Good Wishes for Save Travels

I want to share this lovely email from my Dad as we all head to Haiti.

Dear Lisa,

Thank you and thanks to the entire team for making yet another trip to Haiti. Having been there and seeing the depth of poverty and despair, it touches my heart that you are so willing to sacrifice to help.

I pray the Lord watches over you on your trip, that according to His word, He will direct your steps, speak to you and give you wisdom when you ask.  Remember, your time is in His hand and His peace will keep you. As you minister life and treatment to so many hurting people, may your love and mercy be evident to all.  I pray your sacrifice will reveal God’s love for them and that while they are healed physically, you can also bring spiritual and mental healing as well.

I will be praying continually for your safety and safe return.  I am so proud of you, Lisa.

Love,

Dad

Clinic Day 4

We are so sorry for the long break in updates.  The clinic day went well and we saw 437 patients today.  The internet is up and down, so I will try to add some photos and I hope they come through.

These are the patients waiting to check in this morning.


Above is the photo from dental, I will have to add the number of patients later.  The dentists are all working so hard.  Eric, Nancy and George are all in this photo
.

These are pictures of Hannah, Emily , and Lisa triaging all the patients.  The babies that are 14 pounds and over 2 years old are breaking our hearts, but we know the parents are extremely grateful for anything we can do to help.

These are a few photos of clinic.  We will take more tomorrow and focus on that area.  The patients are so kind and appreciative of all the care they receive.

After clinic, the patients head to pharmacy to receive their medication.  All these medications had to be shipped ahead or transported in our checked luggage.  Pharmacy works so hard to serve all of the patients and make sure they understand the directions.
Hopefully, we will have wifi tomorrow!!!!

Mass pics as promised

Mass was simply amazing.  Father Carre thanked us for coming and everyone cheered for the team.  

Everyone sang and several men played instruments, making it a wonderfully festive event.  

Before communion, we were all surprised by a special presentation from the school children.  They brought in produce that had been possible to grow through the agriculture assistance program.  The children carried the produce on their heads in baskets and slowly danced all the way down the aisle.   These children, that hardly have enough to eat, blessed us with their love an appreciation.  We could all learn something from their generous and grateful nature.  

There was not a dry eye in the group.  We took turns receiving the baskets.  It was the most touching experience.

After the wonderful presentation, Father Mark assisted with communion.  An amazing moment happened while saying the "Our Father."  Our team held hands, then all the Haitians started to hold hands also, even stretching across the aisle to follow our example.  What a way to make us feel welcome.

After this, we treated  259 patients today.  And… that was a half day.

Hopefully, we will send another update tomorrow.

Wow

We just finished mass in Gobert.  Pictures and video will come later.  All of the children from the school presented us with gifts of food from the agricultural assistance program.  There was barely enough room in our hearts for all of the love and generosity given by the amazing people of Gobert.

Getting There is Half the Battle

After canceled flights to Florida, and multiple rebookings, we all made it to Florida.  But we were much later than expected.  Out charter flight was moved from Ft Lauderdate, where we landed, to Miami.  Our late transfer to Miami meant a second night of four hours or less of sleep.  We were downstairs by 4 am(EST) for the shuttle to the airport.  We were all weighed and scanned, and then we went in search of coffee.  Our flight to Cap Hatien went really well, with beautiful clouds.

When we finally landed at the airport, we were surprised to find that half of our bags did not make it onto our flight.  We ended up taking a short excursion to pass the time.

Once we collected our bags, it was off to get water and snacks before our 2 1/2 hour bus ride into the mountains.

It was an adventure to say the least.  With many close calls passing other vehicles.  And LOTS of bumps.  Thank goodness everyone stayed in good spirits.  

When we were almost to Our Lady of Miracles, there was an accident.  We all got out of the bus and our amazing driver squeaked past the tipped over truck.

When we pulled into Gobert, all the people came out to wave and cheer and Father Mark waved back.

Everyone was so happy to finally arrive, even if we were extremely tired and late.

Headed to Haiti

In three days I will be headed to Haiti!  It seemed like such a long way off when I started packing all the items we pre-ship in October, but now it's right around the corner.  Note to self: next year, write down all the things you packed in October so you can remember them in January.  I'm getting very excited and extremely nervous.  As you all know, I am a worrier.  It's just who I am.  Over the years, I definitely have learned to manage my stress/worry/anxiety issues, well most of the time.  My normal method is to make a mental list of all the things I'm worried about, then I go through them and explain to myself how I am going to be able to handle it.  I know, that's pretty silly, c'est la vie.

So here's my current list of concerns for the Haiti trip...

1. All my stuff will not fit in my backpack and carry on, including the 4 ipads and computer that are not included in the photo above.
2. If I somehow squish it all in the bags, I will be found in the airport flat on my back from how much they weight.  Think turtle on shell.
3. I will get all the way to Haiti and my database won't work for some unknown reason that I didn't think about and test well enough.
4. Ella will be sad while I am gone.  Ahh, sweet soft-hearted Ella
5. I will miss my family, terribly.
6. There might not be enough coffee.
7. I won't be able to sleep, since I'm generally a crazed insomniac.

So with the new year, I am trying to focus on the positive.  I thought that might help with talking myself out of worrying.   I'm now going to make a list of all the positive things I will get out of this trip.  Even if I am sitting here all night, this list is going to be longer than the one first one.

1. Our team will get to help about two thousand people.
2. My database will help us determine which interventions work best.
3. I will see first hand, what I am planning on for my future.  
4. I will be inspired by people of Gobert.
5. David and I will be able to work together once our kids have gone to college.
6. I will be reminded of the simple things in life.
7. I will be doing what I feel called to do.
8. We will be so busy that I won't have time to miss my family, too much.
9. My family will be proud of me.

Ok that's all I have today, but I will try to keep you posted from Haiti, when possible.  Please pray that our team is safe and helps all the people of Our Lady of Miracles who are in need.

Lisa

Where have I been?

Have you wondered if I fell off the planet?  I know some of my family did, because they called to ask me if that was the case.  Well, I am not a traditional gal when it comes to giving up things for lent, no giving up chocolate or soda for me.  Last year I gave up unconstructive comments.  That was insanely hard.  This year, I tried to disconnect.  No work email at home, no facebook, no blog, less talking on the phone, etc.  In addition to allowing me to focus more on the purpose of the last 46 days, there were many benefits that I had did not expect. I rediscovered or simply took more time to enjoy all sorts of great things in those extra minutes each day.  Very reminiscent of the days before extreme connectivity.

This is a list of a few of the amazing things we have been up to while we were "off-line":
Working in the garden together.
Reading out loud to the kids before bed.
Games, Uno and Yamslam were faves.
Riding scooters and bikes.
Sitting on the back deck.
Cooking, cooking, cooking.
Painting our toe nails (well, the girls, anyway).
Approximately 947 sporting events for the children.
Play practice.
Origami.
Snuggling.
Reading great books about the world.
Spring cleaning and clearing out.

Just too many things to even list.  I will be posting pictures of some of these wonderful activities throughout this month.

So, what now?  Well, I miss seeing all the pictures and stories of my friends and family, so I will be back on-line, but definitely in moderation.  

Happy Easter!  I hope you have an amazing and fun weekend with your families.
Lisa