Haiti's Babies

Climbing the Green and Brown Hill

2012-02-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

We took our one pleasure trip of the week today, and after morning clinics, Ronel drove a big group in the pink midwives' Jeep to Bassin Zim, a fabulous triple-basin waterfall that comes down out of a cave. As we drove the 45-minutes over rutted back-country Haitian roads, bright green vegetation contrasted with dusty brown eroded hills and banks, and dry grass. It's oh, so dry, but some things always survive, and I'm learning how Haitians value that life that keeps on coming. In a nameless little hamlet on the way, a tiny, tiny puppy wobbled across the road just as , the Jeep's huge tires churned around the bend. From the passenger seat (the only one who had on a seat belt) I gasped, and Ronel made a masterful swerve around the “ti-chen”, and he wobbled on his way into the dusty grass on the shoulder. Nobody wants to see death that isn't necessary. Whack and eat the rooster, fine. Flatten the puppy, not so much.

Things are actually getting better, as slowly as the hills are being climbed. Over my
3 years and 6 visits, I see progress and improvements in Hinche-- painfully slow but steady progress. Each time I see more paved roads, electric lines, and small businesses. There is a brand-new huge cultural and civic building ready to open, and now, (thanks to Va Tech, Midwives for Haiti, and Engineers without Borders!) running water at the hospital. More cell phones and motorcycles. Haiti is relentlessly grinding in a positive direction.

The final hill before the Bassin Zim waterfall is a HUGE hill, both up and then down, to the basin. As the Jeep made that climb, people were walking up over the crest up, carrying jugs of water from the basin. My friend Angela saw one woman with a jug in each hand, and one on her head, almost at the top. That is the Haiti that can bring you to tears. That's it. They carry their water, and they keep on climbing, moving forward against obstacles that would collapse many other people on the roadside.

A lot of folks have helped Haiti, including Midwives for Haiti, especially in this town of Hinche...but I really credit, most of all, that resilient spirit that hoards and values everything. Haitians are exquisitely polite, and they tread carefully. Life is precious, survival is quite a struggle. We preserve everything we can here; opportunity, education, water, food, and really, life. Even the tiniest ti-chen.

Sunday Dinner at Manno's

2012-02-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

On my first weekend here, Manno, the manager of the Midwives for Haiti house, “Lakay Nou”, invited all of us to lunch at his house. He was emphatic that he wanted a big crowd,“everyone should come.” Manno is one of MFH's oldest friends, translators, and employees. Nadene and Steve, founding Board members, are here for 2 months, and tell us that Manno's wife is a great cook, so dinner is not to be missed. So all the staff and visiting volunteers-- about 12 of us- piled into the Jeep and drove the mile up the dirt road to his house. We live on the same street, now-- it's great to be neighbors!

Manno has followed the Haitian tradition of building his house in phases; as he earns money, he builds some more. He started, like most Haitians, with a land purchase, then a tiny house made of wood, roofed with banana leaves if necessary, or tin if one can afford it. Then, cinder blocks are home-made, then stacked and mortared into solid walls. Eventually, it gets a finish, and paint, maybe even glass in the windows, but that takes a while. For most of the time, the breeze comes in the windows, keeping things cooler, and light polyester curtains block the bugs a little bit. That's it.

The Bastia's house is truly lovely. There is so much love and pride evident. The first thing I saw was the car port space underneath, housing and protecting his motorcycle. We gathered in the living room, and were all seated comfortably on plastic lawn chairs. The décor included strings of colorful synthetic flowers, and on one shelf, a row of cute little stuffed animals. Manno and Nathalie have 2 kids, Woodbrian, his 3-year old, was naked and wet from a recent bath when we arrived. He was whisked away by an older cousin who helps at their home, and reappeared all spiffed up in a totally cute and put-together outfit. Nathalie was holding Emmanuella, his 6-month old daughter, who started crying immediately-- I'm not sure, but I suspect a dozen “blancs” coming in the front door was a little unusual and disturbing for her!

Lunch was served buffet-style, and included chicken (many birds died for this party), Beet salad, pasta salad, and my favorite: “Picklese”, a spicy cabbage salad, and fried plaintains. We had Cokes and champagne to drink. With our gracious hosts, there was plenty for all, and leftovers. It was a really great meal! The dog hung around attentively, as food scraps are the only dog food in Haiti, and we tossed her all our chicken bones as we ate. Apparently, all Haitian dogs can survive eating chicken bones, in fact, they may live on them. Chicken bones are only harmful to American dogs. She ate them before they hit the floor. I think it was a happy day for her, as it was for all of us. The hard work starts on Monday, generally; Sunday is just great, especially when Nathalie does the cooking.

Movie Night

2012-02-06T04:10:00.000-08:00

Movie Night:

The village of Naran, also called Klory, was once accessible only by footpath or by a very brave, sturdy motor vehicle. After a few years, funded a LOT by Midwives for Haiti volunteers and their friends, there is a decent road, a school with 250 kids, a lunch program for the school, and a monthly visit from the MFH Jeep for prenatal care. But on Saturday, we brought the movies to Naran.

There was a big music/video “hit” recorded by American Mark Coughlin last year: “Kolera, Kolera”....guess what it was about?? Yep...cholera, and hand washing to prevent it. It was played on radio and sung all over Haiti, especially with kids, to teach cholera prevention. And (along with a lot of great medical relief work,) it worked: few cases of cholera right now in Haiti. But now, Mark is something of a celebrity here-- and still doing his non-profit work, traveling all over Haiti and singing songs about health education, along with great videos to make it entertaining-- it has Haitian actors doing skits, dancing and singing with his band, etc. It's fabulous!!

Mark hooked up with MFH and Nadene earlier in the week, and offered to bring his show to one of “our villages”! The advertisement that it was coming was done by word of mouth and a guy with a megaphone. All the gear and Mark, and his 2 Haitian staff, and all our midwife-folk loaded in the pink Jeep and drove up dusty road and the steeeep hill around dusk on Saturday. I wondered if folks really would come in from their little houses in the hills for this, but Mark said many have never seen any film or video before, and yes, they would definitely show. Well, show up they did: we rounded the hill to the school and about 200 people were all gathered on benches in the front yard of the school. Maybe 250 with all the little kids. The Jeep headlights projected onto the porch made the stage. They set up their portable speakers and a screen, and their laptop projector: and then there was a SHOW! Live singing, movies, and lots of Kreyol talking. Under bright moonlight, near the flagpole and the soccer field, we watched “Kolera”, “Clean Hands-Dirty Hands”, “Take Care of Your Teeth” (yes, it had wonderful graphics on flossing, which I took to heart), and “Malnutrition”. There were a few little fires cooking off to the side, where a couple ladies sold food, maybe hotdogs, but I didn't go there. It was a blast.

Eventually we rode home packed into the Jeep, to a very late dinner. And before we ate, I guarantee: we washed our hands.

Beauty and Joy: Mule Trip Ends, Santa Arrives

2012-02-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

Sunday Feb 4, 2012
Lakay Nou, Hinche, Haiti

Beauty and Joy:
I write so much of the dust and the difficulties of Haiti, that I feel truly obligated to express some of the joys of traveling and working here. My current “hardships” are so small, especially in context of the whole of Haiti, as to be comical: I forgot my mouse, and have only the little mousepad on my laptop, which I don't like as well. I forgot my toothbrush. At Heartline, they opened a package and gave me a new little childrens' toothbrush, with Snoopy on it, so I can still brush my teeth just fine. At the Hinche house, they don't have enough pillows for all the volunteers staying here this week, so I 've stuffed a bunch of scrubs in my pillowcase to make one. Oh, the agony and suffering.

The joys and beauty: Mornings lately are clear, sunny, and a little cool. I enjoy strong Haitian coffee and freshly ground peanut butter amid palm trees' shade and brilliant red and orange blossoms. The mangos trees are heavy with fruit. Saturday breakfast was fresh mango, pineapple, and melon. Our 20-minute flight in a twelve-seater plane landed on the airstrip in the middle of Hinche. As we came in over the town, I could see the new Midwives for Haiti headquarters house beneath us, all 7-bedrooms-4 bathrooms- and 5 porches- worth. It is fabulous: cool and shady, secure in a lovely compound that has (so far) 3 pet chickens. There is space to secure all our medical equipment, housing for staff, volunteers, and our bright pink Jeep.

The Mule journey ends, Santa arrives:
Packing for Haiti is such a headache-- so much stuff, so little room. American Airlines allows 3 bags total, 50 pounds each, and expensive: 2nd bag is $30, the 3rd bag is $150! So the final departing-pack requires painful prioritizing. Do I stuff sterile gloves in that pocket, or prenatal vitamins, or a new dress for my god-daughter? Packages were mailed to me from all over the US, friends sending special-request items to deliver to friends in Haiti. One bag full of books, equipment, and scrubs for the students, and more stuff for the house that Nadene had asked for. I made a special WalMart/office Depot/Costco trip: 3-M hooks, washcloths, wall clocks, can openers, full size sheets, staplers, an easel to hold our posters. The easel was tough to pack.

But arrival in Haiti begins the UNpacking, and that is FUN. The “mule” has arrived, and I feel like Santa Claus, unloading and delivering things people have requested, or special gifts they did not expect. My midwife -photographer friend Cheryl was here in the fall, and took tons of beautiful photographs. Now I have a large package of her prints, carefully categorized, to give out to the people whom she photographed. Many folks here have few or no physical photographs of themselves and their families. It's great to see this new classroom in the Lakay Nou house: Since this program began with a few posters and volunteer midwives teaching under some trees, 5 years ago, it is exhilarating to see our class room in this lovely house, with all the school supplies and teaching aids that a good midwifery school in the US would have.(PS: all this stuff was purchased by my donors. Thanks. A lot.)

Oh, today it's tiding of comfort and joy,folks. It's great to be back in Haiti, and good things-- really good things-- are happening. Stay tuned! I've got to tell about Movie Night in Naran, soon!

Do-Gooders Unite.

2012-02-03T17:15:00.000-08:00

- Oh,that burnt plastic smell.
Port au Prince has no civic trash management, so our flight was greeted with a typical light haze that smells “scorched”. (That's how the garbage gets processed....goats eat it, or it gets burnt.) It's mild, in the 80's, sunny, humid, breezy. The airport gets more organized and civil every time I come...but there was still the usual wrangling with the baggage handlers....they want that dollar-a-bag feel so bad...they just won't let go of the cart, no matter how much I try to wave them off. Oh, well. It's a few bucks that they need. We loaded our 6 bulging bags into the Heartline Jeep and got onto the dusty, tore-up streets of Port au Prince.

I do my work with Midwives for Haiti in Hinche, 2-3 hours drive outside Port au Prince, but we fly in and out of this city, and have friends and colleagues here. It's worth getting up early to fly in on a Friday and visit with Beth McHoul, an American midwife who helps run several Port au Prince women's programs with Heartline Ministries. We went straight from the airport to her maternity center. Jessica and I have lots of questions about the little rural maternity center that we are helping organize, and we knew Beth would have lots of helpful info about “how they do it here.” Beth serves Port au Princes' women and oversees this work with balance and grace, and the resilience that it takes to live more than 20 years in Haiti. We entered the house, and soon were dealing with her giant mastiff dog bleeding all over the tile floor-- he'd had a growth on his leg that came open and boy, he was dripping. So, while volunteer midwife Melissa, tried to get some gauze on it with out him biting her- he's old and cranky- Beth chatted with us about Heartline's Maternity Center.

There are Do-Gooders in this world, we know: many varieties of them. I even aspire to be among them. There are the secular non-profits, the faith-based charities, the mega-NGO's, and then there are government aid programs galore, national, international, and tiny ones. UNICEF. World Vision. Then, there's a class beyond....there are saints and saintly works. I felt I was witness to that arena today. I don't want to be so glowing that I'm not realistic...so first, just the facts.

Heartline Ministries programs are small,but they are comprehensive. Pregnant mothers who are admitted to the prenatal program come to this maternity center for weekly visits- not only is their blood pressure and weight checked, but they are given a high-protein meal, vitamins, classes on health and parenting-- and love, and prayer. When the baby comes, they labor and birth supported by volunteer American midwives, nurses, and doctors. It's just a nice, medium-sized house by US standards, but it has oxygen, an ultrasound machine, necessary medicines, and an ambulance to transport problem cases to the hospital.. It is nearly always the nicest place any of these women have ever stayed, and I believe it offers, for free, the best maternity care in this city, with respect and kindness.

After birth, there's a little room where mothers can stay as long as they need to-12 hours to a week or more; if their baby is born sick, they stay here until the baby is well. They eat, they shower. They get new, clean underwear. They get the most intensive breastfeeding support known to (wo)man....because breast milk is the most powerful way to keep a baby alive and healthy in Haiti. (or anywhere. But especially Haiti.) These mothers go home to very, very tough situations- some to tents, some to tiny shacks or tiny cinder block “apartments” full of needy people and not much else. But the Maternity program goes on for 6 months, postpartum, offering weekly parenting classes, breastfeeding help, nutritious lunch, and love. Love and prayer.

Heartline does a lot of other things, and I don't want to bore. There's a teen mothers house, where girls can live up to 2 years if they have no other safe place to go. They teach bead and jewelry-making, crafts and sewing and business skills. Family planning services. And love. So I just had to say I spent the day with Mother Ter... I mean Beth McHoul. We got lots of info about how to get oxygen in Port au Prince, and we had a very productive discussion about medical waste and placentas. But mostly, we got the hope and encouragement that great things can be done, if you're dedicated to doing it right. We're at the Heartline Guesthouse tonight, where $50 US buys a nice clean bunk with a mosquito net and a fan, a lovely simple dinner (pizza and salad), with WiFi and breezy balconies.

Tomorrow we go up to Hinche by small airplane, and begin to catch up with “our People” at the new “Lakay Nou”, headquarters house. I can't wait to meet the new students, see my Haitian friends, and the MFH colleagues who are already in-country.
Burnt plastic smell or not, it's lovely to be back in Haiti, and tonight, it feels like we can aspire to Doing More Good, if we do it with love.

Now It Gets Interesting!

2012-02-03T00:51:00.000-08:00

I woke up before my alarm, which was set at 3:40 am to get the 6 am flight to Miami & on to Port au Prince. There is something disconcerting about leaving for Haiti, enough to keep one from drifting back to sleep, once a bit of awareness has come. There is the natural travel logistics ahead, navigating airports, security, luggage...there is also the Haiti component, though...Only at times like this do I wonder if I took my malaria medicine, or if I really have enough ones and fives to get through 9 days, and where is my Midwives for Haiti nametag?? I know I put it somewhere.

My friend nurse-midwife Jessica Jordan and I leave soon. She has made 4 trips to Haiti, and I've made 5. We are similar aged, baby boomers. We'll work together all week, and really hope to help get the new little maternity center in Trianon organized. We'll be staying part of the time in Hinche, the big town where we have lots of friends, and where the Midwives for Haiti house and compound is. But midweek, we'll stay at Fr. Jean's house in Trianon and meet with him, community leaders, and Merlinda, the M4H-trained midwife who will staff the facility. We especially need to figure out how women who need acute care and hospitalization will be transferred in from this rural outpost. Wish us Luck on that. I think it will involve a stash of money for gas and a guy who has a truck....maybe the priest himself.

I don't really need to ask for luck to be wished. This trip has been particularly, spectacularly, supported, donated to, prayed over. I carry so many friends with me, here in my heart. Messi Anpil, many many thanks-- and here we go. The preparationis tedious, but that's done. Now, it gets interesting!

Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eight

2012-01-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

"Rising Again": Trip 6 to Haiti!

An amazing woman and her family that I know had a baby, in this year...just a week after their house burned completely with all their possessions and their beloved dog. The night the baby came, it was all so fast that his daddy caught him as he was born in the bathroom of their neighbor's borrowed house! Yet this extraordinary family had the grace and faith to focus completely on their blessings, to look forward to the freedom they had, now that the anchor of all that stuff was gone....and they named their beautiful, healthy baby "Phoenix"... after the legendary bird that rises from fire and ashes. (trinitywilbourn.blogspot.com)

Haiti has had it's own fire and ashes this year, as have I. A functional regime must be in place to implement the aid money left from the earthquake of 2010. They had one election, in 2010, inconclusive/unacceptable results, riots, and a "do-over' election. On my last trip to Haiti in March 2011, the second elections were looming, Former Haitian leaders Duvalier and Aristede had both returned from exiles abroad, making the political situation iffy and volatile. The government was essentially paralyzed, waiting for a president...including the Ministry of Health, with whom Midwives for Haiti works closely to run our program. The week felt like the dream where you want to run but are stuck, immobile. Leaving Haiti, instead of flying out of Port-au-Prince, the normal route, I departed over the Dominican border out of extreme caution-- acting on a solemn Vow of Safety that I long ago negotiated with my husband when I began these Haitian journeys. I felt so sad for Haiti, so exhausted by the same problems and paralysis, and for much of this year, wondered how much good I was able to do in this world. We make our plans and act on our projects, build our houses and life rolls on-- but sometimes, the house burns down when you're away at church. The baby comes in the night before you can even get to the hospital. Trouble walks in the door in the night. I am so aware of how small and imperfect our human efforts are, especially mine. We make mistakes, take a hit, Life happens. Yet in the cycle of loss/ recovery, God grants new life, new wisdom, and new gifts. We need to get up again, and again, and again, and then. good things happen, too. Believe in the Phoenix, and accept the gift of fire, that will burn down old things, and make way for renewal. This is about Haiti, and me, and maybe you. So let's get up and go forward. I'm going back to Haiti, and invite you to come along.

The BackGround
Some folks know exactly what these trips are about-- but for new friends, here is the quick background: In 2009 and five trips ago, I began traveling to Haiti as a volunteer with the non-profit "Midwives for Haiti". I was stunned that a 2-hour flight from Miami landed me in a country where more mothers die of pregnancy-related causes than anywhere else in the Western hemisphere. I saw food cooked over charcoal fires, water carried from the pump or the river to homes, and at night, a candle was the light one used to read...if one had a book and a chance to go to school. Most importantly, Haiti is a land where 70% of the births are not attended by any trained person, and mothers die often, before, during, and after birth. Haiti has a lot of orphanages. Midwives for Haiti was founded by Americans, mainly Nurse-midwives and doctors-- to address this crucial survival-of-mothers problem. We do it by training and supporting Haitian midwives through donations of time, money, and medical supplies. We have a 10-month, full-time training program headquartered in a compound in the small city of Hinche, in the Central Plateau, where we train about 16 students a year to work in clinics, hospitals, and maternity programs all around Haiti. We also employ some of them to travel around the mountains in our bright pink Jeep, making monthly stops in 16 villages where they give prenatal care to women who can't get to any clinic. Sometimes, they deliver babies right there, with adequate supplies. To date we have trained 42 graduates. They are all employed, another benefit of the work that contributes to success of Haitian families.

