All Saints Trip Report – Lotore April 24 – May 1, 2012

 

Trip comprised of 12: 1 MD, 2 CRNAs, 1 NP,  4 RNs, 1 vet, 1 vet tech, 1 lay person, and 1 daughter. 7 churches were represented. 3 new team members.

God always has HIS theme for each trip…we may or may not know it before we go but He makes it apparent during the week.  This time was no exception.  This one was all about relationships and reconciliation.

The night before got word of rioting in PAP and were unable to confirm with TJ Johnston there, nor our priest, Pere Soner, or  an American Vet in PAP as to the state of the city.  We could  not contact anyone in the Embassy and I had not completed registering our team with the US Embassy there in PAP.

The morning of our departure, there was still no word on conditions in Haiti. We got our 18 bags and boxes checked at the airport and then prayed for protection, safety and guidance. We were meeting 1 person in Ft L and the other in PAP. We had determined we would not leave FL without knowing what PAP was like.

God answered our prayers….3 emails from all of the 3 persons saying PAP was quiet (rain had dispelled the crowds).  Our travel was smooth even with some early departures and arrivals! We always ask for special prayers going through customs as we never know how much they will ask for or if they will take our medications.

Our trip into the mountains to Lotore was smooth and shorter than usual as they went a different way because of earlier heavy rains.  We made it in record time of 1 hr 45 minutes with no flat tires, engine malfunctions or broken axles which is a miracle in itself! The Catholic church lent their ambulance for the travel.

Thursday afternoon, we arrived at St Barnabus school and church to set up for what we thought would be our clinic starting the next morning. We looked out our door to see children and adults lining up, so clinic was open

Each morning before clinics began, we would gather in a large circle (many of the Haitians would join us) and pray.  We have about 20 Haitians working with us: translators cooks, drivers, crowd control, registration, and those that we don’t even see but make sure we are taken care of).  Carmil is the layreader and runs the school and church at Lotore.  Over the next 2 days, 165 adults, 125 children, and 100 animals were seen.

In the adult clinic, Leslie Jordanger, nurse practitioner, hung curtains to separate exam rooms and stocked a dressing and IV supply box. Burns were dressed, machete wounds were sutured, knees were aspirated, animals treated and neutered. The vet clinic travelled some to other villages to see donkeys, goats, pigs, bulls, cows and mules.

More important than the numbers: Each patient and animal owner was individually prayed for and some accepted Jesus as their Savior for the first time. I think Billy Fairey said in his presentation on heartreach that the prayers are what we pray for: health, guidance, housing, to walk with the Lord a little closer.

Each night we had devotionals. Different team members shared how God was impacting them on this trip.  It was amazing to see how relationships were changed, healed and transformed just in 1 short week. A father and daughter going through a rough time were brought closer together by serving each other and others.  A husband and wife renewed their relationship by working together. A Haitian-American relationship that had been full of strife for many years was reconciled.

Our relationship with Pere Soner continues to grow and become more close.  He is such a strong man of faith even in the midst of daunting circumstances.  He came to LaGonave in 2005 to fill some very bigs shoes of the previous priest, Pere Val.  Over the  years, the relationship has grown to mean so much to me.  Just an example is in an email he sent me after the trip when I wrote about some dates and to thank him for his spiritual guidance:

 

Bonswa Dr Mandy, I’m happy to know you got back safely but a little sad some people were sick. Everyone of you is my prayers, thank you for your encouraged word, hopefully the Holy Spirit keeps us in the same way.  I can’t forget your permission requested:  ”please papa, tanpri papa” when you wanted to get in the big truck. it makes me hahaha.

 

Our trip down the mountain was uneventful and some of us got to ride in the open supply truck after begging Pere Soner to let us do it.  “It is too dangerous” he said, but he conceded.  As we were finally in the back of the truck here comes Pere Soner on the back of Carmil’s motorcycle with no helmet!

We did have some illnesses after we returned: several of the team members have just gotten over some GI complaints, and our vet tech just got out of the hospital with presumed Dengue Fever.

God was so good to us on this trip.  He provided safety, healing, and restoration.

Reported by Amanda Drosieko

 

 

 

Covenant Trip Report, February 2012

Every time we come back from Haiti, we think “wow, this was the best trip ever.”   It is a puzzling thought because each trip has had a special combination of people and events.  This time we realized that the “best trip ever” reflects that  each time we see more and more building blocks  being put into place and progress is palpable.

Our February trip was one of the largest — 11 people with 5 first-timers– and, “the best trip ever.”   Claude Cox, John Greeley, Richard Jaynes and Brooke Taylor passed their Haiti initiation with flying colors.  Claude was invited by the men of Nan Mango to move there.  John became the Jeremy Lin of LaGonave — playing basketball and making friends.  Richard turned out to have amazing problem-solving skills (and memorable dance skills) and Brooke was always surrounded by children.  Old timers Deb Griffin, Jim Ingvoldstad and Lee Wilder were joined by Jeannie Westabrooke, an ultrasound tech from Piedmont Hospital, and Jan Macallister, a cardiac nurse practitioner, and everyone’s new best friend Dr. Bob Swerlik, the chair of Emory’s dermatology department.  Laura Martin of Ties that Matter joined us for another series of workshops with the women on Nan Mango.  We were a team — different personalities and skills, but working together and forging deep friendships.

