Haiti Trip - Kids, Trash, and a Hug before Dinner - Feb 2013, Month 20 in the D.R.

As promised, now in February, I will share some photos from my Thanksgiving Week 2012 trip to Haiti!  (Sorry it took so long to get these posted!)  Below is a little section of the City of Cap Haitian, Haiti that lies in a valley at the feet of these mountains.  You'll see more photos of Cap Haitian in a minute.  On the mountain on the right, and the very top, you can see that the top of the mountain appears square. That Square is not actually a part of the mountain, but rather, it's a giant stone fortress on the top of the mountain, called the Citadel - definitely worth a visit!

I went to Haiti with my housemate, Julienne LeBrun, who is a missionary with "A Heart For Haiti Missions."  In her work as a missionary there she helps support an orphanage near Cap Haitian, and several churches in the area. A Heart for Haiti also supports young people who want to study English or other trades, and pastors wanting to go to Seminary.  I went with Julienne for 5 days in November, to visit the area around Cap Haitian, and to participate in the work that she does.

Here are more photos of life in Cap Haitian...

The houses of Cap Haitian, as seen from the slopes above the city, where we visited some very impoverished neighborhoods.

VISITING THE HOUSES ON THE HILL ABOVE CAP HAITIAN

We visited families on the slopes above Cap Haitian, which consist of poorer slums, with cement houses clinging to the mountain sides, seemingly stacked up one almost on top of the other.

Everyone was very friendly. This woman's house (the front, where she is sitting,) was about 4 feet from the edge of a cliff. 

While in Haiti I got to try out my meager Kreyol skills -- which basically consist of `Good morning,' `good afternoon,' `pardon me, madamoiselle,' `thank you,' and "M'pa pale Kreyol" which means "I don't speak Kreyol." : )!   

Julienne sharing packs of crackers with the neighborhood kids.  The girls with yellow uniforms had just come home from school.

This is the "road" that families walk down to get to town. You have to be a bit careful in narrower places so that you don't fall off the cliff. But the children don't seem to be worried. This was definitely one of the more low-income sections of town that we visited, and one mother tried to give me her small son (as sometimes happens in the D.R. as well,) because she couldn't afford to take as good of care of him as I could, and she hoped that by giving him to me, she could give him a better life.

THE HOUSES AT THE RIVER

(Photos above and below) We spent parts of 2 days down at the river that flows through the middle of Cap Haitian.  We visited with some families there.  You can see that there's an unfortunate trash problem in the river because the trash collection is generally lacking in the city, and most people have to just throw their trash along the roads and rivers.  Reportedly the government is in the process now of developing a more comprehensive sanitation system, and we did see 1 trash truck picking up trash from bins while we were there. So that was a hopeful sign!  

See the two sweet little girls who live at the house just beyond the tire (above)?  The metal box on stilts to the right of the girls is their bathroom. It drains straight into the river.

Here's a closer look at the girls outside their home.  Again, the rusted metal room on stilts is the bathroom.  My heart really was drawn to the problem of trash and the dangers it causes to the rivers and the health of the people living near them. This is certainly a prayer request that I hope you will lift before God with me, that the government of Haiti (and others working with that government,) and the people of Haiti will be able to create a better sanitation and trash pick-up system in their country soon -- for everyone's health.

Here I am with kids and families we met down at the river.

ROSAMUND'S ORPHANAGE IN CAP HAITIAN

After the Earthquake in 2010 in Haiti a number of children who had lost families were brought by friends and relatives to the home of Rosamund, a Haitian school teacher who attended a local church.

Unwilling to turn them away, Rosamund took them all in -- all 20 of them, children of various ages, from toddlers through elementary school.  When "A Heart For Haiti Missions," (Julienne) who were already supporting the church where Rosamund attended saw the tiny house she was trying to care for 20 children in, they helped her rent a bigger home, which she now runs (and lives in full time) as an orphanage, now housing 21 kids.  A Heart for Haiti Missions" has found pen-pals in the U.S. to help financially support the kids, and send them school supplies, Christmas gifts, and clothes. I had a great time at the kids at the orphanage, and enjoyed watching how much Rosamund loves them all.  I was reminded of my friends at "Hearts and Hands for Haiti," based in Raleigh, N.C, and the work they do in Haiti, too, empowering local communities to help many similar children in need!

