Take a moment and imagine what 150 office visits might tally up to in the States. . .today's marathon cost the supporters of our trip maybe $750 out of pocket. Hard to beat the improvement in quality of life that results from directing one's generosity to a truly grateful place like Haiti. Our team included Dr. Marx, formally of the Gebeau Clinic, Nancy, Serge and Daniel (two Haitians who have supported other visiting teams doing medical, but who practice their own philantropy by prowling hospital corridors and finding patients unable to pay for meds or food), Rose and Modeline (two nurses from Gebeau who obtained their degrees with help from Jeremie Project churches, including FUMC), and Rubin. With maybe a 10 minute break taken when the spirit moved, no one left their posts for the entire 9 hours. . .many standing, all sweating. Our compensation was an escort of children to our truck when finished. .sort of had a Wizard of Oz-like effect. . and a lovely Haitian sunset that I enjoyed so much (along with the breeze while riding in the truck bed with "the boys") that I forgot to take a picture.
We generated more smiles when we broke open the duffels and started passing out the hand-made dresses from FUMC's crack seamstresses, and the teenage clothing and handmade bracelets provided Erica Schwegman. . daughter of a family friend so taken with the Haiti effort she singlehandedly corraled high-school friends to donate 300 items of apparel while she made 150 bracelets on her own. Pastor Felix kept the the excited under control as, one by one, they entered the dress paddock and made their selection. As the medical work delayed start of the dress parade until about 5:45 pm, Pastor Felix will catch up with those that missed out tomorrow when classes resume.
We're a bit fried tonight, but have just a half day more tomorrow. .all light duty before we fly to Port au Prince. We have the chance to meet with the President of the Haitian Methodist Church tomorrow night, and two of his deputies, to discuss how to stabilize th Gebeau Clinic, which we're committed to support provided a solid operating plan and opportunities for those of organzing financial assistance have some input to Clinic governance. So there will be one more post tomorrow that might provide an update to that important conversation, and maybe some last reflections on the week. . ."Haiti by the numbers", so to speak.
I'll close out tonight by saying I'm pretty sure Haiti has 100% market share of the world's hand-me-downs, particularly T-shirts. I'm also pretty sure the U.S. has 100% market share of the world's logo'd T-shirts, since I've yet to see a faded T from France, Russia, Spain, China, Japan. . .you get the picture. Either the rest of the world is resolved to be their own person, all the time, or the rest of the world lacks our sense of humor! Anyway, if you didn't know better, you'd think Haitians are more rabid fans of U.S. sports than Americans given the higher density of team T-shirts!
Before I get too deep into the woods on this, every know and then you see one that get's your attention, like the fellow at the bottom of tonight's pictures. . .forget the what industrial event the T-shirt is celebrating, focus on the middle. . ."Make a Commitment". Made me smile, look up, and mumble under my breath. . ."you're right, we'll just have to peddle harder".
John and Nancy
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