To Haiti and Beyond!: Part 2

In Jacmel, Emily and I met up with a great new friend of ours, Owens.  It was with Owens incredible help that we made our way to the Jacmel bus stop and negotiated our way onto a public bus (think 17 people crammed into 9 person van, weaving through crazy streets) and headed three hours away to Port au Prince!

Port au Prince is an incredible contrast to Jacmel.  Jacmel is surrounded by a beautiful beach, palm trees greet every corner, and the people are calm and friendly.  Port au Prince, on the other hand, is covered in garbage, the beach is not something you want to visit, and the people are a bit more harsh, and in reality, desperate.  Needless to say more, it is not my favorite day when I have to return to Port au Prince :).

A scene from Jacmel

A scene from Port au Prince.  Yes, I am a tad bit biased :).

Emily and I arrived at the bus stop in Port au Prince to find that our ride was not there waiting.  Hundreds of Haitian eyes immediately turned onto the "blans" (white people), and feeling it was not the safest environment we could be in, Emily and I walked the streets until we found a nice little lotto bar.  I paid the owner to allow us to simply sit there, we chatted up with a few of the local guys watching a soccer game on TV, and I was able to make a new friend who spoke English enough that he could translate between my driver (searching for us) and us, via phone.  Soon enough our ride arrived, and we were whisked away for a dear reunion with some of my long standing God's Chosen Ones Ministries (GCOM) friends.

With Djenna, one of my young friends I know through GCOM!

Me using our new patient record system to see patients!

GCOM is a medical mission team that attracts medical workers from all over the world.  Prior to this last March, GCOM would write notes from patient visits on little scraps of paper, and throw away the papers at the end of each visit.  This means that no patient visit could in any way refer back to previous visits (past conditions, diagnoses and medications unknown). In March, I sent GCOM a pilot paper patient record system, and GCOM gave it a try, and again shoved the papers (and other scraps) into little plastic baggies.  Emily, four incredible young ladies from Minnesota, GCOM translators and I, worked tirelessly to transfer what information we could into the new paper system designed to provide lasting order.  We then worked medical clinics in two of the villages GCOM frequents (Thomazeau and Ganthier), and used the new paper system to take notes on patient vitals, history, physical exam and treatment plan (and as an aside, I was finally able to see my own patients, independently!).  After MANY hours of work, at the end of our several days with GCOM, Emily and I were thrilled to complete a fully functional and organized (organized by village and then last name) file system with paper patient records within!!!

GCOM patient notes before our effots - scraps of papers shoved, with no order, into plastic bags

 GCOM's new completed patient record system created by Emily and myself!

When business with GCOM was complete, and after many laughs and much fellowship was had with our new (and old) friends, Emily and I took off for part three of our trip!  On to Fort Jaques!!!

Saying goodbye to our new friends!!

In Fort Jaques, Emily and I met up with my long-time translator and friend, Gardy, and set to work updating the education sponsorships I have in place on behalf of Moses Lake middle school students.  First was the updating of four young ladies high school sponsorships!  We met with the ladies, met with their principal, met with their care providers, and then conferenced with the girls again!

With three of the high school girls whose schooling is made possible by middle school students in Moses Lake!

And then was the updating of the younger students' sponsorships: two brand new first graders (as of last December)!  We spoke with the students, their respective guardians, their teacher and the director of their school.  The two young students then demonstrated their newly aquired reading and writing skills!  Just think, these are two young individuals who, with out the compassion of young students in Moses Lake realizing their potential to have an impact, would not have ever learned how to read or write!!!  These students' education was then paid for for another year with the funds raised by Chief Moses Middle School this last semester!

Michelet demonstrating his new writing skills as his father looks on.

Our last stop was checking up on the farming of one of our first grader's father, Keke.  I met Keke a year ago, and I can honestly say that I had never before met someone who had so little.  My heart was touched at not merely his desperate state, but at his honesty and genuine nature despite his circumstances.  He had previously had a small farm, but when his wife passed away two years ago, he had to sell his seeds in order to pay for her burial.  Left with land but no seeds or crop, I felt there was something that could be done to make Keke and his family self-sufficient again.  So approximately a year ago, Chief Moses Middle School students decided that they wanted to pay for Keke to have seeds, and six months ago I returned to Haiti to give Keke those seeds.  This trip, I was literally brought to tears when we pulled up to Keke's property to find his entire field teeming with green crop ready to harvest.  What an absolutely beautiful sight!!!

Keke giving a thumbs up in front of his new field!!!

The trip was absolutely full of ups and downs!  Emily had heat stroke and fell down a cliff resulting in scrapes and bruises, and I got an abscess and later became incredibly ill and had to be hospitalized toward the end of the trip.  BUT, we were sucessful in all we did, and Emily and I were able to act as not only travel partners and friends, but one anothers' doctors ;).


