Yesterday Vanessa and I spent the day moving out of the clinic and into a house owned by Sergio's mom. The house is pretty big with lots of rooms and doors and light switches. It's about a 7 minute drive from the clinic. Only downside is that we only have water every other day, but we'll be bringing a water tank over today so that it'll fill up and we'll be able to use water whenever we please.

I enjoyed living in the village for the past four weeks, but I think living here in San Antonio will be good. I'll miss hanging out with the people and playing with the kids, but sometimes a little space and privacy is healthy.

Looking ahead Gale and Jack arrive on Wednesday night and a team arrives next Saturday. This will be my first team as the field director and I am all sorts of nervous and excited. So for now I'm busy getting everything organized and ready for the team.

Fun at the Wenham museum with some of the grandchildren. Lovely...

Fun at the Wenham museum with some of the grandchildren. Lovely
Ladies.

Leaving for Haiti and Guatemala tomorrow at 2:00AM weather permitting.

Leaving for Haiti and Guatemala tomorrow at 2:00AM weather permitting.

Emergency kids continue to get sponsored quickly! Thanks so much for supporting PID's work!! We have been busy in the U.S. office... Martha working on trips and the upcoming Annual Benefit, and me working on grant renewals. Marin is faithfully keeping the books, and Bill the database. Sela is away for a bit and Kincade has been holding down the Child Sponsorship fort. Dr. Rick popped in yesterday to meet with Gale after his trip to Haiti, and Sarah was in this afternoon working on a project. We have such wonderful volunteers!

Another emergency child sponsored!!!

Emergency Sponsorhip

Today our car for shipping to Haiti is getting new tires. Friday it will go to the shipper. This is...

Today our car for shipping to Haiti is getting new tires. Friday it will go to the shipper. This is the first time every to
Ship a car. Little nervous.

Monday Evening at the Clinic

Vanessa and I seem to have made some friends here in the village. We spent a few hours last night playing chicken-chicken-duck (more commonly known as duck-duck-goose), coloring, and dancing with some children.

Vanessa has got Maria Jose on her back and I've got Sivlia.

Sometimes life is so hard. It is hard to watch a parent grow old. It is harder to realize you might...

Sometimes life is so hard. It is hard to watch a parent grow old. It is harder to realize you might be in the same place yourself soon enough.

Join us for PID's First Annual Fund Drive!

 

Turning Hope Into Reality

 

 

 

 

As a friend of Partners In Development, Inc., you can bring HOPE to the extreme poor in Haiti and Guatemala by becoming involved in our Annual Fund Drive.

Take action now by considering the following ways you can make a difference in the lives of others:

 

Bring HOPE by...

 

ATTENDING our 11th Annual Benefit here on the North Shore of Boston. Enjoy a night out with friends - dinner, live music, complementary bar and auction!

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER!

http://www.pidonline.org/get-involved/pid-events/annual-dinner-dance

Bring HOPE by...

 

MAKING a donation to our Annual Fund Drive

DONATE NOW!

$3,500 can build a house

$1,500 will fund our clinic for one month

$500 will fund a small business loan group

$200 can buy toothpaste & brushes for entire village

$___ Or any amount will make a difference!

 

Bring HOPE by...

 HOSTING a satellite fundraiser in your community

Help us continue to spread the word and turn hope into reality, be a part of our Annual Fund Drive by planning your own benefit or fundraiser. This can be as simple as a school penny drive or a larger event such as a golf outing, auction or race! Contact Martha at martha@pidonline.org or call the office.

Thank you for your consideration!!!

 

Partners In Development, Inc.

55 Market Street, Suite 201, Ipswich, MA  01938

(978) 380-6132         www.pidonline.org

This child is in need of Emergency Sponsorship, and because of...

This child is in need of Emergency Sponsorship, and because of the cost of the formula she desperately needs, it will take two sponsorships to cover it. Please help if you can.

www.pidonline.org/ecs

Our first diabetic clinic was very chaotic despite the best laid plans. Somehow both diabetic and...