Julienne and I spent Thanksgiving at the Orphanage.  We helped set up for a special dinner, delivered suprise gifts of clothes, dolls and trucks, from the "pen-pals" in the states, and played games.  We also got to do chalk-art with the kids all over the orphanage outside walls.  It was fun, and it was great to see the loving atmosphere in the orphanage, and how all the kids love and listen to Rosamund. 

Here are some photos.

 This is a photo of the kids from 1 year ago. So they're 1 year bigger now, : ), and there have been a few extras kids welcomed into the home. 

Here are photos from our Thanksgiving together:

Jump-Rope on the Orphanage Roof 

Chalk- Art on the orphanage walls.

A hug before dinner

It was a great trip, and I got to see a lot of the work that God is doing in Haiti, and also a lot of areas where it seems there is still lots of room for growth and change.  I met a lot of wonderful Haitian people who are going out of their way to help others, and Pastors and Pastor's wives, and others, who are serving as amazing leaders in their communities.

Doctors, Churches, and Candles -- Jan 2013, Month 19 in the D.R.

A lot of things have happened here in the D.R. this past month and a half. But I'm mostly just going to post a few photos under this "list a "top 5" things that occurred. :) Then I'll post the photos from my November Trip to Haiti in the February Blog, I promise!

TOP 5 HIGHLIGHTS of Life and Work in the D.R. this Month (In no particular order.)

NUMBER 1:

We had a team of 5 Doctors, 7 Medical Students, and 1 Librarian come from the U.S. to volunteer in our Field Clinics in 4 communities.  Together with our 19 Dominican Community Health Workers, the combined team treated several hundred patients in 4 communities in just 4 days, including clinic and home-visits.

NUMBER 2:

Right now I'm Super, Super proud of all the Community Health Workers - photos directly above and below.  Many of them have as limited as a 4th grade primary formal education, but they have taken the opportunity to be trained by HHI as Health Workers in their communities and they are now expanding their work even more into leadership roles in ALL areas of the HHI field clinics-- from documenting patient medical histories in the charts at intake, to running the lab and training U.S. medical students on lab protocal, to finding charts in medical records, to managing clinic flow, to working in the pharmacy counting meds, and of course, they're continuing in their initial job of taking heights, weights, and vitals on all patients. Go team! It's my job to train and supervise these great women and men -- and I'm excited to see the growth in the CHW program!  But I definitely can't take credit for how awesome they all are!  Teach a man or a woman to fish.... and then they can take it from there! I love working with this amazing team, and I am forever honored to know them!

 Here CHW's (Community Health Workers) Dania and Claudia are organizing the clinic patient flow in the doctor's waiting area in our 2-day-long makeshift clinic at the local Haitian church, in Pancho Mateo, Dominican Republic. We treated approximately 200 patients in 2 days there, from children through adults.

Here CHWs Ribe and Elisa are locating patient medical records while CHWs Genesis and Larikza document patient information in charts at the Intake table before patients can pass on to the station where they can get their vitals taken, then consult with the Doctors.

NUMBER 3:

I have been invited to be a part of the newly-formed Pastoral Search Committee, to seek a new pastor at New Life (Missionary) Church, in Sosua, Dominican Republic. Our prior pastor had to return to the United States. Please join us in prayer for God to lead a new English-Speaking pastor -- with a love for the D.R. and a heart for pastoring foreigners living in the Dominican Republic -- to this church of approximately 100 international (U.S., Canadian, and European & Eastern European) missionaries, humanitarian workers, retirees, and other foreigners living and serving in the Dominican Republic! 

Here are some photos of life at the church

New Life Church 

NUMBER 4:

Highlight # 4 is: THE FUN STUFF!  

This month...

We've laughed and blown bubbles with the staff children at the end of a hot medical clinic day in Negro Melo (above - thank you Dr.Sandra for bringing the bubbles!)...

...and we've danced around the patient charts on the office floor still waiting for our attention that day, as the Dominican "Office-Team" fare-welled a medical student from the U.S. whose time had come to return home to finish school (Below).

NUMBER 5:

And the final special things to report this month actually came in late December (right before and right after my wonderful trip home to the U.S to visit my parents and other family in Pennsylvania for Christmas! What a great trip! Love you all!)

But -- since this blog shows my life on the D.R, here are the highlights of the Christmas and New Years Holidays for me in the Dominican Republic.

A.) The birth of two of my co-workers' (CHWs Carlito and Claudia)'s first little grand-baby - adoreable Manuel, (a derivative of Emmanuel, and born right before Christmas)! Here he is laying under the family's pink mosquito net, safely home from the local hospital and surrounded by his Mom and Grandparents who just couldn't stop smiling at him. It was a beautiful moment!

