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January 2008 Trip
By Judy Laing, medical mission trip volunteer
On January 19th Through January 26th, 2008, I made my ninth mission trip
to Haiti with
Tracee Karaffa's Healing Arts Mission team of four. The following is our
journey into the
lives of the Haitian people and their care givers.
Saturday we arrived at St. Joseph’s guest house, a home for twenty boys
who have been
abandoned or orphaned by their families. Michael, the founder, had a
vision years ago and
has given his life for his children. To help support his children and
St. Joseph's programs,
he has opened his homes to visitors as guest houses. He also has Wings
of Hope for mentally
and physically challenged children and young adults, and Trinity House
for orphaned boys in
Jacmel where they have a school, home, dance company, and coffee
project.
On Sunday we attended St. Joseph’s church service where the boys
officiated, and we
celebrated communion. In the afternoon we proceeded on to purchase metal
art at
Croix-Des-Bouquets. Our mode of transportation for the week was the back
of an unreliable
pickup truck. Following the purchases of metal art for our fund raising
art auctions, we
went to “His Children” orphanage where missionaries Chris and Hal reside
with 120 children.
They have three nannies who are well trained and other Haitian girls to
help with the boys
and girls. Dr. Tracee gave physicals to some and told Chris what they
would need for their
particular problems. The children range in age from a few months to
fifteen years old.
They have seventy-seven in the process of adoption but it takes two
years to complete and
in the meantime they are in contact with their adoptive parents who pay
for their room and
board and send clothes. Our day concluded back at St. Joseph’s at 6:00.
Monday we picked up our police escort in CDB. Due to security problems
around the Dumay
clinic, the National Police have mandated we have police escort when we
work in the clinic.
Upon arriving at the police station we found out that one of their
officers had hit a cow on
his motorcycle and was pronounced dead at the scene. After a delay, we
went on to the
Bethel Clinic in Dumay, arrived at 9:30 and worked until 4:15. Dr.
Tracee saw most of the
HIV patients receiving treatment in the clinic. Two of the AIDS patients
who were pregnant
in September, showed up with fat, healthy infants. At first Dr. Tracee
was horrified that
they had delivered between the Sept. and Jan. trips. They were supposed
to be due in the
spring, and we had planned to purchase formula and give them what they
need to feed their
infants with formula during the Jan. trip. Fear quickly gave way to
praise when she learned
that the community health workers, knowing the dangers of mothers with
AIDS breast feeding
their infants, made sure the mothers had bottles and supplies of
formula. This was an
extremely difficult task for them. The cost of the formula exceeds the
monthly salary of the
community health workers. It is just one example of the dedication of
the community health
workers to their patients.
Back at St. Joseph's, the Resurrection Dance company performed for all
of the guests that
evening.
On Tuesday, we purchased more art work because we have up to four art
shows each year now.
Tracee had a meeting at USAID with the CDC director in Haiti, Dr. Anna
Likos. They discussed
resources available in Haiti for HIV testing and treatment. We had lunch
at USAID, then
purchased formula for HIV mothers and other clinic supplies at MegaMart,
and medications for
the clinic at 4C. Back to our rooms at 6:00, that evening Connie, Judy
and I gave each
other foot and leg massages to practice for our jobs on Wednesday at
Mother Teresa’s Delmas
33 Hospital. Dr. Tracee consulted with the young men of St. Joseph's to
offer medical
recommendations and treatments.
Wednesday, we got in the back of the pickup and went to the Delmas 33
Hospital. Dr. Tracee
and the Sisters saw patients from 8:30 to 11:30 while the three of us
gave foot massages to
the hospitalized women and men. What a joy and a blessing it is to help
ease some of the
pain and suffering in the lives of these people. In the afternoon, we
visited the Sister's
of Charity Orphanage. Dr. Tracee evaluated some of the babies while we
fed and held them.
There was one little boy who was ten months old and weighed only seven
pounds. The sisters
are doing their very best to make them comfortable and love them. One
woman has been coming
from the states and staying six weeks at the orphanage to help the
Sisters each year. We
watched her devote her time to nourish the 7 lb. little boy, who slowly
ate the nutritious
gruel she offered him. Surely God is in this place. We arrived back at
St. Josephs at 6:00.
The Resurrection Dance Company performed a short version of GodSpell for
us.
On Thursday, we picked up police escort and went to the clinic. Vanessa
of Angel
Missions Haiti, Doctor Ben Frederick and his wife, Sister Fidelis and a
Haitian nurse who
works with her, went with us so they could see how the clinic was run.
We showed them the
pharmacy, laboratory, surgery and examining rooms. We also showed them
how the Gift of
Water clean water factory worked. We visited the school and class rooms
where the children
sang a song to us. Dr. Tracee held a clinic staff meeting in the morning
and saw patients
afterward, while Judy Bradley saw the eye patients with our optometry
technician, Charles,
and Connie Ray ran the pharmacy. We had a very busy day and had to leave
quickly by request
of the police by 4:30. At 6:00, we arrived back at St. Joseph's, and
packed most of our art
work in the empty suitcases.
Friday, at 7:00 AM, we got in the pickup, picked up our police escort
and arrived at the
clinic by 9:15. We saw patients all day, while dealing with crowd
control issues and police
anxious to leave by 4:00. This is a sad time for some of us as we will
not be returning
until next January. At 4:00, we were ready to leave, but our truck
wasn't. Our pickup had
broken down on its way back to pick us up and we had to find a tap tap
to ride on with other
Haitians. At the police station we boarded another bigger truck with
seats (a nice touch,
since we've been riding without seats all week) and arrived at St.
Joseph's at 6:30.
Vanessa has a clinic next door to St. Josephs and that night there were
several ill
children, including hydrocephalic babies being examined by Dr. Ben.
Sarah (a hydrocephalic
two year old), and Diana, a young girl with a heart problem, were going
to the states with
Dr. Ben’s team for their surgeries and will return after recovery at the
homes of their host
families. Reggie (almost two) was going home with us to receive
treatment in Michigan.
On Saturday, we finished our packing and said our goodbyes. Reggie,
Sarah and Diana were
brought to St. Josephs for their trip to the airport in a van with each
of us. We sailed
through the airport and waited for our delayed flight to take off for
Miami. In Miami I had
to leave the others for my flight to Sarasota. In such a short time, we
all fell in love
with Reggie and he returned his love with smiles and giggles. We also
have a great joy in
knowing that he will be loved and well cared for.
Truly God is in that place for I have seen his works and have been a
part of what Healing
Arts Missions is all about.
Love and Gods Peace
Judy Laing |
Connie Ray working with Mdm. Enoch in the pharmacy
A patient with a new blanket stitched by Joyce Miller.
Above and below: babies born to moms with AIDS in our program.
Artist at USAID
Judy Bradley at the children orphanage.
Judy Laing at the children orphanage.
The team before returning home with Reggie
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