When I go, I will help organize a new birth center, staffed by one of our graduate Haitian midwives, in a village called Trianon. I'll also be working on teaching the use of Depo-provera, an injectable family planning method, in a few villages that desire this service. But mostly, I'll be helping Nadene Brunk, the founder of this non-profit, who has just quit her full-time job in the US to give more time to this wonderful Haitian program that she "midwifed" into being over the past 7 years. We have a new class of 17 highly-qualified students, and will be working on helping the teachers, organizing the new birth center in Trianon, and many, many administrative tasks that move our work forward. I am so happy to go back to Haiti...I have many friends there, now, and a god-daughter, Woodmica, who is almost 2. She needs some cute dresses, I think.

Many people ask how they can help or support me in this effort: It's simple:
*Think of me, pray for me, and as we Quakers say, "Hold me in the Light"-- I believe this is of great importance. Without spiritual and emotional encouragement, this work is just too hard...with it, you are part of my team and we are strong.
*Follow this blog--if it interests you. Comment, share, forward to others, so they know about this amazing non-profit, Midwives for Haiti, and can support it, too. Posts will really begin around Feb 1; I leave Feb. 3 and try to post almost daily.
*Donate-- I need about $700 for the next trip. Details below in the "PS" below.
Or see the PS for a very strange and itemized list of specific things I can take with me-- things of high value and low weight that make a suitcase worth carrying all the way to Haiti.

A few years ago, at our Loudoun Community Midwives Holiday party, Margie and I gave ourselves and every staff member a small silver bracelet that said "Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eight". We had taken quite a few hits over the previous years- deaths of close family members, cancer, an airplane crash, a son in the Iraq war, and other kinds of stress and loss. So, perseverance and coming back after a "fire", are nothing new to "us midwives". The Phoenix is a profound allegory, and I am happy to call this trip back to continue the work in Haiti: "Rising Again". Thank you for caring about and helping me do this work....I couldn't do it without you.

*************************************************************************
PS: Possibly Boring but Useful Details About Donations.

My practice, Loudoun Community Midwives, pays my airfare, and the rest is up to me...and my friends. Checks written to" Midwives for Haiti" with my name in the memo line, are tax-deductible. (C/o Loudoun Community Midwives, 19465 Deerfield Ave. Suite 205, Lansdowne, VA 20176)

Even small amounts help so much!
Smaller cash donations ($10, 20, etc.) written to me go to buy family-size water systems in rural villages that have no well. One system costs $10. Or I buy medicine with it, like misoprostol, which stops a hemorrhage for about $2.50, or antibiotics, or condoms.
Items that can be donated:
Iron tablets
New (or like-new)White blouses for the midwife students- XS, S, and Med.size.(plain, short-sleeve)
Condoms
Hotel-size soap & shampoo
Pregnancy Tests
Receiving blankets
Tums
60-watt light bulbs
Solid Navy blue skirts or slacks for the kids at Maisson Fortune Orphange & School-all sizes - esp. teens(they have 200+ kids to clothe!)

Border Crossings

2011-03-30T15:24:00.001-07:00

About a week ago, I left Haiti through the Dominican Republic, to avoid Port au Prince at a time of unrest. We loaded our 5 American women and 2 Haitian staff guys- Manno my dear friend and translator, and Ronel, our driver x 5 years, into the pink Jeep La, and headed north. I felt like singiing and had the younger girls, 18, and 21, with me in the cab of the Jeep. I explained to the guys that in the US, on a long car trip, we sing to keep the kids happy. Then we started in on "Old MacDonald had a Farm, "," the Wheels on the Bus", "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", etc. The guys loved it, especially Old MacDonald. In a rural country, everyobdy gets it, the animal noises. Oink Oink and Mooo is universal, even with Haitian pigs and cows. We fell quiet as the hills and ruts got bigger, and then Ronel, said to me, in English, which he doesn't use that often..."Wendy, I am happy to be driving this Jeep, with you today." I knew what he meant; we've all waited and worked hard to get Midwives for Haiti to where it is , right now... and I just said" I am also happy, Ronel, to drive in the Jeep with you and Manno today. I thank God for this." It was so simple and sweet. One of my best moments of the trip.

Later, Mannno and I bounced up the dusty, rutted road in the pickup truck of the village priest who "knows the guys at the DR border" and was leading the Jeep, escorting us over the dry, mountainous borderland to the first town in the Dominican Republic. Aristede was on the radio, giving his first public statement at the airport in PaP. Every Haitain I asked said yes, he was glad to see Aristede back in Haiti. We Americans were relieved to be avoiding Port au Prince, where thousands filled the streets around the airport, and all bets were off about the possilbity of riots or demonstrations.

Father Blot said he was happy to help us, and also asked for MFH to consider adding his village, Saltadere, to the moblile clinic schedule for a monthly round of prenatal care. . He said that all the priests in the Central Plateau pray for Midwives for Haiti, as we are "doing such a good work". I took his phone number and thanked him. I was moved...after a week dealing with Haitian difficulties and complications, it feels so small and imperfect, what we do. Sometimes I think we're just trying to keep hope alive. Then, the last thing I saw in Haiti was a funeral procession. As the truck came over a steep rise, about 100 Haitians, many dressed in white, filled the road. A painted wooden coffin, with shiny handles, was carried on many shoulders through the rocky gully. Fr. Blot just waved out his window, and the crowd parted to let our truck and pink jeep through. I wonder if it was a mother. It's not just hope we have to keep alive...it's human beings.

We had been on unpaved roads for about 3 hours, since leaving Hinche. Just a few miles inside the DR, as we came into the first village, our jeep took one final bump onto a smooth asphalt road. Powerlines appeared. Our Haitian driver sighed...with a poignant combination, I think: relief to be out of the four-wheel-drive mode and onto smooth pavement, and grief- that Haiti has not one town as developed as this, and we're in the remote backwaters of the DR.

I've heard the Dominican Republic described by many as "beautiful resorts, but, oh, so sad to see the poor in the villages." Well...it's different if you enter the DR after a week in Haiti...the DR looks Fabulous. We caught an air-conditioned our bus toward Santo Domingo an hour after entering the country. Within a 10-15 miles, vegetation was noticably greener, houses more put-together, animals fatter. The roads were not thronged with pedestrians, donkeys, oxcarts. There were less goats, more cows; shiny gas stations, factories, farm machinery. It was a different world, and not just the language. Billboards, tin roofs, and paved roads look like prosperity itself, after little shacks with banana-leaf roofs and the ragged, rugged, dusty struggle for survival that is Haiti.

I've been back over a week now, and I'm almost rested enough to say I feel "normal". It's my fifth trip, and I hope I'm learning that I cross back and forth , the borders between wealth and poverty, between different worlds, and it is always a tough journey, either direction. Once you've seen Haiti-- or possibly Rwanda, Burundi, Afghanistan...the Land of the Poorest Peoples....you never are quite the same. I lay on the massage table of my friend Kristen, and wept out some of the natural grief and stress, as she worked at the very tight knots of my neck and shoulders. I wept and saw thin women walking down dusty roads in the morning, with baskets of charcoal on their heads. I saw a funeral procession in the back country. I saw our pink jeep in a field, and pregnant women sitting on benches under the shady tarp...and loud and clear, I heard the thumping, amplified beat of a fetal heartbeat on our midwives doppler... Beating, beating, beating. Our work goes on in Haiti.

While Scrambling toSurvive, Haiti's on Hold.

2011-03-18T04:07:00.001-07:00

This week in Haiti has gone so fast that the stories will have to be
written in America—and oh, there are stories. All in all, it
was….just So Haiti. So difficult—no day has gone anything like
planned, but a series of adaptations, Plan A to Plan B to Plan….oh,
maybe F….but things have gotten done.
Eat Here, Now. At one of our pink-jeep mobile clinics, a half-grown
rooster wandered into t he bench-waiting area. When we packed up to
go home, not only did we have 3 large gourd-like fruits the size of
soccer balls in the jeep (Ronel found them somewhere, but I don’t
know if he eats them or makes bowls out of the shells), but one of the
midwives had the rooster, feet tied, under her arm in a plastic bag.
As we came into town, the “poule” was handed to her husband for
tomorrow’s dinner.
I walked with Brother Mike down by the river, and saw the
sand-collecting industry down there. Guys get a big plastic bucket,
wade in chest-deep, and start filling their bucket underwater with
sand from the river bed. Then they haul it up to the bank, and dump
it, bucket by bucket, til they have a pile that’s the right size to
sell. There is a “standard size” pile, apparently. And it sells for
about 250 goudes, or about $6. When sold, it will be collected by an
oxcart, that will pull it into town for road building or concrete and
cement-making. Tough way to make a living.
There is nobody, from the people to the animals, not scrambling as
hard as they can, to survive and get by. Walked on the road through
the town cemetery—many crumbling concrete mausoleums—and saw goats
climbing even on the roofs to eat trash or grass from the roofs. But
the country is basicallystalled and paralyzed until the election is
over. After pretty hard to get an appointment with the “New” minister
of health, I had to change the date. I went back into the office,
prepared to eat some Haitian crow, asi”d been rather insistent on the
first one—the secretary was very pleasant, No Pwoblem, he said, and
gave us a new date. Then he just commented…well, after the election,
he may have a “new positions”, but we’ll see. AHA!!! THIS is why
nobody is staying in town, we can’t get any meetings…nobody really
knows if or what their jobs will be until after the election. What
will the new regime bring?? Haiti is on Hold.
The two political presidential candidates on the ticket for the
“repeat, do-over” election being held this Sunday, both came to town
mid-week. Lots of megaphones, bands, huge crowd in the park…no
trouble, just loud. They were traveling to rallies town-by-town, in
tandem. Now, Aristede is rumored to be returning to Haiti—probably
today, if not last night. Things are heating up, and it’s time for us
to go. Instead of taking our magenta jeep into Port us Prince the day
before the election, and possibly through sizable demonstrations, or
risking canceled flights, we’ve changed flights and are exiting
through the Domincan Republic. LOTS of phone calls led to this
decision, and of course we all want to know “what’s going to happen?”
but the reality of Haiti is what the awesome midwife Beth McHoul, long
time resident of Port au Prince, replied to those kinds of
inquiries—“you just never know!” We’re playing it safe, as I have a
solemn pact with my husband to do—and crossing the border to the DR
early today. When I told our wonderful driver,and oh-so-faithful
staff MFH member, Ronel, he would NOT have to drive a bright pink
jeep with 7 “blancs” through Port au Prince, the day before the
election, with Aristede AND Baby Doc in town…he said “I think this is
a good way.” See you soon—we’re practicing our Spanish!

Betadine and Bureaucracy

2011-03-15T07:43:00.001-07:00

We start our days with the roosters crowing and the sun coming up, in
Haiti….how could we not? The windows are wide open and there’s no
escaping reality….the day is upon us! Today, Monday, I had high hopes
of getting certain things done…and they are coming along, kind of, in
the crazy way that happens down here.
All the furniture that I purchased in Port au Prince on Friday, to
open a tiny little birth center…well, that was interesting. After
finalizing the shipment, to be delivered in 1-2 weeks, I got to the
little tiny town, where we had been told “ It’s already built, ready
to go”…well, yes, but. “Already Built” here apparently means There is
a Structure. Our birth center in Trianon will be great! I love the
size! the location! It has a plan for power outlets! Water! Lovely
view of the mountains! But right now, it is cinder blocks, rough
concrete, and a road mostly, but not quite, done. So disconcerting,
as I had just purchased 3 beds, 3 mattresses, a locking metal cabinet,
a desk, 2 chairs, 3 fans, and a partridge in a pear tree. Oooh boy.
Time to call America. So this is why I have a Haitian cell phone, and
programmed for international calls!
Okay, so, Nadene says, we’ll make sure our other birth center
location is ready and secure, and get those furnishings out to the
other birth center site, Bassin Zim. It only took a lot of US-Haiti
cell phone calls, money wired to our trusty friend in Port au Prince,
and now the shipment is coming to Bassin Zim this week. It will be
very interesting seeing the truck bring it out…the road is rutted,
dust and rocks….but it’s Haiti, and it can’t be that big of a surprise
to the drivers. Now all we need is a couple solar panels, a deep pit
for garbage, a water tank, a security guy…and we’ll save some mothers
from the grueling trip to town over the roads that basically keep them
home, delivering with untrained ( or no ) people to help.
Today’s strangeness actually began with a little boy. I had ridden
in the Pink Jeep out to La Palis, with 2 Haitian midwives, 1 American
midwife, and an American doctor, had begun seeing patients. I was
outside on the cement porch, playing phone tag about furniture between
Port au Prince and Richmond…and a boy about 10 years old came and sat
near me, and gestured to his left leg, questioning if I would look at
it. His entire calf had a massively infected area, large and ugly and
hard to really see due to the dirt crusted over it. I looked in my
backpack, which I had just thrown together in the morning, and I “just
happened “to have a large plastic bag…(thank you, nurses of Loudoun
Hospital….) with gauze, betadine, and gloves in it. I used the water
in my water bottle to wash it, first…then the betadine…soaked and
scrubbed a bit…then it was doctor time. This is not my specialty—but
Dr. Carolyn came out, and we agreed together that it was hospital time
for this boy, before he loses some of his muscle. His dad had come ,
by then, and said he could get him to the hospital tomorrow…. I made a
dressing for him with antibiotic ointment, a clean diaper (my #1
favorite Haitian utiity tool) and tape. I pray he gets that nasty
wound treated in town. He didn’t even know how he got it… I suspect a
spider bite.
Unfortunately, I had sat in some betadine during the wound-cleaning
episode on the clinic porch. When I walked by the ladies waiting on
benches, they smiled and giggled at me—because on my scrubs, I had a
noticeable, reddish-brown stain on my rear end that appeared to be
blood or poo. I have a serious mission to get an appointment with
the new regional head of the Ministry of Health, so I still showed
up at the hospital, but with a little flannel baby blanket draped
around my backside, as if it were a sweater. (“Its’ the new fashion in
the States!”) I figured, if I’m lucky enough to see someone
important, I’ll take it off, and back out of the room after we talk!
….Alas, No such luck…the head of the department is out of town…’til
April!
Ok, I said, but Midwives for Haiti really needs to meet with him! “No
problem!” The secretary said. When in April do you want to come? I
picked the next date that I knew Dr. Steve & director Nadene would be
there…and said..how about April 27? “Ok, fine”, he said… and did not
glance at a calendar, nothing. What time? I asked…”eleven.” Ok….I
asked…are you going to write this down?? He opened up a computer
screen, but I ‘m not so sure anything got put anywhere. It’s
discouraging. God, please give Haiti new, better leadership models
and good government, in the March 20 elections! I trudged out with
my baby blanket over my butt, hoping for the best. Midwives for
Haiti keeps going, and we have furniture, and babies, on the way,
regardless of the bureaucracy..

The Lights are Still On

2011-03-11T06:16:00.001-08:00

First day in :Port au Prince: some surprises, and some non-surprises.

No surprise; OOOH, still hot! humid! Break into a sweat immediately and get used to it. I peeled off my one pair of socks in the airport ladies room and will not wear any again until my return flight next week.

Lots of people, shouting, and shall we say, "different level of organization" (aka, near chaos, but not quite) at the airport and in city traffic.

Unchanged potholes, mud, dust, and random random urban livestock, including chickens, donkeys, and a cow that I noticed not far from the Us Embassy

But surprises! The ramps around the airport are re-paved and roofed, the baggage handlers more civil and less aggressive! It may have helped that our Haitian driver, Moliare, was waiting right at the door, but it was the most orderly exit of the airport I've ever made, even with 25 bags and 7 people.

The best surprise was also a great inconvenience, but still pretty cool. We went to the nicest, biggest furniture store in Port au Prince, where we need to buy furnishings for our new little maternity center.. A big, glassy, airconditioned, 2-level showroom, with escalators...extremely American looking (except the escalators don't work but come on, you can't have it all.)...we head upstairs for the desks and cabinets area ...but no,it's blocked....by a formal meeting set up, with about 120 people, a conference table, lights and camera. It turned out to be a "tv studio" setup, and they were conducting all-day public forums on planification of what the next steps are for Haitian civic recovery and planning. Individuals had about 5 minutes at the mic, with several apparent Haitian leaders ( political candidates? I'm not sure...). Formal business attire all around, silence while the cameras rolled, and polite applause when good points were made in the discussion., The amazing part is this is a furniture store!. The lady at the desk downstairs said she'd been unable to sell anything all day, due to this meeting. For me, it's just such an example of Haitians making it work..."we need a big place that is nice and cool and has power...gee, how about the furniture store? Let's ask them!" And plenty of people showed up, in nice suits, to address and thoughtfully discuss the needs (the huge, desperate, overwhelming) needs of the Haitian people.

So Fritz, my Haitian-born, Amercian translator, and I, silently snuck around in the furniture sections that we could get to while the cameras were off...we found things we needed. Lovely equipment for the birth center; beds, cabinet, chair, fans. But the most important work was being done at the conference, table, and on film, I hope and pray...the Haitians are still making it work, folks. ..."pa bliye Ayiti"---don't forget Haiti. They DO NOT give up. And the lights are still on.

Land of Slow and LImited Internet

2011-03-09T20:16:00.001-08:00

My laptop is already in my backpack, so I can head out of the house at
4 am for the 6 am flight to Miami and then Port au Prince....so I'm
using a very old laptop of my huband's...his good one is in the shop.
And while I waited for this elderly machine to boot up, and felt
impatient... I had to stop and remind myself that I'm headed into the
Land of Slow and Limited Internet. All the coffee shops or hotels,
etc. around here boast "Unlimited Wifi"...well, that's not the deal in
Haiti, so here I go....time to sit and wait a while for a signal.

I have a lot to do in Haiti, and am happy to be seeing a lot of folks
I truly care for, down there. Tomorrow, I'll be shopping to equip a
new maternity center in a little village that has never had such a
thing , before...and see some friends at Heartline Ministries. It's a
hard week to get ready...trying to wrap up all the loose ends here,
and still look ahead to the work of the week down there...but when the
airplane lifts into the air above the water in Miami, and I turn off
my American cell phone...it is a little easier, as it's just a
"one-lane highway", then. I will be thinking of you all in the
States, and appreciate you thinking of me. There is SO much to get
done this week, and using the time well is a pressure in my mind all
the time. But for now, it's just time to go, and hope and pray for
good things to come. Thanks for caring about this work in Haiti. Off
we go-- holy cow-- Trip 5!

