Election Day in Haiti - Woy!

So, today is election day in Haiti. I haven't been outside the mission walls at all today, as suggested by our Haitian director here at MOH, so I really haven't seen it for myself...but I've heard news of craziness going on.

For the past month there has been a lot of activity surrounding the elections...posters going up everywhere (and I mean everywhere! Gravestones, broken down vehicles on the side of the road, walls lining the streets, backs of motorcycles and vehicles...everywhere!), random parades on the main roads to promote a specific candidate, t shirts given out (I still really want one), and radio advertisements. I've been asking all my friends here who they would vote for, and they would all answer me with a name...but then when I would ask them if they were going to vote, overwhelmingly the answer was "no." It was so odd to me, and I didn't quite understand it. One friend said he would feel guilty if he voted for a person that became president and then made poor choices for the country, or ended up being a corrupt. Other people told me that they had no confidence in the voting system set up in the country, so they don't bother voting.

I really haven't understood this at all in the past month. All the parades seemed really fun, and everything seemed to be quite fair...just one candidate (Jude Celestin) was being favoured by Preval (the current president), but otherwise, pretty normal and non-chaotic. I didn't feel any threat of elections being a "dangerous" time, although I did hear about past elections and all the jazz that can happen. An email suggesting that we not have any activities off the mission base on election day kind of alerted me to the potential for unrest.

Today was pretty far from normal for me...up at 5:30am to see a team off to the airport (this time with armed security due to it being election day), breakfast at 7 am, church at 9:30am (wait...only 1/4 of the people are here today...weird), lunch at 1pm and then we sat, we made food, we ate food, we napped, we got up and made more food, then ate the food. Weird. I cannot remember the last time we had a day like that here. We actually ended up celebrating American Thanksgiving today...since we couldn't go anywhere anyway...why not?!

Around 5ish we heard back from Ruben who had gone out to vote (hooray!). He said at the polling station there were people everywhere trying to get him to vote for someone specifically, and he had to tell them to all back off. He also said he was listening to the news and heard that 12 of the candidates were leading a protest in Port-au-Prince (Wyclef was involved, who knows why!) because they want to redo the elections, even before the results were out. He also said 2 polling stations were burned down by people. The one place opened at 9am this morning, and were out of ballots right away because apparently someone had already filled out them all for their choice candidate (apparently the guy that the current president was endorsing...hmm...). So, ya. It blew my mind today. I couldn't even imagine that stuff happening at home in Canada. Weird. Or I guess I should say it's just different. It's not weird here. It's expected by the people so it seems. I now understand a bit more why all my friends were saying that they weren't going to vote. It stinks really. At home in Canada I remember being really excited to vote, just because I could and it was my first time...here, it's a pain, it can't be trusted, it's a source of frustration. And how do you change that? How do you change something that huge?!?! Wow.

A line from a song in church this morning has been sticking with me though that says - "Ou se lespwa mwen genyen" - and it's saying that He (Jesus) is the hope we have. So often in Haiti we use the word hope. It's in all the NGO names...Mission of Hope, Real Hope for Haiti, Convoy of Hope...etc. We talk about bringing hope to this nation, but what is that really? Is it that we're putting our hope in the systems of men? Will the UN help bring peace to Haiti? Will enough NGO's raise fund to feed all those that are hungry in Haiti? I think, for me personally, too often I don't think about this one enough, and I find myself with my hope in these systems and absorbed solely in the reality of the physical realm...when really, there's so much more to it than that. At times I feel overwhelmed with how big the task of change is in Haiti, even just figuring out how to deal with all of the garbage and waste, bringing cholera under control, let alone choosing a president! Woy. But, in church this morning, again my friends all around me amazed me! We were praying for the elections...and I felt that hope...hope in something larger. Hope in One who knows, who sees, and who can bring change. I think I felt, even momentarily, true hope for Haiti. He alone is the hope for this nation, and we can't forget that.

And on a slightly different note...I also made my very first pie today:) I'm a little excited about that fact.

What is Normal, Really?

Just a thought I've been thinking a lot about lately, what is normal?

A group that just recently visited MOH mentioned something about how tent cities and various things in Haiti seemed to become "normal" to them during their week long visit, and then commented on how absurd that was, that living in tents would be normal, that going to bed hungry would be normal, that drinking from an unclean water source would be normal. Right, it is absurd, to those of us from North America where Starbucks/Timmy's on every corner is the norm, where 3 bedroom homes with central air and heat is the norm, and worrying about gaining too much weight at Christmas is the norm.

