and...one more sleep

My flight to Haiti was cancelled today, due to high winds, driving rain and the threat of severe flooding.

My heart sank low in my chest when I got wind of the news. I only understood snatches of kreyol: this flight was canceled. All flights today were cancelled. This was a act of nature. And (in English), AA was not responsible; not for the cancellation and not for providing any sort of compensation.

The middle class Haitians, immaculately turned out, were indignant an furious. Those who were less well dressed in the flimsier, untailored garments were quieter. One stout man in a crisp business suit unleashed his fury on one of the company's ground staff, hands gesticulating and jowls shaking with rage. Standing apart from a swarm of travellers, who crowded the check-in desk, an elderly lady in a thin cotton dress and wide-brimmed straw hat dabbed at her eyes. She was lean, dry skin taut over her bony frame. She had a hospital name-band around her wrist. She was alone, but was soon attended to by a Haitian family.

American airlines get a big black mark next to their name for giving passengers the real run-around; despite their promises to arrange discount accommodation and reschedule flights, in the end, this came down to us. My global Sim card failed, and I couldn't get a line on any of the pay phones. As a result, I had to use my home SIM to make all the calls I needed to.....and suffer exorbitant roaming charges. Raaaaah!

Despite being sent on a wild goose chase by several AA/airport employees, though, I have managed to re-schedule my flight for tomorrow morning, and I have booked into a hotel- one that gave me the title "guest of the week", which, entitles me to a room upgrade, a mug and some mini chocolate bars. That was a good end to a bad day.

Unfortunately, in the midst of all the confusion earlier in the day, I lost my visitors visa. Eventually, I found a very nice immigration officer (I was not impressed by the bureaucracy and rude manner I experienced from immigration and customs staff yesterday.) Today's official, though, has reassured me I can still leave the country tomorrow. Thank goodness. Miami just isn't for me.

And I am very keen to move on, and to finally get to Haiti and meet everyone at GLA. Up until now, I had been looking forward to going, but I hadn't really felt excited. I'm glad I'm feeling it now.

One more sleep....

I am on my way, sitting in a Miami hotel room, following a safe Trans Atlantic flight that arrived shortly before air traffic control systems crashed across the USA!

I am a bit bemused by the cultural differences between the USA and Scotland; I'm not used to being called ma'am, and I am equally as unused to being finger printed - US immigration fingerprint all tourists now!

I am exhausted after being up for 22 hours but there is a lot to be thankful for. Everything has gone smoothly so far. I've got an overnight stop-over in a nice hotel, and most importantly, in a comfortable bed. I will arrive in Haiti well-fed and rested tomorrow, and clean. Yes, I took the opportunity for one last bubble bath tonight. I wont be having another for a very long time!

Please pray for my safety in Haiti, and also that I will adjust quickly to a different culture, and find my feet. I know people are praying all ready. If they were not, I would probably be beside myself with anxiety just now. I am feeling a range of emotions, but a calm has descended over me.

Please also pray for for the Haitians who have been affected by the region's most recent tropical storm. Haiti was pounded by hurricane Gusav today. The winds have died down for now, but there are fears that Gustav could return with vengeance. The full extent of the damage will be difficult to assess due to Haiti's limited infrastructure, but in the past, storms such as these have destroyed crops, torn apart the flimsy mud and grass homes the poorest people live in, and caused major flooding and landslides. This would be devastating for a country that is on the brink of starvation.
My next blog will be from Haiti. Until then, God Bless.

The Preparations Move Up a Gear.

I fly out to Haiti 2 weeks tomorrow. Every day, my nervousness and excitement builds. In the past two weeks, I have lost 2 nights sleep. There is so much to do, so little time to do it. So many unknowns about Haiti and God's Littlest Angels. What essentials will I be able to purchase there? What can I not afford to leave behind?

I have been preparing to go since Christmas: reading about Haiti: the health problems and health care, the security situation the language and the culture.

