Local Yard Sale to benefit PID

MSPP

Today I visited the department of Public Health. Then rushed back to make pineapple upside down cake for Beth's afternoon class. The class worked on job description and supervising employees. The staff loves her classes.
The second afternoon class included
Rosemary , santilia, mr phele, Nickerson and ferlande. They explained their jobs and talked about how much PID had changed their lives. They all cried and so did we. It was a good reminder about what PID has done:-)
Tonight we set longer goals for staff to work on. Then worked on maxime's business plan again. Another good day!

We really are changing

Today Beth did her first classes on communication and dealing with difficult
Situations with the PID staff. The classes went very well.
After dinner Mike , a previous intern, came to visit. Abdias, pouchon and Maxim joined us and we sat around the table and talked about communication issues in Haiti. Pouchon shared from his heart some of
His difficult situations. Mike , spoke about his experience teaching English in Haiti. Abdias and Maxim shared in the conversation as they waited to talk about their business plans. It was nice to see how much they appreciated the classes. We are looking forward to the classes tomorrow.

Rain, rain and more rain

Well , I left Guatemala in the rain, left the US in the rain, just in time to get to Haiti for the torrential rains. Good thing I like the sound of rain on a tin roof.
Porter fixed the roof in my room and so my room is not flooded and neither is the depot. Hurrah. Kelly left today, Alison and Porter leave tomorrow:-( Beth arrived today and will begin doing the communication and business management classes tomorrow:-)
Sarah, our intern is working hard on the
Medical and lab inventory, she is also teaching English and computer to kids in the area.

Greetings from my last night in Haiti! We spent a very busy day organizing and sorting out supplies in the guesthouse and the medical clinic upon Gale's arrival last night. Things become more and more functional  all around. Neeli, Dr Sem and i saw the normal clinic caseload today and Beth arrived to start  the staff trainings and management classes this evening. We are all excited and looking forward to continuing to tighten up the flow and organization of the clinic, as well as encouraging all the Haitian staff to take more ownership and pride in thei individual jobs. Porter climbed up on the supply depot roof, which has been leaking alot in the rain, chipped off all the old cement and repaired the roof. It will be great to be able to keep all those supplies from getting wet and moldy in the rain. Gale is especially excited becausee not only has the depot roof been leaking, but rain seeps into her room as well. We wish Porter could stay another week to fix all the leaks that show up during the rainy season.
It has been a wonderful and exciting 2 weeks here for me, graduating over 30 midwives from the training class, getting to work with the UFGH team, and as always seeing the progression and growth of PID at large. Looking forward to my next visit. As always, with love and blessings -Alison

This emergency child was just sponsored, within an hour of being posted!!! We have amazing donors!

Child in Need of Emergency Sponsorship

Why am I doing this?

I finally went to sleep at 1:30AM. The alarm went off at 3:45AM. I dashed out to the car and stepped in a huge puddle. Had to use a detour to get to the airport because a tree was blocking route 1. It was still pouring when I parked my car.
I am almost 61, the 50 lb bags are starting to feel like 80 lbs. I don't like sleeping in airports so much .
I miss my family more as two years past the earthquake I am still traveling more than I would like.
But I consider myself blessed to have this crazy life. I am grateful to have a family that supports what I do. My son took the weekend away from his wife and his very intense work load to go to a conference to help me figure out a presentation for funding for our clinics so we can continue to deliver free care to those we serve and to upgrade services.
But why do I do it? I think of all the children who are literally alive because of PID. I think of all the thousands of people we have helped, of all the wonderful people who have helped us do this. I know that this is exactly where the Lord wants me. There really is no greater joy than to lay down ones life for others.

Off to Haiti

Leaving for Haiti at 4 AM. Hope the rain stops or I think it will be a bumpy flight .

The end of the week here in Haiti brings a lot of satisfaction. We finished off the week with a celebration and send off for the UFGH team. There were certificates for the graduates of the ultrasound training, the pharmacy database training, and Benite, who is now an assistant trainer for the midwifery class. We ate cakes and sweets, showed general appreciation for all the work done while their team was here, and said goodbye. The final number for patients seen in mobile clinics over the past 2 weeks was 754!
We also graduated another 13 students from midwifery training at Canaan. I feel confident that they now know what to do in a number of emergency situations, and are better prepared to complete safe and clean homebirths. They relayed to us that this is the first educational experience anyone has brought to their community. The pastor told us that they were worried always about how many births happen in their very large tent camp, and how much safer and well prepared they now feel.  I feel like i get as much out of the training as they do, full of joy and satisfaction.
Porter and the construction team have gone part of the way down the back wall and made great progress in only 2 days. Sarah worked with the UFGH team on their last kid's program and is preparing to start basic computer and English classes for some kids in the neighborhood tomorrow.
We are looking forward to a busy and fun weekend. -Alison

Susan with her girls group

Susan had another girls group yesterday on our new patio behind the clinic. We can meet there even in the rain. Had a great week with the team! They worked hard and they were fun too!
But I am off a day early to go to a conference in Connecticut with my son on Global Health and Social Development . We are very excited to be attending.

Soccer, hairline fracture, sand washing and cucumber salad

Today in Guatemala we had another great day!
The clinic was busy.
The construction people washed sand for the new water filters and set three of them up. They cleaned the water depot and tomorrow we will have chlorinated water in the clinic.
I used all 20 cucumbers that the leaders group grew to make a huge cucumber salad .
The soccer clinic went well, until one boy fell and ended up with a hairline fracture. Abby drove him to the hospital
With his Dad and he now has a huge cast.
The soccer game continued. All is well.

