Miami then home again

Our group has been without reliable internet connection for most of the time in Hinche so we have not posted. We have all seen and learned so much. We woke up early yesterday morning (thanks roosters!) and made the long dusty trip back to PaP.  Our wonderful driver delivered us to the airport and we made it back to Miami last night after 7pm. Rachel headed home and the rest of us had dinner and a shower and went to bed early. Today the rest of us made the final leg home.

We all need to rest and reconnect with our friends and family. We have only been gone a week, but we feel like we have grown and changed. We want to take some time to reflect on Haiti, PaP, Hinche, Midwives for Haiti, volunteers, mobile clinics, orphanages, feeding programs and new friends and alliances. Soon we each plan to post more on what we have learned and how we have grown. We will also add a few photos of the places we have been and of our new friends.

Regards,

Rhonda, Cara, Carol and Rachel

On our way to Hinche

In true Haitian fashion, the driver who was to be here to take us to Hinche at 8am just called to say that he thinks he’ll be here by 10 or 10:30.  I’m going to guess that it will more likely be noon   So, we thought we’d take advantage of  extra time here in Port au Prince where there is ready internet access by posting the run down yesterday’s activities. 

The morning was spent catching up with Beth and Jonna the two amazing midwives who run the Heartline maternity center.  Around noon we had a short visit with the patients at the hospital, then Carol and Cara went to the UN Logistics base to attend the reproductive health cluster meeting with our interpreter, and new friend Magalie HooChong.  The meeting was held in the UNFPA offices and was attended by representatives for various NGOs working on reproductive health issues in the camps and more broadly in the country.   A representaive from Zanmi Lasante (ZL), the Haitian partner organization of Partners In Health, gave a presentation about the family planning program that  ZL is running here in Port au Prince.  The primary issue brought forward was the dramatic increase in pregnancies among those under 15 years old.  It became clear that these pregnacies are largely the result of violence and though preventing pregnancy is important, it is not enough, and the heart of the issue is security. 

Meanwhile, Rhonda and Rachel traveled with our host here at the guesthouse, Chris, and Dr. Jen, pediatrician from Minnesota who serves as medical director for the Heartline field hospital, to Project Medishare for rehab services.  Project Medishare is run by the  University of Miami and has been opperating in Haiti for more than 15 years.  They were the first medical personel to respond to the earthquake and in the months following the earthquake, Project Medishare opperated the 300 bed critical-care Miami field on the grounds of the airport.  In June the project moved to Hospital Bernard Mevs in downtown Port au Prince.   Rhonda, Rachel, Chris and Dr. Jen took 4 patients: 1 for wound care on a poorly healing stump, 1 for a prosthetic recheck, 1 for physical therapy on a foot with nerve damage secondary to bilateral tib/fib fractures that went weeks withou, 1 for persistent lower limb edema.  While there it became clear that these four were only a few of the MANY earthquake victims recieving services.  The injuries included spinal cord injuries, multiple amputations, poorly healing wounds and fractures needing revision.  Project Medishare’s volunteers were nothing short of amazing.  They enthusiatically provided world-class care with dignity and compassion. 

At dinner we all came back to continue to celebrate Amanda who will be going to the US soon to be treated for her brachioplexus injury at Mayo Clinic.  It’s hard to imagine what she must be feeling as she prepares for such a life changing experience.  She’ll be leaving her home and country for the first time to go to place where she doesn’t speak the language or understand the culture, and will not return for five years.  It will be her first plane ride and her first experience with cold weather- her first interaction with the non-Haitian world.

After dinner we said goodbye to all of our new friends; the patients at the hospital, the heartline staff, and the babies.  It’s difficult to understand, and impossible to explain, how people we’ve know for such a short time have had such a tremendous impact on each of us.  They will be a part of our hearts and minds forever.

