"That's a wrap"
Our week in Haiti came to an end on Friday morning as the team boarded our puddle-jump flight from Jeremie to Port au Prince. Later in the afternoon, we left for Atlanta and our various connecting flights to Cedar Rapids (our "new-dad" Project Manager Axary), Detroit, Flint and Sarasota. It is rare to make it back in a single day, and risky too since weather can make things dicey at the un-instrumented gravel airstrip that is Jeremie International Airport!
Departing Jeremie is always bittersweet. On the one hand, "there's no place like home" washes over you after our typically very busy and demanding week. On the other, we are obliged to say goodbye, again, to our loyal, hard-working Haitian friends. They are wonderful personalities all, with dreams of their own (some we help with), but a truly great team when on the job with us. We accomplish ever more with them at our sides.
Hurricane Matthew did a number on Haiti last October, and Jeremie was its bulls-eye. Our plan for this week, when we planned this trip last August, was one thing. . .Mother Nature forced a different one. Our focus became our adopted mountain village of Chiraque, where in prior years we built pews, built a new 2-room school building and, last year, installed a solar power system for the computers/projectors we brought so the teachers could expose the village children to the wonders and possibilities of the world.
The church was destroyed by Matthew, as was the older 2-room school building next door. The school we built lost its tin roof in the 130+ mph winds but otherwise stood tall, and one of four solar panels was damaged. A week ago, after 3 months of hard work. . .mostly using hand tools. . .the new church opened. It was a glorious occasion, and the village celebrated afterwards with a community-wide meal. Whereas the space occupied by the old school was used as a staging area for new church construction, we'll turn our attentions now to clearing that site and building a new school building prior to the new school year beginning next September. With that, Chiraque will have been put back together. . .and the Chromebooks can be fired up again to bring the wonders and possibilities of the world to its children. Only education will enable Haiti to lift itself from chronic, debilitating poverty.
The balance of the week was largely given over to mobile medical and dental events. . .5 in total. These took place in the villages of Chiraque, Gebeau, Bois Neuf Malor, Testasas and the elder care facility we call Good Sam. With the help of Haitian Doctors, Dentists and nurses that we hire, and using over $20,000 in donated medicines (and some medicines we purchased locally as we began to run low on one other or another), we saw and treated 1400 people. Sparing you the details, the out-of-pocket costs for these mobile events was about $3 per patient. Remarkable. . .certainly no long line of "middle men" here, and the true benchmark for any repair of OUR health care system!
Gratefulness was abundant this past week. It's not why we go, of course, but it is important to share that with all of you. . .to assure you that your help and support does make a difference in the lives we touch on your collective behalf. The faithful villagers in Chiraque have their church back, the all-important reminder in their difficult daily lives that "they" can do all things through him who strengthens them.
The Haitians treated in our mobile clinics have had ailments addressed, with most having no other means offered to them to do so. Maybe they reoccur, maybe they don't. . .in any event, they have gotten relief where otherwise there would be none. Maybe in whatever time they don't have to suffer, they can lift their gaze to moving forward in some way, for themselves and their families.
Our Haitian ground team seems to be enlivened by our work. We're there to help. . .as many people as we can. . .day after day. Days are long, and don't finish until we're prepared for the next day. Our Haitian friends pitch in, and clearly eager to learn. They observe our energy, our preparation and process, our adapting on the fly. . .but perhaps above all else, they observe our determination to deliver. Yes, we also pay them, promptly, but in working alongside us we think they see a way of thinking about and doing things that they like and begin to model. Their dreams somehow seem more attainable, and bit by bit we have invested in making some of their dreams a reality. . .be it English lessons, driving school, small home-based businesses. This is where "teaching how to fish" gets traction in our work.
To close, thank all of you for tuning in, but more importantly keeping our team in your prayers and supporting the work with your donations of money, medicines, clothing and other articles. If you don't mind, we be asking for more as we prepare for our return to Jeremie a year from now!
Departing Jeremie is always bittersweet. On the one hand, "there's no place like home" washes over you after our typically very busy and demanding week. On the other, we are obliged to say goodbye, again, to our loyal, hard-working Haitian friends. They are wonderful personalities all, with dreams of their own (some we help with), but a truly great team when on the job with us. We accomplish ever more with them at our sides.
Hurricane Matthew did a number on Haiti last October, and Jeremie was its bulls-eye. Our plan for this week, when we planned this trip last August, was one thing. . .Mother Nature forced a different one. Our focus became our adopted mountain village of Chiraque, where in prior years we built pews, built a new 2-room school building and, last year, installed a solar power system for the computers/projectors we brought so the teachers could expose the village children to the wonders and possibilities of the world.
The church was destroyed by Matthew, as was the older 2-room school building next door. The school we built lost its tin roof in the 130+ mph winds but otherwise stood tall, and one of four solar panels was damaged. A week ago, after 3 months of hard work. . .mostly using hand tools. . .the new church opened. It was a glorious occasion, and the village celebrated afterwards with a community-wide meal. Whereas the space occupied by the old school was used as a staging area for new church construction, we'll turn our attentions now to clearing that site and building a new school building prior to the new school year beginning next September. With that, Chiraque will have been put back together. . .and the Chromebooks can be fired up again to bring the wonders and possibilities of the world to its children. Only education will enable Haiti to lift itself from chronic, debilitating poverty.
The balance of the week was largely given over to mobile medical and dental events. . .5 in total. These took place in the villages of Chiraque, Gebeau, Bois Neuf Malor, Testasas and the elder care facility we call Good Sam. With the help of Haitian Doctors, Dentists and nurses that we hire, and using over $20,000 in donated medicines (and some medicines we purchased locally as we began to run low on one other or another), we saw and treated 1400 people. Sparing you the details, the out-of-pocket costs for these mobile events was about $3 per patient. Remarkable. . .certainly no long line of "middle men" here, and the true benchmark for any repair of OUR health care system!
Gratefulness was abundant this past week. It's not why we go, of course, but it is important to share that with all of you. . .to assure you that your help and support does make a difference in the lives we touch on your collective behalf. The faithful villagers in Chiraque have their church back, the all-important reminder in their difficult daily lives that "they" can do all things through him who strengthens them.
The Haitians treated in our mobile clinics have had ailments addressed, with most having no other means offered to them to do so. Maybe they reoccur, maybe they don't. . .in any event, they have gotten relief where otherwise there would be none. Maybe in whatever time they don't have to suffer, they can lift their gaze to moving forward in some way, for themselves and their families.
Our Haitian ground team seems to be enlivened by our work. We're there to help. . .as many people as we can. . .day after day. Days are long, and don't finish until we're prepared for the next day. Our Haitian friends pitch in, and clearly eager to learn. They observe our energy, our preparation and process, our adapting on the fly. . .but perhaps above all else, they observe our determination to deliver. Yes, we also pay them, promptly, but in working alongside us we think they see a way of thinking about and doing things that they like and begin to model. Their dreams somehow seem more attainable, and bit by bit we have invested in making some of their dreams a reality. . .be it English lessons, driving school, small home-based businesses. This is where "teaching how to fish" gets traction in our work.
To close, thank all of you for tuning in, but more importantly keeping our team in your prayers and supporting the work with your donations of money, medicines, clothing and other articles. If you don't mind, we be asking for more as we prepare for our return to Jeremie a year from now!
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