Bonjour from Petit Goave! We arrived here on Wednesday afternoon after the 2 ½ hour drive on roads that make the potholes on PA roads look like small ruts. Bruce and I are familiar with this drive, but it was a new experience for Randy and Chris as they quickly found out that Dramamine is your friend in Haiti if you are prone to motion sickness. Needless to say we arrived safely at the Our Lady of Assumption Parish, located in the middle of town, which is home to about 120,000 people. As we arrived in the parish, we were greeted by friends that we had made before, along with Father Bonafus, the main priest at the parish. Our accommodations are the usual 8 person tent set up in the parish courtyard. As the evening goes on and we get settled in we are notified of an ill person upstairs in the parish. Apparently this was an understatement, as the patient was completely unresponsive and febrile. Just as we would at home, Bruce, Chris, Randy and I switched to medical providers. After we established 2 IV’s we were yelling for a ride to the hospital which was about 7 blocks away. There are no ambulances that you can call for in Petit Goave so someone had run to the hospital to get help. Needless to say, we needed transportation as soon as possible as the patient was seizing and we had no medication available to help her. We flagged a car driving by and they stopped. It was a Suzuki Samari; therefore I had to hold the patient on my lap in the front seat as Bruce rode in the back seat holding the two IV bags. As the patient seized 3 times while enroute to the hospital, the driver drove faster as I screamed “VIET!” which means fast in French. Once we arrived at the hospital, everything became very difficult. No doctors or nurses and no one spoke English. As we are asking for help and realizing that there was none, we began to search for medicine and oxygen. We found the only oxygen cylinder…….but no medication. Therefore we knew that we had to get her 104 fever down. We started to cut up sheets and towel and drenching them with water and putting them on her then proceeded to pour water all over her. As we were doing this, we had all of the patients in the hospital and their families staring in silence at two crazy Americans running yelling and pouring water over a seizing, unconscious patient. Thank God that it worked and we were able to break the fever and she regained consciousness just as Chris and Randy arrived. The German doctor finally arrived shortly after that. We will never complain about American hospitals again. God bless the sick people in Haiti as the medical care is minimal at best. I’m glad that everything worked out well.
Thursday Bruce and I went to visit all of the clinics and medical centers that we worked at in March. A lot of the tent villages had moved and the one clinic that we worked at no longer provided medical care, but we were able to find the children that we fell in love with! They recognized us and came running yelling Bonjour Shelly, Bonjour Bruce. It was wonderful to see them, and even better to see that they remembered us. Again, they are still hungry and very poor but they have smiles that will melt your heart. We will set up a clinic in that area to provide care to these children and their families who have had no medical care since we were there in March.
Besides that all is well here. We will try to post when we can, but internet access is difficult to find. Please pray for good health and food for the children of Haiti. Au Revoir for now, Shelly
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Haiti Through Shelly's Eyes
Thank God that we are in Haiti. It is so incredibly wonderful to be back here. As we were landing, Randy and Chris were amazed and excited; Bruce and I felt like we were coming home. We are in Port au Prince staying with Catholic Relief Services. Chris has explained most of our activities in his post. We did have a great tour of town, but it is very discouraging to hear and see that nothing much has changed since we were here in March. Thousands of people still living in tents, but the tents are now tattered and worn. Its rainy season here so now the "tent people” are sleeping in mud and God only knows how the families living in tents made of sheets are doing. The food distribution has ceased and there are a lot of hungry, starving people and children. All of the buildings that fell or were damaged from the earthquake have not been touched. That means that there are still tens of thousands of dead bodies inside of them. Haiti is in dire need of every type of aid available; food, clean water, medicine, sanitation and the rebuilding of homes just to mention a few. But the most amazing aspect of Haiti is that the people continue to endure and they do this with smiles on their faces and faith in their hearts. The children who are living with their families happily come out with huge smiles on their faces just wanting us to play with them. They don’t complain that they are hungry or thirsty. They don’t mention that they have no toys or that their clothes are worn and torn, they just smile and are happy to have company. A perfect example was this evening when we were spending time with two 15 year old girls that have befriended us, Zanzie and LeKenna. After enjoying their conversations and they were getting ready to go to bed, they gave each one of us a kiss on the cheek and a hug and said “God bless you.” These beautiful young ladies living in extreme poverty with no change in sight are blessing us. They didn’t ask us for anything, didn’t complain that they were hungry or that one of them felt poorly because she has Malaria. Instead, they wanted to spend time with us and kissed us goodnight and wished US God’s blessing!!!! As they left, I couldn’t help but cry. There are no words that can explain what I felt, just the feeling of warm tears rolling down my face. It is my wish that God does truly bless them and their families.
