Three More Sleeps

Hello blog, I've missed you. Quite a long time has passed since I spent a considerable amount of time here and I look forward to providing daily updates while I'm in Haiti.

Only 3 more sleeps!! I'm getting excited and this year a bit anxious as the recent hurricane has again left Haiti with floods, increased risk of Cholera and 52 deaths. Last year, we witnessed considerable improvement in the roads being cleared of rubble and many less people living in tent cities.

I'm looking forward to seeing the kiddos at the orphanages and when we do outreach days but right now my mind is on preparing to get there. This week has been an act of balancing work and trip preparations. I was able to store all my Haiti gear in a large room at work that has been wonderful. I was able to pack in a well lit room that is indoors (I usually pack on the patio in my backyard). I can also store all my donations here until next year. My company was generous and agreed to allow me to take reusable cloth diapers that are no longer used company-wide. I was able to fit about 6 dozen of them in my bags and I am hopeful that this will improve the comfort of many of the children who are incontinent and are currently using a t-shirt wrapped around their torso as a diaper.

I managed to pack 2 weeks of clothes into a carry on bag. For those who know me well, they know that this is a big deal!! I could easily pack this much when I spend the weekend at my boyfriend's house for the weekend. I'm quite proud of myself, I only had to re-pack twice!!

Once again, the vast generosity of amazing people in my life have assisted me in raising more than required for this trip and got me close to my goal of raising enough for next year's trip as well.

I'll be leaving on Monday Nov 5th and arriving in Haiti Nov 6th. This trip will be very different as there are 11 team members and only 3 of us have been to Haiti before. I am looking forward to seeing this beautiful country through new people's eyes. I'll keep in touch!!

Michele's Fundraising for Haiti 2012

Michele's Fundraising for Haiti 2012

I have included a link that will bring you directly to a Giving Page that I have created on Canada Helps.org. This new process will not only make it easier for people to donate online and be issued a tax receipt immediately, but it also allows me to see exactly who has donated and offers a more streamlined donation process. 

2012 Trip Planning Has Begun

I remember this time 3 years ago when I was planning to visit Haiti for the first time. I had already completed all of my fundraising and had far exceeded my goal amount. This year, I feel so far behind. I have started a Facebook page named Silent Auction for Haiti and I hope that it will generate some dollars that will contribute to the $2,500.00 that I am required to raise for my two weeks in Haiti.

Hurricane Issac tore through Jacmel and Port-au-Prince last weekend, and despite all the clean up efforts, many continue to live in tent cities. There are reports of mudslides and flooding, and I hope that Mother Nature shines some sunshine and better weather with the hurricane season quickly approaching. Cholera will once again be a huge threat due to the lack of clean drinking and cooking water.

I will be posting every week until November 5th when I depart. I am part of a large team this year. Last year, there were 5 of us, and this year we have 11 people, many who will be visiting Haiti for the first time. I look forward to seeing everything for the 1st time again through their eyes and be supportive during the more challenging days when the sheer magnitude of poverty becomes overwhelming.

Going to try to learn more Creole this year, so I better go find my English/Creole dictionary.

Chat soon.

Last Full Day in Haiti

So, last night got a bit crazy as it seems to do when the Rhum Sours get flowing. A member of our team (who will remain unmentioned) was unable to join us this morning to go to the iron market to start our shopping day. Hopefully, we'll be able to come back for them in a few hours. The iron market was quite the experience. Because if traffic, it took us over an hour to get there! Once there, we found rows and rows of vendors who make the most intricate metal sculptures and wall hangings. I picked up a few pieces and already looking forward to getting home to get them hung up. While travelling there, we saw the best thing. Each year, we see how many people we can see on a moto. More points are given if there are animals as well. Today, I saw a man on a moto carrying a moto!! This is huge points and it was determined that this one is unbeatable!!

Today I felt much cooler, I don't know if the temperature is dropping or if I'm just finally acclimated (which always happens just before I go home). The days are defintely going to start getting cooler and we have all heard that it is snowing back home and Christmas is into full swing. It's always a strange thing when you go home to snow and Christmas when only a two weeks earlier, it was warmer and Christmas was a faint thought.