In January, I downloaded an e-book and audio track for adoptive parents. On almost Even Ground is a very accessible way to learn kreyòl words and phrases. I have no doubt they will take a lot of frustration out of communicating with the children and the Haitian staff at the orphanage. As I understand it, they speak very little English.

I have also been using a more formal study programme: Ann pale kreyòl. I have reached lesson 17 of 25 and will complete the remaining lessons while I am in Haiti. I hope I'll pick the language up quicker once I am immersed in it. The words are mostly French but the grammar is not. I find I get very tongue tied when I practice the dialogues. I believe the Haitian people are patient. Just as well!

Although I have some experience of providing health care in a developing country, which, I gained while I was at God's Golden Acre in South Africa, I have a lot to learn. I have purchased a good text book: A Manual of Tropical Pediatrics. I have been dipping into it and will continue to do so in Haiti.

So many books on my desk, so many thoughts in my head, so many goals and dreams, but 1 key motive: to be ready for the task ahead, so that I may fulfill it as well as I possibly can.

God's Littlest Angels

Where I am going

I leave for Haiti on August the 26th to join God's Littlest Angels (GLA). GLA is a child survival centre, high in the Kenscoff Mountains above Port-au-Prince. It is located in a wealthy community, but there is no piped water or mains electricity in the area. Instead, residents have water, cooking gas and fuel trucked up the mountain. Since this is an expensive exercise, all volunteers and visitors are charged for room and board for the duration of their stay. GLA have pre-warned me that both water and electricity are conserved on their properties. I can expect "military style showers" and have been asked to bring a torch, because the generators at the volunteers quarters are turned off at night.

What I Will be doing

Here is a preview:


The emphasis, as you can see, is on giving quality care to meet the particular needs of each baby and child. This fits well with my philosophy of delivering individualised, child-centred nursing care.

The director of God's Littlest angels, Dixie Bickel is a registered nurse with many years experience in Paediatric Intensive Care Units. I will be working alongside Dixie's Haitian staff at GLA's high care nursery, looking after premature and malnourished children, as well as children with other special medical needs: cleft lip and palate, cardiac conditions, burns, orthopaedic conditions, neurological problems HIV/AIDS and sickle cell disease, for example.

I will assess and treat children who become sick or injured, and will also play a part in routine child surveillance (monitoring growth and development).

I hope I will also have the opportunity to work one-on-one with some of these children. After all, that would truly fulfil my motivation for going to Haiti, which is to make a difference in the lives of a few children, in the time I have, in the place I will be.

Rising Temperatures, and a Spate of Donations for God's Littlest Angels

True to their word, my work colleagues have began raising funds and gathering supplies for God's Lightest Angels.

Friday morning: with temperatures on the ward approaching 85 degrees, (yes, I do know I'll have to get used to that!) the nurses and support staff began brain storming. They contacted various hospital departments, supermarket stores and pharmacies.

Before the morning was out, I had received a bag from our hospital pharmacy, filled with antibacterial liquid soap and alcohol hand sanitizer. By the end of the day I had instructions to pick up a box of baby care items from the Boots store in Stirling, and the the task of typing up a request for donations, printing out multiple copies and mailing them had been delegated to our Play Specialist.

Saturday: my manager and some of the nurses blitzed the ward, then presented me with a box containing ambu bags, dozens of nasal cannula and facial masks (for delivering oxygen to infants, children and adults), and Naso-gastric feeding tubes for premies and older children.

Sunday morning: before we began to wilt in the sticky heat (our air conditioning unit only cools the temperature by 1-2 degrees), one of the nursing auxiliaries, who does temp work in the paeds ward, brought in a selection of home-baked cakes and biscuits. She had prepared them the following night with her Mother (after a 12.5 hour shift, no less!) Staff were invited for cake and coffee, in return for a £1 donation. I was then invited to go round the other wards in our unit with the left overs. I am too shy for that, so my colleagues went...all left overs sold!