Haitian Cell Phone

2011-02-21T14:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Supporters:
It Only Seems Like I'm constantly asking help for Haiti! My 2 trips are close together this year, January and March, so, indeed, I was just there, and here I'm writing this sort of note... the one I write a few weeks before a trip, asking for support, again. But: If I should stop doing this, people need to stop encouraging me.
This Sunday, after I saw my patients at the hospital, I was wondering how to start this blog entry. I mean, it's trip 5, and I am in deeper than ever. I bought a Haitian cell phone, for heaven's sake...I plan to do Haiti work regularly if my dear husband, my practice, my health, and my donors and supporters can stand it...and somehow it's still working. I think it's God at work.

As I reflected on how do you ask for support repeatedly-( prayer and kind words are abundant and free, money seems a bit less so for normal humans..) ..I stopped in my office for a brief stint at my desk. A serenely quiet building, on Sunday morning, lovely to get things done...and on my desk is an envelope with a check from a person I do not know, in another state, for $100, and just a note; "for Haiti!". My God. And I hadn't even sent out this blog entry yet. I am so humbled that somehow, there is a net, a tribe, some strange collection of friends out there that wish this work to continue. I am humbled, but encouraged. I guess I just ask.

My Trip Expenses: I donate my vacation time. Loudoun Community Midwives pays my airfare. The remaining trip cost, $600/trip, for food, lodging, translators, and travel in-country, comes from donors. Checks to Midwives for Haiti memo'd "Wendy Dotson trip" can be sent to my office ( I will mail them in) or directly to MFH at 7130 Glen Forest Ave. Suite 101, Richmond, VA 23226-3754. (Midwives for Haiti is a tax-deductible registered 501-c-3). I need to know what's sent in, to track if/when needs are met.Over & above the $600: even $10 donations are great; I can buy Klorfasil clean-water units for Naran. 1 bucket prevents cholera for a family for a year. Since it's an informal project of my own, that money must go to me directly, and can be sent to my office: Wendy Dotson, 19465 Deerfield Ave, #205, Lansdowne, VA 20176.

Another way to give is to visit Finnegan's Irish Pub in Ashburn Village, for lunch, dinner, a drink or a snack, and make a donation-they are doing a MFH fundraiser for Trip 5! Fill out a donation form so I know you came! (It's even possible I would be there after work having a beer...!)

Trip 5: Non-monetary needs:
Prenatal Vitamins and Iron tablets-always, always needed.
Cytotec (misoprostol)- folks with Rx ability, take note. Only costs about $48/100; goes a long way)
Receiving blankets
If you wish to donate a specific type of item or for a specific amount, contact me ( 703-726-1300) and we can decide together what to get. We need a bunch of equipment and supplies for the birth centers.
Most folks who read this blog already know what I do, but I'll post soon about actual Haiti activities. That stuff is far more fun to read than this shameless-begging-for-money-to-do-it...but the short agenda for trip 5 is:

Equip, orient Haitian midwife, and prepare to open small birth center in village of Trianon. ( Buy beds, mattresses, meet w/ village priest, get "medical waste" garbage pit dug, storage shelves built, check on power, water, etc.)
Help teach/train Class 4 students as needed
Help with mobile clinics-- hoping to try out new pink "Jeep La".
Teach & expedite family planning services/ methods.
Help with whatever Nadene and the MFH board need-- it evolves a lot!.

My Haitian Cell Phone Number is 509-3-118-6595. Call me sometime, March 11-19,and I'll tell you what's new and hopeful in Haiti. I am at the point of not just hoping, but depending on my American friends to help with this work. In a very difficult and damaged place, hope is still alive! My Haitian friends certainly don't stop hoping for help. In a recent facebook chat, my Haitian friend Theard, working at the UN office, in Hinche, said "It is so great that you were able to get the 40 buckets for Naran. They have 550 people, and now more of them keep asking me if you will bring more so they can get one." Well, okay. We'll see what we can do.
Hey- I bought the cell phone! You all have proved, over & over, that you care about this work and support it! And I thank you from the heart.

Jeep La LA! : Our Big Pink Baby Came Out!

2011-01-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

Well, midwife-Dr. Cara Osborne midwifed the delivery of this special, big, pink, baby, but I think a cast of hundreds stood behind her...financing, designing, praying, asking and granting favors, translating Kreyol/English, running and emailing documents around Haiti. It was a long,hard, labor... but tonight, the baby came out at last.
We waited all day, for word from the group navigating the final negotiations at St Marc where "Jeep La" (the Jeep) has been on the customs dock since November 19. First, the elections and riots afterward slowed it down...then cholera epidemic hit. We've got over that, then were lost in the Land of Red Tape. Then Nadene and Cara and Ronel -- the driver who has been waiting for YEARS to drive this baby....made a major trip to the paperwork Wizards in St Marc, Thursday, and pleaded our case. In the end, they were told, well, it might come out tomorrow. Cara and Ronel stayed overnight in St Marc, hoping and praying it that customs gate would lift on Friday.
All this afternoon, we were watching for it, like kids listening for reindeer on Christmas Eve. Then, finally....In the midst of a heavy tropical downpour, the iron gates of Lakay Nou rumbled open, and folks started hollering "Jeep La La"!!! Jeep La means the Jeep...the extra "La" adds the concept of "here"... so tonight, we are drinking champagne and "Jeep La La"..."the Jeep is HERE!" It parked in the carport...people jubilantly unloaded....whooping in Kreyol and English, hands slapped, and exhausted people came across the threshold like the end of a marathon....Happy,but too tired to show it.
There is rain falling and loads of boxes being unloaded...a microscope, a colposcope, and mundane things like sheets, towels and printers. Many items that will help women and move this mission forward. But the Jeep itself is the star of the show. Haitians all aonlg the road cheered and waved at the bright magenta colored vehicle drove north to us. It's going to be popular.
This big , custom-made pink vehicle doesn't only have air-conditioning and plug-in elertricity, it also has a special elevated exhaust pipe that can't flood...it can ford the many shallow rivers that have no bridge, we can ride over the rough, dusty roads of Haiti,stocked and equipped to care for the many pregnant women on the back roads of the Central Plateau. We have such great Haitian staff that do such good work; it is a relief to give them great equipment to support their to work.
Everybody's happy tonight. The baby is here... and the women of Haiti will be better off, for this. I promise. Thanks, Friends. Jeep La LA!

Moment of Silence

2011-01-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

Though many things were the same today, in Haiti, it had a different
feeling...the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake of
Port au Prince. A national day of mourning, most schools and private
businesses were closed.

The breeze was still mild and warm, the roads still busy and dusty,
and food still for sale over charcoal burners on the street. As we
had no class, a group of M4H volunteers rented a truck for a short
outing to local attraction Bassin Zim, about 35 minutes away. We
bounced over rutted, unpaved roads, buying small yellow roadside
bananas along the way. We came to a beautiful waterfall, cascading
through 3 basins, down the hill out of a huge cave! Little Haitian
boys grabbed our hands and pulled us up the path to show us the full
glory of this place...including ancient figures carved in the stone
walls of the cave. Never have I seen such a sight in Haiti! It was
awesome. We rewarded the boys with bananas, cookies, and a little
money. Haiti is still full of surprises.

Back home in Hinche, Manno, Angela Ferrari and I braved the outdoor
market to buy Kreyol books, plastic shelves, scrub brushes, and
curtains for the house. Then we piled all the boxes, bags, and
ourselves on 2 motorcycles and chugged back to the house.

The day was a more reflective, less frantic one, as befits a solemn
occasion. In later afternoon, we knew the actual time of the
earthquake was near (4:45pm), so we gathered in front of Lakay Nou.
Diuny, our cook, stopped frying meat for a minute. Judnel, our
security guy, came from his seat, and joined our circle. With Nadene
Brunk, our founder, Cara Osborn, Anglea Ferrari, Terrie Glass, Reina
Galjour and her Haitian partner Blada, and I, all held our hands, and
grew quiet. As Manno translated, we just paused:

"On this anniversary, we stop to honor and remember all the people that died in the
earthquake of last year. We ask for healing for the country, and for
the ones who were injured, and the families who lost their loved ones.
And we ask that our mission can be strengthened, so that we can help
Haiti." Americans, and Haitians, we held silence in our hearts...we
wept, and we stood together in that space, under the soft blue Haitian
sky.

We hugged and touched each other, and then, we returned to our work.

Drops in the Bucket

2011-01-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

Years ago, a Catholic Xavieran Brother named Brother Harry, began teaching English classes in a tiny Haitian village called Pandiasou, in a small convent that is to this day, without any power or worldly accoutrements. Whatever kids wanted to learn English would show up specific evenings and practice English with him. A couple star pupils were Theard Elficasse and Bastyan Emmanuel (“Manno”). I wonder, did Brother Harry ever feel discouraged, despite his faith, and wonder if his efforts made any difference? Read on, my friends…. Eventually, Theard and Manno connected with Nadene Brunk, CNM, and translated for her midwifery class in Pandiassou. The story is long, but the Midwives for Haiti program grew out of it, and Theard and Manno worked more and more often. They both married, became fathers, and their babies are all god-children of different M4H volunteers. They earned significant money, built houses, supported their families. Then, they started supporting their family’s village. First, they invited visiting doctors and health care staff to come out and do rural clinics, out of boxes, bags, helping the sick folks in the village. The biggest obstacle was the road…God, the road…it was a ditch that the truck just straddled as long as it could while climbing huge hills and boulders…then park, and boxes of meds would be walked in about a half-mile. "The guys” started an elementary school in 2009, under a mango tree, with a blackboard and some benches. Midwives for Haiti volunteers would be invited for a very, very, rough truck ride up to the village of Naran, and see the “school” they were building. First…just a roof of banana leaves and some benches. Donations helped walls get built. An outhouse with cement lining, roof and doors, was made, to keep things sanitary, then more donations, and more rooms. Doors with locks to keep the desks from being stolen. We sent money to help pay the teachers, (who worked for free, to start...) and sent notebooks, pencils, and soccer balls. They kept plugging away and emailed us photos of “graduation” each semester. The whole village would show up for these occasions. In December 09, I went out there with my new friend, and M4H volunteer , Sharon Ryan, CNM. Soon, her Mennonite church in Ohio became a major supporter. “Flower of Hope School” is now a registered Ohio non-profit, with teacher salaries paid regularly and notebooks and other supplies in abundance. About 150 kids are in class there, now. Six had Cholera in December, but no one died. So, we took a trip to Naran this week. Some of my American friends gave money for 40chlorine-based clean-water bucket systems to be purchased for 40 of the neediest families in the village. We picked up the Klorfasil buckets, and headed out there in a very beat-up, typical Haitian, hired truck. The oil pump went out about 5 miles into our journey. Oh, you know things are dire when our friend Ronel, in a 1984 Toyota Hilux that’s on it’s truly last, last legs…is the rescue vehicle. We re-loaded into Ronel's truck, and he took us out to Naran, but as we turned the curve to go up the mountain..I was stunned. The road was a real road. Yes, dirt, but drivable and graded. Theard told me that Mercy Corps had done a project in Naran, and they paid village members to improve the road. We drove, all the way to the school. I believe that the school is a huge factor that convinced Mercy Corp that Naran deserved a road, to get the kids and supplies to school. 40 families showed up to get the Klorfasil systems. Brother Harry started something truly significant, just moving ahead with what he thought would help people. His English lessons started a long story that has not really ended here… many people have acted on their belief that something good can happen if they try to do what is right. So far, it has taken us as far as a school, and a road, and some cleaner water. Let nobody scoff, today, about the concept of a “drop in the bucket.” If we all do what our hearts tell us, it can be a flood.

Lakay Nou!

2011-01-11T19:13:00.000-08:00

Lakay Nou, Hinche

We've named it: Lakay Nou, in Kreyol... "Our Home" in English. This leamed house is now the home of Midwives for Haiti.
After years of running a program out of borrowed closets, classrooms under trees, volunteer sleeping in guesthouses and motels, we've landed.We have a home, and are starting our fourth class. Midwives for Haiti has landed like that baby giraffe, and is on the ground, running!

Therefore we're all over the map, crazy busy.
In one day:
-Vitamins/medicine/prenatal supplies loaded into suitcases and into the truck.
-Folding chairs for our classroom, nametags & blouses for the students, 5 American midwives to hospital.
-2 Haitian Midwives left for a rural mobile clinic. Still managing out of Ronel's ancient, rusty Hilux truck which hemorrhages oil and gas. We are praying for our lovely, pink, "Jeep La"! to arrive...it will not be a moment too soon.
-Class #4 with 15 beautiful,high qualified students started, prayer and singing ringing off of the concrete walls.
-Shopping til we Drop - I bought a Haitian cell phone....I guess this is a sign the relationship is getting more serious...! It's just so much easier to have one, here. My trusty guide and ride, Manno's motorycle, needed gas...it took a half-hour to find a gas station on the edge of town that had some. Filled his tank so he can run me around. Made purchase of 40 Klorfasil bucket systems to be delivered in the village of Naran tomorrow. We arranged to buy a 500 gallon water tank for the roof of our house.
Paint, brushes & rollers. Plastic baskets for recycling and storage. 6 giant bottles of water. Can't find a "stand" for the water tanks to save our life. Landlord Jean-Louis says they come from the "Old Country"...ie, the USA!

Meetings Galore-- and these are not Quaker ones!
-Landlord meeting with Jean-Louis LaFort: Many issues with house resolved... guard/security, barbed wire,doors, electrical, water tank issues. Oh, shucks....the tank we bought is not needed! Arranged to return it tomorrow and buy light fixtures for outside the house. Carpenter, electricians, consulted, haggled with, etc. Not exactly complaining, but this stuff is not like Home Depot, folks. It's a little more complicated.

Cara Osborn, inspired by advice & helpful contacts from Jean-Louis and our desperation, will try a trip to St.Marc/PortauPrince tomorrow...and try to get the Jeep out of hock in customs. Who know what sort of persuasion she may try?? She's a powerful woman who gets a lot done....and we're frantic for that darn Jeep.

Pregnant Ladies and Babies....of course!
I saw my first Haitian patient of the week: Manno's wife, Nathalie, complaining of persistent nausea...a urine pregnancy test done in the living room clarified the reason....she's expecting baby #2! We'll start prenatal care later in the week.
Second patient of the week: our cook, Diuny's one-year old baby, was vomiting, her friend told her he had an ear infection. But!--it all started this week, when she began working for us, and leaving him bottles of powdered milk to drink when she's away working during the day. A quck examination, and we quickly decided that we can't even call ourselves "Midwives for Haiti" if it involves our cook weaning her breastfed baby so she can work for us, and he gets sick from not getting breastmilk. We arranged for her to have her baby nearby in the house so he can nurse and be cared for by her little 10-year old babysitter. So M4H will have a baby in the house!! How appropriate! He's cute, fat, and healthy as can be as long as he doesn't get that nasty powdered stuff.

A "Quiet" Evening at Lakay Nou--NOT!
No, not a quiet evening....Nadene had visits from 2 different M4H-trained midwives whom she hired to staff a clinic and a family-planning education program. The 5 bags that had been delayed in New York finally arrived via Moliares' SUV, along with furniture ordered in PaP...So the evening activty became the Allen Wrench Olympics, seeing who could assemble what with a flashlight, allen wrenches, one screwdriver, and 8 cans of Prestige beer. We had a good time and now have some boxy, ugly, durable, lightweight practical furniture.

I delivered a small Xmas bottle of Scotch to next-door neighbor Xavieran Bro. Mike McCarthy at Maison Fortune orphanage. Asked him to pray for the Jeep. I am serious....non-Catholic, but consulting a priest. We need "Jeep La" really bad, folks....please do exercise whatever spiritual powers you all hoave, ye who care for us. Otherwise, and still, it's a lovely night in HInche!

God Bless.

Landing like Giraffes; Port au-Prince to HInche

2011-01-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday, Jan 8, 2011
Port au Prince

Giraffe mothers give birth while they are standing up. Their newborn baby giraffe lands hard, in the dust, with a thump. While it's a bit of a shock to watch on video, I think it's not so bad...it's nature's way of saying "Ok, welcome to the planet! There's a lot going on here, including lions...get moving!"

So,our plane from Miami landed in cross-wind with a big, hard THUMP....a classic "Welcome to Haiti", and I thought of the giraffes. There's a lot going on here, and it's not for the faint of heart. Let's get moving! We spent a lovely overnight in Port au Prince, and then did businesss in Pap for half of Saturday, then headed for
the hills....our home in the Central Plateau, in Hinche.

I have sluggish, limited internet here, so must write a very brief blog to minimize the upload time. Here are a few images:

How can it be that after a several nights of poor sleep in the US, a too-busy brain, an all-night birth, and pre-flight packing....I spent a night in a Port-au-Prince guest-house room with 5 others, in bunks, under a mosquito net...and slept like the dead for 8 hours?? I am refreshed in this setting, maybe because so much is going on, I'm forced to be in the moment and be single-minded.

Saturday, in one morning, we drove past acres of tent cities, and ended up shopping for furniture in an air-conditioned showroom. That's Port au Prince. It's so hard. We are growing a non-profit here, and now have a house for our teachers and volunteers to stay in.. we need beds, tables and chairs to sit at, eat, teach students. But while I shop, I wish everyone in the city had housing and decent water.

Smells--- STRONG coffeee, garlic, gasoline exhaust, sewage, woodsmoke, body odor, and that unique whiff of bad teeth.

Sounds: oh, the roosters. They start at 3:30am. Cars and truck engines. Sirens. Singing.

While waiting for some team members at the airport, the busiest outdoor vendor at the airport parking lot was...the guy selling beer and little half-pint bottles of whiskey. He was doing a big business out of a little cooler under a tree. Stress relief with alcohol is universal.

A trip from PaP to Hinche was a car-sickness extravaganza with all the curves in the road and the mountains we go up, then down. They get greener as we go , and the donkeys and goats appear more with each mile out of the city. The lakes are lovely...it's great, if you don't need to hurl. Fortunately this time, that was me! No nausea.
We landed in Hinche by dusk.

We are posting a video if we can, and we midwife/giraffes, who hit the dirt on Saturday, are doing ok in Hinche....updates soon!
.

Stop and Think! but mostly...Hope!