After leaving the market, we went back to the guesthouse to pick up our teammate, and then headed to the co-op otherwise known as the Haitian Walmart, then to Kay Artisan and Minou. I was able to pick up some beautiful soapstone pieces which I am hoping to get home in one pice this year.

We went out for dinner to Montana tonight, and it is so beautiful. They have done an exceptional job restoring it post-quake and you would never know you were in Haiti when there. Dinner was great, and then we did a bit of Kompa dancing afterword at a nightclub nearby. Many of my teammates stayed up almost all night, but I decided to turn in early as I know tomorrow will be a busy morning of packing up our bags. I was hoping to fit everything in one hockey bag, but it's not going to happen so I'll be lugging two bags back with me.

Bittersweet, is how I'm feeling. I am ready to get into a comfortable bed and have a long hot shower and stop being eaten alive by mosquitos but also sad to go back to the everyday grind. A year feels like a lifetime away right now but I knwo it will go quickly and we'll all be back doing this again.

I think Gail stated once that when you come to Haiti for the first time, it either makes you not want to return or gets under your skin and your hooked. I'd say that I'm hooked. I got to see many different parts of hte country on this trip and even different parts of Jacmel and Port-au-Prince which showed me that there is still a ton of work to do but that so much rebuilding has occurred and that Haitians are trying to make Haiti a beautiful and safe place to live where tourists are welcomed. I am looking forward to the plane ride home. Our usual picture exchange will lokely occur which takes up most of the flight, and when I get home I am going to make a book of last year and this year's trip. I figured out the name: "Hope". I hope for so much for Haiti and it's people. Until next year, stay safe, remain beautiful and keep Kompa dancing.

Travel Day to Port-au-Prince

We had an amazing night last evening. Members of the French embassy are staying at the Cyvadier hotel and we were able to participate in an amazing dance show. The dance troupe from Haiti is looking for a sponsorship so they put on an amzaing dance show. I videotaped most of it and Eric got some amazing photos so I'm hoping to share them with you soon. A great way to end our  last night, and again another wonderful suprise Haiti gave us!! Mama Lang made sure that everyone had a good evening. We had to say goodbye to the wonderful staff that made our stay here so memorable. Franz, was so great that by the end of the week, he knew all of our room numbers when we ordered food or drinks. Since Cholera, most Haitians "punch it out" instead of handshaking now. You make a fist and touch fists but today was a day for hugs and big thank you's.

We made it back to Port-au-Prince through the mountain pass in good time. My stomach was off today and I spent the first leg of the trip trying not to vomit while we travelled down the windy road. Things improved for me by the time we reached the guesthouse which I was grateful for. I have had a cough for the past week which I am now convinced is due to the air pollution.

We are going to stay at the guesthouse tonight and go our for dinner and dancing tomorrow, our last night. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by and how much I'm going to miss my teammates.

Day 2 In the Mountains

We travelled to another small town in the mountains today. Much better roads and a shorter distance to ride in the back of the pickup. This community seemed much more poor than Belleview and we gave out a fair number of shoes for the kids and kits for new moms with items we had brought. I had nothing to do today so I fit children with shoes and tried to stay out of the way. The highlight of the day was when a young boy with a right-sided hand palsy arrived at the clinic with his brother with a pair of hiking boots on and no socks. We were able to get him a new pair of socks and because there were no shoes left in his size, I took the runners off my feet and was more than thrilled to see his face light up when he put on a new pair of white sneakers. A sad moment also occurred, when a young boy asked Melissa if anyone would ever love him the way he is. It was a moment that you choke back the tears when a young child is aware that his physicial disability will determine how others will view him. Most of the kids arrived in their Sunday best and as it was a long weekend, we arrived to hear the town singing in the church for a few hours. It was quite amazing to hear!!

Saturday was shopping day in Jacmel, we walked the streets as Solage kept a close watch and followed us with the van. He is such a wonderful man and I always feel so safe when he is our driver. We wanted to go to the iron market again this year, but in the past week, there have been an increased number of crimes against blancs (whites) in Jacmel, so Solage refused to take us. After shopping, we went to Kabik beach. It is the most amazing place and we were able to body surf as the waves were breaking. During lunch on the beach which consisted of an entire grilled lobster with beer, a troubador band serenaded us. There is always a surprise around every corner in Haiti, and some of them are wonderful! Today was a great day to round up a busy and productive first week. Our first real day off. Tomorrow is another travel day back to Port-au-Prince, so an early morning start so that we can make it back into the city before the traffic gets bad.  As usual, we have heard each other say a few funny things that you would only hear in Haiti like: "Was that two pigs in a wheelbarrow" and "Hey, I just saw four adults on a moto".

