A Lady in Haiti: July 2011

Place: Miragoâne, Haiti aka Ginette's home town

When: July 23rd, 2011

Description: 3 hours from the guest house in P-a-P meets beautiful countryside of southwest Haiti

Mission: Educate locals about cholera, distribution of TOMS Shoes, rice, dresses, and school supplies

Clear skies in the countryside

Work slow 20mph

Big "D"

Andrea

Reminds me of Kansas

Reminds me of Gaga

People of Miragoâne

Cholera handouts

Miss Ginette translating for me.

Ginette and I educating the public on how to prevent and treat cholera, hygiene practices, proper disposal of feces, etc.

Ginettes sister passing out rice

Beautiful children!

Sizing piti piti feet

Shoe sizes

From what I've observed thus far, children get more upset in getting TOMS Shoes versus getting a shot at clinic. It never fails. Once one child cries it's a symphony of bawling babies.

Pillow case dresses

After a long day Ginette treated us to Miragoânes beaches for a chance to cool off.

Homemade canoe

Photo credit to half of the photos: Alex Herbig

This past weekend Crystal and I were able to travel with the medical team to Arcahiae. Arcahiae is north of Port-au-Prince and a little over an hour from the guest house. We were stationed in rural Arcahiae which is beautiful. The air is clean, the mountains are lush, and the ocean almost looks fake it's so beautiful. It was so nice to get away from the city for the weekend.
A woman named Mahaya provided our hospitality for the weekend and lent us a building for the clinic. She and her family were so welcoming to our team. We ended up treating over 1,000 patients while there and Mahaya was so thankful. I was also able to experience a Haitian mass which was exciting and interesting. They put so much love and effort into praising God. It's something I wish everyone could experience....

Pharmacy

Crystal is the master of organization.

Maggie and Justin entering data.

First time ever on an Ipad and it happened to be in Haiti.

Stickers for kids...and us.

We always finished our days with a hike.

I was fascinated by this water system.

Water system in the middle of nowhere.

Village boy getting ready for his bath.

This was an interesting tree we observed during our hike. Each round brown object is a nest. There were yellow birds flying everywhere. (Michal- any ideas as to what kind of birds these might be?)

Sunset...

Photos are never as great as the real thing.

As most of you may already know, Thursdays are Medika Mamba days. In my last post I shared a story about a very sick baby girl whom I met at one of the clinics we held last week. She appeared very malnourished and was exhibiting multiple problems, one being excessive vomiting. We started the child on Medika Mamba and educated the mother on feeding techniques to help prevent vomiting. To be honest, I was feeling discouraged about the whole thing because I knew the baby needed more medical attention then just Medika Mamba. We told the mother we would give the child one week on the mamba in hopes of improving her health. Yesterday we visited the baby to recheck her height and weight. She gained 1.5 lbs and has stopped vomiting!! I am still so excited about this! I wish I would've remembered to snap a photo of her; a healthy glow has returned to her face and she was less limp. Medika mamba is truly a miracle.
After visiting the baby near Camp Kid we headed to Tree of Life to check on Elemnia and Kerline. They both graduated from the mamba program this week! Martine, the home coordinator, was relieved after realizing the girls completed the program. Apparently the children were getting sick of eating the mamba which I can understand since they had both been eating it for 7 weeks straight. It's been great tracking their progress from the first week I arrived in Haiti until now. They've grown so much physically and mentally. The first week I couldn't force a smile out of any of the children but now they're thrilled to meet us at the door when we arrive. We all know their names and vice versa. I wish I could bring a few home with me.