FHI Haiti 2012

Back in the US and totally exhausted. Left Hopital de Miracia this morning at 8AM and had many heartfelt goodbyes from the children, staff and people who lived around the area. The most touching was when we gave our bus driver his birthday card. He was almost brought to tears by the gesture and could not find the words to thank us, but he deserves so much more. Now that I'm here I'm still in a bit of culture shock.

I kept something of a journal while in Haiti and I want to share it on here. I'll be posting one entry from it for the next few days, starting today:

12.26.12- Day One

Flight to Haiti, spent mostly getting to know a few of the team members and studying some French Creole from the app I've been using. Actually got the chance to practice with the woman who was in our row. She didn't speak much English and was more than happy to help us learn.

Arrival. While approaching Haiti from the plane, I peered out the window and was immediately struck by the state of affairs. It was clear, even from afar, that the country was not in a good state. After retrieving our luggage, and meeting up with other members of the team coming in from California, we met our bus, but not before struggling through crowds of people at the exit. I was pleased to hear members of the team were very surprised at the amount of progress that has been made on the Port-au-Prince Airport. Since last time they had came, everything we experienced was not there. On the bus I spoke with Jean, the man who has built the Hospial Miracia that we'll be staying in. He told me a few surprising things about the country, like how change is very difficult politically, because the government employs most of the poor people, and does not educate them well, so things are very slow to change. When I asked about the cholera epidemic he shared that cholera actually was not in Haiti until many aid workers came and brought the disease with them. The drive through Port-au-Prince was devastating. The amount of trash everywhere, due to lack of sanitation was incredible. Since there is no trash pickup, refuse is burned, usually in fields on the sides of the road. Sometimes the fumes are so thick that cars must slow down due to the lack of visibility. In these times we scrambled to shut the windows on the bus before passing through.  The most interesting vehicles I'd seen so far were the Tap-taps which were buses, or trucks that people used as taxis. They were overpacked, and people even hung off the sides or boarded the roof. The Tap-taps almost always had some religious writing and artwork which I found really cool.

Tomorrow we'll be heading to our first site to give lectures on diabetes, hypertension, cervical cancer, dentistry and a couple other things to a group of Haitian nurses. Ryan and I will be covering the dental lectures, and fluoride treatment presentation. We'll be doing fluoride treatments for the children later on in the week, but the plan for tomorrow is to teach the nurses how to do the treatment, so more children can be treated. The goal of the presentation is to drive home three points. Our three were: Brushing 2x a day, maintaining a healthy diet and regular dental visits.

As I'm here writing this, and hear music from the houses in the distance - Black Eyed Peas - Where is the Love? This trip is completely about love.