I had the opportunity to speak to a Haitian doctor during dinner yesterday about the health care in Haiti. Of course he stated that the people don’t have insurance, so most care provided is free of charge. I explained that Bruce and I were interested in opening a woman’s and babies clinic in an attempt to cut down the infant mortality rate as so many children and babies die needlessly due to the lack of medical care. He agreed with the concept, but reminded me that they are not able to pay. I reassured him that we would never turn away any patient for any reason; we just wanted to assist in keeping more mothers and babies alive. We also talked about the village that we wanted to start where the 20-30 families living there could be self-sufficient from growing their own food to having a solar operated water purifier to building safe homes. The doctor was very interested and stated that he wanted to come out to Petit Goave as he believes that he be able to find us the land that we would need to start this. Even better, it would be donated to us!!!!! Life is good and God is great! We ended the conversation with him making plans to come and take us around Petit Goave and find land that would be suitable for what we would like to do.
We will be heading to Petit Goave tomorrow and so look forward to seeing all of the children that stole our hearts in March. Until then, please keep our team and the people of Haiti in your prayers. Au Revoir.
I had the opportunity to speak to a Haitian doctor during dinner yesterday about the health care in Haiti. Of course he stated that the people don’t have insurance, so most care provided is free of charge. I explained that Bruce and I were interested in opening a woman’s and babies clinic in an attempt to cut down the infant mortality rate as so many children and babies die needlessly due to the lack of medical care. He agreed with the concept, but reminded me that they are not able to pay. I reassured him that we would never turn away any patient for any reason; we just wanted to assist in keeping more mothers and babies alive. We also talked about the village that we wanted to start where the 20-30 families living there could be self-sufficient from growing their own food to having a solar operated water purifier to building safe homes. The doctor was very interested and stated that he wanted to come out to Petit Goave as he believes that he be able to find us the land that we would need to start this. Even better, it would be donated to us!!!!! Life is good and God is great! We ended the conversation with him making plans to come and take us around Petit Goave and find land that would be suitable for what we would like to do.
We will be heading to Petit Goave tomorrow and so look forward to seeing all of the children that stole our hearts in March. Until then, please keep our team and the people of Haiti in your prayers. Au Revoir.
Blog by Bruce
So here goes my first post! First day returning to Haiti my confidence level was very high. Mainly for the reason that I have experience in country. The airport was typical with only a few more conviences like a baggage belt. The airport has changed the way that you walk off of the property. Now there is a long walk along the street inside a fence, then the chaos of the city. From there we arrived at the guest house. Very nice people here as expected. We found ourselves playing with the kids within the first hour of being here :-) Our team got a tour of Port-Au-Prince in a van. A little overwelming for the newbies but soon got a grasp of how bad life is here. Stopped at a grocery store for ice and things. Returned home for dinner, showers, and relaxing. Slept well and ate breakfast. The people here treat us well and could not be any more hospitable to us. Two more guys showed up today from jpf, Tanu and John. Very smart and nice guys. Will compliment our team well. We recieved news that there was a transportation mix-up and we will be staying here another day. So we aranged another tour of the city but this time we insisted in riding in the back of a pick up truck. Very good choice! Seen the sights and stopped at the market to purchase some Hatian goods. Bought a small handmade wooden box, a wooden sculpture thing of the map of Haiti, and 2 Haiti flags. While driving around the city, there was a bird that aparently flew in front of our truck. Wellllllllll needless to say this bird flew just above the windsield and the edge of it's wing hits my forehead! Another two inches and it would have hit me dead between the eyes! Everyone laughed, definately a me moment! Returned home and got settled before dinner. As we were relaxing for a few minutes there was a small medical emergency that arose with one of the locals. It was a very good feeling seeing 6 of us salivating at the chance to get our hands dirty and do what we do. Dinner was very good and well appreciated. Now we are all sitting and reflecting on the days events. It's 930 here and a summer storm just rolled through. Morale is very high, health is great, spirits very high. Bye for now. :-)
Signs
Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Michelle Androwick, and I'll be joining the others in their journey to Haiti in a mere 6 days. I am a teacher at Twin Valley Middle School, a job that I thank God for every day. Not many people can say that they truly love what they do; I am lucky enough to be one of those fortunate people.
