold. We also have to take a detailed inventory of all meds.

Please hold us in your prayers throughout our trip. I will try to update our blog daily during our  trip, but internet access can be unreliable,  so don't panic if you don't see an update. Haiti is definitely a no news is good news kind of place. Terry Franzen

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Miami Airport!

Callan, Jess, and I are awaiting our flight to Atlanta, so I thought I'd finish the blog. As you may have guessed, the internet at the guesthouse did not work the remainder of our time in Haiti. So, here goes!

Wednesday

The road to Jasmin, where we returned on Wednesday to serve the people of Jasmin, is a long, steep, and winding road.  We opened the clinic by 9, and finished about 5. We ran out of the 750 medical record forms I had brought with me, and then started using scraps of paper for assessment, diagnosis, and prescriptions. We estimate that we saw about 780 people over the 3 days, more than 1/3 of which were on that last day of clinic. I had little time for photography, or lunch!

Nicholas is about a 4 hour, one way walk from Jasmin. When Kerwin travels there for church, he goes as far as he can by moto, and then rides a donkey the rest of the way. The remoteness of the community adversely affects the health of the people we see. They have more respiratory issues, more malnutrition, and more high blood pressure. Our dentists found that the dental health was worse than in the other communities.  Consequently, they were not able to restore as many teeth and had to resort to extractions. As the day progressed, we ran out of medications, but in most cases we were able to make an adequate substitution.

Thursday - a day of moral conflict

Kathie left us early Thursday morning so that she could take care of her ill sister-in-law. We were sorry to see her go, but it was the right thing for her to do.

We spent the first hours of the day inventorying and packing our remaining meds and supplies. Then, we headed out to Gressier, to visit the school at St. Phillippe and St. Jacques. Terry and Stevie entertained and educated each class with their tooth song to teach the kids the correct way to brush their teeth.

We were all surprised to learn that the school now has an "annex" which is located in an old school building up the street from the main location. The youngest kids (pre-k and K) are in this location. The school now educates 420 students.

We were excited to be there when the kids were being served a hot lunch of rice and beans. The lunch is prepared over an open fire in the LaBorde's (layleader) backyard. We visited a little while with the women who prepare the meal for the kids. The "head cook" offered to sing us a song, which she proceeded to do beautifully. It was another thin place.

After a light snack at the LaBorde's house, we returned for lunch at the guesthouse. Watson, one of our translators, had offered to walk with us to the nursing school so that our new team members could see where our nursing students are educated. Along the way, he regaled us with stories about Leogane pre and post quake. When we were in Leogane 6 months ago, there were still hundreds of people living in tents or other temporary shelters in the city park. They are all gone now, moved into better housing. The streets in Leogane are clean and free of trash. There are still open sewers with trash, but overall, the city looks much better than it did in the fall.

The nursing school is starting an expansion to add an administrative building and more dorms, another exciting development. There are plans for a science lab where the administrative offices are currently located. The school has been repaired and refreshed since the quake and is a very pleasant, inviting space for its 100 students.

While at the nursing school, we met Tim, an American nurse and administrator, who works at the school periodically. He told us of two very sick children at a local orphanage and asked Dianne if she would be willing to examine the children. Of course, she was. So, instead of continuing our planned walk out to the beach, we motored off to an orphanage on the Leogane "bypass".

The orphanage is a tent city behind a large concrete wall. The tents are on wooden platforms and are joined by wooden paths around the property. The two kids were in one of the farthest tents, lying on blankets on the floor. The little 14 month old girl was severely malnourished and had pneumonia and the 18 month old boy suffered from a congenital problem which affected his breathing and ability to eat solid food, but not his ability to play. If Dianne were writing this, she could be more specific. Dianne recommended taking the kids to Hopital Ste. Croix and to the Children's Nutrition Program where they could be thoroughly evaluated and treated.