Our first diabetic clinic was very chaotic despite the best laid plans. Somehow both diabetic and hypertensive people were signed up for the same day, everyone was late, for some reason a number of patients didnt have their necessary booklets, and on and on. We all met and have been working on how to make things better organized. We must realize this project is still in its infancy and everything is Haiti is so much more dificult.

Speaking of infants, Dr Rick successfully saw the pregnant women of Blanchard today, despite his reservations about it not being his area of expertise. He finished the day saying that Haitian women are beautiful Goddesses of fertility.

The worst thing about today is that the car wouldnt start when it was time to go to buy medicines. We spent a long time discussing how everyone here willl get around for the next 2 months until the new car comes if this one is truly dead. Our ideas ranged from riding a goat, to wheelbarrow, to renting a car which apparently is very dificult in Haiti. We did devise a backup plan for getting our medicines.

I am heading back to the US in a couple days. As always it has been a pleasure working with the PID staff. The Haitians are always upbeat, fun and appreciative, the interns have been SO helpful to me with printing, documenting, organizing and giving moral support, and i feel we have run the clinic fairly well and have gotten alot of work done. The mangoes are starting to ripen, a huge thunderstorm has started, and i am off to bed. I’ll be back in January.

Much love, many blessings for Haiti- Alison

Our first diabetic clinic was very chaotic despite the best laid plans. Somehow both diabetic and...

Our first diabetic clinic was very chaotic despite the best laid plans. Somehow both diabetic and hypertensive people were signed up for the same day, everyone was late, for some reason a number of patients didnt have their necessary booklets, and on and on. We all met and have been working on how to make things better organized. We must realize this project is still in its infancy and everything is Haiti is so much more dificult.

Speaking of infants, Dr Rick successfully saw the pregnant women of Blanchard today, despite his reservations about it not being his area of expertise. He finished the day saying that Haitian women are beautiful Goddesses of fertility.

The worst thing about today is that the car wouldnt start when it was time to go to buy medicines. We spent a long time discussing how everyone here willl get around for the next 2 months until the new car comes if this one is truly dead. Our ideas ranged from riding a goat, to wheelbarrow, to renting a car which apparently is very dificult in Haiti. We did devise a backup plan for getting our medicines.

I am heading back to the US in a couple days. As always it has been a pleasure working with the PID staff. The Haitians are always upbeat, fun and appreciative, the interns have been SO helpful to me with printing, documenting, organizing and giving moral support, and i feel we have run the clinic fairly well and have gotten alot of work done. The mangoes are starting to ripen, a huge thunderstorm has started, and i am off to bed. I’ll be back in January.

Much love, many blessings for Haiti- Alison

Well after being in Haiti for 11 days and then going to Guatemala, I returned home. After traveling...

Well after being in Haiti for 11 days and then going to Guatemala, I returned home. After traveling for 23 hours with Tali and kids , we are here trying to get settled in. It has been a challenge to say the least. Today she finally got a phone.

Now that Tali and her family have all left, I have now completely taken over the Field Director position here in Guatemala. There is a lot that I'm currently working on: figuring out construction, preparing for the November team, cleaning up the clinic, getting child sponsorship organized and planning the children's program in November. I am a very busy girl and working all the time. Good thing I love what I'm doing.

Vanessa gave an exam to the English students this week. They had a rough time with it, but at least no one failed. They have a lot of trouble forming questions. They know how to answer the questions, but struggle to use the correct structure when asking questions.

Tomorrow is a national holiday - Revolution Day. I will be celebrating by making sure Esperanza finishes her homework, cleaning up the office and doing laundry.

Emergency Child Sponsorhip Needed

Emergency Child Sponsorhip Needed

Please visit the website, www.pidonline.org/ecs, or call the office if you'd like to sponsor this child, 978-380-6132. Thank you!

Yesterday was Jean Jaques de Saline Day in Haiti so everyone had the day off. I visited some of the...

