Packing Day

This morning the June teams gathered at Katie's house for Packing Day! Supplies were sorted, bags were packed, and spirits were high! Here are a few pictures. We are excited for our upcoming adventures in Guatemala!

We have seen more severely ill people on this trip than before. One woman age 55 who looks 75 has a growth the size of a cantelope hanging pendulous lay from her lower abdomen. They can't do the "free" surgery until she has 50 dollars worth of blood and urine tests. We did a couple of the tests then gave her the money for transportation to Panajachel where a private and only lab is located. We gave transportation money to a woman with a growth the size of a large grape in her mouth under her tongue, to get to the hospital about 90 minutes away. We are doing a home visit on a family that came in yesterday with the most malnourished kids I have ever seen here. They were dirty, skinny and sad. She is 20 and has four kids she obviously can't feed. We have paid for an 8 year old to have two rotten teeth pulled and I have begged the mom to go to a real dentist to find out the cost to repair the rest of his rotten teeth. His teacher initially brought him in because he was in so much tooth pain. A man came who needs a hernia repair but the "free" surgery can't be done until he comes up with $100 to pay for the mesh to use to do the repair. We have treated multiple urinary tract infections, colds, ear infections, headaches and body aches, gastritis and heartburn, done prenatal and well baby checks. One man told us about his 27 year old brother completely disabled since having meningitis at age 5 months. He sleeps in a crib so we are buying him a new bed that they can get for $150.  Since we opened the clinic last week we have treated over 400 patients in our village and three others.
Katie

Middle Tennessee State University Drama Team

This afternoon they performed for the mamas and tots nutrition program here and were a huge hit. They have performed for over 600 kids and families in 5 villages so far. The cast is 6 college students from MTSU and one HS student who is the professors nephew. The show is 20 minutes with a message (anger management, dental hygiene and hand washing). They wrote it in a theater class this year in English then had it translated into Spanish and learned it even though most of them know little or no Spanish. Impressive. There is some music which their audiences really like. The drama team performed for the Los Robles school minus one class since the teacher was at Inservice and they don't use substitutes.

Harley and Morgan with the kids

Watching the performance

Cathy and Catalina

Godinez Basico (grades 7-9)

The great performers!

Students at Godinez Primario performed for them

More of the show

The Drama Team

Yette mowing the lawn!

The food is good, homemade tortillas at every meal. The Los Robles school is using the stove we installed last year to make a nutritious drink daily supplied by the government,  it is a variety of drinks including one made of rice, one of wheat and incaperina.

Thanks drama team for a great humanitarian experience!! This is a great reminder that every talent can be used to help others!

Day 7,8 & 9: Final Day's in Haiti

Guys, I know. I am a horrible blog writer and I never finished up the last days in Haiti. I had all intentions to do it on the plane heading back, in the airport, or even the first week I was back, but I didnt. BUT now, I would like to wrap up the final days in Haiti!

Everyone made it home safely and no luggage was lost! It has been an amazing trip and an even better team. There were many compliments and comments of how everyone thought this group was great and even one of the best!

On Friday, we all woke up bright and early, loaded up a bus and took off to our first stop to the new Partners in Health Hopital Universaire de Mirebalais. The trip to the hospital was quite a spectacular drive, we were able to get out of the hustle and bustle of Port Au Prince and head into the countryside. It was a long drive, but it definitely gave a different perspective on Haiti.

When we got to the hospital, it regretfully lost in communication that we were coming that day for a tour of the hospital, but luck fully we were able to tour the property anyways. We walked around the property and were able to see the two main waiting rooms, which were packed of patients waiting their turn to be seen. It was a great tour and it was amazing to be able to see what is being done in Haiti to help them out.

Next, we headed to the Hospital Albert Schweitzer Haiti. One of our team members, Aislinn, who had been
a Project Hope volunteer for 3 months during the cholera epidemic in 2010-11, was able to show us some of this facility, and introduce us to the Medical Director. We had some extra supplies and decided this would be a great place to donate the rest of them. Katie was also there for a month with Project Hope, and she was surprised by how little has changed from that time.

The next thing on our busy Friday was to do a small clinic at the Montrouis Work of Art Orphanage. We were able to see around 30 patients from the orphanage, and even had past records to use while we did the check-ups on the kids and staff. This was a quick and easy clinic, where we already had such a long day.