2011-01-07T07:26:00.000-08:00

I’m halfway to Port au Prince on my 4th trip to Haiti, and they did not serve any food on the plane from Dulles. Now, this is no surprise, but I did get into Miami airport SOOO hungry, as I got up at 0330 and on the plane at 6am, and at 9am my stomach was rumbling “Now! Feed me NOW!” So I barely paused in front of the first restaurant “serving breakfast” sign, and got a seat. Then, part way into the most awful breakfast—cold scrambled eggs! Mushy toast! Nasty old coffee!— I realized…this is what I get for eating American breakfast at a Sushi restaurant. I did not STOP and THINK!
So, teetering on the brink of my 4th Haitian adventure as a volunteer with Midwives for Haiti, I’m reminded pause and reflect. I ask myself what the heck I am doing, and why. What do I hope for? What do I fear? The “pat” answer is that I love my work as a volunteer with Midwives for Haiti- we train Haitian women to be midwives, expand health care I Haiti-we save and improve lives of many Haitian women-create jobs-etc. But, really… “why” is worth exploring…after all, this is a “vacation” week! While I do enjoy incredible mountain scenery and mild, sunshiny weather, it does come with a lot of dust, goat stew and sweat. As I contemplate, I know that I do this very much for myself, for as the work does good, it also feeds me in so many ways. Mostly with hope.
I have fears too--- at one year after the earthquake, there is barely a government in place in Haiti, riots are always a possibility, and cholera’s a reality too. There’s the heartbreak of witnessing 2 centuries of grinding poverty. My real fears, however, are of futility, frustrated efforts, wasted energy. It takes so much to get to Haiti that the moments are precious and the goals are high for each trip. Yet, today, I feel happy and hopeful. I hope to hold & hug my 9-month old god-daughter, born last March, just after I left. I hope to deliver 40 bucket-and-chlorine water systems to the village in Naran. A lot of good people donated funds to make that happen, so I’ve got a mission and the wheels are in motion. I hope to help Nadene Brunk start the fourth class of Midwives for Haiti. 16 women are starting a year of training that will make a difference in their lives and their communities! This is the biggest and probably (-hopefully!)- best organized class yet. I hope to buy some more Haitian artwork with special requests from several friends for specific items. Creating commerce in Haiti, of any kind, helps families survive. I really hope to see the Pink Jeep get released from customs and make it’s way to our headquarters in Hinche, to begin serving our mobile prenatal clinic service. I hope to enjoy time with folks who have become dear friends- Nadene, Reina, and other American volunteers, and the Xavieran brothers at Masion Fortune orphanage, the McHouls in Port au Prince…and our great M4H staff Theard, Manno, Berry, and their families. I feel a little like Santa, as I do have a couple large bags, and they do have presents. I hope to spread joy and share hope in a place where, sometimes, those are scarce. But really, they give me back more than I’ve ever put in. Despite a disappointing breakfast….it’s a spiritual feast. Let’s go!

Clean Water for Christmas

2010-12-05T16:08:00.000-08:00

This photo of a hole in the ground was taken in the village of Naran, Haiti, where my friends/translators have started Flower of Hope School. The hole is the well that supplies the entire village with water: over 100 kids, and their families. Each day at dawn, folks begin lining up with buckets to take home for the day. I saw this well myself; it is the truth. Now, the school has had 6 kids with cholera; none have died, thank God. But I'm very interested in helping the village families get "Klor-fasil" bucket water-treatment systems. Chlorine-based chemicals are added to the water in a simple recipe, making it drinkable and safe. The buckets cost about $10 each. I am looking forward to seeing my friends on my upcoming trip in January, and seeing what we can do about safe water in Naran.

Friday Jan 7, 2011, I'll be on that now-familiar 06:00 am flight that leaves Dulles Airport for Miami, and connects later in the day to Port au Prince. Oh, what a subdued crowd we usually are at 04:30; lined up at Dulles, sucking down Starbucks and shuffling quietly through the security lines with our shoes off and our laptops exposed. I'm always the lady who's dressed funny: a light jacket, since it's January, covers layers of summer clothes, with smartwool socks on, inside my sport sandals....I have to gradually undress all day long, as I move southward. It's a seasonal migration all in one day, ending up in the tropics.)

So here's the Trip #4 Haiti Wish List and Agenda! All ye who care enough to read this blog, ask about the trips, and reply with support-- you're an amazing bunch, and you never cease to amaze me.

1) Midwives for Haiti: I'll be traveling with dear friend/founder of M4H, Nadene Brunk,CNM and Cara Osborne, PhD, CNM. We will help organize and teach the opening session of Class 4, with 16 new midwife students! This class was selected from about 35 applicants, and will be taught by Marthone, our Haitian ISF, and Reina,our American CPM, who melded into an awesome multi-cultural teaching team during the past Class 3. American and Canadian midwives will travel down very regularly as adjunct faculty and clinical training staff.

M4H now has a home in Hinche: a house where all our supplies and staff can be in one place, safe, organized and inventoried. The leased house is just now getting furnished, so I may help with setting up housekeeping, and organizing equipment. Up to now, we've had to keep track of supplies and equipment stored in at least 3-4 closets in different parts of the town of Hinche!...on my first trip there, I started vocally complaining about the amount of time spent on "D.O.S." (Distribution of Sh...I mean.... stuff...) issues, and at last, that is getting better! Baby steps.

We hope to be starting up new mobile clinic locations with the NEW PINK JEEP. It is currently on the dock in St. Marc, waiting for customs paperwork to make it "kosher" for us to take possession. By January, we should be using it to make monthly visits to several new villages in the Central Plateau, that have never before had prenatal care. In past trips, I've helped train and work with the Haitian midwives in these rural clinics. I can't wait to do one with the Jeep....it will be like getting a fancy RV after backpacking for years.

2) Heartline Ministries- our friends, the McHouls, in Port au Prince, have the most amazing programs for helping women--in addition to a clinic and a birth center, one of them is a sewing class. I will visit Beth at Heartline in PaP with a prototype "labor dress", designed by my midwife partner, Margie-- and explore possibly having these dresses sewn by Haitian seamstresses, for later sale in the US...win-win business idea...we're excited about it! More than donations, or free handouts, Haitians really want BUSINESS and JOBS....that is what supports families and changes lives, forever.

3) I'll be checking in with my friends Theard and Manno, and see how their village school in Naran is coming along. If I have enough cash from US donations, we will be buy and distribute "Klor-fasil" bucket-type water treatment systems, to help make safe water available in this village that has only one tiny well.

What's needed? Other than money, NOT much stuff.Limited to only 2, 70-pound bags, and a carry-on, there are not many physical things that I can carry down, besides what I already have in boxes at my house from previous trips!

A few small, lightweight, things are always needed, though....Prenatal vitamins (over the counter, any brands)
Iron supplements (" ")
Lightweight navy boys' slacks and girls' skirts-any sizes- for the Maison Fortune orphanage.
White ladies' short-sleeve blouses, small and medium size
AA, AAA, 9V batteries
any of these could be dropped off at the Midwives office.

Needed for the new class:baby stethoscopes
adult stethoscopes
long-tubing fetoscopes
B/P cuffs
thermometers (not covers)
There is a lot of prescription medicine needed, which must be ordered and purchased in-country for legal reasons.

For any who wish to : have a charitable tax write-off, purchase medicines, or medical equipment listed above: contact me at the Midwives office (703-726-1300) and I can expedite.
To help with Klor-Fasil buckets, support the school, and other "random acts of kindness" that I try to accomplish: write a check to me directly, and send to the midwives office. I always try to follow up with a report of how cash was used to help Haiti.

I so appreciate all my the support from this wonderful community. Most importantly, I ask and appreciate your prayers, encouragement, and following the blog so I know I'm not alone. It's great to go to Haiti. And it's really hard to go to Haiti. I am glad you "go with me."
Have a lovely holiday.

Cholera in Haiti, MRSA in the US: It's Always Something

2010-11-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks for asking about the next trip to Haiti, folks! In light of a tropical storm spinning by there right now, it's a topic near to my heart.

I had planned my next 2010 trip to be in November- just as soon as hurricane season was "kind of" over. I was to participate in the graduation of Class III, midwife students that I had met and taught both in December 09 and in March 2010. But some “other stuff” has come up; my youngest sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in August. It’s always something, to quote the immortal Rosanne RosannaDanna. I made one trip out to see her in Pennsylvania right after her surgery, in September. Since then, however, things haven't gone as planned--- infection set in post-op, with MRSA ( the methcillin resistant strain of Staph), requiring more surgery, hospitalization, and delaying her start of chemotherapy. I don’t want to be out of the country again until she's doing a little better, but mostly, I had only the one week of vacation left for the year, already scheduled, so I'm spending it with family in the US. Sometimes the need is right in your own backyard.

The work of Midwives for Haiti is moving ahead really well, against all odds, it seems. Eleven student midwives started training last fall, and kept going right through one of the most terrible years Haiti has ever seen. First the earthquake filled their town with refugees and straining the endurance and resources of many. Then in October, cholera was identified as a cause of many deaths and hospitalizations, especially in the coastal west. Now a tropical storm is spinning toward the same island and many are praying for a merciful miracle to avoid the worst kind of damage.

M4H is gaining incredible support, however- the students kept going right through the times of crisis, attending class and clinic time at the hospital, gaining skills and knowledge week by week. This class has had 2 excellent full-time teachers, one Haitian nurse-midwife, and one American Certified Professional Midwife, both well-trained and experienced. Additionally, many, many American midwives and nurses traveled to Haiti each week and month to assist in special teaching projects, deliver babies with the students, work in our mobile clinics, and support our program any way they could. It is succeeding! They have done well by all reports, and will have a wonderful celebration on November 13th, with dinner and music! These students are SO Proud to be skilled birth attendants, and able to save the lives of women. They get it. And they get jobs, too...doing what we trained them to do.

The great news:
Cholera has not hit Hinche in any big way,from what we've heard. So far the storm Tomas has not hit as hard as many had feared. Let's keep praying.

And more good news:
In Summer,2010, Midwives for Haiti received funding to purchase a custom-made moblie clinic Jeep that can stand up to Haiti's back-country "roads". It is beautiful, and made a few trips around parts of Virginia for our friends and supporters to see it! Last December, and March, I helped work with and train our midwives in the mobile prenatal care clinics- I was sweating under tarps and in tiny shacks, stacking supplies on broken furniture!. We got a ride out there in whatever truck was available, with our equipment in dusty duffel bags and boxes. Now, we'll be able to do so much more- we can schedule as many clinics as we can afford staff, medicines and gas for: then we'll drive out in our lovely (bright pink!) Jeep, open our clinic under the built-in, pull-out sunshade, open our trunks, our well-stocked supplies and collapsible cots, and get down to work. Already a number of individual American parishes and small groups are volunteering to fund one village's monthly prenatal clinic, for a year at a time...they support the cost of the gas, medicines, vitamins, and the cost of the driver & Haitian midwives, to visit that village once a month. American nurse-midwives (like me) also go along on many clinics and work, sustaining this as a joint Haitian-American project. Take a look!http://midwivesforhaiti.org/news091010.htm AND- M4H is getting a HOME- a house that is leased for us, big enough to keep all our supplies and our Jeep and our visiting American volunteer staff safe, organized, secure, and operational. We have been housed so many times at Maison Fortune orphanage's guesthouse that most M4H'er's could barely imagine not being on the campus; so we leased the house right next door. We can have our "own place" and still hang out with the kids and the Brothers. I can't wait to go back and see my friends there.

I'll send out a loud shout when the next trip is really gearing up. As always, donors who wish to join my work can send a check, to the Loudoun Community Midwives office, or contact me there for details and special projects they wish to support.
And-- thanks for checking whether I was at risk for cholera or a hurricane. Not just yet, anyway. But you can pray for my sister!

(Very) Godmother

2010-04-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a godmother. Theard and Woodline, in Pandiassou, Haiti, asked me to be godmother to their new baby girl, Woodmica. I had several prenatal visits with Woodline during this past pregnancy during my December and March trips, and Theard says it was her choice to ask if I could be the GM. She was attended in her birth by Reina, our American midwife who is teaching for Midwives for Haiti in Hinche, and all went very well, they say. I am so happy for their family, and happy to have the long-term connection, honor, responsibility. A friend asked me, "So does this mean you'll have to keep making trips back to Haiti?"...and I said,well, I think I was already at that point. This just kind of encourages me. I guess I'm in pretty deep, and it feels ok. If someone wants a big project, where there's a lot of need, and room to do good....Haiti is perfect for finding out just how much one can give or commit to serve. There is no bottom to that well, it seems.

I have many nephews and 2 sons and only one niece...so I have a big urge to go buy some cute girl baby clothes. A very big urge. Very "Godmother".

But a baby, a family...this is now not just about a nation. It's very personal. And that is why this connection and commitment to Haiti has grown for me: it's not about politics, or about the masses. It's about individuals. Our actions, our giving, our commitments, can have far-reaching effects for towns, regions, populations, nations, societies, and generations. But the doing of it all, of doing good and right (or wrong)...it takes place one person, one day, one moment, one action at a time. This is one family I can commit to always try my best to help. One baby. My new god-child: Woodmica Elficasse.

Empty Bags, Full Heart

2010-03-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

Departure day from Haiti is always emotional…how could it not be, when a week has been so full? We had a 6 am ride back to Port au Prince, so were up sipping coffee by predawn candlelight as the orphanage stirred quietly to life. Leaning over the second story porch railing, I watched the night watchman in a hooded sweatshirt, cross the porch below me, carrying his small mattress across the dusty courtyard to store it for the day. He sleeps on the ground by the gate, for security. Sunrise glowed gently in the east, over the banana trees and the school, another dry and clear day in Hinche. My group of nurses, midwives, and daughters, and the Richmond Haiti’s Kidz Healthcare team had drunk beer and hugged and traded emails last night, but hugged each other and said goodbye all over again. After sharing the work of the week, we’ve forged friendships through the unforgettable experience, and the spiritual journey of trying to serve and help the poorest of the poor. Luggage that once was 3 or 4-50-lb bags each, now collapsed into empty bags within bags. Only clothing, personal items, and the artwork we purchased from the street vendors occupied the space. We did our best to give away all our money to good causes or individuals that we can trust to help and share with the Haitian community. Incoming M4H –Doctor Steve got up to wave us off….he tried to the bitter end to get me to stay and work with him and Nadene for the next week, but I imagine I may not remain married if I don’t show up at Dulles tonight, and rightfully so. I’ve barely seen my husband for 2 weeks. My midwife partners wouldn’t be too happy, either! But it’s nice to be wanted.

Haitian music on the radio as we left Hinche and began weaving the dusty path through the usual parade of dogs, chickens, and donkeys, going “fastly,” per Moliare, to make good time for our flight out of PaP. Everyone’s nausea calmed down after a couple hours when we got to the paved road in Mirebalais. Our driver, Moliare, has been helping the Midwives for Haiti program for years now. He works for the Episcopal church and lives in Port au Prince, but came out to Hinche to drive us in. Time permitting, he wanted to drive us through downtown PaP; he feels strongly that the world needs to be aware and stay aware of the depth of this disaster. He cares for his people, and has demonstrated his heart and integrity to us many times. Some volunteers have stayed at this house, met his kids, and seen the family and community members he supports. On the previous ride out, he had given me a good lecture on his opinions of what will help Haiti (education, infrastructure, education.)

So we got to PaP on time, and headed into the downtown and some of the worst earthquake damage. The roads are cleared enough to drive, but often only 1 lane due to the rubble. So many concrete homes, businesses, cinder block walls, crumbled, collapsed, gray wreckage with rebar and dust. Lives were lost inside them, not just bodies injured or killed, but the life contained in places of work, commerce, and education. He brought us past a school where 5 stories fell on 300 students; no bodies have yet been recovered; it’s just too deep a pile. The oldest cathedral of Port au Prince looked like it was hit by mortars. Then the “tent cities”; oh, this is too tidy a term. Yes, there are some areas with many tight rows of nylon tents and tarps set up by USAID and numerous international aid groups; but many, many city blocks between buildings are now fields of makeshift shelters with sheets, sticks, plastic, and cardboard, filled with ragged Haitians and the smell of poor sanitation. And in the city, in the street, around and under the tarps, life goes on: cooking on fires, frying of plantains, carrying buckets of water, repairing of tires, selling of vegetables. I try never to leave Haiti with more than a few dollars in my pocket, so planned to give all my leftover cash to Moliare to provide aid to the tent city in his neighborhood. I began to mention this to my team, to ask if anyone else wished to add their cash, but it caught in my throat and I started to sob. Money is help; probably the most liquid and useful help, but my heart was too hurt for my Haitian friends to feel like it was adequate. I was so sad to see this country and this people suffer this way. I wish I could do more, and the giving of cash humbled me. My sister nurses hugged me as I wept, and cried too, and added their money… and Moliare, the Haitian, said “Oh, don’t cry. It will get better”. Trust the Haitian to be the strong one in the car, and to comfort me. Dear Lord. So we assembled our money, and when he left us at the airport, about $200 was also sent to help the tent city north of Petionville.

The needs are so great, and the problems of Haiti so profound, that the possibility of despair and grief is always a shadow in the background. The Haitians hang on to hope, though, and I believe God commands us to do what we can. Moment-by-moment acts of grace and love will never be in vain, and we must hang on to them. One of the loveliest moments of my week, was at the mobile prenatal clinic in Bonabite. Jammed in the sweaty shack, I met the 20th woman of the day: Pregnant for the 8th time, she had one living child. Besides other early losses, she had given birth to a stillborn at 8 months of pregnancy, and another child who did not live to see 9 months of infancy. She was about 4-5 months along in this pregnancy, and said she still hadn’t felt this baby move. I checked her weight, blood pressure, and her belly size…all normal. Then I put my Doppler on her belly and we heard a nice strong heartbeat. She broke into the most beautiful smile. I smiled back, and through the interpreter, she told me she was so happy—she had been worried she would lose this one, too. I reassured her that she’d feel more kicking soon, and reviewed how to take her vitamins and iron, and return to the clinic in a month, if she could. She now has some hope and some life to hang on to. It gives me life, too, and fills my heart. It is why I do this work.

Each trip to Haiti is an exercise in flexibility, perseverance, and a spiritual adventure. I am reminded powerfully how my own small efforts and understanding are only a little part of the picture. Things happen that are clearly not all “human engineering”. My heart breaks and is filled, over and over. I cannot imagine how one can see the tragedy and beauty of places like Haiti and yet deny the presence and the essential need for God. The Haitians are all believers: they have to be. Connecting to this need and this faith must be why I keep coming back. So much is unknown: I didn’t know I would ever in my life see a hospital without any running water, or help deliver a baby on the sidewalk. I didn’t know, this time, that we’d discover a building that could be our new school and maternity center. I didn’t know that I would mourn so deeply for the people of Port au Prince, or how that woman’s smile would melt my heart. I didn’t know the girls dancing and drumming would lift me up so much. I don’t know, so many things. I know that I came with a lot of stuff, and left with empty bags and a full heart. It is worth doing. Thank you to everyone who helps me do it.