Yesterday was Jean Jaques de Saline Day in Haiti so everyone had the day off. I visited some of the kids in the sponsorship program and walked all over Balnchard with Mr Genois. It was a really nice day. Today was our first day without Dr Sems. We had alot of emergencies and some really sick kids. At one point Benite said “Alison, my plate is full. My head is fuzzy.”  I think that was her way of saying we had enough work to do! We ended an hour late with Rick and i finishing up and filling our patient’s prescriptions. Then Pouchon and Rick went to get gas and money across the city,and i had to handle an emergency hemorrhage by myself. Maxim translated for me, I started some IV fluids, and we took a collection to get a taxi to take her to St Damien. We were proud of how smoothly it went.

Nicole arrived today to help with the recycling program and we are talking about hopefully starting some composting in the future. The garden looks beautiful- thanks to Wilbur and MR Felee. The corn is getting tall, and the squash and potatoes are growing well.

Rick and i are preparing for our week- keeping the clinic afloat, (no small feat), visiting a couple outlying tent camps and a new clinic in Bon Repos.

 Keeping the faith in Haiti. Rick says behave yourselves back there.

Lots of love, greetings and blessings- Alison

Yesterday was Jean Jaques de Saline Day in Haiti so everyone had the day off. I visited some of the...

Yesterday was Jean Jaques de Saline Day in Haiti so everyone had the day off. I visited some of the kids in the sponsorship program and walked all over Balnchard with Mr Genois. It was a really nice day. Today was our first day without Dr Sems. We had alot of emergencies and some really sick kids. At one point Benite said “Alison, my plate is full. My head is fuzzy.”  I think that was her way of saying we had enough work to do! We ended an hour late with Rick and i finishing up and filling our patient’s prescriptions. Then Pouchon and Rick went to get gas and money across the city,and i had to handle an emergency hemorrhage by myself. Maxim translated for me, I started some IV fluids, and we took a collection to get a taxi to take her to St Damien. We were proud of how smoothly it went.

Nicole arrived today to help with the recycling program and we are talking about hopefully starting some composting in the future. The garden looks beautiful- thanks to Wilbur and MR Felee. The corn is getting tall, and the squash and potatoes are growing well.

Rick and i are preparing for our week- keeping the clinic afloat, (no small feat), visiting a couple outlying tent camps and a new clinic in Bon Repos.

 Keeping the faith in Haiti. Rick says behave yourselves back there.

Lots of love, greetings and blessings- Alison

Saturday night at PID Haiti. We succesfully did wellchild visits at both the Enfants de Jesi...

Saturday night at PID Haiti. We succesfully did wellchild visits at both the Enfants de Jesi orphanage in Sartres and saw 60 of the PID sponsored children between yesterday and today. We were all impressed and pleased by the overall good health of all these kids. Ana Zach and Kelly all leave in the next couple days. Dr Rick and i will stay on for another week and work the clinic while Dr Sem takes a well deserved week’s holiday. It has been a productive time here and we all feel pretty prepared to start up our new diabetic clinic and soon to follow clinic for high blood pressure. We had a big meeting with all the staff on Friday and everyone seems enthusiastic and looking forward. The general consensus seems to be that the the prenatal clinic is going very well and the new clinics will follow suit.

Some of the group visited the downtown and the Haitian museum this afternoon. I have been dealing with stomach problems today so was unable to go. The group reported that it was a good outing and saw some beautiful Haitian art, as well as learnign some history of Haiti.

We had a delicious bread soup for dinner, Kelly is baking everyone a cake and its a Saturday night live at PID. Always good to be here.

-Alison

Saturday night at PID Haiti. We succesfully did wellchild visits at both the Enfants de Jesi...

Saturday night at PID Haiti. We succesfully did wellchild visits at both the Enfants de Jesi orphanage in Sartres and saw 60 of the PID sponsored children between yesterday and today. We were all impressed and pleased by the overall good health of all these kids. Ana Zach and Kelly all leave in the next couple days. Dr Rick and i will stay on for another week and work the clinic while Dr Sem takes a well deserved week’s holiday. It has been a productive time here and we all feel pretty prepared to start up our new diabetic clinic and soon to follow clinic for high blood pressure. We had a big meeting with all the staff on Friday and everyone seems enthusiastic and looking forward. The general consensus seems to be that the the prenatal clinic is going very well and the new clinics will follow suit.