After much work and seeing and treating over 400 people throughout the week, everyone was in need of a break. We were able to give back to the country of Haiti and spend our money at the Indigo Resort. Indigo Resort is located on the beach and is very beautifully. It really reminds you that Haiti it is still a beautiful island, located in the Caribbean. We were all able to get checked in to our rooms (that were air conditioned, I might add) and take somewhat warm showers. Some people went immediately to the beach, while others took a nice nap in their rooms. Later that night we were treated to a Haitian buffet, where they food was very good. After eating most people headed to their rooms or stayed up and danced in the rain!

    Picture credit to Jinil Harvey

The next morning we were treated to another Haitian buffet for breakfast, and then were able to do whatever we pleased until 4:00 that afternoon. The group rented a couple of kayaks and snorkel gear, and took off to explore! While exploring one of the kayaks began to sink and did sink out in the ocean. Luckily everyone was alright, and they were even able to pull the kayak partially onto the beach, and walk back to the resort.

French fries, hot dogs, and pizza were few of the amazing food we were able to indulge in for lunch. Later that afternoon everyone began to pack up and get ready to head back to the guest house, to prepare to head back to the States the next day.

This was such a great and memorable trip and it will never be something I will forget. For everyone that has been on the brink of going on a humanitarian trip, YOU NEED TO GO!  It was definitely an amazing experience and I was so glad to be able to participate in such a experience.

Bye Haiti!

Thank You!

We want to thank Brandon for updating the blog during the Haiti trip! He did an awesome job. It was great to read about the team's experience in Haiti. Thanks again, Brandon! Also, thank you to all the volunteers who made it a successful trip. We appreciate our volunteers!

Day 6: Orphanage Paraclets, Caregiver School, and Notre Dame University of Haiti

The team spilt up into many different groups today and did a lot of different things. The biggest group went to the Paraclets Orphange to do a clinic on there kids and staff. Another group taught classes at Healing Hands for Haiti. Jeff and Aislinn taught college classes at Notre Dame of Haiti. Finally, Katie, Tristyn and Allison helped clean and organize the supply room and found many surprises like 40 boxes of sterile gloves! First, I will have Hailey talk about the clinic at the orphanage then Julie talk about feh caregiver school.

Paraclets Orphanage Clinic:

The journey to the clinic started with a trip to the local pharmacy. We were out of some basics and wanted to restock before visiting the orphans. Turns out, Haiti's medicine is far more expensive than the US's, but Jared (our pharmacist) was able to purchase what we needed. The Paraclets Orphanage is high up in the mountains, down a steep, broken brick path. We parked at the top of the path and hiked all our supplies to the bottom. The children (about seventy of them) were already waiting in the courtyard, all quietly waiting. Amy, Brandon, and Hailey all did intake paperwork, taking names, date of birth, height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, and taking any complaints. Then we sent them upstairs to see our excellent medical staff Emily, Jay, and Jinil. When they were finished, they visited our pharmestist and nutritionist, Jared and Kirsti, who gave them vitamins and any medications they might need. The process ran smoothly and we were able to see all 70 children and several of their staff. Most of the children were healthy and had no complaints; only one little girl had a fever of 102 degrees and a serious infection on her knee. When we were done the children sang us a welcome song, and we were able to tour the orphanage. After all of that, we were able to do some shopping on the way home, and spend way more money than anyone wanted to spend. Especially Jay, who has a very compassionate wife. 

Healing Hands for Haiti Caregiver School:

We taught Caregiver School to Haitian employees at the Healing Hands for Haiti Clinic this afternoon. Julie talked about the importance, purpose, and types of immunizations. Joyce talked about choking, demonstrated the Heimlich Manuver, taught adult and child CPR, and had the students demonstrate on dummies. Sandy addressed "caregiver burnout" and used specific examples to teach healthy coping techniques. We had about 15 students and everyone was engaged, asking great questions, and seemed grateful for the topics presented.

We accomplished many different tasks today and we are all getting ready for our trip to Hotel Indigo to spend the night and be able to relax on the beach! Thank you for everyone's support!