We journeyed to Nan Mango for a worship service on our first full day on LaGonave, up the long dusty and rocky road.  At church, Pere Soner read a message from our minister, Ernie, and passed around a picture of the Covenant congregation from our 2011 retreat.  That picture was studied and studied and slowly passed.  After church, the whole community gathered for a meal prepared by a group of women and we simply enjoyed the fellowship.

Our medical team went to the Bill Rice Clinic each day and treated over 300 people during our stay.  We started early by treating Claude Valdemar’s minor injuries from a motorcycle accident first thing Monday morning at the compound!  Did you now that duct tape is a staple in any first aid kit?  At Nan Mango, the rest of the group assembled stands for the three sewing machines that we had transported by plane, taxi-bus, speedboat, sailboat and pick-up truck.  It was a beehive of activity as all of the men …. from Covenant and a few from Nan Mango huddled over the sewing machine project while the women clustered around Laura showing the dolls and bags they had made since November.

Richard supervised the guttering project on the school building and we all realized that the  installation of the Alan Colussy pump #2 on our new cistern was a delightful spectator sport.  We played with the children, we worked with the adults.   We jumped rope, played soccer, sang, danced, visited, took “fotos” and hugged.  We even located a sewing machine repairman at the market in Palma to do the final tweaks on our sewing machines.

One day, we held a meeting with the women’s sewing group to talk about the products, the new machines, the plans and just to visit.  Laura Martin was so impressed with the quality of work these women are doing and believes that the business can expand to include more women.  At the end of the meeting, Berline, one of the leaders, thanked us for helping them saying, “You treat us with respect and that makes us respect ourselves more.”

Claude, Richard and John led our first meeting with the men of Nan Mango and learned that they are eager for professional skills.  We discussed the best type of latrine for the area and proposed a project whereby if they could supply the labor, we would work on furnishing all materials costs.  The group had a long talk about the best way to meet this pressing need for latrines in the community and we will move forward on this critical need.   We were humbled (again) to learn that the men want enough food for their children.  We are now trying to discern the best way to do a school lunch program. At the end of the meeting Claude Cox was invited to move to Nan Mango and we named him the mayor of Nan Mango, we expect great things!

We spent one afternoon de-worming the children of Nan Mango.  This is the single most important step in public health.  All of these children have worms.  Untreated, this leads to malnutrition and respiratory problems.  We brought hard candy as the pill has a bitter taste.  Claude recorded the dosing and date on each child’s chart, Deb handed them a pill, Richard a cup of water to down the pill and John provided the candy reward.  We quickly realized that the cup of water was the true reward.  February is the dry, dusty season when water supplies are depleted and each child eagerly swallowed the pill in order to get a cup of water.  That was a powerful observation and we all struggled with our emotions.  We have committed to the twice a year de-worming protocol — for one dollar a year, we can treat a child.  Lewis and Patton Jaynes had generously shopped with Shannon and Richard, sending dozens of new shoes which are a essential element of protection against worms and infections.

Kip Buis, a member of our congregation sent bags of seeds for tomatos, spinach, radishes, carrots, watermelons and more.  We gave those to Jean Thoney, the agronomist who runs the goat project.  Jean Thoney was thrilled and plans to grow seedlings for the farmers of the partnership communities.

Pere Soner reported that our adult literacy classes for the first phase had just ended and that there was a waiting list for a new series.  He told us that many of the literacy students had been marginalized in their communities and learning how to read gave them greater standing.  Pere Soner believes that adult literacy is the foundation to all community development work that we are doing.  In Port au Prince met with Laurence Camille, the director of Fonkoze’s adult literacy education program. Ms. Camille brought Robert Sterling, the man who supervised all of our adult education teachers, to the meeting and Robert told us how impressed he was with our teachers, their enthusiasm and dedication.  He also gave us the thrilling news that all 158 of our students passed the first module graduation test.  The LaGonave Partnership program is one of Fonkoze’s best success stories!  We will send all of our teachers for advanced training in a few weeks, start the 158 graduates on the second module of literacy training and begin another first level training.  All of that in less than a year from when one woman in Nan Mango asked to learn how to read and write.

Thanks to the Covenant congregation for their continued support of this work in Haiti. Even though they do not all go along it is the spirit of a congregation determined to do “Christ’s work in the world” that makes these trips successful.