It was all great PR. One of the Doctors has offered to make a financial donation, and the neonatal nurses will be gathering supplies, and have asked me to send them a list of any items they could purchase for me. As for the nurses I work with, they are not finished yet; so far, another coffee morning and a prize draw have been planned.

What motivation! Even as I thanked people, I apologised that I was playing so little a part in their efforts. Their answer: "You are the one who is giving up 6 months months of your time to volunteer in Haiti! Leave this part to us!"

Well, I think they are amazing, and surely it is a sign that the spirit of God is moving, when people of all faiths open their hearts to children they never met, in a country no-one has visited, and some didn't know existed.

Note: I will be able to use some of the funds that have been raised to purchase prescription items from the hospital pharmacy (at wholesale price). If anyone reading this post knows of any specific meds GLA would benefit from, please let me know.

Am I not Human: Children and Armed Conflict in Haiti

On the 27th day of every month, a group of bloggers unite in an online campaign to share information about human rights abuses across the globe. This month, Cry Haiti focuses on the plight of Haitian children affected by armed conflict.

In December 2006, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative to the UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, expressed concern about an escalation of violence targeting children in Haiti.

Official data is sparse, therefore, it is acknowledged that official reports of gun violence and sexual assault perpetrated against children in the slums in and around the Port-au-Prince point to a much more wide-spread problem.

There are reports of children being abducted by armed groups. Some of these children are held for ransom, others are trafficked within the country or across the border to the Dominican Republic. The children are sold on as unpaid domestic and agricultural labourers or as sex workers. The proceeds of their sale are used to fund the illegal trade in drugs and weapons.
In a country overwhelmed by civil unrest, where the police and courts function poorly and, at times, in a corrupt manner, organised crime thrives. Among their ranks are children. Some have joined to seek revenge against groups who have killed, injured or assaulted relatives. Others join to seek food or protection, but most are recruited by force.

Follow this link to see a video full-length video about Haiti's child soldiers. This is the modern face of conflict. This is a nation plagued by poverty, hunger and a crumbling infrastructure. Organised crime stands in the way of Haiti's development and, in this way, compromises children's rights: right to life, to food, health care and survival, right to be raised in their family, to be educated, nurtured and protected.

Children who have lost all of this, then give up or forfeit the right to be exempt from direct participation in armed conflict and become subject to physical and sexual abuse and exploitation. Every right enshrined by the UN convention on the rights of the child is violated, and despite the efforts of the UN stabilisation mission and the Haitian judicial system, these violations occur with relative impunity.

All children impacted by Haiti's culture of violence, even those who actively participate are victims. UNICEF and Yéle Haiti are among a handful of organisations that provide counselling and rehabilitation services to the survivors.

Humbled

Since I composed my last post, I have received assurances from friends and family that Christmas gifts will be waiting for me when I get back at the end of February. I have even had one lady from North America offer to bring a care package for me if she travels to Haiti while I am there. The lady doesn't even know me!

So I am feeling humbled and blessed today. During the past week I have also been more than a little bit uncomfortable at the praise people have been heaping on my head.

They know me, so they should understand that I am no angel, and certainly no saint. Oh no! I get crabby, even whinny sometimes, but mostly, when things aren't rosy, I get crabby. Maybe people don't see much of my crabbitness: I try to keep my "less charitable thoughts" to myself but I get plenty of them, especially when I am tired... and everyone who knows me knows I don't have great energy levels!

What I'd like people to know, those who know me and those who don't is that volunteering in Haiti for 6 months isn't really such a great thing. I am about to join the company of missionaries who have given their whole lives to the children of Haiti. Now that really is something.

I am doing a small thing, and, I'm doing it as much for myself as for God. Please pray that I will have the stamina and endurance, physically, mentally, and emotionally, to do that small thing really well.

Update: Although I was advised that the missionary organzation that delivers GLA's mail does not provide a service to catholics, I felt led to approach them. I answered their questions truthfully, and I am pleased to report that they have accepted my application.