Haiti By The Numbers

This has been a remarkable and rewarding week and, while we have a few light-duty visits tomorrow morning, most of the FUMC crew returns to Port au Prince tomorrow afternoon, then on to Detroit the following day.  Summarizing the last few days by way of numbers risks leaving all of your blog followers with a mechanical, perhaps detached feel of it all. . .and I dearly would like to have your senses assaulted as completely as occurs here.  Maybe the pictures partly accomplish that, and it would be great if I knew how to upload some video as we some touching bits of film.  I'll work on that.

845, the number of medical, dental and eye patients seen and treated in 3 1/2 days.

347, the number of prisoners in the Jeremie jail to whom we provided a meal Sunday after church.

200, a WAG about the number of dresses distributed to young girls in 3 villages.

100, a WAG about the number of children receiving tooth varnish in the village of T-Madeline.

9, the front-line crew from First United Church of Birmingham, Michigan who led the effort.

21, our Haitian support crew without whom none of the above would have happened.

1, our Haitian program manager, Axary Augustin, without whom this trip could not have been undertaken.

A word about the FUMC team. . .OK, more than a word.  Paul and Jackie Keller, Mick and Sarah McClelland, Scott and Jill Wilkinson and their daughter Elle were great people to be with and work with, showed compassion, resourcefulness and grit, dealt with occasional. . .er, frequent adversity with composure (lubricated liberally with humor!), and would bring any John Wooden basketball team to its knees. 

A word about Nancy. . .many of you know, and some have openly expressed the view, that I married up!  While I've known that for a long time, I'm also pretty sure I don't own up to that often enough.  So, it must be said that her deep and abiding love for the people of Haiti is THE fuel rod for our work. . .certainly planning and organizing a week like this one but as well throughout the year as we lend support from afar.

A word about Axary.  He calls Nancy "mom" and me "dad".  His folks are alive and well but we chose to lend him a hand a few years' back.  He had initiative, ideas and a big heart but like so many in Haiti lacked resources.  He's taken the opportunity and begun to build a decidedly better life for himself.  He is indispensable to us on the ever-larger projects we attempt in Haiti, like bringing solar power to Chiraque.  Those kids would forever lag behind their peers were it not for Axary's help getting things lined up for months before we arrived with the panels.  Gaelle, Axary's wife, was his delightful "wingman". . .doing triage, shopping for the team's lunch stuff (did I mention our team's love of mamba. . .), you name it she did it. . .and with a killer smile.

A word about the rest of the Haitian support team. . .none of the numbers posted above would have been achieved without them. . .Dr. Marx; Dr. Rosemond; Stephanie the Dentist; Maria the Dental Assistant; Serge and Daniel, translators but highly skilled in the Haitian medical scene. . .Daniel a recently graduated nurse and Serge the "go to" guy in Jeremie for visiting medical teams; nurses Rose, Flore and Modeline; Carlo, James, Judeson, Goblet, and Wodzi who just kind of volunteered from Day 1 but helped in so many ways its likely that the numbers posted above would certainly have been lower without them; Nissage the painter, Marc the carpenter, Papooch the plumber; Dave Bucklin from Good Samaritan to install the solar panels, and his two sons John and Val who came along and worked every bit as hard as their dad; Eli Jean, one of our three drivers. . .and I regret not having the other two names handy as I write this as we kept them hopping.

A word about all of you.  Thanks for the prayers, expressions of support, contributions, dresses, Costco-side bottles of this or that.  Most of all thanks for the love you channeled through us this last week.  While we can never know how long lasting the good things that we were able to bring to the Haitian men, women and children we met over the last 6 days will be. . .we do know they appreciated the help and the fact that someone out there cares. . . .

. . .like the ten little girls who yesterday received hand-made dresses from first-time, middle school seamstresses from Detroit Country Day. . .each with a handwritten letter which were read to them in Creole. I don't know which the girls yesterday treasured more but they held those folded letters awfully tight as they made their way home.

Until next year, John Smith

Mamba Forever

We are staying at a "hotel" this time, up the street a bit from the Methodist Guest House where we have stayed previously.  It's a little more per person per night but offers rooms versus dormitory style living, and a/c (until midnight,when the power goes out). . . .and willing to prepare American-style pizza if you bring fixings, like pepperoni or mozzarella.

Unlike the Guest House, however, we are in our own for lunch, but they will provide coolers for whatever you assemble.  So, in the interest of simplicity, we have had PBJ sandwiches EVERY DAY!!  We've reached our breaking point. . .the "mamba" (peanut butter in Creole) jokes and puns are piling up, and a few in our party are just about to swear off peanut butter for life.  Some have taken to reversing a great tune from Les Miz. . ."one more day. . "!

