My trip to Haiti was certainly such a very memorable experience, that I will cherish forever. It started with all the meetings here in Huntsville, reviewing what we were going to do, and getting our shots and malaria pills. Things got interesting when we arrived in Port-Au-Prince. We arrived on a hot, sunny day, and we walked to the terminal, since there are no jet ways down there.
Trouble began at Baggage Claim. The Haitians have a theory that if they touch your bag, then you owe them a tip. So, when eight or so natives attacked my bag, I had a hard time getting it back. It took a local priest and an officer to clear a path to the truck outside. Three of us were in the back seat of a jeep, with two armed soldiers in the front. When we came to an intersection that was blocked with traffic, one of the soldiers would simply get out of the jeep, bang his automatic rifle on the car in front of us and the road cleared.
Along the way, I noticed broken glass embedded in the walls around homes. Our destination, St. Charles Borromeo Clinic, also had a big gate and walls topped with glass. That was another hint that, in Haiti, things get stolen. A lot.
Over the next few days, we had the real Haitian experience…mosquito nets hung over the thin mattresses, goat stew for dinner, and fantastic hospitality. Our hosts, the Little Brothers of St. Thérèse, were exceptionally nice to us.
The main purpose of our trip was medical and, since I had no experience, they appointed me as the pharmacist. I was well-briefed in pharmacist lingo. For example, a single dot over a “t” on a prescription meant one a day, and two dots meant two a day. The medicines we brought down were matched with the prescriptions as best I could. After we had gotten up and had breakfast, you could look out of the windows and see a line of people down the road waiting to see the American doctors. Once, Charmaine conducted surgery under the light of one bulb and two flashlights, in order to remove a growth from a woman’s cheek.
Aside from our work, we were able to visit several places in Haiti, including the brothers’ monastery, (where they sell bottles of anything that ferments), a school, a leper hospital, and Notre Dame de la Charité, the orphanage now housed in a wonderful new castle, complete with running water and solar power.
I will never forget that trip; there is so much more to tell. But I have exceeded my word count, so I will just let it go at: “doing some really great things, with some of the best people in the world, for some people who have nothing”.
Seeing the beautiful and new Notre Dame de la Charité orphanage took my breath away! It is definitely one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen in Haiti. I also LOVED seeing the girls again! They immediately recognized me, and it reinforced the fact that the work that we do here is truly important and life-changing. I especially loved seeing my friend Guerline, (we talk back and forth on Facebook), and Nadej, who made me a friendship bracelet last summer. Her eyes lit up when she saw that I still had it on. They all greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, and I could tell that they were extremely proud and excited about their new home!