Day 1 Arrival

The view from our tent onto the back field

My tent is the green one to the very left....

This morning I woke up and took my final hot shower at the Miami hotel. I was worried about time so I decided to wait and eat until I got into the airport. When I finally found my gate the only thing I saw was a pizza hut so I had a small personal size pizza and a Dr. Pepper. I had some time to kill so I called my friend Megan and my mom. Next thing I know they are loading the plane so I stuff my pizza and took my drink onto the plane (First Huge Blessing, Only bottle I had to hold water in for days and only food I had until late night) I loaded onto the plane unsure of who my members of the team were but I had yet to worry. The plane ride was amazing I didnt realize just how clear the Ocean is and to watch the beauty of Haiti as you fly above is incredible. However as you land you begin to see the destruction everywhere and see the true heart of it all. As we landed and I was lead out, I could no longer understand anyone, there was a huge language barrier so I just began to walk knowing I first needed to get my luggage so I wasnt worried yet. I think mostly because I could see 2 huge planes that said United States of America written on the side so that brought me comfort. So I decided to follow the crowd which lead me onto a bus that took us to another part of the airport. When I walk in all I see is hundreds of suitcases and luggage stacked in the middle of the room, I was no longer in America and I immediatly wanted to organize the system. I had 50lbs I was already carrying and another 80lbs of luggage somewhere in the middle of the room in a huge pile that everyone is climbing on top of and digging through. I search and search and climb and sweat and push and finally find 1 of my bags, I fall to it and begin my massive search for the next bag which seemed like forever before I was able to get both bags in hand. As I turn towards the exit which is right behind me I begin to get nervous, I still dont know who my team members are. As I make my way through the exit the only thing between me and the city is a gate where a massive amount of people are surrounding the outside of it as the people behind me are pushing me closer trying to make their way out however I refuse to go through the gate into the city without knowing who I am suppose to be with so I begin to back up searching for any sign, finally there it was, a man holding up PID. He grabs my things as we head out into the city and I meet my first team member Jeanne, a retired Army RN and EMS Director. She leads me to a small red blazer and we are off to our main clinic in Blanchard. As I am looking through the window I am in absolute shock at what I am seeing, I soon realize that everyone lives outside even if they have a home they are too afraid to stay in it. My car would not have made it through all the rubble we had to drive over to get to the clinic however we finally make it and I begin to unload all my medical supplies when I meet a girl named Marcie who speaks some english. She immediatly begins teaching me the language creole, the language barrier was going to make things a huge challenge. I was soon able to see how the clinic worked and immediatly realized I would be seeing my own patients. Are they Crazy came to my mind. It was very overwhelming so I decided to take a breather and walk around the clinic where I met a little boy who the only thing he could say in english was the chorus to Amazing Grace, it was a blessing. As soon as he was finished we left and headed for our sleeping destination. When we arrived I began setting up my tent. I had noticed a boy (learning later his name is Samuel, he had a horrible eye injury from the quake ) was watching me. Even though we couldnt understand each other he could see I was struggling and came over to help me put it up. About an hour after we finished the rest of the team showed up, they were on a different flight. They got settled in and we began our nightly meeting, which was a blessing that every night we would sit and debrief about the day. We were told about past patients, One being a 16 yr old girl whoes parents thought she was pregnant so they were beating her, they just couldnt afford another mouth to feed. Well turns out she had a massive tumor wrapped around her kindneys, infact shes never had sex before. There was another woman who had cancer that they told her she would die from it because in Haiti there is no treatment for cancer and she simply smiled and said "Thats ok, I just came here to get soap for my son" and the stories go on and on. After we all debreif than we go over our schedule for the next day which tomorrow I work at a satillite clinic at Bon Repo with Jeanne. Its Saturday so we will only work 1/2 day until 2pm. I am beyond nervous! We than had dinner, rice... My huge blessing for today, I was able to email Megan and Chelle, Now sitting in my tent listening to music as it begins to rain........