We have many helpers on any given day and make 20 PBY sandwiches for our party if 9. . .and as we only have one each, EVERYTHING else. . .sandwiches, bananas, yogurt, Laughing Cow cheese. . .is eaten by our Haitian crew.  With gusto.  With thanks.  As if, otherwise, most wouldn't have anything close to that in either volume or nutrition that day, maybe that week.

So, Mamba forever.  If our friends relish joining us at the PBY table, we'll soldier on!

But I digress for today we visited the seaside village of Gommiers, conducting mobile medical and dental, and distributing some dresses and skirts to the young ladies.  Yesterday, with one Doctor, 170+ patients were seen and treated.  Today, we had Dr. Rosemond and "planned" to see maybe 60 patients.

As the John Lennon lyric said, "life is what happens to you when you're busy making plans" for they just kept coming, all day. . .all 120+. . .and the Dentist probably performed 30+ extractions. . .and Scott saw another 60+ patients at the Gebeau eye clinic, including 3 surgeries.  Scott's day lasted until 8:00 tonight.

But we saved him some pizza, although walking back to our rooms we kicked ourselves for not saying we ate all of that. . .but made him a fresh "mambawich"!

Scott is back in the eye tomorrow with 2 more surguries in the morning and follow-ups on those operated on today.  The rest of us are off to the nearby village of T-Madline, the hometown of one of our Haitian crew, to do another mobile medical and dental event, to do fluoride varnishing of kids's teeth, and to see if we can get a bunch more smiles from the dresses we'll distribute.

It is our last full day, and it seems the week has flown by. . .we all have great moments and memories, which we'll add to on the morrow.

John Smith

Exhausted. . .

Today was mobile medical and dental in Chiraque.  It is the most difficult "commute" we have this trip, up some combination of dry wash, gravel, mud, rutted rock, and occasional concrete areas. . .not all covering the roadway width. . .and it's been raining a lot, mostly at night, potentially making this ONLY route to Chiraque a crapshoot this morning.

We had two very heavily laden vehicles making this trip. . .nine people in one, along with 4-5 tubs of meds, doses and gear, and probably 10 people in the "chase car" (a crew cab pick-up). . .the bed stacked with tubs and duffels, and our bevy of Haitian helpers hanging off the back!

Our two Haitian Doctors saw 179 patients in 7 hours, all of whom left with whatever medications the Docs ordered. . .courtesy of St. John's-Providence (donated),  Blessings International (discounted) and many FUMC members who responded to our requests for vitamins, TUMS and other items.

We had a Dentist with us (Maria, who was with us also last year) who performed 39 extractions. . .outside. . .under a tree. . .

. . .and Scott Wilkinson and Dr. Marcellus, a Haitian eye Doctor from Port au Prince who visits the Gebeau Clinic monthly, saw over 60 patients.

The FUMC team was at it ALL day supporting the Doctors in their work. . .doing triage, taking blood pressures, filling prescriptions, bagging pills and dosing out take-home quantities of bulk cough medicines.  There was a brief chow break but basically it was up-and-at-em the entire day.

 In the middle of all of this, we also managed to distribute probably around 200 dresses, skirts, gym shorts and T-shirts either made or donated by FUMC folks or friends our Haiti mission has made along the way these past few years. . . .and the newly-constructed bookshelves located in the solar panel equipment room were stocked with new books and other educational supplies for Chiraque's school. . .and the FUMC logo was painted on the equipment room wall to hopefully be a daily reminder of the friendship we have developed. . .and the goals for the soccer field were installed, albeit at the end of the day. . .which prohibited the much anticipated, first-ever FUMC versus  Chiraque football match. . .

. . .which was a very good thing indeed as we were flat-out whipped walking down the trail to our rides home.  Exhausted, yes. . .but the walk the the cars was something out of The Wizard of Oz, every team member escorted by chattering, smiling, clinging "munchkins" of Chiraque, and the first part of the drive home had small groups of villagers coming to the road all smiles and waving.

Worth it, yes.

John Smith

"The least of us. . ."

Today was a day of contrasts. . .church service at the big church in Jeremie, with our team warmly welcomed by the lay pastors, followed by a visit to the Good Sam(aritan) old folks' home, followed by a mobile medical event at the Jeremie jail.

Church services in Haiti can last 2 hours, and the heat and humidity (and Creole language) can sometimes test one's powers of concentration, but there are also multiple choirs. . .young and old alike. . .that make the time fly by.  There were parts of the service. . .songs, prayers. . .where we recognize melodies or cadences. . .things that we share in common, ties that bind us together.  And while I have no idea what the lay pastor's sermon was all about, it was a stem-winder. . .a characteristic we might also recognize at times from our church home!