The heartbreaking part of the visit occurred when the young woman who was serving as the girl's care taker proudly told us that the mother had left the girl with them two weeks ago, that there was already a family in America to adopt her, and that her name had been changed to an American name. Well, Dianne told them exactly what she thought about that, none of which was good. We then learned that the little boy had been with them for more than a year, after his mom left him with them, and that a US family was trying to get him a medical visa. While Bob, Dianne, and I were with these two kids, Jess and Callan were talking with some of the girls with the church group that were helping over spring break. They learned that expecting mothers come to the facility during their last three weeks of pregnancy, give birth there, and then leave their babies there, presumably to be adopted in the US.

This visit generated many conversations among our team members about the approprate kind of aid which Americans and others might offer in Haiti. The questions this visit raised were many, with no easy answers.

Friday - our day of R and R

Friday, we traveled to Jacmel by rented van. The HSC truck, which had carried us to our clinics was not well enough to make the trip over the mountains, and Kerwin's van had suffered a broken axle earlier in the week. Luckily, Joseph Chery, came to our rescue. He worked at HSC for about 20 years, and now owns and operates a two vehicle transportation service out of Port au Prince. What a great find! The other team from Oak Ridge, TN, which had been with us Saturday night had returned Thursday night, so three of the younger team members, Chris, Mike, and David, joined us on our trip. A great day of fun in the sun and playing in the ocean was had by all! We enjoyed the private beach at the Hotel Cyvadier. We're thinking about staying a night there on a future trip.

Saturday - and then we had to leave

While there is a certain symmetry to both arriving and leaving in the truck, a closed vehicle certainly gets you to the airport a lot cleaner! We had the foresight, to take a clean outfit and wet wipes in our back packs, so we were all good. Hopefully, everyone gets home safely. We just had some bad news about Kathie's sister in law Cathy, so please add her to your prayer list. Terry



The times they are a changin'

The new school at Jasmin is amazing! I don't think it will be completed in March as currently predicted, but it will be worth the wait. St. Joseph's now has 420 students enrolled in its temporary school under tarps at the top of the hill behind the church. So, that's 100 more students than last school year! Wow!

We visited the school when we arrived, then the head master dismissed the youngest kids so that we could use their desks in our clinic. Then, the work began. We worked steadily all day. I think we saw about 220 patients. I still don't know how many we saw yesterday, more, I think. I'm not sure how many the dentists saw today. I know that they had more extractions and surgeries and less restoration than yesterday.

In keeping with our Haiti experience, the set up was a little different than in the past. The church was empty since the school is meeting up the hill, so that meant we had more room inside, and no barriers to keep our patients from wandering into the pharmacy. A little girl about age 4 or 5 ran up to me when we arrived and did not leave my side most of the day. She spoke very little, but was very smart and had great small motor skills. She helped fill bags, label meds, and even mark med cups. She was a joy!

Another change was that Peterson translated for Dianne today. Dianne's usual translator, Watson, had to accompany our guesthouse manager Bob to court to translate Bob's testimony in an investigation into a theft he had. Peterson told me that he felt bad and did not think he could manage the pharmacy pace, so I took the new guy, Sammy, who did a good job for a first timer.

As in the past, we saw less malaria and diabetes than in Gressier, but more respiratory issues. The high blood pressure seems to be rampant in both communities. As in Gressier, the incidence of STD's is almost non-existant, which is a huge difference from when we began the clinics 4 years ago. Weirdly, liquid tears are a huge "seller" in Jasmin. The eyeglasses continue to be a necessity. People bring their old glasses to trade for a stronger pair. The expression on their faces when they can see clearly is priceless!

One thing that has not changed is the road to Jasmin. It still makes any thrill ride seem tame in comparison. The most "thrilling" part for me is the descent, when we have to get on one side of the truck or the other to balance the load as we maneuver the turns. Yikes!

I presented our lay leader Maxo with the photos of the children which we had taken last year. He and his wife Elise were thrilled. I also gave Maxo an Episcopal flag which they were excited to see and will fly proudly in front of the church. A few parents were still at the clinic when I gave Maxo the photos and  they proudly showed their children's photos to our doctors. We take so much for granted in our lives. The smallest thing, a photo of their children, which is something that they have never had before, means so much.