Busy Day in Hinche; Almost Done

2010-03-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

Our day started with rounds at the hospital today; I saw a baby who is 14 months old, and the size of 4-month old. He can't sit up or talk, and has obvious neurological delays. Maude, the translator who was with me last year for my first birth in Haiti, showed up, recently arrived in Hinche from Port au Prince. I started with the question I ask all my Haitian friends: are you ok? Is your family ok since the earthquake? Most of the answers have been pretty good, thank God. Maude, however, said she had been living in PaP and lost 2 of her 5 sons in the earthquake. Her oldest, and another. I have a cute photo of those little boys lined up in a row, in our truck, last March. I started crying, and Maude did not. She just said, well, we go on. I quit with the tears; if Maude doesn't cry, what business do I have to shed some? The stoicism of the Haitian people was never more clear. If they start crying, I believe they will never stop. So I gave Maude $20, a day's pay here for a translator, and told her God Bless You. She may have some work next week in Labor and Delivery.

Then a happier time: While my fabulous team of volunteers from Minnesota and New York organized our chaotic supply closet (THANK YOU!-Kelly, Sue, Jamie, Nancy, Katharyn!), I met Steve and Nadene's flight from PaP. Then I had the joy of showing them the building where we hope to house the Midwives for Haiti program in the near future. We're already teaching class there, and now hope to move over our storage, and soon, start a prenatal clinic and birth center. In the musty cinder blocks and dust, we see pink paint and a safe place for women in labor. Then, a load of donated military MRE's (70 cases) arrived by airplane that we signed for and directed to the orphanage. They will feed the families of the poorest kids who attend the school. The Marines get big props from everyone we hear talk about the earthquake after PaP-- they held it together. Proud to be from America.

Time to pack and go home. My luggage is empty; bags inside bags will be light and easy to check through. Tomorrow we'll view Port au Prince, God Help us/them. Then we'll fly home to where life is safer, the weather is colder, and the stars not quite as bright. The kids are loud tonight. This orphanage had 140 kids last December,now they are over 200, and kids are sharing their beds.

I will miss them, but be glad to see my husband and my home. I've dropped off a lot of money and aid, from a lot of friends: hired drivers, translators, bought handicrafts and artwork, and given donations to the feeding center where the poorest children are taken, and to this orphanage where the happiest kids in town are partying and playing soccer because they have a bed, a shower, education, 2 meals a day, and even a basketball court and a soccer field. And a big chunk of money to Flower of Hope school-- but that's a story for another day. I catch a ride to PaP at 6 am and better get to bed. Bon Nuit from Haiti---

Life in Haiti Goes On

2010-03-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

Mid-morning today, I had my hands on a Haitian woman's belly, inside a steamy-hot wooden shack under a mango tree where we had our mobile maternity clinic for the day. A gecko was skittering through the pile of medicines and I had almost tripped over some little kids underfoot. As I worried over the baby's position (not head-down) and whether I should advise her to deliver at the hospital, my doppler picked up a nice loud baby's heart beat, and my Haitian cell hone burst into a musical chime of a call coming in. Definitely a a "What now!?" moment...could we get any more hot and chaotic right now? Maybe a stampede of oxen or a hailstorm? But it was just a call from the nurses & midwives we had dropped off at the hospital, checking on our plans for the afternoon's class on Neonatal Resuscitation that Chuck Marting, the NNP volunteer, is teaching for our students and all the hospital staff.

Today at BonaBite, we had 4 midwives: 2 Haitian(trained by M4H), and 2 American, 2 bags of meds and equipment,and a 10'x10' shack with banana-leaf roof, but we managed to initiate prenatal care and examine 26 pregnant women. The sickest one with high blood pressure (pre-eclampsia), we loaded in the back of the truck with us and took to the hospital on our way home. Our "clinic" so hot and sweaty that eventually, you don't even notice it or the body odor of the 6-8 people crammed in there. A thin boy wearing a worn out, dirty scrub top as his only garment reminded me that this represents the poorest of the poor. Folks don't get much poorer than this and stay alive for long...we know the line between life and death here involves a few meals, good water or bad water, help or no help. We try to be some of the help.

Back at the hospital,in the afternoon, Chuck taught his Neonatal class, very well-attended by the hospital staff and our student midwives. Meanwhile, the only maternity nurse left on duty sent a laboring woman "out to walk" the outdoor area near the delivery room, and she gave birth on the concrete walkway outside; helped by our midwives who just came around the corner as she hollered and started to push.
My cold shower at the end of the day was probably the most welcome and desperately needed one I think I've ever had... between the dust and the sweat and the scooping up a wet baby off the sidewalk, I just don't know if I ever was in greater need.

There is a building here, on the grounds of the hospital, that could be a perfect headquarters for our work-- big enough for Midwives for Haiti to teach our students, run our own prenatal clinic, and deliver babies in a clean and safe environment, without running out of soap, Clorox, or hand sanitizer. We could even have paper towels...the ultimate symbol for me, now, of luxury and cleanliness, and something I never see here. I set up a meeting with the Ministry of Health to discuss it next Tuesday.

Back at the orphanage, about 40 girls were singing really loud and dancing and drumming. Fried Plantains, hot dogs, and cabbage salad for dinner-- I threw in some rum and cokes! Quite a party. Life goes on here, in big way. Earthquake or not--People suffer, they struggle, get sick, get help, give birth, dance, and celebrate. Haiti goes on, and gives me life, too.

Miracles Still Happen,( Even after Earthquakes.)

2010-03-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

Internet seems harder to get in Haiti than anything, so now that I’ve got some, 4 days into the trip, there’s this overwhelming pile of images and ideas I’ve been saving up to communicate!.... and how to spill it all out, before the generator stops cranking out the diesel-fueled electricity?
I forsake complete sentences….descriptions will have to do:

Port au Prince airport/Post-Quake: Most of the old building is not safe, cracked concrete, not being used. Imagine the baggage claim of Dulles or LaGuardia, smashed into a cargo area, minus the carousels… the luggage carts just stop at the garage bays and throw in cart after cart of bags thru the doors onto the concrete floor, to be sorted through by airport staff, who can’t really organize it because the crowd’s already climbing through it. Miracle #1: My group of 8 found all their bags, nothing stolen or lost, and then got it out through customs, even with bunches of meds, no problem. Outside the airport: Utter, Complete, Chaos. Trucks at the curb, surrounded by men trying to get work loading bags, beggars, injured people, pickpockets, puddles of mud, and driving through the street, a few reassuring US Army humvees rumbling through. As bags were thrown into our truck and the chaos milled around, the comforting thought that, in a pinch, we could raise our arms and wave desperately at the soldiers and they would stop. No need for that. Miracle #2...We got out and eventually onto a truck ride into the Central Plateau heading for Hinche. PaP had tent cities and rubble, but I don’t think we saw the worst areas as we headed west and north right away, out of town.

Maison Fortune Orphanage, Hinche: My “Haitian home” with the Xavieran brothers at the guesthouse welcomed me back with beans and rice for dinner, even though we were late and dusty and tired from the long drive. The mango tree is beginning to bear fruit, and due to the earthquake, 50 more kids have joined the “family”; an entire new building has been rented for boys from Port au Prince, and more girls, too. Jean Louis happy to receive rubber clogs, boys navy slacks, and light bulbs—the highest-value, lightest-weight stuff I could bring in my luggage.

Walked to Hinche Cathedral of St Mary, Sunday Mass; the beautiful bright colored clothes, the singing, the zillion kids who sit nicely for 2 hours, stained glass, white plaster, the breeze blowing through the open doors; definitely a welcome back to Haiti.

The hospital, Monday: Overwhelmed with people, low on supplies. Puddles of blood and amniotic fluid on the floor under the tables, students/staff waiting for someone to bring Clorox from a remote hidden stash, and eventually clean it up. The bravest thing I have done all week was to wring out the nastiest mop even seen, with my gloved hand (bucket has no wringer-device)and mop up the bloody floor, so we could walk on it without making tracks. Then we set about working with our students to teach compassion, respect, and assessment skills. Glimmers of progress coming Oh, so slowly.

Sleeping better this time than ever; maybe third time is the charm. Barking/fighting dogs, roosters crowing, generators humming, seem not to faze me too much with a little Grand Marnier on board and some earplugs. Comfy and secure inside my little bedtent where the giant (6 cm!) spiders or mosquitoes can’t get at me. Up with the sun, a cold shower and some strong coffee in the morning and I’m good to go. (My sisters say this getting-up-early thing would be Miracle #3.)

Next Miracle: I think we found a birth center building right on the property of the hospital! only obstacles would be permission and money, and that’s not anything that can’t be overcome....toes and fingers crossed and prayers sent up. The Midwives for Haiti program desperately needs its own space so we can control/protect our own equipment, protocols, and the quality of our care. We need to stay connected to the hospital...this could make that happen.

I know that this journey is held up and protected and blessed by the kindness and prayer and good wishes of many good people. Sorry it took so long to get internet! You are in my heart as I crawl into my bednet and breathe a deep sigh, tonight.

Trip 3: Post-Quake: Courage, Clarity, Kindness

2010-03-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

3/5/10, 2 am
I leave for Haiti this afternoon but have a woman in labor at the moment. I was lucky during the day and had no one in labor til now, so had time to do a re-pack and wrap up office details. Now my bags weigh in properly to avoid extra fees, and I feel as ready as I'll ever be. I am taking a very different load this time, "post-quake", and I guess I pack differently since I've been there before. My clothing is just about nothing but scrubs and a house dress and a dress for church. I go this time with more "equipment"-- 2 dopplers were donated, one of them brand new. Thermometers for all the students to have in their bags. Plastic baskets to organize the supply areas of the hospital that we are using in Labor and Delivery. Some precious, carefully wrapped and stashed anitbiotics, and a lot of dressings, gauze, tylenol for the hospital. Bookbags and notebooks for the kids at Flower of Hope School. Diapers, chux, onesies for moms and babies in Port au Prince.

So many generous friends and family have funded this trip to Haiti and given donations toward disaster relief and rebuilding....and what a weird mix!! ..My sisters, Loudoun Community Midwives' patients, my colleagues at the hospital,...good grief! my financial planner! The Moms Club of Ashburn-Broadlands! Finnegan's Irish Pub! Quakers, and other friends, and some people who just found my blog somehow, and cared. I am humbled that you feel this project is worthy of support, and promise that I'll try hard to make wise donations that will do some good. My thoughts of how to support the people in Haiti are very on-the-ground and direct:
Midwives for Haiti program: equipment, meds, learning/teaching/organizing supplies.
Heartline Ministries: in the middle of Port au Prince, feeding the hungry, nourising pregnant women, treating the sick, teaching women to support themselves, running a birth center.
Flower of Hope community school that my friends Theard and Manno have started in their village outside Hinche: notebooks, book bags, and money to build some walls to keep it secure.
Maison Fortune Orphanage: They believe that feeding, housing, and educating Haiti's children is how to build Haiti's future leaders. Funds will go to buy them food, clothes, books, and build another building so they can take in more kids since the quake.
It's difficult to prepare emotionally to return to Haiti after the earthquake. There is happy anticipation to see my friends there, but mixed with a deep dread. Similar to the fears one has when about to see a loved one after they've had a car accident....you love them and want to see them. But you also dread seeing them in their weakend, injured state. And Haiti is weakened and injured...I love her and want to help, if I can. It feels very big. Some friends worry about my safety in Haiti, and I do try to be very wise and careful. I don't have great concerns over my physical safety, however, I do believe this trip may be very hard on the head and the heart.

It takes me back to one of my most frequent spiritual meditations:
Courage, Clarity, Kindness.
Courage is certainly needed. Haitians are so brave and persistent, they lift me up, too. We all have to believe that our efforts will make a difference, the way can get better, that wounds can heal; that there is hope for a better day.
Clarity is really needed for this trip. The primary reason I began trips to Hinche was to help train Haitian women to be skilled birth attendants. With the great influx of refugees in the town, and a surge of new personalities and faces and even styles of practice among all the new volunteers, there is confusion and tendency toward chaos even greater than the usual level in Haiti. I pray to have a clear head to function effectively to help the students and the program succeed.
Kindness. I hope to remember to tap into kindness, despite stress, frustration, fears, angst, or disorganization. Kindness to others, and to myself.
If anything is ever to heal, it does so when we connect with kindness in, and from, the heart of God.
Next post: (hopefully) Monday, when I can get internet at the Ministry ofHealth.

Re-Opening of the Haiti Room; That was Then, This is Now

2010-01-26T07:50:00.001-08:00

When I've gone to Haiti in the past, the month prior to departure transforms our dining room into what Greg affectionately calls The Haiti Room, with the big table covered with donated supplies, clothing, and all my "Haiti gear"- strewn about in piles, bags, and an ordered chaos that only I understand. But I didn't plan to open the Haiti room for this March trip.

On departure day of my December 2009 trip, last minute, I had the unpleasant surprise of the airline restricting passengers to 2 50-lb bags. So I packed up boxes and bags of the excess stuff, intending to take the second round of things this March. I happily gloated to myself that I wouldn't need to collect and sort all the stuff, as I already had loads of scrubs to take, and quite few bundles of medical supplies I could pack& go with. I ALSO gloated-- maybe this is a do-not-gloat lesson-- that I had only myself transport, no need to finance Stephen's part, and that Loudoun Community Midwives would donate my airfare as usual-- I wouldn't need to harass my friends and family with "begging money for Haiti" pleas. Oh, how orderly and "ready in advance for the next trip" I felt. Yeah, well. That was Then, This is Now....

As we all are painfully aware, the earth then shook Port au Prince and southern Haiti on Jan 12, 2010, like a terrier shakes a rat. The largest, capital city of one of the most fragile, least developed and poorly organized infrastructures on the planet, essentially crumpled like a pile of crackers, and now all the plans are changed. In fact, there are very few plans. Now we have hopes, and ideas, of how to help Haiti, but the grief and the unknowns are very difficult to navigate, and plans are very hard to make. Taking a lesson from the Haitian people, however, who DO NOT give up, EVER, I see people from all around the world and especially America, rallying to help. Midwives for Haiti has every intention of continuing and expanding our work to try to help Haitian women by training and supporting midwives in Haiti, and expanding skilled maternity care where it is needed most. American Airlines resumes service to Port au Prince on Jan 29 and some of "our people" will be on a flight this coming week-- and so on into the spring.

So, the Haiti Room is re-opened, and I'm getting ready for a trip March 5-13.
For my incredible supporters who have been asking already, here are the needs as understood right now:

Mostly, Money. I have my airfare covered, so funds will be spent in Haiti informal economy on food, fuel, travel, or otherwise donated to churches, schools, orphanages, or to buy medical supplies or other urgent needs of the trip. Just send me a check (home address or Loudoun Community Midwives,19465 Deerfield Ave. Suite 205 Lansdowne VA 20176). I will take as much as I get, and use it well. I never leave Haiti with more than $10 in my pocket. (Then I land in Miami and find an ATM!) If you'd like a receipt from a charity for tax purposes, then donate by sending checks or online donations to MidwivesforHaiti.org. Those will pay for salaries of Haitian midwives, medications, and staffing a new maternity center in Cite Soleil, the biggest slum in Port au Prince, with our graduates.

Hotel "Points" or Miles
In the past, I've been offered credit card "miles" or "points" to help with travel. This time, our trip group needs 2 rooms at the Miami airport for Friday night, March 5. Any Miami airport hotel. There is nowhere safe to stay overnight in Port au Prince, as we have done in the past, so we need to rendezvous in Miami then fly in together on Saturday. I will be leading my group of 2-3 RN's from Minnesota who have volunteered to help teach midwives nursing skills, help in maternity, or other med-surg/ER duties as needed at the hospital.

Supplies and Donations-
We can only take 2 bags each, as we may travel more in trucks this time-- but I know it will help to take
BedSheets (Theard says people are lying on the concrete floor of the hospital)
Ace Bandages, gauze, wound-care dressings
Pitocin, Antibiotics, Magnesium Sulfate, Prenatal Vitamins and Iron (discuss with me if you'd like to help purchase, I can get thru a wholesale pharmacy)

Help me Organize the Stuff, Later in February
In later February, before the trip, I will need some help getting the donations into orderly piles, ziploc bags, and bundles that will make sense when I am pulling them out of my suitcase at the hospital and a baby is crowning or a lady is bleeding or seizing. People who come to my house will be given beer or cookies. (Greg is conveniently going to a ReMAX convention in Florida the week before I go...my, he is learning how to survive this process quite well. I think our marriage will survive Haiti after all.)
I can't do this all myself, I am learning, and I know I have friends ( a lot of good, kind friends) who will help.

Thanks & God Bless.
Welcome Back to the Haiti Room! Grab a seat! There is a chair underneath those plastic bags somewhere...no, beside the gloves and the Lidocaine...

PS: Update: My wonderful financial planner, Ed Skelly of Sterling Financial Partners, has generously offered to match the first $500 cash/check donations to this trip 1:1, to help fund the purchase of drugs and medical supplies. My friends, you blow me away. : )

News & Ways to Help

2010-01-14T08:55:00.001-08:00

Midwives for Haiti has great news in that Shelly, our most recent American CNM volunteer, is unhurt, in Port au Prince. When and how she will get home to the US is another thing entirely, but thank God, she's safe. Here is an update from Nadene Brunk, the founder of Midwives for Haiti, in response to many concerned inquiries regarding the M4H project and the general situation in Haiti. God Bless you All for caring!

(see also: mercycorps.org)

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Dear friends of Midwives for Haiti,
Many of you contacted me today to see if you could help us in any way. The devastation in Haiti is unbelievable for those of us who knew how bad it was before and frightening to think how many people who we loved are no longer alive.
Our teachers, students, and friends are safe in Hinche and the program will go on.
However, we know the worst need is in PAP. There is a rumor that AA is offering free airfare to doctors and nurses. Call 212-697-9767 to check it out.
Many want to go to PAP to help with relief there. But getting there is one thing and where you will stay, how you will get there from the airport and what you will eat or drink while there is difficult to predict. The missionaries we know in PAP are alive but have limited resources to house and feed others. I hesitate to give their names and numbers because they are not certain how long their own resources will last. We have not heard from our faithful drivers and translators in PAP.
We will continue our program in Hinche because it is more needed than ever. I think we will be able to have transport from PAP to Hinche lined up in the next week.
But if you want to go to PAP to help, know that you need to be a part of an organization that is really big and really organized or you may be in the same shape as the other survivors- wondering where you will sleep and what you will eat.
If we can partner with another organization that particularly wants to put midwives to work in PAP, we will get the information to you as soon as we can. Suggested organizations- Mennonite Central Committee, The American Red Cross, the UNFPA, Doctors Without Borders ( who could not find staff and doctors today to work in 3 toppled hospitals), Christian Services International, Circle of Health International (http://www.cohintl.org/)

Nadene Brunk

EarthQuake

2010-01-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

January 12, evening time, a huge earthquake hit near Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.
Many friends who follow this blog or who just care about Haiti and our midwife training program, are emailing and texting to see if we have any special needs or information on the situation.