 

 

 

 

 

All Saints Trip Report Jan 31-Feb 7

Lotore Community Trip Report:

All Saints (Pawleys Island)-St Barnabus Partnership

Healthcare trip Jan 31-Feb 7

Our US team of 12 traveled to La Gonave to provide a 3 day clinic for the community of Lotore.  We do this three times a year. The team came in on 2 different flights so we hit evening rush hour in Port au Prince in full swing. It was dark for most of the ride up the coast to the Hotel Wahoo. After a ferry ride to La Gonave the next morning,  we rode up the mountain in the back of the pickup truck because the ambulance had finally died (RIP). We never knew we would miss those worn out bench seats until we spent 3 hours on wooden planks. The Holy Spirit blessed us with hearty laughter and giggling amidst the dust and groans all the way up. Upon arrival we set up 3 clinics in the classrooms- dental, opthamology and adult. We set up the male and female “dorms” and after dinner and devotions fell into bed.

 

The next 3 mornings we were very busy with patients. Jean Thoney, the director of the Partnership’s Goat Project travelled to Lotore to work with team vet Dr. Stephanie Welch , volunteer Stoney Miller and translator Josef in treating the community’s goats, donkeys, pigs, mules and cattle. One day the animal crew drove to the market at Nan Café and provided services at the busy market. Dr. Welch was impressed with the marked superiority of the goats she saw from the Goat Project.  We had some good discussions over dinner about the difficult condition of life for the working animals, particularly the donkeys.  Dr. Welch advised the donkey’s owners to rest them in order for saddle sores and hooves to heal but the owner s were dubious as they rely on the animals to transport water for their family. We wondered if the US tradition of a “Blessing of the Animals” service might be a nice addition to our next worship.

Dr. Jerd Poston and volunteer Ron Gordon set up an eye clinic in one of the classrooms. It is very difficult to achieve a dark environment to facilitate a good eye exam but Ron and Jerd got creative with garbage bags and duct tape! With the help of translator Webster they saw 150 patients and were able to provide eyeglasses and moisturizing drops for all patients who needed them. Dr. Poston noted that most patients had farsightedness and presbyopia; very few cases of nearsightedness were diagnosed. The dry, dusty conditions and sun lead to a lot of eye irritation and they treated about 10 cases of mild conjunctivitis or blepharitis each day. Timberlake Baptist Church in Surfside Beach, SC provided reader glasses for the trip and assisted with funds for the medications. We were also provided with some glasses from the Lions Club Intl. Texas distribution center.

Dr. David Grabeman  and dental hygienist Alice Welch operated a dental clinic with the help of translator Bob, assistants Jovaline and Gay, and crowd control by Eduard. Alice and Dr. Dave saw 110 patients and performed extractions with the use of topical and injected local anesthetic. Patients were provided with antibiotic and pain medication to take home when necessary. Alice, Dr. Dave, volunteer Harriett Miller and Annie Harris, RN also provided fluoride treatments to 75 children.

350 patients were treated in the adult clinic by Leslie Jordanger , FNP and Dr. Dorcius Isidorlange from Bill Rice Clinic. Ajan Sante Yvenia St Cyr and Ms. Micheline (Bill Rice) registered the patients and recorded vital signs. After the medical exam patients could receive lab exam from 4 local employees. Volunteer Dan Jordanger staffed the pharmacy and distributed the ordered medications to each patient. The medications had been packaged with creole instructions by Providence Presbyterian Church, Gum Spring VA. We also saw about 40 children. Dr Billy Fairey treated approximately 100 previously diagnosed hypertensive, diabetic and anemic patients with the assistance of translator Jean Louis and volunteer Cathy Fairey and Annie Harris, RN.

 

Our multidisciplinary clinic had 30 local employees and 12 US volunteers from Hazel Green, AL, Bumpass, VA, Pawleys Island /Murrells Inlet/Greenville SC.   The joy and success of our trips is magnified by the time we spend living at the clinic for 4 nights amongst the community and teachers at St Barnabus school.  Although our partnership originates with All Saints, there are always team members from other parts of the southern US who join in serving and team members who do not have any medical training who are MVPs.

We were able to spend Sunday night at the Wahoo Hotel where the accommodating staff indulged us with a poolside big screen tv and dinner to watch the Super Bowl. The hotel has undergone a beautiful renovation and we had a magical evening as we watched the sun set across the bay on our friends on La Gonave.  It was something we will never forget.  Beautiful Haiti- we hold our friends and our second home close in our hearts and prayers. Next trip- April 24-May 1 (pediatrics, adult and veterinary).

 

Trip Report: First Presbyterian Atlanta 1-13-2012

 

First Presbyterian Atlanta Haiti Trip January 2012

Friday 1/13: Travel Day –Traveling from Atlanta were, Rose Emily Bermudez, Jean Russ, Vic Cavanaugh, Laura Calk, Dushawn Andrews, Selma Ridgeway, Becky Sigmund, Nancy Ike, Steve Feagin, and Norma Feagin. Claire Berry joined us in Miami, We arrived in PAP and were met by Pere Soner, Gretchen VanEss (Emory Masters in Public Health and Masters in Divinity Graduate Student),  and Michael Ritter (Emory MPH and MDiv Graduate who now lives in Haiti running the Jolivert Safe Water Purification Organization). We traveled to Wahoo Bay for dinner and an overnight stay.