This is about the time when my love affair with Haiti starts to settle in and makes me want to slow down time because I know our time is almost gone for another year.

Outreach Clinic At Belleview

We were up very early this morning and arrived at Pazapa to pick up Fred the orthopedic surgeon from the US and our guide/interpretor shortly after 8am. We had about an hour drive up the mountain and had to cross a river (yup, you read that right) water a few feet deep to get to Belleview. Once we arrived, there ware about 20 parents and children waiting for us. Some who had been there early in the morning to ensure their children would be seen. Karen and Michaella (the first trained speech assistant in Haiti by TCHH) saw over 18 children. I helped with some role-playing with Karen and acted a a distraction while children waited. Bubbles are the universal toy that always brings a smile to a chld's face. I didn't have a lot to do today medically, but Eric spent a lot of time taking photos which he has agreed to share with all of us and I can't wait to share with my friends and family!

Everyone had an exceptional day and left Belleview feeling that good work had been done. We noticed there was a large number of children with Autism in this community. One mother, brought two sons with Autism! I was a bit surprised to see so many kids on the spectrum in one town.

When we got back to the hotel, there were a few of the kids that sell items on the beach practicing aerial tricks,so we got some great photos and took some video of them performing which when we showed it to them, they laughed and wanted to watch it a few times.

Lobster for dinner again tonight............. I really should stop bragging so much!!

Mid-Week Post

I have spent the last three days at the clinic. The first day, I helped to triage about 70-80 people. Team Canada hired an interpretor for me which was very helpuful. The interpretor, Okswald, also does interpretation for the Canadian Miliatary and is hoping to become a police officer in Port-au-Prince. It is a very dangerous job and not one that he or his family wants him to have, but he feels that it is the best way for him to earn a decent living. He has been trying to visit Canada for some time but has not been able to earn enough money to save so that he can purchase a plane ticket.

I didn't get up from the chair at the reception area of the clinic all day, to eat, or drink my water and I have developed a cough which I think is an allergic reaction to all of the dust and pollution in the air. I am very glad I had the foresight to bring cough drops with me as they have been very helpful in stopping a tickle in the back of my throat.

The second day at the clinic was very different. I spent some time with Michelle, who dispenses the medication. They cut up small squares of paper, dispense the number of pills the doctor instructs and then seal it with masking tape and write how many pills to take and the number of times in a day. These expereinces always help to remind me of the contract of our healthcare systems, resources and options from Canada to Haiti. It also helps to keep me focused on "Basics is Best". Everyone at the clinic has been very friendly and acoommodating. I do feel that I need to learn how to speak Creole. I feel embarrassed this trip that I am unable to speak the language at the same level as my teammates and other blancs I hear in Jacmel. I feel that it is also an issue of respect for me to at a minimum make an effort to speak the native language. This will be my goal for next year, to be able to converse at a basic level in Creole. At the end of the day, we were provided a tour of the lower level which will be a fully functional OT/PT clinic with  surgical rooms for orthopedic surgeries. Karen and Melissa played a big part in getting this clinic developed, so it was a proud moment for both of them to see it come to life!!

The last day at the clinic was the same as the first. One of the doctors, had asked me to work with him directly today, but Jacquline, the nurse was busy with patients and needed help so I stayed with her again and triaged people. We saw about 50 people today, but it was a shorter work day for us so had I stayed longer, I imagine we would have seen close to the same number of people as the first day.

I'm tired today and looking forward to an evening of rest with my teammates before we head into a town in the mountains called Belleview tomorrow for an outreach clinic. We will have a photographer, Eric, who is doing a documentary and taking photos of what HHHI and Team Canada Healing Hands roles are in Haiti with regards to rehab services and education. It will be great to have him join us for the next few days.