Photos from the Birth Center note the Footboard-it is made into a birth stool

Birth center clinic room

Cara in awesome birth sling

inspired "birth stool" headboard

Birth room in birth center

Our 3rd and last day in Port-ua-Prince

The days here are long and hot. Yesterday we went to church and have visited the Heartline Ministries hospital several times. We are now friends with several of the patients and Cara has renewed her friendship with patients she knew from her last visit. The patients are working on wound healing and learning to live and work with prosthetic legs, crutches and canes.  The moms smile and hand us babies to hold when we show up. The little girls run out to meet us at the gate. Cara has the joy of seeing that two little preterm guys she met before have grown fat. They are doing well and are very well loved but behind developmentally. It is very exciting to see the little guys share a rare smile. We are so excited to see one little man reach for his shoes. Milestones are still milestones even if a little late.

Last night we had dinner at the hospital with staff and patients. There was a big celebration because one of the young ladies has just gotten everything in order to go to the US to have an arm treated at the Mayo clinic. She was one lucky girl. She had Dr. Jen and Heartline ministries here advocating for her.  Today we will go to Medishare to visit and work with some patients getting prosthetics and physical therapy.  We may also have the oportunity to vist with a grandma who cares for her only surviving relative a grandson of 9 or 10. The ministry just built them a house.

As we drive around PaP there is still so much rubble and destruction it is shocking. The tent cities are everywhere and people are doing the best they can with very little. It is so easy to be discouraged by the amount of work that needs to be done- but then we reflect on the good work that is happening- one baby, one prosthetic, one house at a time.  The students and faculty here are busy thinking about how we can contribute to Haiti- part of our wide neighborhood.

From here we move out of the city to Hinche.

Rhonda, Cara, Carol,and Rachel

Aiden with Cara, March 2010

Aiden with Cara August 2010

Port au Prince

We’ve cleared the first major hurdle- the Port au Prince airport- and we’re happily settled in to the Heartline Ministries  www.heartlineministries.org guesthouse in the Tabarre section of the city.  Our hosts are lovely and took us on a field trip to the local grocery store and to get the lay of the land.  We even got Digicel minutes for our Haitian cell phones!  On our drive through the city the distruction of the earthquake was still very evident but the monumental effort to clean up and rebuild is clearly being driven by the Haitian people. Men and women in hard hats were busy at work clearing ruble even in the heat of the afternoon.

Miami

Carol Devine, Rachel Spikes, Rhonda Arthur, Cara Osborne

Hello Miami!  After inital flight delays, we’ve made it to Miami safe and sound.  Our inital meeting was a big success and we’re turning in.  Wake up call at 4:45am!

Haiti trip

All of the plans have been made for the trip and my bags are packed with too much stuff. Tomorrow I will be flying to Miami to meet with the other team members where we will be doing our last minute planning before taking off to Port Au Prince on Saturday. I am very excited about getting to experience the culture of  Haiti. I anticipate that we will probably come home with many fond memories and stories to tell to our Frontier family. Like on previous international trips, I will most likely bring home a piece of Haiti in my heart.

Haiti Bound

One week from today I will be flying down to Miami. In Miami I will meet up with Dr. Cara Osborne and two Frontier FNP students. Carol, Rachel, Cara and I will begin our trip to Haiti. We have been busy preparing over the last month and now things are really coming together. We have worked hard on the plans for this trip. Pre trip planning included immunizations, getting our paperwork in order, getting an international phone, and making sure my Visa card will not be cut off while out of the country.

 My friend Patricia (just came home from Haiti) met me for lunch and gave me very good advice for the trip. She also brought copies (in English and French) of the World Health Organizations guidelines for antenatal care. We hope to get these in Creole to share with the midwifery students. Friends and family keep stopping by to give me much needed  medical equipment, sheets, baby blankets, and my son in law insists I take some soccer balls for the boys. My bag is full and heavy and I wonder if I have room for any personal items such as clothes.

Dr. Osborne encouraged me to read Mountains beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder to better understand where we are going and how we can be helpful to the people we intend to serve. It was a great read and if you have any interest in Haiti or service work, read this book. Other assigned reading (thanks Cara) was the Midwives for Haiti web site.  I personally feel very privileged to be allowed to take this trip and to be working with Midwives for Haiti. Their program and mission is beautiful and dear to my heart.

Dr. Osborne and both of the students have international health care experience. I am glad to be with them and together I think we can work to develop a very productive relationship with Midwives for Haiti.

http://midwivesforhaiti.org

I am excited and ready to go.

Rhonda

Frontier Nurses have bags and will travel!