Some of the group visited the downtown and the Haitian museum this afternoon. I have been dealing with stomach problems today so was unable to go. The group reported that it was a good outing and saw some beautiful Haitian art, as well as learnign some history of Haiti.

We had a delicious bread soup for dinner, Kelly is baking everyone a cake and its a Saturday night live at PID. Always good to be here.

-Alison

After a quick three-day trip to Honduras with Gale and some of her family, Vanessa and I are back at the clinic.

Our little Honduran adventure was quite the trip - complete with landslides, a flat tire, getting stuck in the mud, horseback riding, good food, lots of laughs, a hot shower and indigenous protesting. I had a great time!

But now it's back to work! Gale is on her way over to the clinic and we've got LOTS to go over. She is only here until Monday and then everyone leaves - including Tali and her kids - and I will be the only one here. It's a bit stressful and overwhelming, but I'm ready for the challenge.

Greetings from Haiti! Kelly and I are here as part of the team of rotating medical coordinators at...

Greetings from Haiti! Kelly and I are here as part of the team of rotating medical coordinators at the PID Haiti clinic. This is the first official meeting of our minds here as we start this new program of rotating clinic coordinators. We are working like busy beavers preparing for the opening of our diabetic clinic which proudly starts next week. Today we did the first training on diabetic teaching with Benite and Samuel to prepare for the first clinic and had a small ceremony to grant them their certificates as educators. Lots of drum rolls and excitement!!

It has been quite rainy and the patient numbers somewhat low as the first week of school is very busy for families here. Rick has done alot of teaching with the visiting team and Haitian staff- sutured a little boy’s forehead this morning and removed a very large sebacious cyst from a woman’s face today. He is trying to keep us all in line.

Tonight there is a kompa dance lesson going on outside, Pouchon is trying again to fix the car and Kelly has given the dog a bath. The Haitians tease her that next she needs to wash the chickens!

All is well in Haiti. Love and blessings, -Alison

Greetings from Haiti! Kelly and I are here as part of the team of rotating medical coordinators at...

Greetings from Haiti! Kelly and I are here as part of the team of rotating medical coordinators at the PID Haiti clinic. This is the first official meeting of our minds here as we start this new program of rotating clinic coordinators. We are working like busy beavers preparing for the opening of our diabetic clinic which proudly starts next week. Today we did the first training on diabetic teaching with Benite and Samuel to prepare for the first clinic and had a small ceremony to grant them their certificates as educators. Lots of drum rolls and excitement!!

It has been quite rainy and the patient numbers somewhat low as the first week of school is very busy for families here. Rick has done alot of teaching with the visiting team and Haitian staff- sutured a little boy’s forehead this morning and removed a very large sebacious cyst from a woman’s face today. He is trying to keep us all in line.

Tonight there is a kompa dance lesson going on outside, Pouchon is trying again to fix the car and Kelly has given the dog a bath. The Haitians tease her that next she needs to wash the chickens!

All is well in Haiti. Love and blessings, -Alison

Today I arrived in Guatemala with my daughter Cherith, granddaughters Hannah and Lexi and sister...

Today I arrived in Guatemala with my daughter Cherith, granddaughters Hannah and Lexi and sister Heidi. All coming to help
Tali and kids to fly home. We had planned to travel with Abby and Vanessa , to Tikal . But because of trouble on the Mexican border we chose to go to Honduras instead. On the way we got a flat tire and then stuck in the mud. Two days of hurricane rains make very deep mud.
With the help of the police and another traveler we finally got out.
We are now in a very cute hotel in Honduras.

Alison and Rick arrived safely this afternoon! Zack has decided to stay another week.

Alison and Rick arrived safely this afternoon! Zack has decided to stay another week.

Today Kelly, a nurse from our Clinic Rotation Group, and Ana, a radiologic tech, both arrived safely...

Today Kelly, a nurse from our Clinic Rotation Group, and Ana, a radiologic tech, both arrived safely here in Haiti. We are happy to welcome them.

Anna and Kelly arrived safely . Tomorrow Rick and Alison will arrive. This will be the first clinic...

Anna and Kelly arrived safely . Tomorrow Rick and Alison will arrive.
This will be the first clinic rotation meeting.