Saturday 1/14: Following breakfast, our thirteen member mission team traveled by speedboat to La Gonâve. Also traveling on the boat were Pere Soner, a Haitian woman, and two boat operators plus ALL of our bags. After settling into the guest quarters at Saint Francis, we reorganized and labeled our supplies for each project.

Our yearly Childspring party began at 3:30. Following a wonderful program in our honor featuring the children and their parents, we presented gifts to each of the Childspring children in attendance. The children and parents were served dinner by our team. Rose Emily’s many years of service as the Executive Director were recognized by the families and our group that included Childspring Board Members Vic Cavanaugh, Nancy Ike, and Becky Sigmund.

Sunday 1/15: We attended Church at Saint Francis in the morning and then traveled by truck to Saint Croix where we were warmly welcomed by our Partners in Nouvelle Cité for a meaningful Communion service.

Michael Ritter addressed the church community immediately following the service concerning the importance of safe drinking water, particularly with the recent cholera outbreak. Ten families had been identified by Pere Soner to become the first participants in our point of use in-home safe water pilot project. A group including one member from each chosen family gathered in a classroom where they each received a bucket, tap, and bottle of chlorine. Michael explained the system and trained the group in the use and care of the bucket system. Ample time was given for questions.

The church community joined with us for a wonderful meal in celebration of our Partnership. We distributed sun glasses to the adults and some of the children.

 

Dushawn studied the roof systems of the church and school validating his impressions from his past visit and photos. He then updated his plan for a water catchment system and provided Pere Soner with a revised list of needed materials.

Monday 1/16: We traveled to Nouvelle Cité in the morning where we began organizing the health stats project at Saint Croix. Screening was partially completed with the younger students.

Claire spent time with Jean Thoney and Pere Soner discussing the goat project. She provided a supply of medicine for the goats and made plans for other needed pharmacy supplies.

Rose Emily and Steve met with the Microfinance recipients, Pere Soner, and Museau Nixère, the program’s accountant. They addressed recent, previously unseen, payment issues and discussed the future of the program. The participants were challenged to help those in arrears to honor their loan obligations so the next round of loans can promptly start.

Dushawn and Vic began organizing the water catchment project and work commenced alongside a team of Haitians led by Sonny. He and Dushawn established their own means of communication minimizing the need for the constant presence of an interpreter. Gutters (traditional metal with soldered seams and cut PVC) were to be made and attachments for these were installed for the church and school.

 

We had the opportunity to observe the school lunch program which now operates three days a week. The cooks prepare the food outside and use the building for serving plates and storage as well as an eating area for students.

Tuesday 1/17: The Health Screening continued. Teachers brought classes in one at a time. Cards were either found from the previous year or new cards were made. We recorded the height and weight on the cards and when possible determined the progress of each student. While we again saw progressive growth in the students, a few showed minimal signs of malnutrition prompting discussion of “de-worming” given the prevalence of infestations in the pediatric population. This aspect will be investigated.

After each card was completed, the student moved to station # 2 where individual pictures were taken. These will be attached to the cards to help identify the child in the future. Following the picture, the child moved to station #3. Once the students in the class were all present, an interpreter showed the children the proper way to brush their teeth. After cleaning their teeth with their new toothbrush and toothpaste, a fluoride treatment was administered. The students returned to their classroom.

The water catchment project continued with guttering for the long roof sections of the sanctuary and those spanning the classrooms. The downspout systems were assigned to divide the captured water between the two cisterns at the facility.

Wednesday 1/18: Part of our team traveled to the market in Palma. There they visited a Microfinance recipient in her booth and later purchased buttons, thread, and needles from another vender. Upon our return to Nouvelle Cité, the students were invited to visit a sewing station where any needed uniform repairs were made. Our group enjoyed spending time with individual children while making needed repairs.

Eye screening for reader glasses was provided at Saint Croix with fitting for appropriate strength glasses. The clinic staff and teachers were screened along with adults from the community. Upon our return to St. Francis, women participating in an embroidery group were also given the opportunity for screening. They were very grateful for glasses to help with needle threading and close work.

At the request of Pere Soner, Gretchen met with Jean Thoney to explain an idea for a future agriculture project. This project uses old tires to hold good soil for the planting of small gardens in areas where nothing has been successfully grown in the past. Pere Soner was excited about the possibility and he plans to try this at the Rectory. We hope that it eventually can be used at the school to supplement the lunch program, possibly aiding our plan to eventually serve lunch five days a week. If this project proves successful, families in the area could be taught how to build their individual gardens.

Led by Ishzunel, the water project community leader/monitor, Gretchen, Rose Emily, and Steve visited homes of three families in the new safe water project. All systems had been properly set-up and were in use. Neither the women nor their children had complaints about the taste of the water. Questions were answered which primarily centered on the duration that the treated water would be safe for consumption.

Work on the water catchment project continued until dark and plans were established for completion by the Haitian members of the team. Hopefully, the cistern between the school and lunchroom and the one below the school will be filled when the rainy season begins. A pump provided by Covenant Presbyterian will tap the upper cistern for the lunch facility.

Thursday 1/19: We returned by ferry to Port au Prince early in the morning.