I'm really not being judgmental at this point. When I was home I LOVED Starbucks, daily if I could manage to drive by one. This is just one thought that has stuck with me, because when I was in this debriefing with the team, I found myself agreeing with them, thinking "oh my gosh, this stuff has become normal to me! How awful that I have gotten used to the living conditions in this country." I felt guilty for not being able to fix every bit of hunger that crossed my path here, or for not bringing every sick child back to the mission until they were better. But with a bit more thought in the following days, I realized that this is very much the norm for the Majority World. Not that every developing nation has tent cities or all of the issues that are currently affecting Haiti, but I just feel like it's important for us as North Americans to realize that we are not the norm. Our way of life is not sustainable, and our standards of living are, I want to say, ridiculous. And I did.


I've had some understanding of this concept in the past, but I think it just slapped me in the face in a different way this week. Hopefully it helps you think about this as well.

An Update on the Cholera Outbreak

Hey everyone! Just wanted to write a little blurb on what is going on here in Haiti. As I'm sure most of you already know, there is a cholera outbreak here in Haiti that started this past Thursday in St. Marc. Mission of Hope is about an hour and a half drive south of St. Marc, but the last update I had was that there were 5 confirmed cases in Port-au-Prince as well, which is about 45 minutes to the south of us...basically, it's all around us now.

I'm mostly writing this blog to let you all know that I am doing well, and everything is good at this Mission at this point, but also to ask you to pray for us. Things can change really fast with these sorts of infections, especially with the current living conditions in many tent cities and overcrowding in villages. But God is bigger than it all, and as my friend Vena has said over and over again to me lately, He is "more than good." So, please pray for us here in Haiti. Please pray for protection for the Haitian people, for our staff, our visitors and everyone involved in trying to bring this outbreak under control. We had a prayer time yesterday and the thought I had was how merciful God has been to Haiti so far. So many are shocked that it has taken this long for an outbreak to occur, and really, it's only by His mercy that He has spared so many, and kept them from so much illness and disease. He really is good like He says He is.

Today in church one gentleman did a little public health announcement for the church, and it was so encouraging to see! I feel like a lot of Haitian people are nervous right now about what could happen, but it's good to see them follow instructions to wash their hands, and one of my friends even joked that we shouldn't shake hands anymore, but just fist-bump. I'm a fan. So ya, I'm doing well here, and things are not so out of control where we are right now, but we are prepared. On Saturday morning we took the Gateway team that is here with us to the inpatient ward and got everything set up in case patients started coming. We haven't had anyone come to us yet, but I have a feeling that when the clinic opens tomorrow morning, that could change!


But that's that for an update. Thanks for the prayers!

Oh, and here's a picture of my friend Vena - she's actually leaving tomorrow morning for the Dominican Republic to go to school there. She has a sponsor paying for her to go to college there, and is aspiring to be a pediatric doctor!

Back to Life in Haiti

So here I am, back in Haiti once again! I've been back for just over 2 weeks now, after my lovely break at home in September. It was sooooo good to be back in Canada, to see all my friends and family and just relax for a couple of weeks. It only felt odd to be home for about the first week, but I soon got over that! There were a couple of things that stuck out to me, some I expected, others not so much. 1) It was freezing cold for September...at least I thought so! 2) A car gives so much freedom - you have no idea! 3) Coffee is simply one of those wonderful gifts of God given to us. 4) My nephews are the cutest kids EVER! 5) Cold, fresh milk is WONDERFUL!

Another thing that stuck out to me during my time at home was how much I missed everything in Canada, despite its freezing cold weather. I never really fully appreciated the beauty of fall because it was always when school was starting, and that's all my obsessive mind could handle. But being home I just kept glancing at the trees to try to find a bright red one, purposely walking over dried leaves on the sidewalks and driving along the Niagara River to take in as much of its beauty as I could. Ahh...

The time was over too soon, but it was so good. And I know I'll be back for Christmas, so it wasn't so hard to leave with only 10 weeks between.