I shared pictures and a letter from the Christ Church Daughters of the King with Elise and Maxo. There are 17 St. Joseph's women who are studying to become Daughters. Elise was very touched by the prayers and connection with these women in Atlanta.

We're finishing up our daily med preparation and everyone is trying to get to bed a little earlier than we did last night. We anticipate another long day tomorrow at Jasmin. Our patients will be walking 4 hours one way from Nicholas, another of Kerwin's parishes, to see the doctors and dentists. Until tomorrow..... Terry

And the change goes on.....

It's 6:50 am, Tuesday morning, or is it 5:50am? Haiti has never changed to daylight savings time, but Sunday, President Martelly decreed that this year will be different. Bob and Robin at the guesthouse decided we'd see what the Digicel phone system did. Well, it didn't, until yesterday sometime before we returned to the guesthouse. Of course, Alex's phone (Digicel) did change Sunday, but Robin and Bob's (also Digicel) did not. Somehow it knows whether the owner is Haitian or American? In any event today we are all on daylight savings time, and it was awfully dark when the alarm went off this morning! I suspect that the farmers are still sleeping with the sun.

Sunday and Monday were long, but wonderful days. We attended church Sunday at St. Phillippe and St. Jacques. Of course, the truck would not start, so we all (almost) piled into Kerwin's van. Jessica and Callan sat in the "way back" cross legged. Bob, our Jewish companion, agreed to stay behind, and then we were off. The service was similar to those in the past. The timoun of St. P and St. J school sang for us during the offering. Harry Laborde, the lay leader's son, plays the keyboard and sings beautifully. His brother, Eli, also has an amazing voice. They started the song, and then the children joined it. It was extremely moving, so much so that Dianne and I ended up in tears - another thin place.

As in the past, Madame Laborde prepared a wonderful lunch for us. Then, we headed back for an afternoon and evening of med preparation.

Monday, miraculously, the truck started. It's amazing what a rock and hammer can do for a battery! Our nursing students and Haitian RN, and all the translators were waiting for us when we went downstairs, another first! Of course, that was one of those Martelly time things, I think.

Our first clinic at St. P and St. J was very successful. We were set up across the street at the Laborde's home. There is now a courtyard (post quake developement) as they rebuilt their homes in a different configuration. The dentists set up, one on the first porch, and one in the yard under a tarp. They saw about 68 people, I think. Terry restored teeth and Emmanuel pulled those that could not be restored.

Our docs set up at 4 stations in the courtyard, the pharmacy was inside the house where we ate on Sunday, with Peterson at the door to distribute the drugs. The eyeglass station were set up by pharmacy and was ably manned by Jessica and Callan throughout the day. Triage was sort of in the front of the courtyard and lab was beside the pharmacy. Cynthia supervised triage and lab. Either Callan or Jessica ran the lab, and then rotated into the pharmacy. Elsie, our Haitian RN, whose English is relatively decent, worked with me in the pharmacy. Elsie would help Peterson with the explanations whenever he got backed up. This resulted in us staying caught up most of the day. This is probably more than those of you who have not worked in the pharmacy would like to know, but those pharmacy workers can appreciate this improvement!

The courtyard was covered by a large tarp, so it was really pleasant for our waiting patients and the workers. Another improvement! Of course, it will probably never be set up this was again.
Our clinic day starts with Kerwin leading everyone in the Doxology and then the Lord's Prayer, followed by a personal prayer. Those of us whose Creole is not the best, can follow the familar rhythm of the song and the Lord's Prayer and sing or speak in English. This creates an amazing sense of unity with those that we are here to serve. I had the distinct feeling of God in our midst, surrounding us with love. Yet, another thin place.

Au revior, Terry

We've arrived!

We arrived safely on two different flights yesterday. The Atlanta group arrived first and were lounging by the Visa Lodge pool in Port au Prince when the rest of the group arrived. Terry and Stevie had traveled to Minneapolis on Thursday, where they flew with the Mn group to Newark Friday morning. There, they met up with Bob who had flown to Newark from DC. The logistics of getting us all together in one place to begin our adventure together are daunting!