Of course, good news- bad news.
Good news; Hinche, where our midwife training program is headquartered, is about 70 miles northeast of Port au Prince, in the mountains. Nadene heard today by email from Danise, our Haitian midwife- teacher "I'm ok, no problem in Hinche". Nadene also reported everyone at Heartline Ministries, (Beth & John McHoul, etc.) our Port-au-Prince hosts when we travel through,are shaken but safe. So there are some big sighs of relief.
Of concern is Shelly,B. our American CNM volunteer who was working in Hinche last week. She was planning to be in PaP around now, and we do not yet know how/where she is, last I knew. My son Stephen has a Quaker friend, Julian, who was in PaP with his sister; they escaped a crumbling building but both have some injuries from rubble. My heart goes out to the Haitians, and friends there trying to help. It makes me weep to know that before this event, they were barely scraping by in terms of health care, infrastructure, and functionality...now what?
I think of the ravine below Petionville, housing 70,ooo souls in tiny huts and shacks, and I am afraid to imagine what has occurred there. Clearly our country, and the international community is going to their aid, and I thank everyone for praying, very hard, for all the people in Haiti.

Concrete Improvements: Hope for Haiti

2009-12-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

America is a wonderful place to live. I'm, just saying: oh, be thankful, folks. We have a lovely, clean, comfortable, prosperous place to live.
Now, I spend a lot of words in this blog talking about how rough it is in Haiti; it does astound me how close a neighboring country has such an enormous contrast to us; and I think Americans need to know (and care) about their neighbors.. And Haiti has had a couple centuries without any stable or beneficial government or investment in infrastructure. That makes that place so poor that it's really still in the 19th century.

But this blog entry is about hope for Haiti. I was there in March 09, and in December 09. There have been quite a few international initiatives implemented to help Haiti, and they are noticeable even over 9 months. The road to Hinche is almost done. In past years, our group only flew, never drove, from Port au Prince to Hinche, due to the crazy bad roads--- it took 4-6 hours, and cars break down,etc. Now, the road is graded, fairly even gravel, with drainage culverts in place, and paving will come soon. Our friend and translator Berry says that he can get on a bus ( "tap-tap", actually a truck with people sitting in the cargo area) in Hinche at 6 am, and be at class in PaP at 9am. Roads are key. Commerce can happen with roads. A farmer with extra mangoes on his tree can sell them, if there are roads. No roads; they rot. Women in labor can get help from a midwife with roads. No roads, moms and babies die. It's a big deal. Road work in Haiti was everywhere.

My favorite symbol of new hope for Haiti was right out of the "Narnia" series of children's books-(The Lion,the Witch, and the Wardrobe...rememer the lampost?) It's in the middle of the photo on this post...While driving out in very remote rural Haiti, several times, we came over a rise, and I thought I was seeing things, as in a tiny village crossroads, I saw a solitary lamppost and street light, with a solar panel on top. When dark has fallen in those villages, people are sitting under those new lights, reading the newspaper. Sewing, studying. Carving. Talking. Hoping. Let's Hold them in the Light.

Do You Want Spaghetti or Bananas for Lunch?...or, Freaky Friday, again.

2009-12-12T16:46:00.000-08:00

On my first trip to Haiti, the final day of the trip, Friday, was a crazy adventure in understanding Haiti healthcare, by delivering a baby in a Haitian hospital (‘A Haitian Birthday” post). Well, it must be something about the Friday thing, as this Friday Dec 11 offered Stephen and me yet another Grand Finale of the trip experience.
One of my main tasks for the week was to go out with the CARITAS mobile clinic team, with our 2 newly graduated midwives who will be adding prenatal care to the services this charity provides on a monthly basis in several remote rural villages. We learned only 2 days in advance that it was a “go” to do this, but I got the message to Magdala and Thelamaque, and they showed up at the orphanage at 5 am Friday…our last full day in Haiti. Soon thereafter, the midwives, Stephen and I, with a big bag of supplies and prenatal charts, and piled into the Toyota Land Cruiser, with the CARITAS team, 2 Haitian nurses and a driver. Being a driver in Haiti is a REAL job, really a profession. The roads are so terrible- rutted, with blind curves, and the traffic on them so heavy and diversified that driving is more like a rally road race than a “ride in the country”. We were a little behind schedule after waiting for our tardy interpreter, so the driver put on the gas whenever he could. Random donkeys, other trucks, chickens, goats, and deep potholes of course interfered, but he was valiant. We rumbled along in our Land Cruiser as the sun came up and the road got rougher after we left the paved part in Los Cohobas. We stopped to pick up, or drop off items or messages on the way, and the journey lengthened into a 3 hour adventure that included both Magdala and me getting carsick from the crazy turbulence, dust, and heat.
THEN we arrived at our destination; the itsy bitsy village of Rosec, with its tiny church and parish house compound. As we parked in the dusty courtyard and folks began to bring pieces of broken furniture, benches, and tarps which would build our “clinic”, the driver asked us “Do you want bananas or spaghetti for lunch?”..It was 9am, 90 degrees, and I’d been vomiting. Gee Whiz….decisions, decisions! Neither Stephen nor I had any clue how to reply to such a random question, and not much interest in lunch at that point, though we did find it intriguing that it was going to be obtained from a “restaurant”…one of which I really hadn’t seen yet that day…but anyway. Based on the status of the village, I didn’t want to expect more than anybody else would be eating that day, and if the menu was bananas or spaghetti, I’d eat it and be grateful. I said whatever they wanted to get was fine and passed over some cash.
We set to work, opening our bags on an ancient table that once had 3 planks, but now had 2, the middle one missing. We also had a small table for our desk, a couple chairs, and they got a bench from the church for our patients to recline upon for exams. Tarps were stretched to define our space, and one for shade, as the sun was getting higher. Meanwhile our patients were filling the “waiting room”—a bunch of other benches out in the middle of the courtyard. I am proud of our new midwives. Magdala and Thelamque are new at midwifery, and I am pretty new to practicing in Haiti, but we made a good team. I provided an organizing element, monitoring and assisting the giving of meds, physical assessments and plans of care, using faithful Manno as interpreter. The Haitian midwives had good ideas about practical Haiti things, like putting the bench so that the head was “uphill”, and discarding the urine samples in a gravel pile nearby. They were diligent and competent, recording each pregnant woman’s history and not shocked at the standard answers, which often involved 6-10 pregnancies, histories of prematurity, hemorrhage, and infants who died of unknown causes. Most women had no idea what their diagnoses or problems had been—there is very little discussion, education, or explanation given during Haitian health care, when the people to receive it. The women we saw had no previous prenatal care, and ranged from 16-35 weeks gestation. This also involved a lot of guesswork, as most women also had no idea how far along they were. Hopefully the “new Haitian midwives” we’re training will be communicators and educators with Haiti’s women.
Stephen took great photos and film of all of this, and reported to me several times that ”they just keep waddling in!”, lining up on the benches. Well, sun got higher, the day got hotter, and lunch came from the restaurant in styro boxes. We paused to eat. It was fried chicken, a couple very scrawny but tasty wings, actually, and boiled plaintains—aha! that was the “bananas” part of the lunch order!! Apparently it was a “choose your starch” question; we could have had “spaghetti”!! Darn it. This was the Haitian equivalent of “fries or baked potato?” Oh well. It was something to eat, and it was brief, as we had a message from the CARITAS nurse, who was working across the courtyard, asking us to “move it along, the ladies are complaining about waiting." In Haiti?? Tired of waiting? It seems all these folks have to do is wait! Some of their friends even came to wait with them, for entertainment! Do they have other appointments? We’re doing our best, lady! But we tried to speed up.
In my USA practice, a “New OB” appointment is the longest one. Even with nurses to help, it takes a good 30 minutes to start a woman’s pregnancy care and have a handle on her situation. Our Midwives for Haiti mobile clinic was new to Rosec, and the women had never seen anybody for care, so we had nothing but “new OB”s” all day. But we saw 18 women, provided Prenatal vitamins, iron, and administered worm medicine to everyone. Some we treated for other problems, including a terrible case of pneumonia that I would have sent directly to the hospital if we had been in the States. As it was, I put her on oral Amoxicillin and Zithromax, with the advice to GO to the hospital if she felt worse or not better in 1 or 2 days. I hope she gets well—it’s a long, hard journey from there to “the hospital”, and not much reliable help even when she gets to one.
After lunch, Stephen had shot most of his film and battery. He disappeared for a while… Then he came around the tarp while I was working on my lab desk/broken table,…looking a little… disoriented?...astonished? and said “Mom, I just attended a Haitian funeral.” This stopped me in my tracks, just for a minute, as I was seeing the pneumonia lady and was also running out of vitamins…I looked at him, and said;”Yeah? I bet that was different?!”…Oh, you will never believe it, he said—and gave me some details, only a few, until later—but it included a procession singing and dancing,
Drumming on buckets and drums
Banging machetes
Drinking alcohol and spitting it on the coffin…
But then, the coffin did not fit in the mausoleum,
So they hacked it up with machetes until it fit.
The widow seemed to like Stephen’s presence, and stood with him a minute, then basically signaled that he should leave. Which he did….so he came back to the compound with that funny look, and a wild story to tell later.
By then I had run out of vitamins and iron, but the CARITAS nurse said I could send the ladies over to her nurse who would give them some, but I had to “write a prescription”. I asked Manno: how in the world I do that, in Creole? On what form? But we just punted…I pulled out my little notepad, and he helped me spell out “Name” (Nom), “date” (Dat) etc., and we wrote a Rx template in Creole. I had a dog wandering under my half a table as I wrote these, and I have no idea where these “documents’ will go… but I wrote Creole prescriptions and the ladies got vitamins. And iron. Oh, what a day. It only took 2 and a half hours back, and no one lost their lunch—the lunch of “bananas” and chicken. It was the Freaky Friday, final-day-in-Haiti, all over again.

NO Fast Food in Haiti

2009-12-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

It is just too overwhelming—and possibly tedious, both to read, or write, a list of what we’ve been doing in Haiti this week (besides sweating heavily, giving away scrubs, riding around in the truck!) Sharon and I plan to sit together on the flight back to Miami, Saturday, and compose an email to the M4H Board with that kind of laundry list. So for now, here are just some descriptions of little pieces of the lovely, crazy quilt that make up this week in Haiti:
A bigger classroom in the Ministry of Health was open for us to use for our “Out of Hospital Birth” presentation. All of Class 2, (mostly graduated) and Class 3—(beginners) attended, and Sharon and I had a blast, sharing with them our philosophy of woman-centered midwifery and the concepts of risk assessment; what’s ok to do at home, what’s not, and tips on assisting a labor without much intervention. Stephen and Chris improvised a “Haitian boom” microphone --- ( mic duct-taped to a broomstick) and got good audio and video of the whole event. Stephen said he had a proud moment with me and Sharon role-playing, demonstrating back labor, side-lying, and hand-and-knees delivery, with me crawling around on the conference table, moaning loudly. Meanwhile, Sharon played the midwife role, showed how to do these labors and deliveries and validated that mobility in labor and different positions are not only normal but helpful.
We’ve been available to whatever pregnant women wanted any care, so that has meant a prenatal visit each day with somebody—our translator Theard’s wife, and then each of the 2 cooks, wanted to See the Midwife and made an “appointment” when we could check them out in our bedroom at the orphanage. It has been so sweet to sit with these women, give them information about what is normal, when their due date will be, discuss what their plan may be for birth. They have generally seen somebody at the local clinic, but it seems there is no teaching or sharing of information…nobody knows why they should take iron, or vitamins, whether their urine test, blood pressure, or size of their belly was normal, so they just wonder and worry. We will change that with more midwifery care!
The lunch each day on the porch at Maison du Fortune Orphanage has given me happiness. In past trips, we’ve often not been able to arrange to bring our staff- drivers, translators, etc, into the places where we ate our noon meal. They just fended for themselves, or even (we kind of figured out over time)… went hungry. There is no Fast Food in Hinche! Actually, nothing is fast. Not the traffic, the most of which is on foot or human or otherwise. Not the pace of business—“Maybe Tomorrow” is a motto these folks live by. I went to a Haitian bank, and while a mob waited forever in line for the teller, cell phones were plugged into the wall, charging, by the potted plants—free power!
On this trip, at this new “home”, however, all The Guys Eat with us, served by the cooks of this house of Xavieran Brothers who host us. Each day at noon, we come back here, and rest on the shady, tiled upper porch, pray, and share our meal—(Any blog reader already KNOWS the menu!) And it is so pleasant.
In Haiti, hunger is not an abstract concept or a growling stomach due to poor time managment. People struggle, worry, and exert great effort each day to find a way to make some money, grow some crops, make some deals, to find food. Then they find charcoal with which to cook it. They get water from a tap, often not a tap at their house, but down the street. They go to market on a donkey or a bike or walk, to buy the food, and then, finally, if all goes well…there is lunch. It is a happy time. A big plate of beans and rice, a little bit of meat cooked, with raw onions on top… makes a Haitian happy. It’s made me happy too—to share it..to provide work that makes someone able feed their family..to get to live this day, and eat lunch with my family and friends. Messi Bon Dieu—Thanks be to God.

Pressure Cooker: Which are Thicker: the Mosquitos or the Stars?

2009-12-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

Food cooks faster when you cook it under pressure. I’m feeling about cooked myself, now, from the heat, humidity, combined with pressure of what I hope or need to accomplish vs.the obstacle-ridden chain of events that can make up a day in Haiti. We can make plans, but they will change daily, if not hourly.

Many joys in the past days, and many frustrations and griefs. Hugging my son Stephen at the airstrip this morning was a big one. It’s so great that he’s willing and able to share even a a part of this work, and experience this piece of global reality, and my heart. Frustration over the lack of internet: it’s broken at our host building, and not one cyber café open in the whole town due to the Feast Day. So blog posts go out very intermittently as the opportunity arises. This afternoon, a long, dusty, rugged ride in the back of Ronel’s truck to the Medical Missionaries clinic in Tomassique, where one of our star graduates, Merlinda, is working. Great scenery! Great to see her and her clinic. She and a partner midwife attend 30-40 births a month out there, using 3 labor beds all in one room, and a table and a sink at the end of the room, behind a screen. That was the joy….the more difficult part of the scenery is the many, many people on the road, who live in these rugged hills, scraping out the meagerest living on bare agriculture and random pieces of work they can find. As we rounded one bend in a massively rutted road, I looked up the big wooded bank above the road, and saw a man at a treadle sewing machine, in the front yard of a little wooden Haitian house. What’s he sewing up there? How far will he walk, or ride a donkey or a bike, to get some food or some money for it?
In Merlinda’s clinic, she had a lady who she had attended 2 hours prior to our arrival. It had been a long labor but all was well. The woman, Jacline, had had one prenatal visit, and had traveled 2 hours to get there and have safe midwifery care for her baby’s birth. I gave her a gift pack of onesies and diapers. I want to give her and her baby a better life, but this is for now, the best we can do.
Long after dark, we got “home” to the orphanage. I broke the shower nozzle when I took a shower. I’m wracked with painful guilt over breaking anything in Haiti—it’s so hard to fix! So much other stuff is broken. It’s not easy to live a day here, even when everything works. I prepared for tomorrow’s plan, only to get a cell phone call at 9 pm that scrambled the day and week….again. The mobile clinic truck is going out on Friday and I need to take our 2 newly-hired gradutes and go help them get oriented. So other planned activites have to be fit in some other day, but we’re running out of days…and oh yes, we’re trying to take film while we do all this. I’m worried I can’t fit it all in. I’m worried I’ll forget things I promised to do, or that I will drop the ball on these peole we are trying to help. I’m afraid to let them down. These are real people with real lives, and they try so hard, and they count on us to help them. It’s hot, the mosquitos are thick tonight, the humidity is high, and the pressure is on. I’ve got to get in my mosquito net before I’m eaten alive! But I look up from my porch, and, because there is no municipal electricity, there’s no light pollution, and the stars are spectacularly thick and brilliant. It’s the glass-half-empty-or-half-full riddle of Haiti: Which are thicker? The mosquitos or the stars?

A Day in Haiti Lasts Three Days

2009-12-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

At 4pm today, I was hiking down a rugged dirt path, gazing at dry blue mountains rising above bright green sugar cane fields. We had just viewed a rural school that our interpreters started this year, partly with funding from US donors like us and volunteers from their own community.. The school consists of blackboard, benches, a latrine and a thatched roof. At the 4pm moment, I dodged a cow coming down a path, with a kid following her on a string, not exactly in charge, but hanging on…. I looked at my watch, turned to my travel partner midwife Sharon Ryan and said “We’ve almost been in Haiti 24 hours.” Her eyes widened; she sighed, and she agreed…in regular time, we have only been here one day. It feels like 3. Maybe 4. But they have been 3 really good days, and we should sleep great tonight.
Our arrival in Port au Prince was a brief, intense overnight stay. The short drive through the city was almost as disturbing as my first time; the gigantic potholes! The dusty, hot streets! The minimal sanitation! and lots of pedestrians trying to avoid motorbikes and trucks. Our hostess, BethMcHoul fed us a lovely dinner, and showed us her women’s center and birth center, which is saving the lives of the poorest women in Port au Prince. Her program teaches women sewing skills to foster financial independence, provides basic education (reading, writing, math), prenatal and classes on health care, breast feeding. They even feed these severely malnourished women high protein meals by raising their own tilapia! Then Beth and other volunteer midwives attend these women’s births with dignity and kindness in a place where very little of that exists. And as a bonus, they give Midwives for Haiti volunteers a safe overnight when we’re coming into the country. God Bless them!~ heartlineministries.org. We donated some baby clothes medical supplies salvaged from the US hospitals, meds that she can’t get in Haiti, and she gave us advice and wisdom on working with Haitian women and culture.
Today has been a day of gladness and pieces falling into place. I had such joy to reconnect with the friends I made last March…our interpreters, Theard and Manno, and Ronel, our driver., Danise, our Haitian nurse-midwife teacher. After the 20 minute lflight in a 4- seater plane, we landed with no plan at all, other than to start making phone cell phone calls to all the people that we need to meet with. But, then the sun, moon , and stars all lined up… Father Jacques , our primary Haitian contact and advisor, said “come on over, I will be happy to see you now!” Within an hour of landing, we were sitting on his balcony with our group and both the M4H teachers, Danise, and Marthone, talking over many of the issues we current issues for the program and goals for the week. Then things just kept moving—we got to the orphanage where we will stay in the guesthouse. Ate dinner (Beans! Rice! Goat stew! Surprise!) with all staff and Brother Harry and Mike. We visited the homes of Theard and Manno, saw their kids and wives…I am getting re-accustomed to kissing on both cheeks as a greeting. We examined a friends’ wife and will try to find the right meds to help her severe abdominal pain. (We think she has an ulcer.) We saw the rural school (ie, paragraph 1!) that Theard and Manno have built simply on believing that they should, and friends have funded in random and generous manners when they can. As a result, since this past October, 72 children in Naral are learning to read and write who have never been to school before.
We looked at the house that MH could consider renting to have a “permanent space” that’s ours. I don’t think that particular house will work, but it’s an idea. This little non-proft currently lives out of closets in about 4 builidngs and pays room and board for 2 Haitian teachers in 2 different places. A “home of our own” in Hinche could save money and logistical energy. But for now, we’re “home”—the Maison du Fortune Orphange. A soccer game of about 30 kids was going in the courtyard when we returned at dusk. The boys are sweet and shy, but love it when we speak English with them—or join in their games. We brought them shoes, clothes, and medicines. Wait ‘til they see we brought them a soccer ball and a basketball.
I think I’m in an emotional honeymoon phase…I do find that as a “second voyager”, I’m now less traumatized by the poverty, and can really cope better and feel more normal than the first time. (I have high hopes that I won’t wake up crying at all!—we’ll see.) The bigger and harder issues of the week have not yet even begun. We need to spend some special teaching time with our students, have some meetings about getting the new graduates jobs, travel out to see some former grads at their practice sites, and oh yeah, Stephen lands Tuesday and we’ll start to make a film! But tonight, I’m just happy.
Happy to be in Haiti. The mountains and fields are spectacular. The people are incredible. They just keep trying, and they show that it’s true—we should never, ever, give up. You never know when things will go exactly right. Like today…these 3 days that we just lived in one.