We checked into Le Plaza Hotel. Vic, Steve and Dushawn visited Herbie’s home to film an interview with his mother concerning Childspring’s impact on their lives. Movie footage was obtained documenting the destruction of their home resulting from the earthquake and the subsequently constructed smaller replacement structures.

Rose Emily coordinated a guided walking tour to see the collapsed former government Palace, Holy Trinity Church, the Episcopal Cathedral, Saint Vincent School for the Handicapped, and the surrounding areas that were intensely damaged.

We enjoyed a cool rain as we gathered together at the hotel restaurant for our final evening in Haiti.

Friday 1/20: We returned home, richly blessed by our visit, bringing with us special memories of the week we spent with each other as we joyfully shared God’s love with our friends on La Gonâve.

Note: Each evening following dinner, members of our team took turns leading devotionals with scripture readings and reflections on the spirituality and meaning of our mission in Haiti.

 

Rose Emily Bermudez and Norma Feagin

 

Trip Report: Trinity Makes Initial Visit-10-18-11

Friendship, family and finances all work  together to forge a successful partnership. This trip began Trinity’s journey establishing  new friendships  and creating an expanded family. The Vestry of St. Francois was very appreciative of Trinity Presbyterian of Atlanta, GA and the friendships made and work accomplished on this trip. Trinity was very grateful for the hospitality and common ground that our churches both share. We both have schools, we both reach out into the community, we both have visionary staffs and we have members that share in the work of the church. This trip established that there are many opportunities to grow this relationship  in many ways and the 2011 mission team was very blessed to have the opportunity to serve Trinity in extending our work in global missions with such a hospitable church family.

 

 

Trip Report: All Saints 9/13/11

September 2011 Trip

Our team traveled to La Gonave September 13-20^th to coordinate the Lo Torre Clinic. We last visited in May 2011 and left our patients with medication for 4 months. An All Saints (SC)-based team of 8 health care providers and 4 volunteers traveled to the community. Upon arrival in Anse-a Galet, we added Haitian team members Dr. Samuel and Miss Ester, physician and nurse from the Bill Rice Clinic in Nouvelle Cite. Because we have to pack almost everything up, it takes a pretty large support staff and convoy. We used the ambulance, the pick-up truck and the dump truck to make the trek up the mountain; all of the vehicles were in dismal shape. On the return trip the dump truck broke down 3 times. Thank you, Lord, for trail mix and a sense of humor!

We were greeted by the St. Barnabus-Lo Torre lay pastor and school principal, Carmil. He had the school building beautifully cleaned out and ready for us to transform into a dental clinic with 4 chairs, a pediatric clinic with 1 station and an adult clinic with 3 stations, in addition to temporary sleeping and eating quarters. After set-up on Wednesday night we saw patients all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The dental clinic saw more than 150 patients, the pediatric clinic saw 100 patients and the adult clinic saw 515 patients. We were able to employ 8 people from the community to work in our clinics, as well as 5 translators and 3 cooks.  We tried some new crowd control management, at the suggestion of Carmil, which helped keep the noise and discomfort from long waiting lines in the heat down.  Miss Ester wowed us when she deftly sutured a brave little 5 year-old’s forehead laceration, while Dr. Samuel observed. Go, girl!

We purchased both prescription and OTC meds through Crosslink Intl., which provides us with excellent pricing. The total cost of meds for the adult clinic was $4200. We each paid for our own transportation, travel and room and board fees which amounted to around $1000, depending on plane fare. For example Leslie’s (VA) ticket from DC was $400 versus the SC team which were $800. Costs for transporting the meds and supplies via airlines are an increasingly substantial part of our budget.

After worship on Sunday we traveled down the mountain to spend the night at St Francis, took a sunrise ferry back to the Wahoo in prep for our Tuesday morning departure. We were honored to be able to assist our hero, chauffer Artur Alexis as he traveled back to the US for his first trip to visit family in Tampa Bay. This turned out to be a heart-breaking disaster as he was stopped in Miami in Immigration due to an incorrect visa (we later found out). They would not let us stay with him or tell us what was going on and we were forced to go downstairs to baggage claim and Customs with reassurances of “Don’t worry, he’ll be along soon”. Well, he wasn’t and actually spent the night there before being returned back to Haiti the next morning. We still don’t know if he lost his money for the flight he didn’t get to make.

Our next trip is scheduled for January 31- February 6^th and will include a dental and adult clinic. We are hoping to find help to provide an eye clinic, which is requested for every trip and we have not been able to provide. Partners…know anyone who’d like to get involved to meet this major need?

Our team members were: Dr. David Grabeman (SC), Dr. Tom Grabeman (OH), Laura Sprance, RN (SC), Earl DeLapp (med school hopeful),   Dr. Mandy Drosieko (SC), Jennifer Kaylor (SC) interior design, Dr. Bill Fairey, (SC), Leslie Jordanger, FNP, (VA), Odile Postic, RN, (SC), Kent Lowe, (SC), entrepreneur, Holly Anderson, (SC), community clinic ad. min. asst. and Linda Holt, RN, (SC).