B.) I also loved seeing my good friend Carmen's college-student daughter representing Mary in their local church's live Nativity. It was great to see a young woman who's studying for her engineering degree and who is sure to become a leader in her community, like her parents, still taking the time to remember the reason for the season.

C.) And, finally, I attended a beautiful candle-light service here in Montellano, filled with friends I've met in my work at the local hospital, friends I've met in my neighborhood, friends I've met paying my cell phone bill downtown, and friends from all over this community.  It was a wonderful moment of feeling like -- `hey, this town is as much my home now as my other home towns are.'  It was great to light my candle among friends and neighbors, and to pray with them for people in all the other nations of the world (including my home country)...

It was a wonderful time, 

and a wonderful place 

and a wonderful month 

to raise a candle.

Floods, Books, and a Christmas Wish - Nov/Dec -- Months 17 and 18 in the D.R.

  In November 2012 (and continuing through now, Mid- December, 2012) there was a lot of rain almost daily here on the North Coast of the

Dominican Republic.  Because of the rains we had one weekend in early/mid November when the river that runs past my little town of Montellano rose and flooded several neighborhoods.  (This was 1-2 weeks after Hurricane Sandy passed us by and headed to the states.)  The rising river swept away

several houses, including the home of my neighbor's mother. So, her mother came to live in our building and despite losing all her belongings, she has been a wonderful neighbor and has planted

a beautiful little veggie garden in the flower bed here.

 

Above is a photo of a part of the river where the water rose, then came 3 streets inland, and destroyed the classrooms and library on the 1st floor of the Makarios Elementary School.  With 4 feet of water filling the library and downstairs classrooms, the school lost almost all of their books, and I and other neighbors went over to help clean up.  Below is a short video of some of the clean up process.

 

The smiling neighbor man seen here pleasantly

washing mud off of everything from the school doctor's medicine

bottles to laminated posters and lego blocks, lost many of he and his family's

belongings in this same flood that hit his home at the same time it hit the school. 

Yet, he and his wife spent most of the week after the flood donating their time

and energy to clean up the school so that it could re-open.  What an amazing

example of "giving of yourself" for others this holiday season!

 

I'd like to give a shout out and huge thanks also, this Christmas, to the Youth

Group and families at Raleigh Mennonite Church who have supported Makarios

School in their rebuilding efforts after the flood by sending the money from

their annual Christmas cookie sale, this December, to the D.R..

Part of the money you guys raised will go to buy new elementary school

books in Spanish to restock the library at Makarios. The kids and staff are

excited to be able to restart school again! So thanks for your

wonderful donation to help them out this Christmas!

 

Below is a little mini video Christmas card to all of you!

It features two of my co-workers -- HHI Community

Health Workers Carlito and Estela, on the left -- and some of Estela's

family and a neighbor, wishing  all my friends in North America a

"Feliz Navidad - Merry Christmas" - from the small mountain

community of Negro Melo, one of the communities where I work.

 

At the end of the short video, in the distance, you will see a brief second

of a large brown and grey cow who "fell down and couldn't get up."  : )

He eventually had to get helped up by 5 neighbor men. It was so funny.

One minute he was standing up like normal and the next minute he just

fell over sideways!  Apparently some invisible being over there was

doing some cow-tipping! : ) 

 

All the neighbors and I had to stop the video to go watch the drama play

out because it was such strange behavior for a cow here. Hee Hee hee. (And

in all the excitement my Spanish grammar on the video was rather dreadful).

But the cow is fine now! :) On the video after the Merry Christmas you'll

hear me say "Negro Melo esta muy linda (Negro Melo is beautiful)," and

right after that one of the ladies in the video says "and there are cows!"

Ha ha ha. And indeed there are!

So, without further adoo. Here is our very brief but heartfelt

Christmas video wish for you! Love you all. Merry Christmas! 

 

And so it was not snow or ice that fell in Negro Melo this Christmas, but rather a cow.
Perhaps we should rename him "Snowflake."

Merry Christmas to you! :) May the God of Peace who loves the whole world
be with you this holiday season!

Thankful During Back to Back Trips to the States - months 15 &16

September, October, and the beginning of November brought two trips to the States – an unexpected blessing.   Since I had not left the Dominican Republic for nine months -- since Christmas 2011-- it was a bit strange to be gone for two weeks in September and October to North Carolina, and a week to Boston at the very beginning of November. But it was great to see friends at home in the US, to visit Boston, (New England is the home base for Health Horizons International where I work), and see my parents and family, and to be home in the U.S. for the presidential election day.

