I’m back!!
Hello everyone I first off went to apologize for the delay in my posts, but I
am so excited to fill you in on everything. Just to give you heads up I am
going to do a few short posts to catch you up in my life.
My last post left off with Laura and
I’s meeting with the monitors for her literacy program, and well a lot has
happened since then. I have gotten to experience some pretty amazing things
here in Haiti and this next story will always have a special place in my heart.
On Tuesday afternoon we were going to take a journey up in to the mountains of
Haiti to visit a clinic that is ran by a wonderful women, before we started
this journey we stopped at our local hospital. We stopped at the hospital to
pick up the medical group because they actually needed to visit the clinic, but
when we got to the hospital we heard there was an emergency in the pediatric
center. Brittany asked if we wanted to go check it out, so we walked up to the
hospital. Now, you have to understand a hospital in Haiti compared to a
hospital in the United States does not even come close to comparing. In the United
Sates you have HIPPA and people just can’t walk in to other patient’s room,
well it’s much different here. Brittany brought us right in to the pediatric
center and I have to say for me personally my heart sank. To see all the little
children in my eyes struggling for their lives virtually ripped a piece of my
heart out, but the next thing that happened showed me how precious life truly
is. There was a little child laying helplessly in her mother’s arms and she was
hooked up to an oxygen machine. Brittany asked if I wanted to hear her breath,
so I bent down and listened to the little one struggling. At this moment it
showed me how truly precious life is, and how lucky we are back in the states
to have the medical facilities we do. I know I hear multiple people complain
about hospitals and doctors, well my advice to everyone is just remember how
blessed we are to have the hospital care we do because people in other parts of
the world are not as lucky. After we left the hospital we started our journey
up to the clinic and let me tell you it was a roller coaster ride. I thought I
was going to just fly right out of the car. It was about an hour ride and when
we reached the clinic I was never so happy in my life to have my feet back on solid
ground. I got out of the car and I could tell my stomach was up in my throat
and I knew I was going to toss my cookies at moment, but I walked in the clinic
with everyone else to see what it was like. Well not even 5 minutes in and I
was running back out the door to throw up those cookies haha. I then walked
back in and got to experience something else that was amazing. They brought a
mother in and had her lay down on the tale. The mother was pregnant so they
rolled up her shirt and used a machine to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. It
was amazing!! I have never heard a child’s heartbeat still inside the mother
wombs, so you could say I was on cloud 9! Now, you may not all believe this but
the machine used was probably ancient years old, and you would never see it being
in used in the U.S. It was such an amazing day to say the least and it truly
made me see how precious life is.
Then bomb the next day I turned the big 23!! I didn’t know
what it would be like to experience my birthday in Haiti, but I have to say it
was fun. The day started out as normal going to class and doing some things
around the house. Then later on I got to visit my little guy which made the day
great! He ran right into my arms and wished me a happy birthday with the
biggest birthday hug and kiss. It was fun to be able to celebrate my special
day with all the little ones. Then I came back home talked to my family and
just hung out, but as I was hanging out I knew something was going on. Katie
was running in and out of the room and Laura wouldn’t let me sit with her. Well
the big surprise was Katie and Frankie got gifts for me in the US and brought
them to Haiti, It was the sweetest thing ever and let me tell you they knew me
great already. Laura and Brittany also baked a wonderful cake for me with
sprinkles on top! So I have to say my birthday was a lot of fun and to end the
night we got to go to Panic Beach, so as much as I missed my family, friends,
and boyfriend I did have a wonderful day!
After having a wonderful birthday I then got hit with the news
that Laura would be leaving sooner than we had expected, and this really hit me
heard. Laura and I became great friends back in 2013 when we did camp together here
in Haiti. She has been one of my back bones and I obviously did not want her to
leave me, but I knew it was for the best. So I went with her and we said some
goodbyes to her friends and the kids. The next day we took off on our journey
to PAP to send her back off to the U.S. We got up around 6:30 am and had a nice
long drive. When we reached PAP the streets were filled with people and
everyone was heading off to do something. We got to the airport and this was
the moment I had been dreading! I had to say my see you soon to one of my best
friends! I held back the tears because I know we will see each other again. I
wish you could all have a chance to meet my friend Laura and hear of the
wonderful projects she undertook while in Haiti. She is one of the most inspirational
people I know and as much as she thinks she may not had made a difference she
did. I am beyond proud of her and I can’t wait to see were this next journey in
her life takes her.
After we left the airport Tiden and I started our journey
around PAP. I had the duty to get groceries and run to the pharmacy to pick up
medicine to bring back to Gros-Morne. When we reached the grocery store Tiden
looked at me and gave me this look that said “Ok I’ll wait here for you, go on
and do the shopping”, well that did not happen. I asked him to come with me
because I had no idea were to even start in the store. You may all ask what a
grocery store even looks like here in Haiti, but I would compare it to a
smaller Weis. It is pretty up scale and has American food. When we got in the
store I had no idea even were to start because I didn’t what isle had what, and
that’s where the fun started. I kept asking the man who worked at the store
where is this or do you have this? He virtually stayed right by my side the
whole time ahaha. We got everything we needed, but it took a while. After we
left the store we headed to the pharmacy to get the medicine and this time I
was on my own. I walked up to the door and I tried to get in and almost fell on
my butt because it was looked, but then all of a sudden a police officer opened
it from the inside. So just a little side note of information for you virtually
every store that contains important products has police officers as guards. I
walked in and headed in the order and waited. I then got called up to the
window and they said something to me, but I couldn’t tell you what it was if I
wanted to. Finally, the women looked at me and started speaking English and I
figured out what she was asking me for. I then picked up the medicine and
headed out. After that he asked me if I wanted to stop anywhere and I really
wanted to look for a Haitian headband, so we headed back to where the capitol
building stood. There are probably over 30 vendors lined up alongside the road
selling all kinds of little treasures. We parked the care and started walking towards
them and instantly I had 5 people in my face asking me to buy their product. I
just kept saying “No thank you, I want a headband.” We looked everywhere for
one, but we had no luck. We hoped back in the car and we headed to another spot
that was by the airport. We got out and looked again, but of course no one had
a headband. A women came up with one of the small Haitian flags and explained
that it could be used as one, but Tiden wasn’t very convinced on that idea. I told
him “Yes, I’ll try it”, and so I did. I decided to buy it and use it as a
headband. After a fun filled day of traveling and exploring in PAP it was time
to head back home. On the way home we had beautiful drive. The view in Haiti is
amazing and absolutely breathtaking! The mountains are endless and the rice
fields are everywhere. The small houses are so peacefully placed everywhere. I
wish I could bring this view and show it to everyone back home because it truly
is stunning. When we reached back home I was ready to crash.
The next few days were pretty simple and went by so fast. We had class every morning and we were still
adjusting to learning things around the house. We went down and visited the
school a lot and get to hang out with the little ones, which is always a blast
for me. Time truly does fly by when you’re having a blast!
Now as you can read
from this blog it really was my transitioning time and getting to experience
some pretty awesome things, but my next blog my catch you off guard! And if you
want to know what I mean be on the lookout for it!
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