Truly, what a memorable and incredible trip where a difference was made possible (and the concept of the best kind of aid to deliver, explored), and I thank everyone for the prayers and encouragement that made this visit possible!  Please continue to pray for healing as I recover from my illness and head into the Miss Washington competition next week!! :)

With Love and Appreciation, Emily and I!!!

To Haiti and Beyond! Part 1

Last Monday I left for my sixth trip to a country I truly love: Haiti. 

My trip to Haiti this time around, can be divided into three separate parts: Part 1) Observing and learning in Jacmel, Part 2) Implementing a patient record system in GCOM’s mobile medical clinics in Port au Prince, and Part 3) Updating educational sponsorships in a rural, mountainous region of Haiti on behalf of Moses Lake school students’ compassion and generosity.  Today, we pack up our stuff, and leave Part 1 of our trip in the beautiful Jacmel, and head to Port au Prince for part 2 of our trip.

During this trip, I have the great privilege of having my very dear friend, Emily Fry, along for the journey with me!  Emily currently works as an ER scribe in Bellingham’s St. Joseph Hospital, making her the PERFECT addition to my efforts implementing medical record systems into clinics in Haiti.  BUT, more on this next time!!

Emily and I on top of our tap tap.

Through working in Haiti the last few years (this is my 6^th trip), I have come to have an outlook on humanitarian aid VERY different than your common person.  You see, while most believe that additional aid and help of any kind is good, I do NOT believe this to be the case.  I was in Port au Prince just weeks prior to the January 2010 earthquake, and I remember well what the city and nation was like then.  The last two and a half years, I have watched as aid groups (mostly American) have poured into the country, and I have watched as Port au Prince, and the attitudes/mindset within, has continually digressed.  I am by no means saying that we should not aid impoverished nations, but I DO think that additional thought needs to be put into the WAYS we are helping, as often times we are not truly helping at all, and may indeed be hurting a nation.   I like the way Kevin Taylor put it in a recent article he wrote about my view point, "as visitors we often don’t see – or we mis-see – the local realities."

I wish I could just bundle you all up and take you on a tour with me, allow you to speak to the Haitian people, and understand things over time.  But for now I must settle with these next few posts, and ask that you do not take offense as I re-examine the good intentions and unintended consequences of certain types of aid.

Today, part 1 of our trip in Jacmel wrapped up.  Jacmel is a medium sized city on the southeastern Haiti coast, and is one of Haiti’s original trading colonies from the 1800’s.  I was not entirely sure what to expect in traveling there, but a three and a half hour drive south from Port au Prince later, I was pleasantly surprised to find beautiful colonial-era buildings (our hotel was built in 1888) and a breath-taking coastline.  But beyond that, the people are an INCREDIBLE people!  Where the people of Port au Prince may seek to take advantage, individuals frequently treat one another with a great lack of respect, and the streets are always dangerous; here the people are incredibly genuine and kind, the citizens respectful, and I have not felt as though I were in a compromising situation once, despite having walked all across this town with just Emily and myself.

With Owens on the Jacmel coastline.

After a day on our own, Emily and I were able to meet up with a contact of mine: Owens.  I met Owens at the Clinton Global Initiative University meeting in Washington D.C. last March, at which he represented Haiti’s USAID SEED program.  Owens just returned from the states earlier this week, and while I felt badly taking him away from his family while the reunion is still so fresh, it was great to hear his reverse-culture shock, and have him so openly discuss with me the failings and successes of the area he has spent most his life in.

The point?  Jacmel receives incredibly little outside aid.  Yet the people are better off both in spirit, and in physical wealth and health than what I have seen anywhere else in Haiti.

For me, Jacmel represents the Haiti ideal.  I wish I could give to all of Haiti what the people of Jacmel naturally have.  And so I have spent my days simply watching and listening to the stories and thoughts of the people here.  Again, the point?  I believe you can be of so much more aid to a place, if you can first truly understand a culture, the true needs of a community, and what works and does not work within a culture.

I wish I could say so much more right now, but at the moment Emily and I are supposed to be loading a bus to head to Port au Prince.  The problem?  We are having tummy issues, and looking at a hot and VERY stuffy 5 hour ride (think people piling on one anothers' laps in a large, dark, covered truck), in which the vehicle does NOT stop for any reason….we are trying to figure out what to do.

More later!!!

One of the natural wonders to be found within Jacmel.

10 Appearances in 10 Days

I am sitting in a nice little hotel in the Haitian coastal town of Jacmel, reflecting back on the crazy last couple weeks I have had.  From speaking at schools to being dunked in the water tank at Relay for Life, it has been a couple of very blessed several days, full of many exciting appearances!