I stayed up until midnight in my U.S. hotel room the night before I returned here to the DR at 3am on November 7. I held my breath with the rest of the nation as the votes for the presidential election came in.  As "winners" and "losers" were chosen, I was struck by the fact that as citizens of the U.S. we've pretty much all already "won" to some extent. There are many issues. But the U.S. has cutting edge technology, clean water for drinking, indoor bathrooms in almost every home, laws that protect women in domestic violence situations, a public school system that mostly works (though of course there are some issues,) police that respond quickly to emergencies, medical hospitals in which the doctors are well-trained (though again, there are issues), and the right to vote for the generally-not-corrupt people who we want to lead our nation.  Overall, these things are all things to be thankful for as this holiday season approaches, because many people in many countries do not necessarily have these things. I'm reminded of this every day during my work in the Dominican Republic.  So, for me it was great to be in the US to be a part of that election, and I hope that people on both "sides" of the voting will be able to work together, and be grateful for the wonderful and diverse country in which they live.

Here's Ben Franklin out encouraging U.S. residents to vote, in Boston, on November 4th.

But watching the election unfold was just one small part of my visits home to the U.S.
I was thrilled to have the chance to get together with many important people who continue to support me and my work in the D.R. Thanks guys!

Here are some photos of my trips to the US this fall:

I'm always inspired by how beautiful the ocean is as I fly between the Dominican Republic and the U.S.

I was very glad for the chance to reconnect with friends at Raleigh Mennonite Church who have been a huge support to me even though I'm far away.  Here's a photo of dinner with some of the folks who I consider a part of my "support team" from the church. They've given me great advice and help both when I was seeking God's guidance about coming to the D.R., and they continue to be  a huge support. Thanks guys!  It was great to get together!

  I was thrilled to have the chance to go to lunch with all my wonderful friends from

the young adult group (IDR) at the church, too, and to reconnect with various youth from the church who came to Montellano this past Summer and w ho have a special place in their hearts for the Dominican Republic! I was so glad to catch up on your lives and to hear hopes from several
people about perhaps coming to the D.R. or Haiti to visit or serve in some way.

I found this great book for kids among a box of old books I was sorting through while home in the states, and thought it was a great example of two worlds coming together. I definetly recommend it for kids who want to learn about children from another culture and how they are so similar, even though there are differences. I kind of identified with this picture too.
 As a person with home-towns now in two countries -- the U.S., my original home and the home I plan to return to in the future, and the Dominican Republic, which is my home for now while I’m working at HHI -- this book really resonated with me. I now understand that feeling missionaries get moving between their two countries for visits/sabaticals and then going back to work or service. It’s an exciting and somewhat linguistically confusing adventure having a foot in two different countries, two cultures, two home churches, and two groups of friends, speaking in two different languages, and following customs in two places…  It takes a few days to re-adapt to the other country when you go “home” again – whichever way that trip “home” takes you. : )  But it’s a wonderful blessing  feeling at home in 2 countries; getting on a plane and no matter whichever way you’re headed (whether to the U.S. or the D.R. now, in my case,) always being able to say “I’m going home.”

Summer 2012 brings a Teen Intercambio and Kids Camp to the Pancho Mateo

Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve written on this blog, and so much has happened in the past five months, from June to November, here in the Dominican Republic, then I’m not sure how to summarize it all. This will teach me not to forget to do my blog posts every month in future! :-) But let me share a few of the wonderful highlights.

 The biggest highlight of the summer for me was the week that I took off from work, (though I still love my job at HHI,) and welcomed six teenaged young women and my friend Amy from Raleigh Mennonite church, my home church in Raleigh North Carolina, into my home here in the DR. They came on a missions trip, to learn what I call my one of their prior use leaders, was doing and seeing and learning here in the DR, and to get involved themselves. We did a wonderful friendship with five Dominican teen young women from two local churches in Poncho Mateo one of the communities where I work. We learned about each other’s cultures, interests, families, and dreams and plans for after high school. Most importantly the girls from Raleigh and the girls from Poncho Mateo planned together a kids camp for what ended up being 100 children ages 2 to 11 in the community of Poncho Mateo. With so many children of so many different ages, in a tiny Haitian church in Poncho Mateo, the first day was a challenge, until we got into the swing of things. But it was a wonderful week, in which the teens from both countries, led singing, Bible stories, and did education on dental hygiene than tooth-brushing for all those enthusiastic kids. 