 

Trip Report June 2011

Feast Day Report:

A Team of 8 went to La Gonave for our Annual Feast Day Celebration departing June 23. The trip started off with our 6:00am flight to Miami being postponed until 8:30am causing us to miss our connection over to Port Au Prince. We were booked for a later flight with an arrival time of 1:45pm causing us to miss the charter boat to La Gonave. We managed to find rooms at Wahoo Bay for the night which spoiled our 4 first time team members by starting our trip off with nice swim/good evening meal/ a Prestige or two/ air conditioned nights sleep and full breakfast. The charter boat showed up at 9:00am and we had a  smooth crossing. Once settled in we went for visit to Wesleyan Hospital to show the team their campus and had a guided tour of the hospital with the staff.

Arthur took us for an afternoon swim at Prestige beach. After a good evening meal and we piled in for a nights rest. Saturday we made  a journey to Gros Mangles (tossing tennis balls along the trail to children) to show Deacon Judy her sister church and greet the community. Pere Soner indicated that this was the sight of the cholera outbreak on La Gonave. We had some good Frisbee time with the children and discussions with lay reader. On our long trip back the sky showed some promise of rain clouds which brought  rain after our evening meal knocking back the dust from our travel. We delivered a new guitar to Oreel and other musical instruments to the music program at St. Francis.  Flute, Clarinet, Harmonicas, shakers, guitar, etc. Flamingos were on location wadding in the oasis of coconut palms making for good photo opportunities. Another good evening meal and rest in preparation for journey up the mountain passing out more tennis balls along the trail to Plane Mappoo for our Feast Day Celebration. Warm (no pun intended) welcome from parishioners with lots of singing, preaching, greetings, and presentation of a guitar to there music program. We took along a generator, therefore had electric guitars/ drums/ keyboards/ for accompanist. Deacon Judy participated in the  Eucharist. After a two and three quarter hour service we joined the people for a feast day meal on campus in one of the school classrooms. After lunch  we had inter church soccer match between Anse-a-Galets (St.Francis d Assisi) and St.Jean Baptist’ with our team member Don Wilbur officiating and Frasier (team member) playing for St. Francis. Don, as usual, brought full uniforms for both teams and some how managed to end the game all tied up. Hmmmmm!  We then headed back down the mountain stopping by the Bill Rice Clinic for orientation with new team members and arrived back at St. Fransis around 6:30pm after a full day.

After a good nights rest we got an early start to catch the ferry back to the mainland and begin our journey home.

The Lord Blessed us with a good trip with an emphasis on a mission of presence. Old friendships were renewed and new ones made. Tennis balls are a big hit which we make a habit of bringing every year. Thank you for your prayers as we witnessed the joy of the Lord all around.

Gerry McCord

Haitian Island Ministries

http://www.haitian-island-ministries.org/

 

May 2011 Trip Report

From Covenant Presbyterian Church.

It is hard to know where to start – there are so many exciting developments.

A small group from Covenant (Jim Ingvoldstad, Debbie Griffin and Lee Wilder) and Debbie’s son (Zack Pitts) and Kurt Swensson, a structural engineer, went to Haiti the first week in May to check on our ongoing projects.  As always, the trip unfolded in ways that we did not expect but with wonderful results.

• WATER.  We learned that clinic at Nouvelle Citie had been without water for a year.  Apparently, the earthquake of 2010 resulted in some rubble filling the bottom of the well and damaging the pump.  The partnership had worked to assess the problem and get it fixed but the extent of the progress was acquiring a new pump and having an expert from Port au Prince come and confirm that there was water in the well.  Pere Soner was extremely discouraged by the situation but Kurt and Zack offered to take a look at the pump.  They looked at the old pump, the pipelines and decided to give it a shot.  With an old suitcase full of random tools, ingenuity and quite a few helpers, Zack and Kurt rigged up the new pump and we (very, very slowly) lowered it 175 feet into the well.  With hearts in throats, the pump was turned on….. and WATER spewed forth.  Hugs, cheers and tears followed.  Women raced up the hill from the clinic to see for themselves.  It is overwhelmingly humbling to truly understand how much we take water for granted.

• WATER part two.  Alan Colussey gave us a cast iron hand pump (and there is sure to be a story there!).  The cistern at Nan Mango is tall and deep and water is pulled up by buckets.  The elderly caretaker at our school has to stand on stacked rocks to get water.  The dynamic duo (Zack and Kurt) sprang into action and installed this pump and rigged up a long spout which will make it easy to fill buckets.

• WATER part three.  Construction for the second cistern at Nan Mango, thanks to generous donations from Covenant friends and family.  Three men with pick axes were working away and blocks were stacked ready for construction.

• CHILDREN’S NUTRITION.  We met with the nurse and healthcare worker who are administering the medika mamba program that we are using through Meds & Foods for Kids.  Miss Esther and Mdme Michilene are very excited about the program and impressed with the results.  Jim met 4 children from 3 families who have completed the program and he was amazed at the weight gain and health.  Our original grant was to treat 30 children but MFK has increased our grant to cover 50 children.  This is wonderful progress and a cause for celebration.

