Birmingham First UMC in Jeremie, Haiti

We travelled to the village of David today.  It is deep in the mountains of Haiti, and. . .we’re told. . .not visited by folks like us since 1990.  Even Pastor Claudel asked why David, to which Nancy replied simply “because no one else will”. It was a hike!  About an hour and a quarter on very challenging roads (hint: think kidneys) to a point where you walk the rest of the way. . .about 50 minutes’ worth. . .and NOT flat!  This is a beautiful part of Haiti, and folks make their living farming. . .goats, pigs, some cattle, and corn planted places (each seed by hand) on steep, rocky terrain. That a team would make that trip seemed nearly enough for the villagers, who welcomed us warmly. . .some meeting us on the trail.  We surveyed the current “church” and discussed our plan to build a proper replacement (think cinderblock on concrete foundation) starting now.  We’ve done this before in Chiraque and have a solid team, including a Haitian engineer who supervises the construction. . .

We had a great day in Testas, this our third year in delivering a mobile medical/dental clinic to this poor, seaside village (leftover hint: “mobile dental” means extractions only. . .not for the faint of heart, although Maria has all the aesthetics required to make for a relatively painless procedure!). This is a village of about 800 people, most make their living either gathering stone or sand (for mortar) from the beach, or fishing.  There are very few masonry or stone structures, such is the average income.  The village leaders were ready for us and had the insides of the church we use nearly exactly as we need it. . .to host Doctors in one place, patient triage in another, the “pharmacy” in another, ear wash in another, reading glasses. . .and, on demand, wound care.  More on that shortly. We started at 9:15 am and wrapped up around 4:30 pm.  320 Haitians were seen medically, there were 42 tooth extractions (the fingers hesitate to even type this. . .), 90 pairs of reading gla

We’ll post three pictures but one is for dear Sarah, who was unable to accompany husband Mick on this rescheduled trip. . .but she’ll recognize the setting (hint:  Roseaux orphanage), and see the most essential item to a good day painting (hint:  water at the ready. . .it was over 90 degrees today and we were painting the insides of the renovated boy’s dormitory building. . .two coats (our Haitian paint foreman drives ‘em hard!). Nancy and Anne hung back at base camp (hint: Hotel Charmant) with a half-dozen of our ground crew to prepare for tomorrow’s mobile medical/dental clinic at the village of Testas. . .we had such a big crowd yesterday at Chiraque we weren’t sure we had enough medicines, and what we did have bagged and ready to distribute. We were asked to do a mobile medical in the seaside village of Testas for the first time 2 years ago as it seems the village is poor (most are) and a bit off the beaten path.  We obliged and were mobbed, and we went back again last year. .

First things first. . .about last night’s blog title, I meant to share an observation about the church service (all 3 hours. . .).  There were probably 800 people in church, and not enough hymnals to go around. . .but every 3rd person seemed to following scriptures or singing along using their cell phones.  On their hip, or in their purse, every day there is ready access to uplifting text and lyrics.  While I’m sure there must be apps for that that I haven’t seen (or looked for), our Haitian friends might seem to be ahead of us.   But I digress. . .the team was in Chiraque today, departing at 8:00 am and returning around 6:30 pm.  We’re up in the mountains but can see the sea. . .while there is a breeze, it is still a hot Haitian day, and we’re working under a sheet-metal roof. . .and the large room beneath if filled with expectant Haitians.  It is 95-100 degrees. With our crew of 3 Haitian Docs, a Haitian Dentist, 6 Haitian nurses, and a dozen other helpers, we saw and treated

We attended church this morning, although that fact was very much in doubt at noon yesterday as it didn’t seem possible we could get all the pill bags prepared for the mobile medical clinic tomorrow in Chiraque and Wednesday in Testas.  By some miracle, by 5 pm we were done and church was back on the calendar for this morning. . .all 3 hours of it. . .in 80 degree/70% humidity conditions. . .and the ceiling fans in our part of the church weren’t working. Dad, who was a pretty steady Methodist, often said it was important to take the bitter and the sweet. . .and the “sweet” parts were Nancy addressing the congregation, letting them know our plan for the week and how much we appreciated joining their service, and the many, warm “peace-be-with-you”. greetings we received at the end. We used the afternoon to visit the Good Sam(aritan) Elder Care facility where we have taken responsibility for the food budget, along with some other churches who are part of the Jeremie Haiti Project.  A

Greetings from Jeremie.  We have had a busy day. . .departed Port au Prince at 8:00 am and arrived Jeremie around 8:45 am.  Our 6 pax manifest was outweighed by all the duffels filled with meds and other leave-behinds. . .and, still, the hearty puddle-jumping Caravan shrugged the lot of us off. We have a large, growing and loyal ground crew in Jeremie, which help us tackle ever-bigger work lists.  We pay them, of course, but try not to foul up the local wage scale. . .best to think Henry Ford’s rates when in Haiti.  We also prepare and share lunch every working day.  We’d be lost without them. Before this week’s blog is finished, I promised to share a picture of THE team. We spent the entire day creating thousands of pill bags across 50 different medicines and vitamins the Haitian Docs will prescribe in the mobile medical clinics we have planned for Chiraque and Testas this week.  Tomorrow, we’re at church in the morning and then off to the Good Samaritan Elder Care facility and th