For those not familiar with the world and language of the Miss America Organization, an “appearance” is an opportunity for a titleholder to volunteer in a specific capacity within the community.  With schools wrapping up their academic years, and a number of summer events and festivals taking place, I have been one incredibly fortunate individual with the opportunities I have been given lately!

Ceremonial Opening of Moses Lake’s New Bike Sharrows:  Okay, so admittedly, this event happened about a month ago, but I forgot to mention it in my previous posts (oops!).  In order to become more eco-friendly and bicycle aware, I am proud to say that my community has painted sharrows on select lanes throughout the town!  The sharrows encourage citizens to ride their bicycles, provide safer opportunities to do so, and remind drivers to be mindful of the bicyclists in those lanes.  On the day of the opening ceremony, the city provided a helmet fitting, there was a bike rodeo for small children, a semi-formal ceremony was held, and  then we all jumped on our bikes for a 5 mile bike ride around the town using the newly designated “shared” lanes, and (relatively) new bike paths down by the lake.

Building and Launching Bottle Rockets at Frontier Middle School:  For the record, in case you did not know, I am a nerd.  A BIG nerd, particularly with regards to the sciences.  Having been raised in Moses Lake, I attended Frontier Middle School and competed with their Science Olympiad team, and in the 6^th grade had the incredible opportunity of travelling to Washington D.C. and the University of Delaware to compete at the National competition.  In the last several years, I have had the great privilege and joy of coaching Frontier’s Science Olympiad teams (off and on, depending on my own education path), and have judged regional Science Olympiad competitions.  A week ago, I had the incredible opportunity of once again return to Frontier in order to build and launch bottle rockets with the 8^th graders!

Mrs. Irwin’s 1^st Grade Class:  Mrs. Kristine Irwin is a good friend of mine, and last week gave me the great honor of inviting me to speak to her 1^st grade class.  After speaking to the class for an hour about service to our community and our world, we went outside and collected trash together as a demonstrated act of service to our school.  Later, we had a great time in reading groups, and then all played soccer together at recess!  Thank you, Kristine, for allowing me to play a small role in your incredible students’ lives!

Speaking at Midway Elementary:  After visiting Mrs. Irwin’s class the day before, word got around to other teachers and students that Miss Moses Lake was on campus.  So, much to my excitement, the principal of the school (and my previous Elementary school principal) invited me to return the next day in order to go from class to class and speak to the students.  I spoke with every one of the 1^st through 5^th grade classes about higher education and service, and had a blast doing so!  I also signed a year’s worth of autographs and got a year’s quota of hugs in….but I was MORE than ready to turn around and do it all again!  I had SUCH a great experience, and SO enjoyed my time loving on the students!

Frontier’s 8^th Grade Field Day:  As Frontier Middle School 8^th graders finished up their final week as middle schoolers, it was time to celebrate!  Upon showing up to speak with one of the teachers who has been working on Haiti projects with me, I was quickly whisked outside where I soon found myself strapped to an odd harness contraption, stuck to a Velcro wall in a funky looking jump suit, dowsed with water, and playing piano as part of an impromptu jam session (where, by the way, I met some of the most talented students I have ever met in my life!).  I LOVE Frontier students!

Picking up Haiti Funds from Chief Moses Middle School:  After speaking to the Chief Moses Middle School 8^th graders about poverty around the world, the school (with the leadership of the 8^th graders) spent the last few months collecting funds for young children to attend school in Haiti.  Two days before I left for Haiti, I received that precious e-mail asking me to stop by the school to pick-up the money collected.  To my great and humbled amazement, these incredible students collected $798 to directly enable elementary aged children in Haiti (who would not otherwise have the opportunity), to attend school.  Thank you Chief Moses Middle School for your amazing hearts, and for humbly allowing me to be the deliverer of your incredible act of compassion.

Relay for Life:  I want to thank the directors of Relay for Life for letting me take on such a generous role in such an incredible event.  Miss Moses Lake’s Teen and I had a fabulous time signing-in survivors of cancer.  Living in a small community, I was overwhelmed by how many survivors or cancer are within Moses Lake….many of whom I have known for years and not known they fought cancer at some point in their lives.  After registration was complete, I had the privilege of triumphantly reading off each of the survivors’ names during the survivor lap.  Later, I walked several laps (baton in hand), made and lit the candle in a luminary bag in honor of my grandfather, and even took a turn in the dunking tank where money for the American Cancer Society was raised with each ball thrown.  This appearance, in many ways, was one of the most significant to me personally, yet.  Thank you again, to those who allowed my involvement at the level that I was!

There have been a few other appearances, and I thank the individuals at each for their gracious inclusion of me in their gatherings.  Unfortunately I am having to cut this short due to the internet going out here in Haiti!  Look for another blog posting soon with what is going on here in Haiti, but for now, here is a link of an article just recently published on my history with Haiti and work within: http://www.windowmagazine.org/window/index.php?section=Stories&id=265