• EDUCATION:  Again, with generous support, we have been able to begin construction on the two new classrooms.  They should be complete by the time of the fall Covenant trip.

• ADULT EDUCATION:  We have spent a great deal of time doing research and have identified an organization in Port au Prince that has a well established adult literacy program.  This program is based on training a select group of  people who are already literate to become teachers of adult education.  The program involved four months of classes with close supervision.    At the end of the program, we would have taught 100 people the basics of literacy and would have 10-12 trained teachers.  Pere Soner has given us the go-ahead to pursue this and we are in the process of securing funding.

• CLINIC:  As always, the arrival of Dr. Jim is a grand event at the Bill Rice Clinic.  Jim saw over 125 patients and kept the ultra-sound machine humming.

• WOMEN’S PROJECTS:  Debbie met with our women’s group and distributed sewing kits and crochet materials.  One of the teachers at Nan Mango has stepped up to be the leader of the sewing cooperative.  We hope to have a workshop this fall and have applied for a grant for sewing machines and training.

• TRADE SCHOOL.  A trade school on LaGonave is a long term goal, and an ambitious one.  The island desperately needs trained mechanics and electricians and other skills are also needed. We have submitted a grant proposal to a large US foundation and Pere Soner has identified a parcel of land that we inspected on this trip.

We are always mindful that these trips are not possible without the enthusiasm of the friends and supporters. We have truly developed friendships on LaGonave and these Haitian friends know that we merely represent a larger group in Atlanta.  There are many reasons to be filled with hope.

 

 

 

March 2011 Trip Report

Covenant Presbyterian Church.

LaGonave was incredibly dry and dusty and people are anxious for rain.  The planting season will commence with the rains and successful crops are critical to feeding families.  We found that “our goats” had stripped all available foliage at the goat project and were able to give Pere Soner enough cash to buy food for the goats until the rains come and the plants produce new growth.  There has clearly been a good deal of roadwork up in the hills which has made the trip from St. Francis to the Bill Rice Clinic much shorter.  Conditions on LaGonave looked promising.  There is some road work taking place and some new homes are being built.  On the other hand, the population appears to be permanently larger due to migration back from Port au Prince and the job opportunities on the mainland are scarce.  The key question is how the island will fare after the growing season is over.

Each trip to Haiti has a unique flavor–often because the “old timers”  experience Haiti anew through the eyes of the first time visitors.  This trip, one of our largest, had a group of 12 including 8 first-timers.  Four Blincoes (Bill, Marti, Camy and Keller) were joined by Doug and Nancy Payne, a couple who has housed a Childspring patient and Dr. Jim’s partner, Dr. Helen McSwain and her daughter Sallie.  Debbie Griffin, Lee Wilder, Jim Ingvoldstad and Jeanne Westebrooke, an ultrasound specialist, rounded out the group.

Bill Blincoe, Jim Ingvoldstad and Helen McSwain — all physicians at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, held clinics at the Bill Rice Clinic every day.  Jeanne Westebrooke performed ultrasounds on dozens of pregnant women.  As always at the Bill Rice Clinic, medicines are in short supply and the need is always great.  Bill, a cardiologist, examined a little girl identified by Childspring International and cleared her for life-saving surgery in Port-au-Prince.  Jim followed up on a number of Childspring kids in addition to his usual ob/gyn patients.   Bill, Jim , Helen and Jeanne saw over 200 patients and Jim performed 3 surgeries.

Using materials left by First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, we conducted floride treatments on over 200 children at Nan Mango.  We left a supply of vitamins with the principal of the school and gave each child a toothbrush.  It is a long term dream to add dental care to the services available at the Bill Rice Clinic.  Marti Blincoe did several physical therapy consults.  Camy and Keller Blincoe did “Hokey Pokey” demonstrations and then Bill brought down the house with his jup rope skills — topped only by Keller and Bill jumping in tandom.  It is hard to describe the squeals of laughter.  Camy and Keller, both recent college graduates, were so moved by the children on LaGonave that they returned to Atlanta and launched a fundraising appeal for the Children’s Nutrition Program.  In the first month after their return, they raised over $850.

We distributed over 18 large duffle bags of donated shoes at Nan Mango.  We have relied on the 100 lb  per person luggage allowance to bring shoes, clothing and supplies to Haiti.  The needs are great and as much as we bring, it is never enough.  The luggage policies have changed and,henceforth, international travelers can only check one 50 lb bag free of charge.  We do not expect to do any large scale distributions in the future, in part because of this new restriction and, more importantly, because we want to focus on community development.

We have completed fundraising  (thanks in large part to a $10,000 challenge grant) for a new cistern at Nan Mango and classrooms — needed due to the increase in enrollment.  All construction will be done by Haitians.  A key part of our plan for any project to generate local employment opportunities.

The two new bucks for the Goat Project are now in Nouvelle Citie.  Due to the dry season, there is very little for the 37 does in residence to eat and we made an emergency advance of funds so that Jean Thony could buy ingredients for feed at market.  We also delivered vitamins and syringes.