Embargo

2009-12-04T07:46:00.000-08:00

"Embargo": possibly Latin for "Tear your Hair Out"!
I was on call for 5 of the 7 days before I left for Haiti. Full moon, lots of labors and births. I knew the schedule, and that this was coming, so I packed carefully in advance-- my friend Brett even came over, gave us dinner, and helped do the final pack. We had SO many generous donations of all sorts, but were sure I had all in order. Except-- the day before my departure, I learned from Sharon, my travel-partner midwife from Ohio, that between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the airline has an embargo on any luggage over 75 lbs, and NO third bag allowed....hence, "Tear your Hair out!!"

I attended 3 births on Wednesday, then between deliveries on Thursday, I raced home, said hi to Greg who had not seen me for a day or so, and frantically re-arranged, ruthlessly and rapidly prioritized the "Must Go Now Stuff" in 2 Bags vs. the "Stuff to Go in March". This time, medical supplies, meds, cell phones and laptop, scrubs for the students, some baby and kids' clothing, books, portable food. A lot of the baby stuff, diapers, and some kids clothes will go in March when I go back for trip #3.

When my plane took off from Dulles on Friday at 6 am, I had 2 bags that were exactly 75 lbs; (after I re-arranged them at the baggage counter again with the whole world looking on..!) It's all ok--only a reminder and a taste of third-world life that I'm headed for. In places like Haiti, plans are made, but every day is generally a series of emergencies, small, medium, or large, that folks navigate as best they can. So my crises in packing are exhausting but oh, so small.

On the map, Florida sticks its nose out into the Atlantic and Caribbean, and Miami sits on the tip of the nose. I write this in the Miami airport, with the sensation of bouncing on the end of the diving board, the jumping-off point of the USA and into the third world. We land in Port-au-Prince, and nothing is quite so simple after that; not internet, power, water. Not even birth is safe.

But Midwives for Haiti has a mission that is inching forward, trying to help. This trip, I will look at a house that the Board may consider renting, so that we have a "home" in Hinche and not just random rooms and closets in several different buildings. I'll meet with teachers, students, our Haiti friends and advisers, and help organize a new mobile clinic. I'll talk about a Durango SUV that is being donated to the cause from the US, and how to get it to Hinche (that should be interesting for sure: we can't even send a package UPS, let's see how we get a truck there!) And my son Stephen will arrive on Tuesday and work on filming for future PR projects.

I don't need to ask for prayers or good wishes. Gifts, notes, hugs, help, donations, and phone calls have convinced me many times over that I only do this with the love and support of a very large tribe. Thank you for reading this. Thank you for being part of it with me. OK.... jump off the diving board!!!

Short-term Memory Loss and Recovery

2009-11-06T04:55:00.001-08:00

Wow! Part of the beauty of a blog is the dynamic, day-to-day ability to post new information, or to correct mistakes! I had forgotten since March that a 3rd bag can be taken on the airlines, for $100 extra. I am over 50 now, and boy, it shows in the short-term memory lapses. I use a small notebook, every day, as my portable memory of things to remember!
So, corrections to the Algebra Problem:
Wendy Can take three bags, #300 pounds, of stuff, as long as the extra $100 is available as well. I can't even compute the cubic inches-- let's not try!
Other tweaks to the wish list:
USED SCRUBS: The students were issued 1 set of scrubs, to wear when they are training at the hospital. They would greatly appreciate an extra set, each. Since laundry is done by hand in a washtub in one's back yard, and hung to dry on cactus bushes, the value of spare scrubs becomes obvious. See photos of students in scrubs, and of laundry being done in the alleyway. (These photos look much better when you click on them & enlarge them).
A Laptop computer is also needed for our new (second!) Haitian nurse-midiwfe teacher, if anyone has a "spare laptop"!.

Algebra Problem

2009-11-04T14:05:00.001-08:00

Amazing friends, family and supporters, are now asking "What are the needs for the December trip to Haiti?" It's a tough answer, because I learned last time that, at best, I will be taking 2 maximum-size duffel bags, and one small carry-on. I pay an extra $100 each for each bag, each of which I pack to the 100 lbs capacity, and use my carry-on for my personal stuff. So it's like an algebra story probem: "Wendy can take #200 pounds of items to Haiti, packed into 6,750 cubic inches...items must be small, lightweight, and of high value to the Haitian mothers, midwives, and babies. What should she take?"

So here are the suggestions and wishlist so far. I also am trusting the astonishing power of concerned individuals to let their hearts lead them to the perfect act of kindness...over and over again, it happens, better than we can "plan" it.

*Financial donations are obviously the most liquid and portable of all. Checks written to "Midwives for Haiti" with "Dotson trip" in the memo line can be sent in through me, and used in multiple ways for needs as they arise.

* Medical supplies are coming in abundantly from salvage-concious nurses at both Prince William Hospital and Loudoun. Sterile, or ultra-clean, uncontaminated: gauze, gloves, cord clamps, suture, lidocaine, syringes, and suture.

* Baby supplies:
light receiving blankets
small soaps & shampoos
cloth diapers(nevermind the plastic pants-not used!)
Onesies of all sizes

*For the prenatal clinics:
Prenatal vitamins
Over the counter Iron supplements; ie, Slo-Fe,
Vitron -C

*For the students:
Lightweight White blouses, we could use 15-20 of them, varying sizes small-med-large, new or great condition
(The students wear a white blouse and dark skirt to class each day, getting an extra blouse would mean a lot to them.)
Gently Used Scrubs, various sizes
small pocket-size spiral notebooks
Baby doll and soft pelvis model, for teaching birth maneuvers(--any retired childbirth educators??)-could also be ordered from ChildbirthGraphics.com, Item # 53954, (costs $195).

For the orphanage where we will be staying:
Clean used children's shorts & t-shirts, dresses (It's always "summer" in Haiti!)
Small packages of crayons, chalk, small toys or school supplies.

Prayer. Any and all denominations and flavors! For our trip safety- health & security- wisdom. Success in our mission, that more mothers in the Central Plateau of Haiti will live to raise their families, through our help.

Thank You
Thank You
& Haiti thanks you

May –November 2009: Living with the Kid in the Back -Seat

2009-10-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

As important and compelling as it is, my volunteer work with Midwives for Haiti takes a back seat to my regular American life. I have a (wonderful and) demanding “real”job, with Loudoun Community Midwives, so M4H has been sitting in the back seat since May 2009. But WHAT a passenger she is! M4H is the backseat driver (or child) you love dearly and who will not shut up. Always hungry: How to help obtain funds for all the growth of the program in Haiti? Always questioning: When are you coming back? And always talking: Emails keep me connected to the folks down there that I care about—interpreter Theard got married, and I sent him a digital camera, because he asked. I have a “Creole Made Easy” CD (Easy- HA!) in my car, and have learned to say
“Jacques can give her the peanut butter”
“How do you feel?,
“First or Second Baby?”
“Do You Have Pain?” and
“PUSH” in Creole. And I can sing the Creole blessing for my food, too.

In spite of the tension it creates, I love it. Working to train midwives in Haiti gives me a different arena where I can feel my work accomplishes so much. So, in time I carve out of my “real”(USA) life and spend on the Haiti work, I’ve attended M4H planning meetings, and worked on editing the exams that our students take after completing each of their chapters in their textbook. I wrote a preliminary grant proposal to a large charitable foundation that may become a supporter. Haitian Artwork is on sale at the checkout window of my office. And now…I’m going back for another week in Haiti! I’m so excited.

This trip, December 4-12, has several goals. I’ll be teaching students about out-of-hospital birth techniques and some clinical skills. I hope to visit some of the M4H graduates and help ensure they have what they need to help mothers and babies. This trip, my 25-year old son, Stephen, will come along! Stephen volunteered to come and take film, then edit it for a video to use in the US, and maybe on YouTube, to educate others about Midwives for Haiti. We plan to interview a number of Haitian people involved with the work, film our students, teachers, and M4H projects, and just clearly portray life in Haiti, and why we do this work.

My hope is that the initial shock of going to a 3rd-World Country will be less intense the second time, giving me more energy to focus on the tasks at hand. I never want to become immune to feeling the pain or the burdens that others carry. I just hope the shock will be less crazy and stressful. I now know that many Haitian kids will holler “Blanc, Blanc! Gimme dollah!” whenever they see my white face. And I will just wave, rather than create a riot by actually giving away a dollar. I hope to not be too surprised to see pigeons pecking at the scraps on the kitchen floor, or when a bat goes flapping through the living room of the rectory at nightfall. (Note to self: Wear hat to dinner. Always sleep in bednet.) I know now that the first intense sight in Haiti is about a hundred Haitians screaming over a concrete barrier at the airport exit door, shouting to get taxi business. And I know who my ride is. I know where to get clean water, and what little gifts will make a Haitian smile. Being in Haiti is the gift, for me. I hope this upcoming trip will be worthwhile and sweet.

Haiti Hangover...or Afterglow?

2009-04-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

I've been back from Haiti just over a month, now. I think my dear husband hoped, briefly, that I had made the trip, and gotten it out of my system. Alas, this is not the case. Actually, I'm planning a sale of Hatiian crafts and a public talk at my Quaker Meeting that helped sponsor the trip. God Bless Greg Dotson; he is a man that takes my passions to heart and helps nurture them to fruition. Greg's helped me with Haiti-P.R. and blog ideas, and he didn't even roll his eyes or sigh when I mentioned going back to Hinche in December. This man is a mid-husband, which is the animal midwives are meant to marry, but often don't. We often marry normal men, who mind very much that we are absent at all hours of the night and day and are consumed with caring for families other than our own. Those normal ones don't like the true midwife answer to "When will you be back?"....which is: "I don't know...When the baby's out and no one else is laboring." But I married a midhusband, 28 years ago. Thank God.

When I was in Haiti, I did not sleep well, and about 3 am on one of the nights, I woke up crying about...?.. it seemed like a definite disturbing thing at time, but now I just remember the deep need, the lack of resources... and the fact that the people kept going. The perseverance. But often, now, l wake up in America, and think about Haiti and the M4H program. I'm not weeping about it but neither can I let it go. What was once a set of abstract facts about a foreign Caribbean country now has faces, names, and real people attached. Once Haiti was a place I was going to work for a non-profit. Now, Haiti is a place where I have friends that need a lot of help. And I'm going back.

The Catholic Sisters of Charity (Mother Teresa's order) have an orphanage and feeding center, "Azil", in Hinche, and on Wednesday of our trip, we visited. Most kids there actually have families, but needed to be admitted and fed at the center to overcome malnutrition and regain health. The children get so excited when they see visitors arrive: not because we bring them things,( we do, but the things are quickly stored in a supply closet for later) , but they get excited because visitors hold them. I had children crowd around to sit on my lap, to be embraced. They did not ask for anything else. I could not even read to them, which I'd love to do, since I don't speak Creole. No, they just wanted to be touched and held. The intense human needs that I encountered in Haiti stay with me daily now...the need to eat enough; the need for clean water, need for health care and light to read with at night. The need for midwives to safely help women survive birth and live to raise their families. I have so much, in my comfortable life here, that I continually wonder what I can do to pass some of that to my Haitian friends.

I sent an email a few weeks after my return, to our interpreters Theard and Manno. I asked them to contact some craftsmen and women, and prepare items for purchase when the next group of midwives came from the US. So, when Sheila an Amy came to Hinche around Easter, "the guys" had located many soapstone statues, carved and painted wooden bowls, notecards, and embroidered clothes for us to buy in Hinche and sell in the US. The artists were so thankful to have big purchases! Then the items were wrapped and carried back to the US, through Port-au-Prince, to Miami, to Buffalo, and then to Leesburg in a car of one of Margie's relatives. The US part of the sale will be done when I speak about Midwives for Haiti at Goose Creek Friends Meeting on Mother's Day, May 10. Many of the items are beautiful. Some are strange or goofy. How to tell a person in Haiti, by email, what kind of shirt an American would buy? The collection of things is colorful and fun and lovely, and reminds me a lot of Hinche..The stuff is all over my dining room table....kind of like the piles of gauze and gloves and diapers right before I left. Fortunately, for all of us, we are a family that eats in the kitchen.

You are Cordially Invited to a Free Community Event & Charity Benefit

Wendy Dotson, CNM

will present

"Midwives for Haiti:
Saving the Lives of Mothers and Babies"

Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day
11:15 am

Goose Creek Friends Meetinghouse
18204 Lincoln Rd.
Purcellville, Va 20132

*
Public Talk & Slideshow
*
Haitian Handicrafts Sale
*
Scenic and Historic Grounds of Goose Creek Meeting open for picnicking

Re-Entry

2009-03-19T17:46:00.001-07:00

Getting off the plane in Miami, I stopped to use the ladies room before I got in the passport line. I was so distracted by washing my hands in a clean sink, with soap AND paper towels! all together!! that I walked away and forgot my bag of duty-free rum. I was admitted back in the US through the passport line, and into baggage claim, before I remembered. Eventually, a customs staff person did retrieve it for me.

My heart did a flip when I passed a barber shop in the Miami terminal. I could get my hair washed, NOW! In the twinkling of an eye and with a painless zip of a plastic credit card, I receved a manicure (goodbye, dirty fingernials!!) and a shampoo and trim of my hair. The hairdresser was Cuban and spoke mainly Spanish, but I explained I had been "doing doctor work in the mountains in Haiti" and did not have many showers. Afterwards she said "Yeah, I seen the dirt come out in the sink!!" It was such a relief to be clean. Cleaner, anyway. I had brought more from Haiti than I planned--- Haitian road dust, all the way from Hinche.

I had not eaten since peanut-butter-and-bread-breakfast that morning at Fr. Jacques' rectory, so I needed food. I found the elevator up to the main concourse, and then a directory of the shops. I stood in front of the glossy black map of the airport terminal, and glanced down the list of restaurant and food choices. And I started to cry. I looked over my shoulder at the folks in the terminal, a little embarrassed. I wanted to explain"...Sorry, you see, I've been in Haiti. And they do not have this much...this much food. Or this much choice. The leap between worlds is overwhelming." No one was bothered by my tears, however, so I wiped my eyes and found some lunch. My salad & 1/2 sandwich was served in a clear plastic box, and it was very hard to toss it away afterward. I thought: Someone in Haiti would use that box! And they would. But getting it back to Hinche would be tough. A lot of the poverty is linked to lack of transportation and roads. I hope Haiti can get better roads. I hope so many things for Haiti.

I hope that the Midwives for Haiti program will survive and grow , to become an established school that produces more and more trained practitioners that can save lives and reduce those catstrophic mortality rates. I hope that the many good people in the US know that one of their closest neighbors, in their own hemisphere, is one of the absolute poorest nations on earth. I hope the Haitians keep on trying. There is despair and anger in Haiti, but there are so many who keep doing their best, each day, not only to survive, but to succeed. There are people in Hinche, tonight, reading under every street light, working to learn and improve their lives. Danise is at home in the rectory, writing a qualifying exam to ensure that only the best, brightest students will be admitted to this program that she now teaches. She emailed and asked for a desk, so apparently she doesn't plan to leave soon. There are student midwives in a classroom, five days a week, learning how to care for women and babies with respect and kindness and skill. And Danise told me that every day, they pray for us, their friends in the U.S. And then they sing.

A Haitian Birth-day, or ,The 3 S's

2009-03-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Nadene and Steve,

As I fly home to Dulles, I want to thank you (??!) for the casual encouragement you gave me that "it would be great if I could take some student's over to L&D and deliver a baby in Haiti" before my week was out. Well, my friends, I did that, and what an experience it was! I tend to believe God has a plan in all situations, so I guess I was meant to grasp in huge experiential detail what it's like to lack what I will now call the "3 S's ": STUFF, trained STAFF, and STABLE surroundings (like water and electricity...) The language barrier added a special thrill as well!

So, I chose the 2 students who had no birth experiences except their own. On Friday pm at 2, they dressed nicely in their pink scrubs and followed me over the the Salle Maternite. I saw no one in the delivery area, so I introduced myself to the nurse at the maternity desk as one of the "Saj Famn pou Ayiti" midwives from the US, and said I would be happy if I could help with a delivery. Of course this was thru the interpreter, so I hope that's what I said. But perhaps this meant to her " I am WonderWoman!!- Bring it ON!"...I don't know.

The nurse said that "OK they got somebody for you" and they got a laboring lady out of bed and walked her across the hall to the delivery area for me to examine. She got up on the table, I found some gloves, and examined her. Her cervix was 6 cm dilated and she was having strong contractions. She was having her second baby. While I was explaining this to my students, I was slightly disconcerted that more women were being brought in and helped onto more tables--- they kept coming!