Some people ask, "Why Haiti? Why now?" I find myself responding with a phrase I used to loathe hearing from my parents as a child - "Because I said so." I don't feel like I need to defend my decision to travel to Haiti to help. I would, however, like to share my story. In this past year, I have experienced losing multiple loved ones. Most recently, a very dear friend of mine passed away. Although he spent his last 6 months battling ALS (otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease), he showed me the incredible power of staying positive. My friend was only 26 years old, but he LIVED those 26 years. The amount of people that he touched in his short life inspired me to do the same. I set a personal goal to put more good into the world.
Summertime rolled around a few weeks later, and I found myself randomly attending my parents' church on Father's Day. It was a rough mass, as I found myself crying and praying for my 2 best friends that lost their dads this year. Through my tears, I relentlessly thanked God for my own family. (Sidenote - no embellishment needed, I have the BEST family anyone could ever ask for, hands down!) At the end of the mass, a small group of people stood up to speak about Haiti. There it was. There was my sign, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't even fathom ignoring this sign. I spoke to Shelly after mass, and was immediately on board.
I'd like to thank my inspirations - My family (Dad, Mom, Bill, and Em), Dustin D-Man Myers, Jon-Jon Spirko, and Mom-mom.
I'd also like to thank my encouragers and supporters - my incredibly generous friends, family members, students, and co-workers. It's much easier to do great things when you have great people behind you all the way.
So that's my story. I'm putting more good into the world. However and whenever it may be, I hope that our stories from Haiti inspire you to put some good into the world as well.
Always,
Michelle
Some people ask, "Why Haiti? Why now?" I find myself responding with a phrase I used to loathe hearing from my parents as a child - "Because I said so." I don't feel like I need to defend my decision to travel to Haiti to help. I would, however, like to share my story. In this past year, I have experienced losing multiple loved ones. Most recently, a very dear friend of mine passed away. Although he spent his last 6 months battling ALS (otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease), he showed me the incredible power of staying positive. My friend was only 26 years old, but he LIVED those 26 years. The amount of people that he touched in his short life inspired me to do the same. I set a personal goal to put more good into the world.
Summertime rolled around a few weeks later, and I found myself randomly attending my parents' church on Father's Day. It was a rough mass, as I found myself crying and praying for my 2 best friends that lost their dads this year. Through my tears, I relentlessly thanked God for my own family. (Sidenote - no embellishment needed, I have the BEST family anyone could ever ask for, hands down!) At the end of the mass, a small group of people stood up to speak about Haiti. There it was. There was my sign, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't even fathom ignoring this sign. I spoke to Shelly after mass, and was immediately on board.
I'd like to thank my inspirations - My family (Dad, Mom, Bill, and Em), Dustin D-Man Myers, Jon-Jon Spirko, and Mom-mom.
I'd also like to thank my encouragers and supporters - my incredibly generous friends, family members, students, and co-workers. It's much easier to do great things when you have great people behind you all the way.
So that's my story. I'm putting more good into the world. However and whenever it may be, I hope that our stories from Haiti inspire you to put some good into the world as well.
Always,
Michelle
Port au Prince, Haiti
So we made it to Haiti. After two flights, many questions about why we had so much toothpaste and baby toys, and an interesting entry at the Haitian airport, we are sitting in the local house in Port au Prince. We flew from Philadelphia International to Ft. Lauderdale (i dont know how to spell), then from Ft. Lauderdale to Port au Prince. The Haitian aiport is just a big warehouse. You get off the plane normally, then you walk down a flight of stairs and get bussed over to customs. You go through the customs lines, and then there are two revolving belts that the luggage gets put on. After finding the luggage, the hardest part was making it to the van and finding the people you need to find. In Haiti everyone wants to help you because they know you have money, you are coming from somewhere else. So they all try to grab your bags or push your cart or say that they are the supervisor. They really do mean well, but when there are 7 people trying to push your cart over a cobblestone path, it gets rough. We finally found who we needed, got into the van and came to the building that we are currently staying at. If the computer lets me, I'll try to put up a picture. It is like a hotel at the Jersey shore, except it is mostly offices and there are tents in the yard out front. The tents do house people, and the kids there love to play soccer. I only wish I was better at it, they think it's funny how bad you are. Stranger still is the inability to say what you want to someone and have them understand you. They speak French, I do not. You can kinda get what they are saying, but when they talk to each other, for all I can tell, they could be taking about how funny I look. We got a lot of picutres, hopefully I can put some up on here.