We continue to have very meaningful conversations with Pere Soner who has the enormous responsibility for supervising 11 schools and churches.  His long term focus is education and the need for jobs on LaGonave.  We had a very productive meeting about the prospects for a trade school and are proceeding with a grant proposal and a search for suitable land.  This is a very long term plan but it is time to take the first steps.  Among the trades suggested are:  diesel mechanics, sewing, solar/electrical technology, machining, motorcycle repair, building trades, computer and business skills, plumbing.

Debbie Griffin had a critical and successful meeting with the head nurse at the clinic and a seasoned comunity healthworker  These two women hae been designated to lead the new children’s nutrition program (Meds and Foods for Kids).  They will undertake a pilot program of 30 children, funded through a grant that Debbie secured.  Upon completion of the pilot program these two women will train the other community healthcare workers.  This program has proven success and is becoming a national model (now endorsed by Partners in Health).  The cost per child will be the same as our current program .

We had three homemade sundresses (provided by Marilyn Roberts) which we gave those to the head of the women’s project at St. Francis in Anse a Galets, as examples of potential products for the sewing group.

We report back, after each trip, about what we “did” but it is equally important to reflect on our growing and deepening relationship with the people of this village.

• Three women brought us handmade gifts… these women who are so desperately poor.
• The children surprised us with a song that they had written and rehearsed for us… a song in English.   The first line, “We are so happy to see you” tell is all.  Not a dry eye in the house after that.
• Most importantly, and most profound — we had a community meeting for the women.  Our wonderful translator Bob told us that this was a very bad idea, that we would be hit with a wish list of things the women wanted us to bring.  We told Bob that we were prepared for that but just wanted the dialogue.  The women talked about the need for healthcare for their families and the ongoing need for water.  They expressed an interest in sewing.  And then, a slender woman from the back of the room raised her hand and came forward.  She said, “you teach our children and help with our school but we want to learn how to read and write too.”  The room exploded in applause and we were overwhelmed by this simple, most basic desire.  It is incredibly humbling to have women with overwhelming hardships just ask to learn to read.  Our group resolved right then and there that we WILL make this happen.

 

 

 

October 2010 Trip Report

From Covenant Presbyterian Church.

As each group sets out for a trip to Haiti, we wonder whether or not we are making any lasting changes — whether these trips are more about us and our need to feel that we are helping.  Sometimes we wonder if it just would not be better to donate the money that we spend on our own transportation and lodging.

For many of us, this trip provided validation that it IS important that we continue to go to Nan Mango.  Another key aspect of this trip was to critically assess all of our programs.

We met with the leader of the goat project and were able to assess his management capability (happily, Jean Thoney is very talented) and the financial needs.  We learned that procurement of veterinary medicines is difficult and that we need to make certain that each mission trip delivers supplies.  We also learned that regular quarterly cash contributions will help Jean Thoney plan the timing of training sessions and the purchase of does.  There are over 230 goats  in the field under the care of farmers who have been trained under this project.  Another 24 farmers are beginning training this month and there is a waiting list for the next session.

Dr. Jim Ingvoldstad, a 12 year veteran of medical missions,  met with the community healthworkers to discuss the children’s nutrition program which is designed to serve 25 children in 20 communities.  We learned that the program only works when there is money.  When the money runs out, no more nutritional supplements are distributed.  There is a need to double or triple the scope of the program, but the challenge is to fund even current levels.  We are working hard to find other alternatives.

Our school at Nan Mango is thriving.  That is the good news.  There are 250 students now — 100 more than when we first partnered with this community in 2008.    Because of this increase in enrollment, we have been asked to fund two more classrooms which will require some creative fundraising on our part. The kindergarten meets in a shelter off the end of one building so that when it rains, the class can’t meet.  The kindergarten teachers are full of joy and energy and we were touched by the enthusiasm in that “classroom.”  The increase in enrollment also means that the existing cistern is insufficient.  There is plenty of water during the rainy season but the school will need another cistern so that there will be enough water in the dry season.  We don’t have the funding to build another cistern and this is a challenge.

So, we were able to accomplish a thorough review of all of the programs sponsored by the partnership and we now understand that the challenge is to expand the partnership and to become more creative in fundraising.

The most meaningful validation of the importance of these trips was during church at Nan Mango.   One of the teachers at the school came up to visit.  His English was dramatically improved from our last trip and he credited the dictionary that we gave him on our last trip.  He had been studying hard.  He looked at us and said in English, “You said that you would come back and you did come back.”  In that one sentence, it was clear to us that the personal relationships are amazingly valuable and that our presence is a significant gift to the people of Nan Mango.  We also had a touching demonstration of hope and optimism.  Merita Paul, is a talented woman who learned to crochet in a single lesson.  She produced gifts for us….gifts that she had crocheted over the last year, not knowing… but trusting that we would return.

Once again, we are humbled and lifted up by a visit to Haiti and will renew our efforts to strengthen this partnership.

Picture: Dr. Jim Ingvoldstad with Stevenson, a Childspring patient.