As noted, we visited the grand dames and gents at Good Sam. . .about 15 men and women who would otherwise have no other place to live.  It isn't much. . .open air 9'x8' apartments" with two single beds.  Scott, Jill and Elle. . .asisted by our translator, Daniel. . .did blood pressures, eye exams and other general assessments, and 2-3 of GS' residents will hopefully make their way to the clinic tomorrow to be treated.  We brought donated clothing, which evoked smiles, and brought along bread, bananas and water for all.  We were serenaded, again, with "The Lord Provides All" in Creole, and our team returned the favor by singing a hymn for them. . .which many recognized and either hummed or sang along.  And, once again, we found the new toilet and shower installed by another team to be in need of repair and found a Haitian plumber to fix it by tomorrow.

Our last endeavor today was conducting mobile medical at the Jeremie jail. . .a place Nancy came across last September.  Conditions are awful. . . .cells are so overcrowded that the inmates have to rotate who sleeps as there isn't room for them to all lay on the floor at the same time.  The "toilet" is a bucket. . .passed around inside the aforementioned overcrowded cell.  Inmates get out of their cells maybe weekly. . .to take a shower. . .in the courtyard in front of the cells.  There are no lights, anywhere, including the kitchen. . .where the once-a-day meal is prepared, when there is money to do so.

You can imagine, given these conditions, that the inmates' health trails the Haitian national average, where life expectancy for males is around 45 years.  So, today's half-day mobile medical brought 3 Doctors to the jail. . .Dr. Marx, Dr. Rosemond and our own Dr. Wilkinson.  Others on the team fanned out. . .some doing vitals/personal information triage, some filling prescriptions from the supplies we brought, some fetching meds we forgot, others bringing in pop/juice/water for the inmates. . .to accompany the meal we had our "cook" friends at the Methodist Guest House prepare for everyone.

In about 3 hours, 60 inmates that the prison director felt were the most sickly were seen and treated, and all 347 persons fed.  They were hungry, as if they hadn't eaten much recently.

There were many thank you's ("mesi" in Creole) from those we treate, heartfelt to be sure but often conveyed in a low voice, laced it seemed with a kind of hopelessness.  No wonder given the conditions.  Pray for them.

John Smith

He obviously wasn't done. . . .

A year in the making, today was mostly about installing solar power in Chiraque.  From yesterday's blog post, you already knew we almost didn't have the services of our expert installer from Good Samaritan. . .and that we couldn't locate one set of parts we thought had been delivered to Jeremie in December (more on this in a minute).  It seemed we made shoe-string catches by nightfall. . .

. . .but it was a restless night, almost as if some of us hadn't fully everything through.  Yes, our Haitian friends showed really creativity and initiative in making security brackets to hold the panels, to replace some of the parts that were missing. . .and by morning the red lights were blinking because we were also missing ALL the cables and connectors.  Our installer friend said he could juryrig the installation, but it would take longer. . .maybe enough longer that we might not finish today (and he's gone as of 4:00 am Sunday morning). . .and it wouldn't be the more robust "factory" solution.  

Maybe that wee small voice inside we sometimes hear chimed in. . .when we tried to find the missing parts the preceding day we were all looking for a long package. . .but maybe the cables and connectors were in a box that got separated from its long, skinny cousin. . .so, the installer went off to  buy whatever he could for a makeshift installation and others went back to the storage depot to look, minds retrained, for a different size wayward package.

And the Big Guy stepped up again for, lo and behold, there she be. . .the missing and intensely coveted parts box. . . 

. . .now all we needed to do was find an alternate 2nd vehicle to move our party of 12. . .and all of our daily gear, AND a portable generator. . .to today's work sites. . .most to Chiraque for the solar installation and equipment rooms painting, and Scott and Jill to the Gebeau Clinic to see eye patients.  Our church hosts, usually reliable in the transport front, have cancelled out in two successive nights for the next day.  

While irritating, our Haitian support team located a friend's pick-up truck. . .available for a "small" fee. . .right now.  We paid what the market should bar in that circumstance for we had a lot to do and no chance to putting it off or taking more than one day to get.it.done!

The rest is history, as the pictures that follow illustrate.  Yes, we had to deal with a rain shower, and find ways and means to rework our Haitian bracket solution to eliminate any significant shadow cast on the panels but such brackets. . .a little shadow can effectively render an entire panel useless until the shadow is gone with the passing of the sun.  