So after we arrived at the house and got our luggage in, we met with "Pastor Freddie". He told us where we could stay the night and when we would move to Petit Goave, and also that if we were interested, he would have someone take us on a tour of Port au Prince. We absolutely went on that tour. We got in the van and a driver drove us around, showing us the fallen buildings, the tent cities, the markets, and the very much broken Presidential Palace. We got sugar cane (which comes in a little bag, like the ones you put vegetables in at the super market). It is like a carrot, except when you bite it, you just chew it. It has the consistency of wood, and when you bite it, sugar water or juice or something comes out. It tastes good, but I personally was pulling toothpicls out of my mouth for a good amount of time after that. We stopped and got out in front of the Presidential Palace, and we met some of the people who were walking around in front. Shelly played with some of the children from the tents accross the street, and she bought a couple of them shoes. Shout out to all my BC classmates, a priest named Joseph was walking by who had spent time in Boston at St. Ignatius (the lower church on main campus). It was kinda cool to talk to him in front of the Presidential Palace it was a little reminder of home.
Our driver needed some groceries and ice, so he went to the local grocery store in Port au Prince. It had maybe 5 aisles and sold pretty much anything. We got some cookies, some Pringles, and I got a Haitian beer to try (no drinking age in Haiti). We went back to the house and ate dinner. The ladies of the house made, Kraft Mac and Cheese, fried plantains, string beans, corn, and chicken. Everything was delicious, no question asked. I was not expecting such good food, but we certainly got it. After dinner we went out and played with the kids a little more before they had to go to bed. We learned a lot about Haitian culture. We learned by the blasting music next door that Haitians love Jay Z, hate Kanye West for stealing the mic from "that coutry girl", and are big fans of music in general. We hooked up our Ipods to speakers and played some music and danced with the Haitian children who live here.
After that, the children went to bed so we followed suit. Our room had a shower that shot water out in a stream smaller than that of a hose, but it was cold and it felt really good. This morning we got up and got ready, packed our backpacks full of medical equipment, and ate breakfast. Breakfast was pancakes, hot dogs cooked in some blend of spices, and toast. They did have coffee (thank God) but that last sip was straight grounds. We played some more soccer with the kids, and now we are waiting for the ride to take us to Petit Goave. Unless plans change.
In Haiti, time seems irrelevent. I dont think many people have watches, and its just sun comes up sun goes down. Early for a Haitian is 4am. We learned this after asking our driver what time he wanted to go in the morning. Haiti also is one hour behind the US, because of day light savings.
If there are no posts to this for a while, it is because we went to Petit Goave and couldnt find internet. We are blessed enough to get internet here, but it was hard to find, and I doubt it will get any easier. Thank you all so much for your prayers, God bless.
Chris
Ps...doesnt look like it will let me upload pictures. Sorry
So after we arrived at the house and got our luggage in, we met with "Pastor Freddie". He told us where we could stay the night and when we would move to Petit Goave, and also that if we were interested, he would have someone take us on a tour of Port au Prince. We absolutely went on that tour. We got in the van and a driver drove us around, showing us the fallen buildings, the tent cities, the markets, and the very much broken Presidential Palace. We got sugar cane (which comes in a little bag, like the ones you put vegetables in at the super market). It is like a carrot, except when you bite it, you just chew it. It has the consistency of wood, and when you bite it, sugar water or juice or something comes out. It tastes good, but I personally was pulling toothpicls out of my mouth for a good amount of time after that. We stopped and got out in front of the Presidential Palace, and we met some of the people who were walking around in front. Shelly played with some of the children from the tents accross the street, and she bought a couple of them shoes. Shout out to all my BC classmates, a priest named Joseph was walking by who had spent time in Boston at St. Ignatius (the lower church on main campus). It was kinda cool to talk to him in front of the Presidential Palace it was a little reminder of home.
Our driver needed some groceries and ice, so he went to the local grocery store in Port au Prince. It had maybe 5 aisles and sold pretty much anything. We got some cookies, some Pringles, and I got a Haitian beer to try (no drinking age in Haiti). We went back to the house and ate dinner. The ladies of the house made, Kraft Mac and Cheese, fried plantains, string beans, corn, and chicken. Everything was delicious, no question asked. I was not expecting such good food, but we certainly got it. After dinner we went out and played with the kids a little more before they had to go to bed. We learned a lot about Haitian culture. We learned by the blasting music next door that Haitians love Jay Z, hate Kanye West for stealing the mic from "that coutry girl", and are big fans of music in general. We hooked up our Ipods to speakers and played some music and danced with the Haitian children who live here.
After that, the children went to bed so we followed suit. Our room had a shower that shot water out in a stream smaller than that of a hose, but it was cold and it felt really good. This morning we got up and got ready, packed our backpacks full of medical equipment, and ate breakfast. Breakfast was pancakes, hot dogs cooked in some blend of spices, and toast. They did have coffee (thank God) but that last sip was straight grounds. We played some more soccer with the kids, and now we are waiting for the ride to take us to Petit Goave. Unless plans change.
