New blog site - for all future blogs

If you have been following my posts, please continue to do so... just at my new blog address:

www.commonfateblog.com

Hope to hear from you soon!

Peace, love and blessings,

Michelle

Haiti: Moca... the last day

            Our last day…  We had just had a wonderful morning playing baseball with over 200 kids and six baseball players from the States (Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds to name a few teams).  Several members of our medical team had been on another trip where they built this beautiful “Field of Dreams” for children living in a poverty-stricken community near Moca, a suburb of Santiago.  We set up our clinic in the new Child Development Center that was built alongside the ball field and planned on seeing the 200+ kids that afternoon.  We had become comfortable in our routine, our ability to stay organized and run things smoothly.  In addition, we were all tired.  It had been a physically and mentally challenging week.  After seeing all the comparably healthy kids running around the fields this morning, I thought today was going to be a piece of cake.  The yogi in me should have recognized that this was pure ego.  According to Wayne Dyer “ego is simply an idea of who you are that you carry around with you.”  The hard part is letting go of your ego and being present in the moment.  And ego will always, always get in your way.  We were low on interpreters, no problem.  We changed the flow of the clinic after we set up, no worries.  We didn’t have the parents to provide information for the physical exams or medication counseling, no big deal.  All these twists and turns were easily managed and alternative solutions were found.  But about 5 minutes into the clinic, one of our interpreters had an epileptic seizure.   As always, the team responded quickly.  We shut down the clinic and dealt with the situation.  We soon learned that he had a history of epilepsy and was on medication.  Arrangements to transport him to the hospital were made, relatives were called, the team pulled together.  For me, this situation was like getting a glass of water in the face reminding us why we were there.  It was about addressing the needs of every one of those children.  It was about letting go of our ego and giving ourselves to these beautiful children. 

We restarted the clinic.  I was working with the Director of the project and she knew each and everyone of the kids by face and name.  I was amazed at the depth of her love for these kids, and in return, by the amount of respect that they had for her.  For this woman, and all the people at this project, it was totally about the kids.  She brought me back to being who I was and not what I was.  At the end of the day, we saw a woman and her son with fresh second and third degree burns from getting caught in a fire when their home burned down.  The boy was burnt on the top of his head and the woman was burned all over her forearm.  Luckily that was the extent of the burns… it could have been so much worse.  Our doctors were amazing with them.  They treated them as best as they could with our limited supplies.  I even got to try my hand at compounding a topical lidocaine preparation for them to use on the burn.  As we were closing down the pharmacy, my good friend (and amazing photographer) Sandey told me to look out the window at the kids on the front lawn.  There was a table of volunteers playing “makeup” with a group of beautiful little girls.  One girl had a head full of curlers and was giving attitude while posing for the camera.  That little girl (and Sandey) pulled me back to who I am and not what I am.  It was a wonderful moment and a nice way to end our last clinic of the week.  I am humbled by these kids.  I am honored to be considered part of this team of amazing healthcare workers.  As always, I am thankful for all that I have and all that I don’t have.  I love you all and will see you tomorrow.

Over the next few weeks, continue to read this blog for updated (novice) photos by me and Sandey’s blog at tenutophotoblog.com for more of her amazing photos and art of our trip.  Dr. Beyda will also post a summary on his blog at medicalmercy.blogspot.com.

Haiti: Returning to Santiago

Buenas noches desde Santiago. Hoy ha sido un largo día de viaje!

We left Cap Haitian around 8am and arrived in Santiago around 6pm so after 8-9 hours of traveling, I am finally settling down to reflect on the day.  What keeps running over and over in my mind is Dr. Beyda’s motto “ABC – anticipate before complications.”  Today, unbeknownst to us, he lived and breathed his motto.  It was “market day” at the bridge crossing Río Masacre (Massacre River) at the Haitian-DR border.  Before I tell you our story, let’s learn a bit of history about this place.  The Massacre River is the site where blood flowed between French and Spaniard colonizers who fought for possession of Hispaniola, the land that is home to both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It is where approximately 30,000 Haitians were slaughtered in 1937 by the Dominican army under orders by former dictator Rafaél Trujillo.  Even today, blood continues to flow in the river that both connects and divides these countries. At least 16 Haitians have died over the past eighteen months in incidents involving the Dominican military.  Twice weekly the Dominican government allows Haitians to enter freely into Dajabón on the DR side to sell and purchase wares. When the locked border doors finally swing open, there is an unending flow of people, wheelbarrows, and cargo making their way to market. Thousands upon thousands cross, moving swiftly as they maneuver around large potholes in the middle of the bridge. Below them equally large crowds continue to push their way across the Massacre, wading though waist deep water with their products balanced on their heads.

Back to our story… We received our exit visas from Haiti, dropped of our Haitian undercover police guards and began to move into the no-mans land between the two countries, slowly inching our way onto the bridge over the River.  Very quickly we found ourselves surrounded by masses and masses of humanity.  On foot, pulling wagons, on bicycles and pushing wheel barrels, the market-goers blocked our way.  Some of the wagons where pilled so high with wares that they were as large as small trucks.  We found ourselves unable to move.   But we were in their way, in their path.  These are people doing what they do every week, making their trades and our bus was in their way.  We were fish swimming upstream.  It was clearly a situation that could have escalated to a level out of control.  But with calm and poise, Dr. Beyda made a few phone calls and within minutes we had several DR secret service agents guiding us through.  Anticipate before complications… clearly Dr. Beyda had a plan to take care of us.   A difficult situation was made easier due to planning, preparation, and making the right connections. 

What did I see?  Open borders and masses of people trying to trade their goods… everything from rice, pasta, beans to toilet papers and plastic chairs (and maybe some contraband mixed in!).  What did I feel?  Frustration from the locals, tension from myself.  What did I learn?  That we should pay more attention to the local culture… that we should respect their customs… that we should always prepare for the worst and hope for the best… always remain calm and aware of what is going on around me... that the people guarding us may sometime soon have to fight a revolution of their own.  It was “living in the moment” at its best.   I know some of you might sometimes think that these trips place me and the others in the team at risk.  But it is always calculated (and minimized) risk. Today's experience shows that. And without some risk (by someone, right?) these amazing people would never have anything to gain.  If they know that we are willing to do what it takes to help them, maybe one day soon, they will be able to help themselves.

At the core, we were between two countries today… two countries that have a long history of tensions, two countries that open their borders to allow for trade, yet two countries that have not decided how to handle life together on this island.   Haiti is a poor country.  A country that revolted against French rule, a country that has been all but abandoned by its own leaders.  In the DR, on the surface one might think that things are better.  The roads are better, the buildings completed, a large hospital in the center of Santiago… but I have been told that we will see many, many forgotten children here as well.  I am looking forward to my day learning about the children of the DR.

Please read Dr. Beyda's blog (medicalmercy.blogspot.com).  He writes about striving to be who we are and not what we are.  Over the course of this week, I have found that I am not a humantarian, I am not a pharmacist, I am not an American.  I simply a human who has love and hope and joy to give to those who cannot help themselves.  I can only hope that I will continue to be reminded of who I am once I return home.  Don't forget to visit tenutophotoblog.com for photos of these amazing children (but no pictures today because we had to keep our cameras hidden!).

I came across this quote by Elie Wiesel that I really like and think that it is a propo to all that we have seen this week: 

I have learned two lessons in my life: first, there are no sufficient literary, psychological, or historical answers to human tragedy, only moral ones. Second, just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.

These children are our hope.  Peace and love to all!