Words of the Day:

Kristi- Fever
Kathleen- Anfon 
Jared- Road Construction 
Jinil- Pant
Tristyn- Lazy
Emily- Rooftop Calisthenics 
Jay- Can't Say No
Joyce- Dust
Alli- Boxes
Jeff- French Keyboard 
Sandy- Shopping
Julie- Spiders
Brandon- Mezie
Hailey- Peed On
Katie- Great Day
Amy- Masks
Aislin- Krapo

 

Day 5: Food for the Poor and Marlique Clinic

Alo from Haiti! 

We were able to treat many people at the Marlique Clinic and play with many kids at Food for the Poor. Today was graduation for the caregiver school. I heard it was a great big party and an amazing time! Today our guest blog author is Joyce. Joyce will tell you everything that happened at Caregiver School. And I will tell you a little about the Outreach Clinic in Marlique.

Food for the Poor Caregiver School:

Today was a wonderful day. We drove to Madam Blaze orphanage to do a new caregiver school and just as we were all jumping out of the car to grab our supplies we discovered the Madam Blaze was no where to be found and no one had any idea we were coming they refused to allow us to come in and teach their caregivers even with much begging and pleading.  We piled back in the van and all headed to The Food For The Poor Orphanage to help with the caregiver graduation.  ( I was secretly thrilled because this orphanage, is a special orphanage full of many handicap children with large smiles and big hearts).

When we arrived we piled out of the car and went to the pavilion to unpack.  The cooks at the school began to instantly tried to give us breakfast of fruit and a slice of ham.  We politely told them we would like to start the school first and we proceeded to wait about 45 minutes while we gathered all the caregivers for the school.  While waiting we pulled out the small bean bags and for 30 tossed the bean bags back and forth with a handful of children who were thrilled to have the attention.

We began to gather all the caregivers slowly and started the school.  Today we taught the caregivers about dressing changes (Jinil) , range of motion (Jay), body mechanics, (Allison), CPR (Joyce) oral hygiene (Hailey)  and vaccines (Julie).  The students had a great time demonstrating what they had learned and there was much laughing and cheering each other on.

it was so nice to have the students excited to learn and they asked many questions about what they were learning and truly seemed to enjoy the class work.  We did take a break around twelve while the caregivers got the students ready for lunch and we were feed a large lunch ourselves of chicken, rice, and beans.  They were so kind to give us so much when they all ate rice and beans mixed with a small amount of meat.

After lunch the graduation began and we as the teachers were touched when we were each called up and given a small decorated certificate ourselves.  They even gave our interpetors  and driver a little certificate of appreciation as well.  In my six years of coming I don't think I have been so touched and will keep my little certificate with my treasures.

At graduation the team had a lot of fun cheering, blowing horns and using our instruments to make a lot of noise to cheer the graduates.  I believe the students were very grateful and after the festive food we packed to leave.  As we began to leave you would have thought we were their best friends with all the picture taking and smiles we sad our sad farewell.  I must admit that I was very grateful to have been able to come to the graduation of these fine students.

Marlique Outreach Clinic:

This clinic is located not to far from the Guest House, only about 20 minutes away. This clinic is located higher up in the mountains on some pretty steep hills. As we reached the clinic we quickly unloaded our supplies and traversed down a steeper dirt road to the clinic.

Many people gathered shortly after we arrived. I helped Jared (our pharmacist) start unloading the medication into his pharmacy.

I was running between the pharmacy and being an eye doctor today in the clinic. I helped pick out glasses for people whose vision was not that well. Emily, Aislinn, Kathleen, and Tristyn were able to see over 80 patients at the clinic. They mainly complained about eye problems, vaginal pain, and other types of pain. Unfortunately, one of our nurses got sick during the day and our main goal was to keep her healthy. But everything ended well and were able to see many kids and adults and even a family of 10. 