Greetings from Haiti! it has been an especially exciting past couple days here for me, as we now have my brother Porter, his first time in Haiti. He and the Haitian team have started the construction project to prepare the clinic for the installation of the new solar panels to be put on the clinic roof in May. He worked from 8am to 4 hauling cement blocks, mixing and carrying buckets of cement and according to him, doing more physical labor than he has in a long time.

The clinic had lots of practitioners here today- Neeli, Kelly, and the UFGH team. They all  got through the patient load shortly after lunch. i heard there was general clinic cleanup for the rest of the day. Marceline was flying solo this morning on the ultrasound macine and is beaming with pride at her new accomplishment. The children's program continued here at PID today with balloons, excercises, and a flurry of fun and activity.

We continued our second week of Midwifery classes, now at Canaan. We signed up 13 people for this week's class, and like last week, everyone showed up for the second day. Our first day we taught in the back of an 18-wheeler truck which serves as their church. Even though it has a few small windows, it was quite hot by midday when the sun was high, so we changed places to a large outdoor tent with open sides. Today we learned about normal delivery, and did the role plays that the Haitians find so much fun, one person being the pregnant mother in labor, and another being the midwife. Already they have learned a lot and are incredibly thankful for the information.

Love from Haiti- Alison

Busy day in Guatemala

It was a great day in Guatemala. Susan had a teaching, training with the midwives, then had a group for teenage girls. Her finally activity which she has been waiting for was an invitation to a home birth. So she watched a home delivery in a tin lean to at the midwives house, chicken and all. The water team
Had to buy a new pump, tomorrow they will continue with filters and finish cleaning the water depot. By tomorrow we will have drinkable water throughout the clinic.
The construction team, wheelbarrowed
Tons of sand and rock. Then held a soccer clinic in the rain and mud. Fun was had by all.
The rest of the medical team saw many sick people. Did a home visit to an elderly woman with a stroke, laying on
Mattress on her porch.
Much accomplished and much gained.

Team's first work day.

The team had a successful first day. Patients were lined up outside the clinic when we arrived this morning.

The construction team poured the cement floor for a house that was started back in February and then worked behind the clinic breaking up some cement that was covering our septic tank.

Dave and Sergio did some work on water filters.

Monday April 16^th. We just returned from visiting some of the midwives we trained at Damien in January.  Lizzy and I had a small meeting with 5 of the students and gave out safebirth kits and newborn sets to them. I am so pleased to know that they are really working together, sharing supplies and taking each other to assist at births. It is really a pleasure to see the community of midwives working together, supporting each other, and beginning to form the support system amongst themselves that I imagined.

We saw many patients at the clinic today, as always on Mondays. UFGH sent out a mobile clinic also to Damien today, finishing last week at Sarthe and also an orphanage in Carrefour. Over the weekend we had a wonderful day at the beach at Plage Preval, the UFGH team going on to Moulin sur Mer. Luckily we had a day without rain for our time at the beach.

Neeli, a cardiologist from Detroit, arrived today and worked for the afternoon with Kelly in the clinic.  She will be with us for 10 days. Sarah, an intern, also arrived to work with the children’s program for 3 weeks.  We are pleased to have them both with us. Due to the large amount of rain we haven’t had internet, so have had difficulty posting the blog.

We look forward to a busy and happy week at PID. Love from Alison

Thursday, April 12

A very full and productive day as always here in Haiti. The midwifery class continues in Bigarade. We actually have 18 students, all arriving on time, fully engaged, staying til the last question is answered. It has been a really impressive showing, including 5 men, the pastor at Bigarade, and children from the midwives we trained last January. The UGFH team continue the ultrasound training, pharmacy database work, education, as well as a mobile clinic at Duvivier, where they saw over 80 patients. Yesterday's mobile clinic treated 75 patients at Bigarade. The children's program continues each day with games, art projects and numerous activities.

The solar panels were picked up by Lizzy and Pouchon today and are stored in our depot, waiting to be installed at the medical clinic.  It will fantastic to have solar power and access to electricity in a consistent way. We are all really looking forward to the installation.

Signing off, more soon- Alison

In Guatemala

I joined the team in Guatemala today.
They toured in Antigua while I read a book in Central Park and listened to a marimba band. Tomorrow the work begins.

Team made it to Guatemala

The team has written that they have all arrived in Guatemala , minus one suitcase. They said the hotel is very nice ! Tomorrow they will go to Antigua .

Happy birthday to Sela and Ayden

Today I went to my grandsons birthday,
Then Sela's birthday , our Child sponsorship coordinator, now on the bus for a midnight ride to NY. In the morning I fly from NY to Guatemala
To meet the team. A very nice day!

Whiteboard messages

I found these messages written on the whiteboard in the English classroom:

too bad mine got erased =(

Solar panels in Haiti

The solar panels have arrived and are ready for pick up
And delivery to the clinic. Now we hold our breath waiting for the batteries to arrive and go Through customs.

Happy Easter

Abby is safely back in Guatemala. The marine batteries for the solar on the clinic left from Ipswich this morning for the journey to Haiti . The Solar panels
Have arrived in Haiti. A team leaves for Haiti tomorrow. I will meet Alison at 5 at the airport to give medicine for her to take down.

Back in Guatemala

After spending two weeks at home visiting family and friends (including people in the PID office and Tali and her kids) I arrived back in Guatemala on Wednesday night. A friend of mine picked me up at the airport and we arrived back at my house around 11 pm.

Last night six of the seven English students surprised me and showed up at my house to celebrate my birthday! They brought popcorn, pepsi and some chocolates. And Leybi even gave me a kitten! It was probably one of my favorite birthday parties. Those kids are great.