We are back in Haiti. It's Sunday afternoon, and it is raining. We have never had a trip with so much rain!
The team arrived Friday afternoon, April 21. We have a large team this trip, with four new people. The newbies are Chip and Nancy Franzen from Atlanta, Jessie MacKay from North Carolina, and Shane Marcus from Minneapolis. Chip and Nancy came because they are friends of Terry and Steve Franzen and wanted to see what draws them to Haiti. Jessie came to discuss the possibility of a microcredit program with the communities we serve. Shane is the youth minister at St. John's and is considering bringing a team for a visit. The experienced team members include Terry and Steve Franzen, Dr. Dianne Pizey, Dick Anderson, TR and Stevie Shively, and Jane Weist.
We are staying at the FSIL (Episcopal Nursing School) in Leogane, which is new and very comfortable. There is air conditioning most of the time, and fans when the generator is not on and we are under city power. The food is delicious. One of the cooks has come over from the Hopital Ste. Croix Guesthouse, so it was nice to see someone we have known for many years.
We had a luggage problem. Three of the Minneapolis people's bags did not arrive. We are still awaiting the bags, but hopeful that we will get them later today. Unfortunately, one of the bags contains our Banangrams game, a Haiti tradition! Jane is missing her carryon since it was grabbed up at the last minute when the bins on the plane were full. Dianne is missing toiletries, and some of the shirts that the youth of St. John's decorated for the kids at St. Phillippe and St. Jacques. Other team members were able to loan clothing to Jane and toiletries to Dianne. We've had to limp along without the Bananagrams.
Saturday was our first clinic day, which was at Jasmin. The dental team (TR, Stevie, Jane, our Haitian dentist Emmanuel, and Emmanuel's wife, and translator Jean Claude) worked hard all day and were able to either fix or pull hurting teeth. The Haitian medical team worked hard seeing more than 100 patients. Our medical director, Dr. Frantz Codie and his wife Dr. Charenne Pierre were our doctors, and they were ably assisted by the rest of the Haitian team of nurses.
The rest of the Americans observed the clinic and then took a walk up the road beyond Jasmin. This was the first time we'd been able to do something so leisurely on a clinic day. A local man led us, and Marcos, one of our translators, translated for us. We discovered that the Catholic ArchDiocese has installed a water system, including a pumping station, and water distribution sites along the road. The water comes from the spring higher up the mountain, and is supposed to be drinkable. There is a small fee for the water, so some people continue to get their water from the river further down the mountain. We saw lots of small subsistence farms of corn, beans, and sweet potato, and livestock, including goats, cows, and pigs. Of course, we also saw lots of cute kids along the way, and many friendly adults.
Some of us walked even more when we got back to the guesthouse, and took a little stroll up to the hospital and mass grave site from the earthquake.
It had rained Friday night and Saturday morning, so the river on the way up the mountain was quite high, and the road was muddy and deeply rutted. We were able to make it up without incident in Pere Sonley's 4 wheel drive vehicle and the additional 4 wheel drive vehicle we rented and Dr. Frantz drove for us.
Today, we went back up to Jasmin for church. It was wonderful to see so many old friends. The children seemed to recognize us, and only one little boy started crying when I spoke to him. I presented the church with a copy of the Lord's Prayer in Haitian Creole, and Pere Sonley with a green stole embroidered with Jerusalem crosses, both of which Steve and I purchased in Jerusalem on our recent trip there.
The rain began as we started back to Leogane, and has not stopped all afternoon. So, instead of taking a walk to the shore, we are reading on the UIKeyInputUpArrowguesthouse porch, an unexpected relaxation in Haiti. .