Today's words of the day are:

Amy- Graduation

Julie- Touch

Jared- UTI

Kristi- Worm Candy

Joyce- Melancholy

Jay- Noise Maker

Emily- Economic Orphan

Ali- Taco Bell

Aislinn- Discharge

Jinil- Certificates

Sandy- Whopper

Tristyn- Fever

Katie- Staying Alive

Jeff- Malmouton

Hailey- Redneck

Brandon- Juice

Kathleen- Glasses 

Day 4: Food for the Poor and Hope for Life Children's Home

Hello everyone! Today was a great day again for everyone with a lot of amazing experiences. I was actually able to stay at the Guest House today, where we are staying, and helped hang pictures, signs, and hooks for the bathrooms. I even blew up a pool on the roof for the team to relax in tomorrow (the water is very slow here). It was nice to be able to help out the caregiver of the guest house, where they are so nice to us here! Because I was here at the guest house all day, I am unable to report on either trips the team experienced today, so I have asked Kristi and Amy to graciously write about their experiences today. 

    This is a picture of some maks I hung on the wall today!

Food for the Poor:

The second day of caregivers school at Food for the Poor was a huge success. We walked around and visited with the kids for a while then were treated to food and juice before starting class. Hailey taught Activities of Day Living, then Aislinn taught Fractures and Splinting. We were also able to bring along two HHH volunteers with us, Sasha from Belgium who read a story to help teach the kids about hand washing, and Bettina from Denmark who spoke briefly about occupational therapy and then worked with some of the workers with the children. After that, it was time for Carnaval!!

The kids donned donated costumes and the workers painted many of their faces while music played and everyone danced. We passed out masks donated by teammates and took lots of photos with the kids. Then we had a parade. They had decorated carts and a couple of children sat on each cart with a basket of candy or crackers or other little trinkets. As music played, we pushed the carts around the courtyard and up to the area where there were many children who have limited or no mobility. There the children on the carts tossed out their trinkets and we got a lot of big smiles as we danced through.

Before we left, we were fed again a wonderful meal and soda while music played in the background. The administrator and a couple of other workers eloquently and enthusiastically thanked us for coming and said they look forward to a full day of teaching tomorrow. Upon being thanked by us, Edouard, who seems to be the Carnaval ringleader, said that today was nothing and the best is yet to come. We can't wait to see what they have in store for us tomorrow, though Amy (the CGS director) is quite nervous they will trump our graduation ceremony for them.

This link is a video of their Carnival celebration they had for the kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LA_qZB4li4&feature=youtu.be

Hope for the Life Childerens Home:

Today we held the outreach clinic out in Leogane.  It turned out so well!  We were at the Hope for Life Children's Home but they had also invited the community to participate.  Hope for Life takes care of about 24 children.  Only a couple are true orphans and the rest come from families that can't take care of them.  Many have too many children to feed.  The Pastor does a good job of taking care of these children and helping teach them good values. I think what was so great about today's clinic was that the pastor had told everyone they would have to pay 5 gourdes (1 dollar=40 gourdes) to be seen. This added value and sacrifice to their experience and also weeded out the people that weren't actually sick. In the end they used the 5 gourdes to buy little bags of water to give to the patients to drink. The Pastor and Hannah, a missionary from Tennessee who spends all her free time at Hope for Life, had everything organized so well. The flow went smoothly and quickly and the people were so calm and orderly.  We treated 140 patients!!! I spent the day in registration taking names, vitals, and finding out chief complaints. From what I could tell, the nurses, practitioners, and pharmacists also had a smooth experience.  When the clinic was over, we spent some time playing with the kids and admiring/buying earrings they had made to raise money. Very successful day!!

Amy and Kristi had great experiences and the rest of the team did too! In our team meeting we talked about Meritocracy. Meritocracy is a term used to mean a society where people are rewarded on their merit, rather than the wealth or opportunities of the family they were born into. We met with a partner and talked about our circumstances growing up and to see if we came up short or beat the odds. It was an interesting conversation to see each side, and her people experiences growing up and where they are now. Thank you everyone for your support!

Words of the Day:

Hailey-Amanda

Tristyn- Vaginal Infection

Kirsti- Eye Kaka

Katie- Interior Design

Kathleen- Flow

Jeff- John Kerry

Amy- Parade

Brandon- Cement

Aislinn- Posé

Allison-Thermometer 

Jared- Amoxicillin

Jay- Lumbago

Jinil- Mistress  

Julie- Flies

Emily- Orleich

Sandy- Cooperation 

Joyce- Blood Pressure

Day 3: Callebaise Outreach Clinic and Food for the Poor Caregiver School

It was a fantastic first day truly helping the people of Haiti. We all have great stories and experiences to share from today. The team was split into two groups today, and we headed off in separate directions. I thought it would be a great idea to have a person from each group tell what they personally experienced today. First we will have Hailey tell her experience at the Callebaise Clinic.

