Last of the summer interns

Today we said farewell to Zach. He did astoundingly well picking up creole and while he was here he saw hundreds of patients and made many friends. His work and sense of humor will surely be missed. Lizzy had a meeting with the Canaan committee today (the area we are building houses now). And I finished making a temporary house in Duvivier. Also, construction resumed on the administration building on PID’s compound.

Written by Patrick

On our way home

Tomorrow morning at 4 AM my granddaughter and I will head back from the third location for PID. It has been a great trip and we met many people and made many new friends. We spent many hours 

Traveling around get an overview of the area. We went to a traditional ceremony and ate lunch there. We met with a lawyer to talk about land issues. 

In between, my granddaughter tried to teach me Spanish . Tonight as I read to her in Spanish , she couldn't stop laughing. She finally concluded that they teach Spanish correctly in Guatemala and my Spanish pronounciation  was definitely not  learn in Guatemala . She will continue the lessons tomorrow. But this girl has no mercy. 

We learned so much on our trip and now have to go home and continue our home work. The next chapter of PID will start soon. 

A great week with the team in Haiti

This morning in Haiti we said good-bye to Mary and the mostly medical team. They had a great week here working hard in the clinic, in wound care, discharge, emergency,  and triage. Luke spent the week working with Patrick replacing broken tabletops and chairs here at PID as while as finishing the new kitchen sink. On Thursday we did a mobile clinic at a church in Bigarade. We saw about 40 patients, and the community really appreciated our presence. Yesterday the team enjoyed their day off at the beach, and this morning they were able to attend a Haitian church service before piling into the pickup to ride to the airport.

Great meeting today

Today I meet with a local lawyer to talk about PID and land issues in this new area. I was excited to hear that as complicated as this is it is not as hard as 

Haiti. 

Rainy, windy and in a tent

Today we finally arrived. We are sleeping in a tent. As we put up the tent a wind storm suddenly came up and rain started to fall. Tyrah had to take everything from the car and throw it in the tent so it wouldn't blow away as I staked it down. 

We jumped into our tent and sorted everything out. We remain cozy and dry. 

Tomorrow we begin interviews with families. 

Team's first day of work

Today we all got up early for the medical orientation. The team had a great day of work throughout the clinic, splitting up between wound care, emergency, triage, and discharge. The nursing students learned a lot from the other nurses travelling with them as well as our Haitian staff. The team was impressed with the organization of the clinic. They really enjoyed educating the patients about their health and their medication, especially at the discharge station.  Luke, the only non-medical team member worked with Patrick on a counter/stand for a new sink for the kitchen. Both of them have never done this before and say they don't know what they're doing, but it already looks great.
After work, we all went for a walk around Blanchard to see the PID houses. Late into the evening after the team meeting, team members are up working hard bagging pills for the pharmacy. They are a heard-working team and we are looking forward to a great week together!

Day one of travels to the third location

Yesterday I left with one of my granddaughters to travel to

The third location. 

Many have tried to guess where the third location will be but until we are ready to

commit , I am sworn to secrecy , more or less:-)

On this trip I will give a few more hints. 

Next team is here

The new medical team all made it here today safely. The second group that flew in had to make a stop in the Dominican Republic due to bad weather over Haiti, but they were still in good spirits when they showed up. We are going to do the medical brief in the morning because everyone was just a bit tired from the longer than expected traveling. They are all looking forward to joining Zach tomorrow for some one on one with the patients.

Jack came by over the weekend to wire the electricity out to the tool depot and he was able to fix the kitchen lights. He had a short time here but as always, makes a big difference.

Written by Patrick

Weekend in Haiti

Yesterday the team worked half day. Most team members went out to Duvivier to build an emergency tent house for a family in our program. They are almost done and it looks great. Some team members stayed back to help out with some much needed pharmacy tasks. Jimmy and Holly continued work on the water filters follow-up. Zach's diabetic leg ulcer patient came in for a re-dressing.
In the afternoon the team went out downtown for a tour of Port-au-Prince, a visit at the museum, and dinner at Epidor.
This morning the team went to church, then continued to help out with the meds until they had to leave for the airport. We had a final debrief meeting and said good-bye. They were a great team and we are truly thankful for all their hard work and courage this week, both at VBS and in the clinic.

Last day of VBS

The team in Haiti continues working hard and putting on a successful VBS program that is putting lots of smiles on kids faces, food in their bellies, and joy in their hearts. Each day the team has been providing the program for kids in different locations: Wednesday in Damien, Thursday in Bigarade, and Friday in Canaan. The group enjoyed returning to Canaan, the site of VBS two years ago, to see their old friends and the two new duplexes that PID has since built there. One of the team members was able to try out her hand at construction today, sifting sand for the finishing touches on the second duplex, which should be finished tomorrow.

One sponsor was able to meet her newly sponsored child, while several other team members were able to reunite with their sponsored children and their friends' sponsored children. Sometimes the kids are shy, sometimes they spend lots of time playing with their sponsor, and sometimes they just cry.

This afternoon we said good-bye to the team's fearless leader Pastor Brian, who had to leave a couple days early. We appreciate all he did to make this program a success.