So back here in Haiti I've jumped right back into the swing of everything. It's been so good to be back, with teams slowing down at least for the time, school starting back up for all of the kids (we're busting at the seams with 2200 kids), and just hanging out with all of my friends here. The biggest part about living here at MOH that I have loved is the community we have. There are about 8 of us girls here right now all in our 20's, a new family (the Mazur's) that moved here in August, and then a couple of missing people to be added back to our numbers in the coming weeks. Just having a place to relax, throw random dance parties, and eat yummy "log" is so beautiful. I'm learning from my time here how much we as humans are made to live in community...how life giving and life checking it can be. Everyday here I feel challenged in some new way, whether it's to consider what my purpose is in life, or to really listen to what God is speaking to me, or to simply calm down and take a break if I'm becoming too ridiculous. Community is good. Not easy or painless, but good.

A couple of quick stories to share about some stuff since being back in Haiti. The little girl, Angelie, that is living at the Hope House since she was abandoned at the clinic back in May, is standing!!! She still needs a bit of help to balance, but she's fully weight bearing and growing so well!!! I love her more and more each time I'm with her. When I ask the kids in the Hope House if she's bad, they all say "Yes!". You can't hold her in church without her screaming at the top of her lungs at least 5 times, but she is so full of life and smiles! She's also starting to do all the normal "baby" things like clapping her hands, waving bye-bye, trying to talk but only talking jibberish. She's doing so well though!

Soon after I came back to Haiti as well, all the students I'm friends with and know were excited and telling us all that they had passed their government exams. It's fun to see how excited they are about moving up in school. Kedesh is in his last year of high school, Vena is going to be moving to the Dominican Republic at the end of the month to start college to become a paediatrician, and a bunch of the kids have new uniforms as they move up to the green and white for high school, and Richardson is starting at our school this year. It's going to be a good year!

I also got to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving here in Haiti (who woulda thunk?!). Samaritan's Purse has a campus just about 2 miles down the road, so a bunch of us Canadians and honorary Canadians for the day, jumped into Rachel's Haitian truck and went to join the party feasting on turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, followed by a refreshing swim in their pool. Here's to Chaiti!

So that's life summed up here, for now. The Christmas countdown might start soon...or is it still too early for that?!

Stealing Babies at Night in Haiti is Wonderful

Well, I've been putting off writing on my blog for forever now, mostly because I had no idea how to start, or what to say because so much has happened. But after a day like today, I can't not blog about it...so I'm jumping back in. Hopefully I'll be a little more consistent...but for those of you who know me well and are laughing at that, I don't blame you!

So, here is the story of today. It started out as a wonderful day off...mostly. I was cleaning my apartment which was an absolute disaster, my church team that came last week can attest to that. So anyway, the morning was good, I went down to the clinic to take lunch and while I was there Sarah (our medical team leader) mentioned that she was going on a transfer to take a patient to another hospital. I don't know what made me do it, but I turned a walkie-talkie radio on up at my house, just in case something happened while she was gone that they needed help with. Well, around 2ish (I think) one of the boys that hangs out up at the guesthouse all the time mentioned something about a baby down at the clinic that had been abandoned. Right away I remembered the day Angelie came to the clinic back in May when I had to deal with all of the drama around that one. Only that day I had Vanessa by my side saying yes or no to all the right people...today it was just me until Sarah came back. By then a local judge, some police and I have no idea who the other 3 guys were, came to the clinic to interview Dr. Alix about what had happened.

So here's where I tell you his story too! This little boy, Pierre, is about 2 yrs. old, and probably has muscular dystrophy. In North America this kid would probably not live a full life, and would be in a wheelchair with a lot of special care needed. Here in Haiti, social services like those back at home just don't exist. So, I think what happened was that the mom of this child found out that he probably had this disease, and could very well have felt completely overwhelmed at the idea of caring for this child. So, after Pierre had been seen, she tucked him under a bench in the triage room and left him there. I'm not sure how long it took someone to notice, and I don't know how long he laid there for...but someone found him, and then the chaos started.