The next one was 5 cm dilated, fully effaced, 1st baby. OK...but here comes #3. She's only 3 cm, but making lots of noise and obviously laboring actively. I was starting to feel confused...do they just hang around those tables until they deliver? What about the labor area? And the nurse who was leading the stampede was doing almost nothing to organize or help me! ( I later learned she was the only nurse for ALL the maternity patients.. including rooms full of postpartum women, including some receiving blood. Aha.) NO STAFF. So I found a doppler and started checking fetal heart rate on everybody-- let's see if all the babies are OK! They were. Praise God. Next, I figured, OK, They've already invented Group Prenatal Care: let's try Group Labor! So while lady #4 was climbing onto her table, I did a round of Blood Pressures; this was hard because it was so loud in there with all the laboring and hollering. As far as I could tell, nobody was over 140/90. The nurse asked did I want to give the one with the 140/90 BP some Aldomet? Well, No thanks, I said, but could we dip her urine? We could, and cup of urine and sticks were given to me which showed negative protein, so I decided to just watch her. I did manage to explain this to the students for minute, before lady #3 got off her table, pooped in the plastic bucket at the end of the table, and vomited on the floor...likely not 3 cm anymore!

I already understood that we had almost no help; there was nobody consistently nearby except me, my students, and our interpreter. But they were getting some labor and delivery experience, by golly!!
Now I was acutely aware of NO STUFF. NO gel for the doppler. NO Kleenex to wipe off the doppler. NO paper towels (or anything) handy to wipe up the floor. The water did work, so I did wash my hands as much as I could, but did not have towel to dry with. There were also flies around-- not quite #3, a "Stable situation". Each woman had brought some type of cloth from home to put under her on the plastic-covered table. Some had pieces of sheets, some had a night gown or a skirt spread out beneath them. Now, I understand that this is meant to get them through an entire birth, and goes home with them to be washed. The thought of a full bag of chux and a roll of paper towels ran through my mind and seemed like something I saw in another life!

Next, the infermiere brought me--WOW!--prenatal records on each of the laboring women! They had all visited the prenatal clinic at least once! Nobody had a hemoglobin under 10, and no one had tested positive for HIV, and they had all taken some vitamins at some point. No babies were coming breech, no twins; hey, It was my lucky day!

Danise came over about 3:30 and I felt like the cavalry came over the hill. I told her I was staying until Ronel came for me with the truck at 5pm, and she and the students all said they would stay with me and work. More trained STAFF! Hurray! Our lady on the third table had been getting more and more active labor...actually, at some points all the ladies were yelling and crying; quite the drama! Despite having locked away the medical boxes for the end of the week, I did have a small bag of STUFF that I'd carried with me "just in case", - I had some gloves, a gown, suture, Pitocin, Lidocaine, and syringes. I broke open a few of the diaper & onesies kits, and placed a new clean diaper under my patient who was ready to deliver. This move was greeted with disapproval by the Haitian staff, that I was using that nice clean cloth in this manner!

At this point I couldn't really communicate with anyone around me, because the birthing mom had her arms wrapped around the interpreter, screaming and pushing the baby out. God Bless her, Danise was there to help me, so we actually checked the baby's heart rate a few times, and she found me a few instruments that I can only hope were sterile; there were 2 clamps and a small scissors. Soon, we delivered a baby, a girl, and she cried right away. I had Camina stand by with a clean diaper (another one! I was tearing through the resources like a crazy person by Haitian standards) that we used to dry off the baby. We suctioned her, cut her cord, and wrapped her in a clean blanket. My heart was full of gratitude to the friends and moms who had donated all that STUFF. God bless them, too. We did active management of 3rd stage since I had the Pit, and bleeding was well controlled. Hooray for stuff and staff.

Next, the perineum needed a small repair. I was so happy that I could give this lady lidocaine for local anesthesia, as it is not routine there; I just happened to have some. HER lucky day! When I had the syringe loaded and went to inject the area for stitching, I realized I had no light but daylight. This lack, the third "S",I call STABLE Situation: the need for power & water. We angled the table so that afternoon sun gave me light. I asked for a stool to sit down on while I stitched...one was placed under my bottom, but oh dear, it was actually a seat not connected to the frame. So, with a loaded 10-cc syringe and and uncapped needle, I fell backward on my butt, onto the filthy floor...waving the syringe around and trying not to get hurt or puncture anyone! The girls caught me before I whacked my head or poked anyone,picked me up, got me on a chair. I went ahead and used the lidocaine as I felt it was still uncontaminated and that's what we had. I had the scissors and 1 small straight hemostat left, and Danise indicated that this is what I had to use to suture with. So nevermind, Steve, teaching the students the proper way to suture, with pickups! I did the repair with one hemostat and some Vicryl. The students were thrilled to observe hand ties and instrument ties, and were able to identify them as I did them!

In the end, we had caught a baby in Haiti, and I had to go home with my truck before the other ladies delivered. I was soaked in sweat and very tired! It was absolutely mind-boggling to me that this chaotic escapade, the craziest 3 hours in labor and delivery I ever spent, had actually been a big improvement over the usual birth scenario at this hospital. It's also astonishing that most of the women in Haiti do not get prenatal care, and do not deliver in any facility or with anyone with training, so that this story actually is a best-case scenario. My patient was attended by trained midwives, and had more care, more precautions against infection and hemorrhage, actual local anesthesia, and even some clean linen. Midwives for Haiti and the people supporting us can do so much better, if we keep going. I am grateful for the eye-opening adventure, and I am inspired to try to supply the 3 S's, and keep working for birth to be safer, and better, in Haiti.
Onward!

A New Baby is Born

2009-03-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

During the weekend before the new Midwives for Haiti class started, there was a lot of concern over how things would work on Monday. Danise, the Haitian nurse-midwife who was hired to handle the main teaching, still had not received the key to our classroom from the hospital administrator. It was also a little uncertain how many students were accepted in the program, how many would show up, and whether we had enough books and school materials for them. We drove all over Hinche in the beat-up truck that is the Midwives for Haiti’s main transportation, with our driver, Ronel, locating supplies and equipment. There was medical equipment at the Whitney clinic, where a huge box of emergency OB drugs, supplies and a laptop were stored. There were notebooks, pens, gestational wheels, to pick up from the storage closet at the Bishop’s house. There were several huge boxes of books that came with Nadene on the plane, including the newly-printed version of “A Handbook for Midwives” in Creole. Nadene, Steve Eads, and I sat with Danise and talked about the week ahead and how to begin the teaching and introduction to the program. I had very little to add, being entirely new to this, but fascinated and excited just the same. So much energy and money and preparation was spent to “gestate” this “baby” the second class of Midwives for Haiti, and it was uncertain how the labor and delivery would unfold...

So, Monday morning we packed everything into Ronel’s truck, put on our nice skirts and makeup (except for Steve…for the record, he wore scrubs and no makeup!), and headed for the hospital. At the same time Kathie and Cindy and June headed for a big day of primary care at the Whitney Clinic. When we arrived at the hospital, the classroom was still locked, and Dr.Prince, the hospital administrator, was unreachable, out of town. Fortunately, the Ministry of Health building was open and had a room for us, with chairs, tables, and table cloths, all set up!! And gathered at the front of the building were 6 beautiful midwife students, with perfectly braidied hair, bright white blouses, dark skirts, and HUGE smiles. They were so excited it brought me to tears. Nadene and I were almost overwhelmed with excitement! We set up the table with places for each student, books, notebooks, pens, pencils, wheels, and tape measures. The students were invited in, and took places… Danise welcomed them in Creole, and then asked one of the students to open with a prayer , which she plans to do every day, as it is traditional here. Magdala, Pastor Jude’s wife, started the hymn “How Great Thou Art” , in Creole, and all the students joined in, loudly, and in harmony. With the acoustics echoing inside these cement walls, it was utterly angelic. Nadene and I both sang along (although we were so moved we were crying!) in English.

Danise then introduced the program, and asked each of us to introduce ourselves and speak about why we came here, and the background and philosophy of Midwives for Haiti. Dr.Eads told the students about how it took 2 years to train the first class, due to all the obstacles and changes that occurred during that time, but that it succeeded through great perseverance and commitment, on the part of all the volunteers, the students, and much support from friends in the US. He then explained that this second class is very important, because it will show that this process can be repeated, and become a truly viable established program . Nadene talked about saving the lives of mothers and babies in Haiti, and touched on how it is a primary value that the M4H midwives become famous for being highly skilled, and for their kindness and compassion. I spoke about my path from being a direct-entry home birth midwife, to having a large hospital practice, and how the work of a midwife in all settings, in all countries, is very hard work ,requires a love of mothers and babies, but has great rewards…”and I welcome you to this work.” Another new student arrived every 30 minutes through the morning, until there were 9, and 2 more expected for next Monday! We taught chapters 1 and 2 of the Handbook, and went to lunch in the truck, with HUGE rejoicing—the baby was not only out, it was robust and crying (or singing) loudly. Midwives for Haiti, Class #2, had begun.

Hinche-ing into the Project

2009-03-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday March 7, 2009

We flew from PAP to Hinche by small airplane. The dry mountains spread out beneath us, then the river, and the one large reservoir and dam that supplies water and some power to Port au Prince. I only got nauseated at the end of the flight, with some bumps and jolts, but by then the spires of the Hinche cathedral were visible. We passed the airstrip once, circled around, and landed. Goats, donkeys, pigs, and horses graze on the airstrip when the planes are not landing.

Transportation in Hinche is bike, motorbike, donkey, horse, or truck. Our driver, Ronnel, drove us all around Hinche in a very old but sturdy pickup truck that has bench-seats welded onto the bed in back. We toured the hospital, the rectory, where they serve 3 meals a day for us, at 7, 12, and 7pm., and the Whitney clinic where the Nurse practitioners will see patients this week. The hospital tour was most dramatic...these people are making do with the most difficult conditions I’ve ever imagined. Family members mostly care for the patients. They bring their own sheets, linens, and food. The hospital care consists of a diagnosis, a plan, procedures as needed...they do have radiology, and a lab, and a pharmacy. But basically, each ward is a large room, without screens, and a concrete floor, and some beds. Water may or may not work in each sink, including in the delivery room. Each nurse checks on 10-20 patients, so the family does most of the care.

We checked into our motel, which is very, very nice for local standards. The huge courtyard is paved, landscaped and shaded with mango trees. The motel provides generator power from dark until 6 am, the rooms are screened with nice windows for a breeze, and each room has its own bathroom, although there is no hot water tank. There's security and a big iron gate that is locked all night. We settled in and I hung my bed-net, and filled my 5-gallon plastic sunshower, and set it out in the sun to warm up; this was a wonderful idea and I'm looking forward to a warm shower eventually! For even more luxury, we took a trip in the truck to th Ebenezer store, one of the largest shops (with actual glass doors!) and bought...ooooh! fairly cold beer!!!
Dinner at the rectory was Beans, Rice, goat stew, plaintains, bananas... thank GOD I love beans and rice!

The Hinche water supply is ok for washing, but not drinking. All drinking water is trucked in, or folks boil it before drinking. My water bottle, which I fill when we eat our 3 meals a day at Father Jacques’ rectory, has become the only thing I drink from. Hinche has no public electricity. Power is on only at night, and only in houses that have generators or large strings of car batteries. My little battery-operated booklight is another best friend. At night, candles and small fires, light some of the homes. Anywhere there is a streetlight, or any light on the street, there are small groups of people, reading, including adults with books and newspapers, and children with schoolbooks.
So we spent Saturday in travel and preparation mode, and on Sunday we'll go to Mass....then Monday, the real work begins. I hope I can do some good.

Welcome to Haiti!

2009-03-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Haiti!
Friday, March 6, 2009

Miami, FL, connection to Port au Prince: Even in the airport terminal, it’s clear which gate is for Haiti. More people crowded and waiting, less luggage and more plastic bags, more body odor. It’s clear we are not flying to a tourist destination or a wealthy place. I sit down next to a Haitian –American lady and learn my first word in Creole: “Famn Saj “(midwife). I find Steve Eads, the OB-GYN from Richmond who serves as medical director, sitting on the floor talking on a cell phone to his wife one last time before leaving the country. Nadene Brunk, founder of Midwives for Haiti, and June, a peds RN and veteran of many trips, come along soon after. June functions as pharmacist and fills RX’s in the clinic. Cathy and Cindy, the 2 NP’s of this trip, are due on a later flight in the pm. We all have separate seats, as we booked separately, so don’t get to talk much on the flight.

We all meet up on the tarmac, happy to see 80 degree weather. The mountains surrounding Port au Prince are big and dry right now—reminding me of Las Vegas terrain. The airport scene is hectic but manageable but it’s great to be there with veterans: 2 different drivers were present to pick us up, so one is very disappointed. At the exit doors, over a barrier, a crowd of drivers are all shouting and haggling to get some work...welcome to Haiti! We have hundreds of pounds of baggage, but finally get it all into Nadar’s bus and start our ride through PAP to our guesthouse.

The Port au Prince streets look like a war zone, literally. Pot holes like bomb craters. A crazy jumble of compounds, schools, shops, street art, and street vendors. Goats, chickens, a few skinny dogs. Live chickens for sale. Cinderblocks and concrete, and lots of half-finished houses with only a curtain in the window; no screens, no glass. Finally, we rested at the Bensons’ guesthouse compound, a very simple but refreshing oasis that offers accommodations to missionary and medical missions. Shade, tile floors, a breeze, cold water, locked gates. Haitian art for sale in the front office. A great view from the roof of the surrounding city and mountains.

I get a good background story of the M4H program from Nadene and Steve. There’s discussion about the new class of midwives starting during this trip, that we’re coming to facilitate. On Steve’s laptop, we view the slide show of the graduation of the first class of midwives...So moving to see all these faces of new midwives, and to understand the work it took to train them. As it was the first class, and presented many organizational and logistical obstacles, it took 2 years to completely train 7 midwives. Now, with much more financial support and experience, and Haitian connections and alliances, the hope is that it may take 6-12 months. Just before dinner, we walk over to see “the Ravine”, a neighborhood just around the block from the guesthouse, and one of the most dense and impoverished sections of Port au Prince. This is an astounding experience. (see“Beans and Rice and Singing”)

Dinner is traditional Haitian food, served family-style; Beans, Rice, goat cooked with onions and carrots, fried plaintains, sweet potatos, salad, mango. A cold shower (hot water does not exist down here—but I have the SUNSHOWER along!!!!) ...exhaustion... and a deep night sleep.

Beans and Rice and Singing

2009-03-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

The Ravine, outside Port au Prince, Haiti is a 40-acre ravine over a small river. Both sides of the steep ravine have been built up with concrete and cinder block and tin roofs, one on top of another, to house an estimated 70,000 people. There is no power and no clean water supply except what is carried in. My group of 7 health care providers stood at the edge of the Ravine on Friday night, my first night in Haiti, as dusk was falling. Adults and children filtered up and down the narrow winding path, to and from their homes, carrying water in jugs, small plastic bags of bread, rice, and charcoal. Candles flickered and charcoal fires were lit. As dusk fell and my brain and heart tried to grasp the reality of this many people subsisting in a space with this few resources, the smell of sewage mixed with the smell of beans and rice and smoke from cook fires. A church choir began singing a loud song of worship, a flute tune drifted up from a tiny concrete dwelling, and I had my first lesson on Haiti: the poverty in material things is profound; they survive on less "things" than I could have ever imagined. And their hearts are deeply spiritual. Most education is done through churches, and most events are begun and ended with prayer. And in the midst of this intense need, they sing.

MORE STUFF and LOVE too

2009-03-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

Thursday Evening, 3/5/09--MORE STUFF!

Well, okay. My 2 large, carefully packed-full bags turned into 3 large bags when, on my last day seeing patients in the office, my first patient gave me $200 "for whatever will help those moms and babies"...and then the Citranatal drug reps walked in with a trolley and 3 enormous cases of prenatal vitamins!! So, a third bag was borrowed and packed, with EVEN MORE STUFF, and I'll use some of the money to pay the $100 extra-bag fee that the airlines charge. I feel so grateful for the the donations of baby supplies, salvaged medical supplies, baby items new and used, and of course, finances. I've received financial support from my midwifery practice (thanks, Margie...), Goose Creek Friends Meeting, and several patients and friends. Many of the Loudoun Community Midwives staff and patients, friends and neighbors have donated diapers, onesies, blankets, pins, medicine, soap, sheets, and more. The staff at Loudoun Hospital's Birthing Inn saved me many pairs of unused gloves, gauze, suture, cord clamps, IV catheters, and much more. I even have a fair amount of healthy snack food I was advised to bring, for taking breaks with the students...apparently the students have gotten very familiar with granola bars thru the American midwives!---how appropriate. There is a lot of STUFF but I really know there is a lot of love and goodwill in the bags. I couldn't begin to make this trip without the support, love, and prayer that I know goes with me.

I think I feel ready, or as ready as one can. I started taking my anti-malaria doxycycline today, made rounds at the hospital for the last time in a while, and wrapped up admin. work at the office. Everyone has been so kind and supportive, and wishes me luck. I'm on call until morning, theoretically, but Margie's additional gift to me is that I can call her early to take over call, in time to get myself to the airport for a 6 am flight. Fortunately...no one is laboring so far, and I can tie up loose ends. I hope to learn how to better use my son Stephen's camera, and also hope to get a bit of time to be with my husband, Greg, until I can fall asleep and get a nap..before the 3:15 wakeup call. He and I've never spent this many days (9) apart and that will also be different. I'll miss him, and my whole life here.

After several huge challenges in 2006-08, including losing my mom to ovarian cancer, personal health and family crises, and business stresses, I decided to focus on a point of view that I consider my mom's legacy: Do More Good/ Have More Fun!
I hope this trip will do some of that.

Midwives For Haiti--Let's Go!

2009-03-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

Here begins a blog documenting my trip to Haiti to work with and train rural midwives in Hinche, Haiti, with the non-profit Midwives for Haiti. The M4H concept is that Certified Nurse-Midwives and other medical staff from the US make regular trips to Haiti, with the goal to help reduce the maternal and infant mortality rate there. Training Haitian people in midwifery skills and providing supplies and support for their training is at the heart of the program.

We'll be working with a Haitian certified nurse-midwife who is employed by M4H, and will be helping to start a new class with about 15 students. I'm travelling in a group with Nadene, the founder of the program, Steve, an OB-GYN physician who is one of the medical directors, and several Nurse practitioners who will run clinics while we start the midwifery class. Our classes will be taught in a classroom at the local hospital, and they tell me I may do some work with students at the hospital as well.

I expect an experience that will be entirely different from my daily, cushy life in Northern Virginia. I anticipate sleeping in a mosquito net, frequent power shut-offs, cold water showers, and more poverty and health needs in the population than I've ever seen. I also imagine I may enriched in ways I do not yet know. I do know my heart leads me to care for mothers and babies, with a passion. I'm grateful to have a husband that supports and encourages that mission...and a lot of friends and family do too.... So you're all invited to travel with me, via this blog! Here we go!!