Off to put on my swimsuit and grab a Prestige. I might do some shopping on the beach tonight. The vendors are out selling their goods, and they always have beautiful  items to sell. We've done a bit of shopping at the end of each workday, but we are saving Saturday, our first real day off as our shopping day.

I'm headed for warm salt water, cold beer, acra, the best french fries and piklez!!

Bon Bagay!

First Day In Jacmel

We all were feeling a bit under the weather this morning after a night of too many rum sours. Morning came way too soon and the idea of having to pack up all our hockey bags and personal stuff seemed a bit overwhelming for all of us. Karen and I took turns giggling at each other but once we ate breakfast, most of us felt better. Caryn, wasn't so lucky. The boat ride back to Les Cayes left her throwing up off the back of the boat and after taking a Gravol, she slept most of the 4 hour drive to Jacmel. The drive went well. Driving through the mountains is dangerous and always a bit nerve-wrecking but our drivers are wonderful and always work hard to keep us safe.

It was great to get back to Jacmel and stay at the Cyvadier, a beautiful hotel just outside the main city of Jacmel. Christophe, the ower, always makes a great effort to ensure we are comfortable when staying with him. The food is exceptional, and I was excited to have the lobster again after waiting for it for a whole year!! Lobster and Pristige beer go together very well! We haven't had a day off yet between work days and travel days, so next weekend will be welcomed with a few days at the end of our trip to do some shopping and relaxation. We barely sat down to order dinner when Adrian let me know that a young man and his girlfriend had been in a moto accident and were hurt badly, so we all went off to see what we could do. His leg/ankle looked broken but he refused to accept that or to allow me to splint it and I bandaged a fairly large wound along his shin of his right leg. His girlfriend had a large superficial cut up the back of her leg and serious "roadrash" to her bum. I didn't think that I'd be providing first aid to other guests of the hotel, but if you can help than that's what we do. In a short period of time, Karen was also able to arrange for the two of them to be seen for an orthopedic consult by the doctor (Fred) who has been at Pazapa all week determining which children he will provide surgery to when he returns early in 2012. He has been coming to Haiti for over 20 years. I was very impressed with our team tonight, and it made me realize again how awesome my teammates are!!

For the next three days, I will be working on my own at a walk-in clinic run by CCH (Coalition for the Children of Haiti) which I am looking forward to. So, until tomorrow, I am going to enjoy my cold Pristige while I listen to the waves of the ocean crash against the rocks while watching the sunset with my teammates. Once again, I feel grateful to be working with such a great team and to be in a place that has a way of making you want to stay.

Getting Caught Up

n and I have both got bit like crazy by the mosquitos. We haven’t been able to figure out what’s worse, the mosquito or microscopic ant bites. I currently look like I have chicken pox, but hopefully they will stop itching soon. We all said good bye to Wadson, Damian and Daniel (Damian’s bodyguard) after breakfast. It’s always sad to say good bye to great people. In Haiti, you bond with people quickly and develop fast friends so it’s always bittersweet when the time comes to go in separate directions.

The children at Sister Flora’s orphanage are wonderful. In such a short time, I am learning the children’s personalities. There is Beatrice, who always is where the action is at or creating a rouse, Ibald and John who can’t stop beating each other up. We have all had to put each of them in time out for hitting, slapping, spitting. Pretty common stuff between two boys who are 3-4 yrs old, some things don't change in Haiti. I met Mathiew, who's mom died in the Cholera centre and his dad left him at the orphanage because he didn't want him. I will include a picture of him in his daily outfit of a white shirt and diaper. He like many of the children, have stolen a piece of my heart and it makes my next visit a year from now seem like an eternity away.

Being on Ile le Vache is like being somewhere other than my previous experience of Haiti in Port-au-Prince. It is a carribbean paradise. I’m sitting at the hotel lobby watching hummingbirds, listening to the birds, looking at the amazing colours of blue and teal from the ocean and watching a tiny gecko run back and forth across the table while I blog. Good times and laughter with friends so far and seeing so much progress in the country is making me want to stay. This first week has flown by as usual. We are leaving for Jacmel tomorrow. So tonight, we will have some fun with rum sours and enjoy our last night on Ile a Veche and with Andy before he leaves us as well tomorrow to go back to Port-au-Prince.