Our priest, Pere Kerwin, his wife  Rholcie, daughter Kercie (age 4),son  Rholker (age 9 mos), and Kerwin's brother Roosnel joined us for a festive dinner, during which Jessica taught Kercie "Little Bunny Fru-fru", a perrenial favorite sure to get a laugh.

This morning, after a great breakfast to fortify us for the day, we traveled from PAP to Leogane, with people and luggage loaded into the back of the "big" truck. Every trip to Haiti is different and this one has been no exception. Traveling through PAP in the back of a truck was a first.

We got to see the city from a new perspective. It's amazing how much cleaner the city is than in the past. Many of the camps have been disassembled and the people moved elsewhere. Where, we do not know. New plants and Haitian flags adorn many of the medians on the main highway out of PAP.

Similarly, the Hopital Ste.Croix guesthouse has been completely renovated. Every room has air conditioning, but the rumor of hot water, was, in fact,a rumor. Everything is newly painted, and all the windows have been replaced with modern windows, with screens which eliminate the need for mosquito nets in our rooms. We are all comfortably situated in "Jack and Jill" rooms, single rooms, with a connecting bath. We're in the lap of luxury!

Everyone always wants to know about the food. Janine and her staff are awesome cooks, and we are all glad that is one thing which has not changed.

We spent this afternoon and this evening orgainzing the meds, stuffing bagswith toothbrushes, and now we're counting pills and packing them for our first clinic. We were just joined by a group from Knoxville who arrived having been driven through PAP in the back of the truck from the airport in the dark. They are here to help build a church up in the mountains. It's always fun to meet new people with similar passions.

Another new event for most of us today was seeing acupuncture live! Our RN Cynthia, is an acupuncturist and treated Terry S. for his bad shoulder. He pronounced it a great success! This treatment was not recorded for publication on the web!

Those of us who are returning to Haiti have been reflecting today on the peace which we feel as soon as we get out of the airport, and especially as we travel on the Leogane road. The thin places in Haiti are reflected in the faces of those we've encountered along the way, strangers that we'll never know and those we joyfully greeted as we renewed old friendships. We are blessed to be here with and among friends.

Haiti Pilgrimage, March 9-17, 2012

I’ve recently read of a Celtic concept of “thin places”, that is, where you can see God on earth. Haiti is one of those thin places. The upcoming pilgrimage will allow our team members to experience this thin place.

As Christ Church, Norcross and St. John's, Minneapolis, walk in partnership with our brothers and sisters at our partnership churches St. Joseph’s and St. Phillippe and St. Jacques, our team has turned into a true partnership. Christ Church will be represented by my son Scott’s girlfriend, Jessica Brewer, and her roommate Callan Rowley, both of whom are applying to graduate school to become physician assistants, and me (lawyer serving as pharmacist). My doctor friend Bob Rosenthal from DC, who went with us last year, will be joining us again. Terry and Stevie Shively, a dentist friend from Iowa and his wife, will be joining us for the first time to provide restorative dental services. Terry (now known as TR to avoid confusion with me) will work with our Haitian dentist Emmanual  and will also talk with the hospital about establishing a dental clinic there. From St. John's, we have Dr. Dianne Pizey, pediatrician extraordinaire and our medical team leader, as well as Dr. Kathie Culhane-Pera, who was with Dianne and me on the trip just after the quake, and a registered nurse Cynthia Miller, who specializes in pain management. Dr. Alex Lebron, the Haitian doctor, who has worked with us the last couple trips, several Haitian nursing students, and our translators round out the team.  As always, Pere Kerwin Delicat will be with us every step of the way.

There are many of you who have not been to Haiti, and perhaps never will; however, you contribute in other ways to make our partnership a successful one – donating money, as well as medicine, vitamins, soap, and other items for us to take, sewing the dresses for the girls and bags which our patients treasure for their medicines, working hard to ensure the success of our parish fundraisers, and most importantly, holding our Haitian brothers and sisters in prayer. Prayer sustains us and those we serve.

We hope that you will be inspired to help in anyway that you can.

Thank you for your support. Terry Franzen