Callebaise Clinic:

The Callebaise Clinic is up high in the mountains, up a dirt road that we almost had to push the van up. On the way we passed many homes destroyed by the earthquake in 2010, as well as the old clinic, that was also destroyed. Many of the houses still have families in them, and when we got there, there were about thirty-five people already waiting to be seen. We set up the nurses' stations, the pharmacy, and the "eye doctor's" room as quickly as we could and began filling out intake paperwork on each person. That's what I did at first; with the help of two interpreters, we were able to write down the names, ages, date, and why each person was at the clinic. People didn't like waiting in the line though, and several times a flight almost broke out over people cutting in front of others. For hours we were fought over by the Hatians (and I was sat on more times than not by people trying to get closer to the interpreters). After we had seen 85 people, we announced that our time and supplies were running low, and we would have to stop. We ended up having to turn more than 20 people away. After registration was done I tried helping fill prescriptions in the pharmacy with Jared and Julie, but I kinda sucked because I'm not a pharmacist. I also got to be the eye doctor. We gave away a lot of reading glasses, and I even got someone in a pair of prescription glasses. Pretty much I'm an eye doctor now, but from now on it will have to be in the States because I dont speak French, and being alone with a French-speaking person is hard. Especially when you're finding them glasses...and then especially when you're not really an eye doctor, and everyone just thinks you are because you're wearing scrubs and handing out glasses. 

Hailey is a support team member and everybody loves her and her hard work. Now, we will get to hear from Allison and her experience at the General Hospital and Care Giver School.

General Hospital and Caregiver School:

Today Joyce, Brandon and I went to the general hospital here in Port au Prince. Our mission was to find Dr. Kaffe who ran the TB clinic there. When we arrived we found that the hospital was under construction and that the TB ward and Dr. Kaffe had disappeared. We were disappointed that we would not be able to work with her patients but we were determined to deliver our supplies.  We had newborn kits and several other medical supplies that would be valuable to a TB ward.  

We were sent all over the hospital is search of a director who could accept our supplies.  After waiting for the chief of staff for a few minutes in an air conditioned room we were sent to the maternity ward where we again waited for the director to accept our newborn kits.  After a few minutes and several chairs being brought to us for our comfort, we were directed to another man who led us directly to the maternity ward where we split up our newborn kits and were able to deliver the supplies directly to the mothers and babies. It was very rewarding to be able to see the gratitude on the recipients faces as well as to catch a quick glance and their beautiful babies.  So precious.

Armed with our supplies, our awesome translator/chauffeur, and a determination to deliver our donations to a TB ward we headed up the long hill to the hospital that Dr. Kaffe sent her patients.  This was called the Sanaitorium.  After the slow climb up the hill we arrived at the hospital that was in rubble.  We were a quickly escorted to the director of the hospital where she graciously and excitedly accepted our donations.  We tired to convince here to let us stay and help but she said we were not needed. 

We were now on our way to Food for the Poor, which is where this year's Caregiver School is located.  Our trusty chauffeur, Matt got us there right in time for Joyce to teach her class on choking.  She did an amazing job teaching the staff how to administer care for choking adults and children.  The staff was able to practice on each other and on baby dolls.  They did an excellent.  

Now it was time of Carnival.  Many of us helped make carnival masks while watching the children dance their little hearts out.  They have moves that I have never seen before.  The children enjoyed their masks and the celebration.  Brandon gained a new girlfriend.  She wouldn't let him out of his sight. Hopefully Hailey won't be jealous.  The children there were precious and very well cared for.  The caregivers showed so much love.  One sweet boy name Stevenson was dressed up as a superhero he didn't have any fingers but he was able to write his name on a piece of paper and and draw me a picture.  Another girl named Lynn was confined to a wheelchair/stroller.  She was so happy and as I fed her lunch and  kept repeating the words "I Love You" in English.  What a sweet happy girl.  There were so many children I was able to associate with and with that I could share all my experiences.  What a special place happy place. 