In Haiti, time seems irrelevent. I dont think many people have watches, and its just sun comes up sun goes down. Early for a Haitian is 4am. We learned this after asking our driver what time he wanted to go in the morning. Haiti also is one hour behind the US, because of day light savings.
If there are no posts to this for a while, it is because we went to Petit Goave and couldnt find internet. We are blessed enough to get internet here, but it was hard to find, and I doubt it will get any easier. Thank you all so much for your prayers, God bless.
Chris
Ps...doesnt look like it will let me upload pictures. Sorry
Monday, July 5, 2010
GETTING READY . . .
Life in Haiti is much different than what we experience here in the USA, yet I believe there are some commonalities that exist which will remind me, how very much we are alike. As I mentally plan to go, I’m wondering what my journey will be like, where I will fit in.
My name is Sandy Evans and this will be my first trip to Haiti. I am a first grade teacher at the Octorara School District and a mother of 3 children (17, 14 and 13 years old). My oldest daughter, Lindsay will also be going along on the trip. The reason I have chosen to go to Haiti is that I strongly believe that it is important to give back. My life has been blessed in many more ways than is reasonable to go into on this blog. God has enabled me to attain a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership through Immaculata University. It is my desire to use the skills I have gained in my education as well as life experiences to make a difference in the lives of others.
Thank you to the Upper Octorara Presbyterian Church, my family and friends for the support you have given to Lindsay and I, which has enabled us to participate in this mission. With anticipation and gratitude, we will do our best to represent our country, our community, and ourselves in a positive way.
Sandy
My name is Sandy Evans and this will be my first trip to Haiti. I am a first grade teacher at the Octorara School District and a mother of 3 children (17, 14 and 13 years old). My oldest daughter, Lindsay will also be going along on the trip. The reason I have chosen to go to Haiti is that I strongly believe that it is important to give back. My life has been blessed in many more ways than is reasonable to go into on this blog. God has enabled me to attain a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership through Immaculata University. It is my desire to use the skills I have gained in my education as well as life experiences to make a difference in the lives of others.
Thank you to the Upper Octorara Presbyterian Church, my family and friends for the support you have given to Lindsay and I, which has enabled us to participate in this mission. With anticipation and gratitude, we will do our best to represent our country, our community, and ourselves in a positive way.
Sandy
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Four Members Departing for Haiti Tomorrow!!!!
Well, the departure date is almost here, and even though we have known for months that tomorrow was "the day", we are all running and getting the last minute items together and trying to fit it all into our suitcases. Let the adventure begin!
My name is Shelly Meadowcroft and this will be my second trip to Haiti. Two members from our team, myself and Bruce Harlan, spent 10 days in Petit Goave Haiti in March. Although we made every attempt to be well informed about the conditions and people of Haiti prior to our trip, nothing could have prepared us for what we experienced. From the extreme overcrowding and poverty in Port au Prince, to the incredible natural beauty of the mountains and ocean, to the amazing resilience and faith of the Haitian people, to the beautiful voices of the singing children. I am very excited to have 6 new volunteers join us in Petit Goave. Randy Smith and Chris McLaughlin will be travelling with us tomorrow. Sandy Evans, Lindsay Evans , Michelle Androwick and my daughter Kelsi Thieroff will be joining us on July 12 through July 20. We will returning at the end of July.
I would love to have the time to write more, but the packing of all the medical equipment, medicine, toys and clothes for the orphanage needs to be completed. Until next time, au voir.
Shelly Meadowcroft
My name is Shelly Meadowcroft and this will be my second trip to Haiti. Two members from our team, myself and Bruce Harlan, spent 10 days in Petit Goave Haiti in March. Although we made every attempt to be well informed about the conditions and people of Haiti prior to our trip, nothing could have prepared us for what we experienced. From the extreme overcrowding and poverty in Port au Prince, to the incredible natural beauty of the mountains and ocean, to the amazing resilience and faith of the Haitian people, to the beautiful voices of the singing children. I am very excited to have 6 new volunteers join us in Petit Goave. Randy Smith and Chris McLaughlin will be travelling with us tomorrow. Sandy Evans, Lindsay Evans , Michelle Androwick and my daughter Kelsi Thieroff will be joining us on July 12 through July 20. We will returning at the end of July.
I would love to have the time to write more, but the packing of all the medical equipment, medicine, toys and clothes for the orphanage needs to be completed. Until next time, au voir.
Shelly Meadowcroft
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)