The village was so excited when the switch was finally flipped and lights came on in their sanctuary.  I regret not having a picture of Pastor Felix, whose smile was ear to ear.  He was happy, and you should be too for helping bright light into Chiraque's darkness. . .for enabling the world's "content" to hopefully educate and inspire Chiraque's youth, perhaps accelerating a rise in Haitian living standards.  Blessings!  John Smith

"God is testing you"

I so often heard this from my Dad when things seemed to be going off track.  While it was probably not an original thought, sometimes it encouraged me to take a breath and get creative.

Boy, do I think he's smiling down after the last 48 hours!

Let me say up front the team. . .12 strong. . .is together in  Jeremie as of noon today.  We we spread out over three 5-passenger planes, one yesterday and two today, and only because our charter company had their big plane off-line for routine maintenance.

One big project is a solar power installation tomorrow in our adopted village of Chiraque.  It's been a logistics handful to get the equipment down here and to corral expert installation help from goodsamaritan.org.  He and his two sons were suppose to fly into PaP yesterday morning from another Haitian city, only to discover that their carrier sold their seats to other folks!  They were to jump on yesterday's 5-passenger charter with Nancy, and we only have the solar expert for Saturday.

With the help of our all-knowing driver, Nadar, and in just a few minutes, we managed to find a driver in the other Haitian city to drive the solar expert and his two sons 5 hours to PaP.  Next, three more of our team already in PaP needed to join Nancy on the first plane. . .departing in 90 minutes.  Next, room reservations in both Jeremie and PaP needed to change. . .for tonight. . .and if that didn't work out, there was some serious double-bunking in the offing.

"God is testing you."

Once together in Jeremie today, we got real busy. . .Dr. Scott and Jill went to th Gebeau Clinic and saw 25+ patients. . .in 2 1/2 hours.  Nancy, Jackie, Sarah and Jill's daughter Elle unpacked the 10 duffels filled with meds and vitamins and began preparing quantities for distribution for the 5 planned mobile medical events.  They had great help as the Haitian friends FUMC has made over the past several years pitched in. . .photos to follow!  The rest of us made our way to Chiraque to ensure we were ready for the solar installation tomorrow.

Ordinarily, solar panels are mounted on brackets provided by the manufacturer. . .which we ordered and had shipped to Jeremie in December on a secure 43-foot container.  Our Haitian friends, concerned about potential panel theft, built special brackets. . .which we all thought were more or less cages that would lay over the solar panels.  Instead, these brackets were also meant to hold the panels. . .even our solar expert was impressed as it was customized for the needs of Chiraque. . .something you wouldn't find in a catalogue!  Still, the solar fellow thought we should also look at the factory brackets. .c.and in turns out they were nowhere to be found.  Our Haitian friends had concocted a Plan B we didn't know we needed. . .absent which the "show" could NOT have gone on.

Not sure if this also qualifies as a "test" as Dad might have suggested, but you can't help but wonder if we' re getting a little help from his Host.

The villagers of Chiraque are genuinely excited about the new energy about to flow into their lives, and they have all of your love and support to thank for it. . .and a little help from the Almighty thrown in!

Pictures tomorrow!!

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A week from now. . . .

. . . .the first 6 of 9 team members will be en route to Port au Prince, Haiti.  Paul and Jackie Keller, and Mick and Sarah McClelland will be making their first trip.  John and Nancy Smith, already members of Haiti's Frequent Visitor Club, will be leading the group. . .which gets rounded out the next day with the arrival of Scott and Jill Wilkinson and their daughter Elle.  The entire team will make its way to Jeremie on Friday, April 8, and hit the ground running sorting through the contents of   10 duffels and items also stuffed into each person's personal luggage.  On this first day after arrival, we'll also make our way to the Gebeau Depot where a large number of items have been stored in advance of our arrival, and to the Gebeau Clinic to be sure all is in order before Dr. Scott does does eye clinic and surgery work the following week.

We'll be posting daily, Internet and electrical power  availability permitting of course, and hope to include some pictures as well.   We'll be installing solar power on the church roof in our adopted mountain village of Chiraque, where the end game is giving the kids in school the the same kind of access to the "world" that their contemporaries have most everywhere else.  We'll be conducting mobile medical/dental/eye clinics in Chiraque, Gommiers, the Jeremie jail, and a part of Jeremie known as "Tent City".  We'll be doing fluoride treatments, distributing dresses made by FUMC's seamstresses, delivering Chromebooks to Chiraque and the John Wesley High School, and helping carve out a crude but flattish  soccer field for the kids to use in Chiraque (right now, they play in a narrow pathway between the two 2-room school buildings).

We're able to do many things because of the generous support from FUMC's congregation, and because of the many friends we've made in the ground in Haiti. . .who do a LOT of legwork for us before we arrive.  Many thanks to everyone who cares and pitches in one way or another.  Every little bit helps.