 

Allison was truly great help trying to negotiate with both hospitals on accepting the supplies and providing direction of what the team should do next. It has been both a long and rewarding day! Please comment if you have any questions!

 We will finish with the words of the day:

Lost

Cliff

Greasy

Tall

Carnival

Love

Perception

Off-roading

Lump

Flesh Eating Bacteria 

Spinal Cord

Crown

Energetic Elderly

Busy

Accomplishment

Holding

Cabrit

Day 2: Church, Interpreters, and Hotel Montana

Today was another relaxing day to recoup from our flights and get ready for our Clinics and Care Giver School tomorrow. We woke up at 7:30 and had a great breakfast, then we all got ready for church. We all got into two vans and headed to an LDS church. When we first arrived there wasn't much space, but they saw us and graciously scooted over to fit all 16 of us. We all made friends after church and played with them for about an hour!

We then walked a couple blocks away from the church and went to a grocery store called "Giant". This is a typical store, about the size of most associated food stores. They had a great selection of food and dry goods. Everyone bought there good share of vanilla and some snacks! 

After that, we drove back to the Guest House and were able to meet our interpreters that will be helping us. We went over the three different types of interpretation and which one we prefer in the medical situation. It was great to be able to meet everyone and get to know them.

Next we took a drive up to Hotel Montana and had a great Haitian buffet and were able to watch the sunset with a fantastic view of the city and the ocean. It was great food and company and it was nice to be able to relax before the big day tomorrow.

 Here is the words of the day:

Hailey-North Korea

Tristyn- Anticipation 

Kirsti- Carrots

Katie- Sunset

Kathleen- Busy

Jeff- Diri Djon Djon 

Amy- Interpreters

Brandon- Ocean

Aislinn- OKAY!?

Allison- Fun.

Jared- Grenadia

Jay- Donught

Jinil- Babies 

Julie- Singing

Emily- Annie Jane 

Sandy- ZZzzzzzz (She is really sleeping)

Joyce- Color

I will finish this post thanking everyone for their donations to make this trip possible and a great picture of the sunset up at Hotel Montana!

Day 1: Arriving and Unpacking

Today was a long day of traveling for everyone! Everyone came in on red eye flights then caught an early morning flight to Haiti. The guest house is located about 40 minutes away from the airport, with weaving, honking, squeezing in and a lot more driving maneuvers you would never see in the States. Shortly after we made it to the guest house alive, everyone gathered and unpacked their suitcases, full of medical supplies, and sorted everything onto tables.

    This is just one of the 6 tables full of supplies!

The rest of the day has been pretty lazy, we started to sort and separate vitamins and pills for our clinics starting on Monday. 

We had a great Team Meeting talking about culture and things that we noticed today that is different than our culture. Every day Katie asks for everyone to say one word that describes their day and we are not allowed to explain why we chose this word. 

Word of the Day:

Uncomfortable

Katie

Sweaty

Long

Sound-Sleep

Fatigue

Tired

Improvement

Worn Out

Baggies

Organization

Urge

M&M's

Van

Guesthouse

Honking

We are all awaiting catching up on our much needed sleep and having some great adventures tomorrow!

Packing Day!

Hello!

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Brandon Bringhurst and I will be traveling with the Humanitize Expedition team to Haiti. I will be writing on this blog while we are in Haiti, to keep family and friends updated on what we were able to accomplish each day, tell any exciting stories, etc. etc.

We are less than 3 days away before the Humanitize Expedition Team heads to Haiti! The team has spent countless hours collecting supplies, preparing lesson plans, coordinating outreach clinics, and many other things that we'll be doing in Haiti. This past Saturday everyone on the team, minus some important team members that live out of state, gathered at Katie's to pack our bags. The tremendous amount of supplies that were donated was amazing. Every person packed their bag right to the 50 pound mark, even a little over, and are hoping the airline just won't notice! Below is a picture of me and my wife sorting our supplies the morning of the packing meeting (we regretfully forgot to take a picture of the group at Katie's house packing).

I know the entire team is very excited to get over to Haiti and start helping out in the clinics! If anyone has any input or suggestions of things they would like to know throughout the trip, please comment and let me know!

P.S. If anyone is not familiar with Healing Hands for Haiti, the video below explains the organization very well, or visit this their website at http://www.healinghandsforhaiti.org/.