So, here is little 2 yr old Pierre, malnourished, dehydrated, and alone. We took turns holding him, as good nurses do, and then just waited for the judgment to be passed. The final judgment was to send Pierre to another hospital to be cared for until they could find an orphanage. Well, surprise, surprise, 3 hospitals refused him this afternoon. We sent two North American nurses with him in the back of the Haiti .5 (a land cruiser turned ambulance) on a wild goose chase basically, only they didn't understand the language...not so good! So, this little 2 yr. old ended up at the mayor's house in Cabaret where is was apparently going to stay until they could find a place for him. Well, we didn't think that was too good. This kid is malnourished, dehydrated and had a congested cough...what is the mayor going to do with that? Seriously...at least me and Sarah are nurses and we kind of have a clue (sorry, maybe I didn't have to be that harsh). So, anyway, Sarah called the right people, we hopped in the back of the Haiti .5 again, headed off to Cabaret in the dark and returned with our little 2 yr. old Pierre all before 10pm. So now he sleeps at Sarah and Diana's apartment, and we really have no idea what the next steps are. We're going to look into a couple of places we know of for kids that have handicaps, and we'll see what happens...and where Jesus leads. It's kind of exciting, but at the same time sobering, knowing that this kid literally has no-where and no-one right now. We're it, and I just want to do well with this and make sure he has a good home. Sure, that might mean we keep him...who knows!!!

So, that's the story of my day. A little drawn out I know, but I had to tell it in full! There's other stuff going on as well. I continue to work with the non-medical teams weekly as they come in to work at our base and to visit the local villages and orphanages as well. I'm loving my job, but definitely learning the need to take time for myself when possible. My church youth group and then some were here this past week, and it was a huge breath of fresh air for me!! I love you guys so much! I had so much fun, surfing in the canter truck, singing camp songs, being ridiculous. I miss it! I really don't act like I'm 25! Anyway, I'll also be heading home this coming week for a break. I'll be at church on the 12th, and home until the 29th...so if you want to meet up with me, please call me! I think I'll have my cell phone when I get back in Canada, and there's always Facebook! But I can't wait to be home! I'm longing to hold my new nephew (well, not so new, but new to me!), to play with Joely, to sleep, to drink milk...and a lot of it, to be cold, to swim, to ski, to see all my friends, to chill with family, did I mention to sleep?! Ya, it's gonna be good! Love you all! And thanks if you're actually still reading this since it's huge!

Long Overdue...I know!

Hey guys! So, it's kinda late here in Haiti, and I should be going to bed, but I just know that it has been WAY too long since I wrote...so I'm gonna do it. I may regret it tomorrow in the morning...but oh well. Life goes on.

So, a lot has happened in the last month. A lot. So much, that I don't really know what to say, but I guess I'll start by explaining my role change. When I first came to Haiti in February I was working as a nurse, and then my "role" when I started on staff was as the medical team leader...working in the clinic, keeping medical teams busy and (semi)organized. I was brought on staff here to do that role for the interim, which was until June. So now here we are, June has come and gone, and yet I am still here! I'm no longer in the medical team position, but as that job wrapped up for me, I was offered to stay on staff, but instead working with the guesthouse and non-medical teams that come through the mission. So now my role is more administrative I guess, prepping schedules for ministry teams, and basically doing most of the background work to help teams do their thing here in Haiti. It's kind of funny to find myself here in this role. I've been asking God a lot about why I'm here at this time, to do what I'm doing. It's been a little hard to "hang up" my nursing for a time. But, there's definitely good in it all. On one of my first days in my new role I went to the Haitian grocery store, totally not a big deal I know, but I think I had a stupid grin on my face the entire time. I just love being in the culture (most of the time). I love doing everyday life things here, mind you, they can be a whole lot more complicated (no chicken today, ground beef looks a little funny, we emptied out the entire bread section, don't know how to write out numbers in french to write a check...), but still so fun. On the way home from the store that day I was asking God how He was using this new job with all its experiences to shape me...and I think it's gonna be good. I got my medical time in, doing the nursing thing, feeling out working in a clinic/hospital setting in a foreign developing country, and now here I am, more just getting into the culture, interacting with Haitian people, learning to work and communicate better in this culture, but I'm also getting to see more of the organizational side of things. All the work that goes into making a place like this run - it's crazy! And I still probably don't even know half of it! I know Jesus has me here this year for a reason, and I'm just really feeling like I don't want to miss what it's about. I know it's all for a reason, and I just want to absorb what I need to learn, get all the lessons He's teaching me, see everything and feel everything I'm meant to in this place at this time. I guess I'm just expectant looking at this coming year. It's also starting to sink in though that a year is a long time...a year. Whoa.