 Washing Hands every day before snack time. Ritz Crackers and Water were a huge hit in this community where clean water for drinking is difficult to come by in many households.  Here little kids love water, and actually ask for refills upon refills.  We gave out lots of water on those hot summer days of playing.

                                                    Singing and Bible Story

 Coloring pictures of toothbrushing, friends hanging out, families hugging, and God's love.

                                                             Bonding

This is my little friend Alexandre, one of the kids from one of the families from Pancho Mateo that I've had the opportunity to build a special friendship with since I've lived here. He's a sweety, as is his older brother and his sisters -- all in Elementary School.

 Part of our planning group of teen girls at the Basketball court in Pancho Mateo, where we played games with the kids each day.

             Co-leader Amy playing "hair salon." : )  The girls always took this game very seriously.

                                                     Handwashing before snack again.

 The boys playing basketball while the girls jumped rope, played tag, did hair, and the younger kids colored and played with a puppy and Erin's camera.

                                                               Coloring!


Coloring pictures was a big hit, and we noticed that our crayons tended to go home one by one in the pockets of small children each day – a little prize to take home and play with with their siblings. We actually had to go buy new Crayons halfway through the week! So, if you ever want to come to the DR and give a gift to children, crayons and coloring pages are huge hit.

The kids taught us games they love: we played tag, hair salon, basketball, and at the end of the day we walked each child home so that the young women from the US and the local Pancho Mateo churches could get to know their families, and so the kids would get home safely. My favorite part of it all was how the teens from the U.S. and teens from the D.R. were able to work together and build friendships, while hugging little kids and playing ball!

Our Theme of the week was Matthew 6:33

"Seek First God's Kingdom"

It was a great week!  Thanks God! Thanks Ladies! Come back soon!

Medical Students, Presidential Elections, and Leaving it all on the Pavement. Month 10.5

It's been another month of new things here in the Dominican Republic. 
For the first time in HHI's history we've had 3 Physician Assistant students (who are about to graduate and be full-fledged PAs,) with us for an entire month, finishing their clinical rotations.  Since I'm the Clinical Director I got to supervise them, which was a bit unexpected since I'm not an actual MD, and I was a bit nervous :), but overall things went great. The PA students Kate, Lane and Rob are leaving today, to return to the U.S., and Kate told me this morning that when she filled out the HHI Internship evaluation form she "ran out of room in the box where you write good things about the experiene."  So, I'm happy to hear that they also felt that things went well.

We accomplished a lot in a short period of time this month -- the PA students, several other clinical interns, and I -- as we pounded the pavement, completing community-wide Blood Pressure and Diabetes Screenings in our 4 partner communities - in both Spanish and Haitian Kreyol, staffing clinics in all 4 communities with the HHI visiting American MD's for a week in which we treated 400 patients of all ages and medical conditions, and visiting almost 100 of HHI's chronic care patients in their homes to help them understand their hypertension, diabetes, epilepsy or asthma better. 

We had several weeks of rain during this time, and the PA students and interns did a great job wading through new, unexpected "lakes" and rivers with me on the roads to get to patient's houses, slip-sliding through muddy roads, riding motorcycles up steep mountains where the dirt roads were partially washed out - without hesitation. We took patients to the emergency room on motorcycles and in borrowed cars when they presented with heart attack symptoms or the injuries sustained by 2 teens and a child injured in a motorcycle wreck.  We spent the night in the hospital with a woman who had just lost her baby and had no family to sit with her in the hospitals here where family members and not nurses are responsible for your care in the hospital setting. It was a completely exhausting, overworked, overwhelming, and yet wonderful month with the PA students and other interns, and I feel like we left all of our energy, sweat, and love for these patients right there on those mountain roads, and the floors of their houses, and the heads of their pets who we petted, and their children who we hugged and we played with, and we fell into bed each night tired but feeling we'd accomplished something. We "left it all on the pavement" on might say.  And now the PA students, and interns Sarah and Andrew are leaving. : (  But here are some fun photos of our past 4 weeks, here in the Domincan Republic.

This is also an interesting time in the D.R. because the Presidential election is tomorrow, Sunday, May 20th, 2012.  We'll be staying inside tomorrow after church, and likely through Monday, as the elections take place and parades and demonstrations are expected in the streets. We will wait to see whether the white party (previously in power) or the purple party (currently in power) will win, and how that will affect the country. Keep the Dominican Republic and all of it's leaders and citizens in your prayers during this time of transition and change!