|
September 2007 Trip
Team members: Bob and Tracee Karaffa, Leslie Mihalov,
Morgan Katz, Nina Stroup, Bess Whitaker
We tried something new this trip: multiple authors
contributed to the trip letter. You’ll find Bob’s entries
particularly colorful!
[Bob] Saturday, Sept 1st: We arrive at St.
Joe’s. St. Joe's is a wonderful place to stay. You will always
find someone or something interesting there. The food is good, the
building is full of cool nooks and crannies (careful using toilet paper
in the rather tight 2nd. floor curving watercloset!) and there are
interesting and telling views in every direction.
Saturday evening folks in the neighborhood were coming
out onto the roof of each house to cool off in the evening breeze and
sweep areas clean to collect rainwater. The area is situated in a ravine
that tightens at the top and widens at the bottom. Houses are tiered up
the hillsides creating a natural amphitheater effect that amplifies both
welcome and unwelcome sound.
When night fell we were treated to the banging and
pulsing of Reggae, Rap, syrupy American Pop and Merenge; all EXTREMELY
loud coming from mid-ravine on our side just under the windows. All
this was courtesy of three young men standing around a sound mixing
machine and taking turns shouting narration over the music. Bladerunner
meets Apocalypse Now meets really bad Beta Frat Party! I honestly do not
know how the chickens roosting in the tall leafy trees above could close
an eye. But they are chickens, and the rooster noise starting at 4:00am
(a Haitian staple and signature sound) suggests they don't sleep much
anyway. A few days later the hurricane blowing by to the south brought
about enough rain and lightning to raise the issue of self-preservation
with the DJ music men and we had some breezy good nights of sleep.
[Tracee] Sunday, Sept 2nd began with church
services at St. Joseph’s. The young men of St. Joe’s all participated,
taking turns sharing readings prayers, thanksgivings, and confessions –
we all wished we could understand Creole. After lunch at the Montana (a
plush resort on the mountainside where we met American friends to
discuss better access to HIV drugs), we went to an orphanage founded by
Chris and Hal Nungester.
They sold everything in the USA to move to Haiti and
care for abandoned and ill children. Of the 84 children they care for,
only a few were in need of our evaluation. The children had seen
doctors and were receiving the best treatment available in Haiti, so I’m
not sure we added much to their care. We were able to leave supplies,
including lots of vitamins not available in Haiti.
Sunday evening, we met with Evel Fanfan of AUMOHD to
give him the computer we brought (donated by JCC, inc.) and to discuss
security for our clinic days in Dumay. Evel is a Haitian lawyer working
for human rights, by bringing criminals to justice. He has helped
improve security in Dumay, by helping the local and National police work
with people of Dumay. Together, this has resulted in the capture of
most of the criminals responsible for Nathan Dieudonne’s kidnapping.
[Tracee] Monday, Sept 3rd: We stopped at
the Croix-des-Bouquets police station to pick up our police escort, on
our way to the Bethel Clinic in Dumay. Patients were lined up waiting
for us when we finally arrived. We brought the last computer donated by
JCC to be used by the medical staff in the clinic. It is always nice to
see everyone again. I was only away for 2 months, but others on the
team had been away much longer. Our HIV patients were waiting for me –
for the most part they are doing great! We had new HIV patients coming
from the far side of Petionville who wanted to be part of the HIV
program. When I told the community health workers we need to focus on
the local area for the HIV program, they said that many of our regular
patients come from the far side of Petionville and that the Bethel
clinic is their regular clinic; “they won’t go anywhere else,” so I gave
in and enrolled them. Our friend, Erla came to show us her newborn baby
girl, who was a joy to see.
[Bob] On Monday and Thursday in between
other clinic duties Morgan Katz, an OSU sophomore and Bob conducted
interviews with as many Bethel Foundation/Healing Art Missions employees
as possible. The purpose of these interviews was to record personal
information ie. marital status and family relationships but more
importantly to give employees a chance to speak on the record about how
they feel toward their jobs and their relationship to the community
based upon what they do. These interviews (along with photos)will be
presented soon, a few individuals at a time in an encapsulated form on
the web site. An intended goal of this project is to give visitors to
our web site, current supporters/donors and potential new donors a
better sense of indentification with individuals living in or near
Campeche/Dumay doing some of the day to day work of HAM. We hope this
will lead to a greater desire to contribute to these people's lives on
an individual basis by perhaps donating a salary for a certain period of
time.
[Bob] Tuesday, Sept 4th: On Tuesday we
attended a service in honor of Mother Theresa led by Father Rick
Frechette at his compound on the flat open land just southeast of the
PAP airport. As we bounced and lurched (the vehicle was breaking down
again) past the new US Embassy being constructed nearby behind multiple
layers of protective fencing, I could feel the reach of imperial power
(in this case US imperial power) project off the fancy new structure.
Then we turned into Father Rick's.
People were gathering in the Chapel, the first structure
built on this site, and also in a large covered assembly area to the
west. I had never seen nuns of the Sisters of Charity in person before
and I was moved at the sight of the globally recognized blue-striped
habits. Mother Theresa has been coming under a bit of fire lately from
several fronts. So-called Evangelicals say that what she did doesn't
matter because the only thing that matters is that you say that Jesus
Christ is your personal savior. Sure we should all give to NGO's and
other charities they say, but that's not what's really important.
Father Rick had a different message: A preferential option for the
poor. "Our faith must lead to action or it is lifeless." You can find
that statement on his compassionweavers.com website. Others who
criticize Mother Theresa say that she sometimes doubted her faith. That
sometimes in her work she could not find our Lord. Isn't this a defining
characteristic of a seeking, discerning and mature faith? The sermon was
given in English perhaps for the benefit of the Americans in the
assembly who are not yet fluent in Kreyol, but as with any sermon it was
being said before God to all of humanity; a simple message that justice
and dignity for all are worth fighting for.