Anyway, so that's kinda where I'm at now. I think this is my third week into this job, and the summer is going to be CRAZY! I think we have like 5 teams coming in this week, bring it on! I guess another fun part about my job is that I get to see other people fall in love with a country that I've fallen in love with. And it's so good! This past week we had kind of an adventurous group come, and I loved every bit of it! We went tromping through mud during a thunderstorm in Source Matelas to see a friend's garden, then we got to drink coconut milk and eat fresh coconut from the tree...there's nothing like it. I almost lost my sandal in a foot of mud, and almost died laughing at the same time. It's just so fun! My job rocks! Then, on Thursday we went up into the mountains to visit a pastor at a church, but before we stopped there we went to find this waterfall that some people had told me about, and it was incredible! I didn't have my camera with me...but next time I go, I'll get pics. It was crazy! We got to stand under the waterfall, climb down the rocks, climb through tree roots, sorry I could go on...but I won't. It was just fantastic! At the same place though there was some funky voodoo ceremony going on, but I was just loving the beauty of creation. So ya, I guess you could say that I'm doing ok with my transition into the new role.

One more thing that has happened this week that I'll share quickly. I mentioned earlier that it was kind of hard to "hang up" my nursing while I've taken on this position, but I don't think that will really be the case. This past Thursday night we had an accident happen just 1 mile down the road. I was on my way home from the mountains with the teams, and I got a phone call asking me where I was and that I we (there were some medical students and a nurse with me on our trip) were needed at the clinic right away when we got back. As we pulled up in our big cattle truck, the trucks with injured people started coming in behind us. I think we had about 14 patients that we treated at our clinic. With the first guy I saw, the first thing I said was, "where is Grant" (Grant is the paramedic that lived here at the mission last year and was here for the earthquake. He is a fantastic paramedic, a great friend, and I miss him...and missed him even more in that moment!). This patient had both feet pretty much off, which I had to hold to transfer him onto a back board, and his right arm was broken in two places. Not nice. I don't know how much I should be saying, but basically, it was a messy night. But somehow again, I did my job as a nurse. I'm always amazed that I'm my mother's daughter, and yet I do what I do. Jesus is with me every time, I know it. The team, once again, did amazing! I'm always amazed by what we accomplish here with the staff we have...an anesthesiologist acting as our ER doc, a cardiologist, an OR nurse, 6 med students, an EMT, 2 fairly new nurses, a prosthetist, a physiotherapist...it's just crazy! But we did it and made it through the night and managed to get all the patients transferred to other facilities. We did find out though that the one man (the one I mentioned earlier that I saw first with the feet off) had passed away.

And here is my frustration in Haiti. We are now 5 months post earthquake and everyone is starting to pull out of Haiti. Partners in Health and IMC used to be at the General Hospital. They have both pulled out and now it is back to the Haitian hospital it was before the earthquake. Also, the University of Miami hospital has moved from it's field hospital where it could hold a couple hundred patients to a small building with a max of 40 patients, so they had no room for more. It was just crazy though. Problems that we hadn't experienced with the other two accidents just popped up. Dr. Cheryl and Sarah did absolutely amazing at finding hospitals to accept the patients, but it was ridiculous. And this is why I want to be a nurse in these places. They need and deserve the same quality of care as us in North America...but its so far from that. If I can help in anyway, I'm here! Whether its in the little wounds that need to be cleaned, or the massive traumas that seem to occur daily here, I want to help. And I think that's why I'm here. It's pretty simple really.

So that's the update. I'm still finding my place here, still figuring out why I'm here, what I'm doing, and the reasons behind it all. It's a good journey though.

How You Can Help!

Hey Everyone!

While I've been working here at Mission of Hope I've made some friends that are also working here in Haiti that have a small non-profit organization called Lespwa Worldwide. Just last week they found out about this competition that CHASE bank is putting on...so a bunch of us here in Haiti are trying to help them win!

Basically the competition is to get the most votes for their organization through facebook. The first place organization will receive $250,000, and other organizations up to 200th place will receive $20,000. My friends in this organization have a passion to see Haiti changed, and will be using the money for long-term projects aimed at creating sustainable, long-term solutions for a restored, Haitian-led nation. We know we have a chance at winning this competition, and here's what you can do to help!!!

Click on the link below, and follow the instructions to vote for Lespwa Worldwide.

http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/205019981-lespwa-worldwide-inc

Thank you so much for partnering with my friends to bring change to Haiti! I can't wait to see the results!!!

Lindsay Joy