Today Kelly, a nurse from our Clinic Rotation Group, and Ana, a radiologic tech, both arrived safely...

Today Kelly, a nurse from our Clinic Rotation Group, and Ana, a radiologic tech, both arrived safely here in Haiti. We are happy to welcome them.

All week I have been working on cleaning out and organizing the depot where we store our medicine...

All week I have been working on cleaning out and organizing the depot where we store our medicine and medical supplies as well as the pharmacy, according to our formulary, and labelling everything. It is a lot of work, but almost done, and looking much better.

Yesterday we went to Canaan to tell the first family that will receive our first Canaan house the good news. They were so happy. “Mesi Manman!” the mom said to Gale. “When can we move in?” They are so excited. They will recieve their key on Monday.

This week we each took turns cooking a dish for dinner. We planned next week’s menu and went to the market. This evening Gale cooked lasagna, and we invited 4 of the neighborhood boys who’d been working with us for dinner. They didn’t know what lasagna was, but they loved it and were very grateful. After dinner, the boys sang us gospel songs in English and Creole.

All week I have been working on cleaning out and organizing the depot where we store our medicine...

All week I have been working on cleaning out and organizing the depot where we store our medicine and medical supplies as well as the pharmacy, according to our formulary, and labelling everything. It is a lot of work, but almost done, and looking much better.

Yesterday we went to Canaan to tell the first family that will receive our first Canaan house the good news. They were so happy. “Mesi Manman!” the mom said to Gale. “When can we move in?” They are so excited. They will recieve their key on Monday.

This week we each took turns cooking a dish for dinner. We planned next week’s menu and went to the market. This evening Gale cooked lasagna, and we invited 4 of the neighborhood boys who’d been working with us for dinner. They didn’t know what lasagna was, but they loved it and were very grateful. After dinner, the boys sang us gospel songs in English and Creole.

Tonight it was Lizzies turn to cook. She made a delicious African Soup. Sandra spent the first day...

Tonight it was Lizzies turn to cook. She made a delicious African Soup.
Sandra spent the first day on her new job of picking up a little girl who’s mom died and feeding her and taking care of her for the day. She will take care of her three days a week.

Today I met with Vitamin angel. They have given us 2 million tabs of children And prenatal...

Today I met with Vitamin angel. They have given us 2 million tabs of children
And prenatal vitamins. It was a great time. Then the Methodists came to see our houses and brought 5 suitcase of very much needed medicine. Zach cooked tonight. Sandra, Lizzy and I stayed up talking until
11:30.

Solene has her preliminary visa. Now we need a paper from a Haitian doc saying she can’t have...

Solene has her preliminary visa. Now we need a paper from a Haitian doc saying she can’t have the surgery in Haiti And two other papers that we have. We are almost there.
Today we had a surprise diabetic clinic and hypertension clinic. People showed up and so we had it. We learned about diet and exercise. It was a good day!!
The really diabetic clinic will be on Thursday.

Today Solene and her mother are sleeping at the clinic. Pouchon will drive them to the US Embassy at...

Today Solene and her mother are sleeping at the clinic. Pouchon will drive them to the US Embassy at six
In the morning in hopes of getting a medical visa. We have been waiting for this surgery for a long time. Thanks to
The hard work of Neeli , on of the visiting doctors, and St Judes hospital
And the generosity of PID donors, she will have much needed surgery that she can’t get in Haiti. Pray she gets in tomorrow and she gets the visa. We have been working on this for almost a year.

Good news: As of yesterday I officially have my name on a bank account. This will make life so much easier for me down here. After an all-day trip to the U.S. Embassy and lots of paperwork and signatures at the bank I'm finally starting to look official.

Tali and the kids have moved out of the house and Vanessa and I are moving into the clinic tonight. We brought a carload of our stuff over last night and unloaded. Today we just have to move beds, the fridge, the stove and the washing machine.

Vanessa is currently watching Inception with one of the English students. It might be a little too difficult for her to understand - I mean, I don't even fully understand that movie - but we'll see how it goes.

The leader's group is meeting today and celebrating Dia del Niño  (Children's Day). The sandwiches that the coordinators are making smell really yummy.