After the service we toured the facilities next door; a
fine new hospital that provides children with a wide range of treatment
and services. Well Built. Well stocked. Clean. A young man named Carlos
who wanted to work in the Peace Corps but stumbled upon Father Rick's
organization instead showed us from room to room and ward to ward. He
seemed a perfect fit. Not a medical person but an interpersonal
phenomenon who knew facts and figures as well as the name of every
patient.
After the tour we piled into another truck to leave. I
looked eastward into the bright morning light. I saw the Chapel on the
right shining in the brightness. I saw the Hospital on the left shining
in the brightness. And then I saw something else, I saw the Gospel in
its completeness.
[Tracee] Later that day, we took a tour of
the Community Hospital of Petionville. A hospital we send patients to
who need surgeries we cannot perform in Dumay. We then went to artist
cooperatives to purchase art for upcoming shows/sales in Seattle, WA and
Asheville, NC.
[Tracee] Wednesday, Sept 5th: We started
the day in a partially constructed school in Croix-des-Bouquets. The
local chapter of AUMOHD arranged for us to see “40” people who could not
afford medical care. We told them we would see 40, but they didn’t think
children counted, our multiple members of the same family, or friends…we
ended up seeing more than 80. One young boy was the victim of a family
massacre, shot in the spine and left for dead. He is now paralyzed and
in need of a wheelchair. Leslie was able to get one donated, and we
brought it with us from Columbus. Evel is trying to bring those
responsible for the shooting to justice.
[Bob] Walking into the Sisters of Charity
Orphanage in PAP we had the undivided attention of 150 eyes fixed upon
us. Seventy-five babies and very young toddlers, most recovering from
TB and/or Scabies, were patiently or very impatiently awaiting whatever
we were bringing to them. We fed babies, held babies and TRIED to put
babies back in their cribs. Tracee, Leslie, Bess and
Nina examined/triaged and treated those in most dire need. I found the
orphanage to be very clean and well-ordered. The pharmacy was very well
stocked and fairly well organized with labels for most items and a good
supply of anti-biotics and even needles for injections. It is
emotionally draining to leave behind so many eyes aching just to see us
stay. A big thank you to sister Marthe and all the sisters for their
enormous dedication.
[Tracee] Thursday, Sept 6th: Our second day
in the Bethel clinic of Dumay. On the way to the clinic one of our
vehicles broke down, so we all pilled into one car (very tight). When
we stopped in CDB to pick up our police escort Bess, Mark, and Tracee
left to get a TapTap to ride to Ti Marche, a town “10-15 minutes” down
the road from Dumay. The Taptap owner doesn’t want to take off until
there are 20 passengers in the truck, so it can be a bit of a
cramped/hot wait. We drove about 45 min’s to get to the Ti Marche
stop, then got out to learn we had to walk about 2 miles in the noon sun
with our heavy case of supplies. We brought everything we could
possibly need (except adequate drinking water), not knowing what we
would find when we reached our destination. Our destination was Jn.
Mark’s grandfather’s house, where his 90+ yr. old grandfather lay dying
after being hit by a car which fractured his leg in multiple places. On
arriving, we could smell the gangrene from outside the house. Jn.
Mark’s poor grandfather was laying on a mat in the center of the floor,
where his daughters took turns caring for him. They dressed the wounds
with ashes. We immediately knew we didn’t have the one thing that would
help him the most – Morphine. The leg was disintegrating from the hip
down and his body was full of infection beyond anything antibiotics
could help. We left them with antibiotics and pain medicine, knowing we
helped his daughters more than we helped him. At least they felt they
were doing something for him by bringing us out to his house. The
Taptap ride home was difficult. Once again we waited for the full load
of 20 people, but this time we were in the hot sun, being taunted by the
driver who didn’t much like having “blancs” in his Taptap. When we
finally made it back to the main road, Lamoo, our driver, was waiting
for us. We were taking too long, so he came looking for us. We limped
back to Dumay in our only working vehicle which broke down as soon as we
arrived there. ( note to self, “we really need to work on buying new
vehicles, these are beyond repair”) The water factory director was kind
enough to drive us all the way back to St. Joe’s in Petionville, in the
water factories pickup.
[Tracee] Friday, Sept 7th: We flew to
Jacmel to spend a day on the beach. We brought charles and Jn. Mark
along. They’ve done such a great job taking care of us and keeping us
out of trouble, and we wanted to show them a good time. Luckily we had
planned on hiring vans from St. Joe’s for our trips to and from the
airports (since we no longer have functioning vehicles). We had a great
time sipping prestige on the beach, even though it was a little torn up
from the hurricane that passed by earlier that week.
[Tracee] Saturday, Sept 8th: We return to
PAP early in the morning and flew back to the USA. Amazingly, as of
late, we made it home on time, on all the scheduled flights; although,
our bags are another story.
[Nina Stroup] It is hard to decide what the
best part of the trip was, there were so many highlights.
I loved St. Joes. I thought it was a very cool house,
especially the chapel. I enjoyed the great food and meeting the other
ladies that were also staying there. I could have done without the late
night entertainment, however!
It was awesome to tour the hospitals and sad to go to
the orphanages, especially the Sisters of Charity.
The clinic in Dumay is doing great. It was fun to see
the staff, Madame Enoch and Nurse Carmel - and of course, the patients.
I came home feeling like a lot of good was done in that week and I am
looking forward to returning soon.
-- Tracee
tracee@healingartmissions.org |
