This was my last morning in Haiti until I returned. Adonique and Emmanuel helped me out at the hospital where I had been storing the meds to get them together and stored at Adoniques place as he would keep them for the next mobile clinic. They helped me pack at the guesthouse. I had a chance to speak with Dr. Romel that morning who agreed to do mobile clinics with the Haitians so that was a great connection I’m looking forward to having. We had a last meeting that morning at hospital that morning and a young lady who is a social worker joined who agrees to help with the mobile clinics. i made notes and agreed to type them up to email out for mobile clinic plans. It is exciting to have collective involvement from different people growing in the mobile clinic efforts. One disappointing thing was leaving my cell phone behind and not having enough time to get it, but I thought it was lost so I am thankful it had been found and I’d have to work on getting it shipped. Adonique and Emmanuel both came with to the airport as someone from the guesthouse gave us a ride. They helped me walk my stuff inside, we took pictures and said our goodbyes until the next visit. I had a sense of peace about this trip and a feeling of accomplishment. With dreams coming true so far, I do realize that there is so much more work to be done- it will continue, hopefully and moreover prayerfully for the years to come. These small mustard seeds that have been planted will grow and blossom with mobile medical clinics, run by local clinicians going on throughout Haiti.

It was a challenge to get a ride to church; I eventually was able to get dropped off by Pierre from Heartline Ministries part way into town. He helped me arrange for a moto from there, wearing a dress and all it felt awkward riding a motorcycle to church but it was the quickest way so I did it. I made it safely to Port au Prince Fellowship and was happy to be back. I got there just in time for an amazing sermon on taking natural risks which felt so timely for me. Pastor John talked about taking risks and having faith such as risks of starting a business. He illustrated the lesson with Biblical characters like: the story of Jairus whose daughter died and he sought Jesus who brought her back to life; the woman with the issue of blood who touched Jesus cloak with faith and was healed. The sermon was so moving to me as it spoke to taking the risk of starting this nonprofit Global Mustard Seed Missions which focuses on having clinicians and staff from developing countries affected by catastrophes like Haiti runs their own mobile clinics to serve their own people. My vision is to help them do this by getting them medications and equipment, perhaps making it sustainable by charging patients small fees for service who can afford to pay something, but not restricting care from anyone who cannot. I want to limit the need to have outside care as I believe in the skills and talent of the local providers to meet the healthcare needs of their communities, especially since they are familiar with managing the common diseases which present. The sermon gave me motivation and inner confidence in this big goal reminding me to hold onto faith, which has been the theme of this meaningful trip. After church that day, I met up with Adonique who helps run the PowerPoint during the services. We got some juice and caught taptaps back towards the hospital to get to Bernard Mevs. I was hanging out on the roof and a group of us had planned to go to the beach that afternoon. Dr. Renulus and Adonique hung out on the roof top with me as we waited for the driver Daniel. The afternoon was passing and Daniel was taking too long so we decided to set out on public transportation and just plan to go somewhere local. I really wanted to go to the Port au Prince Jazz Festival taking place that evening at a hotel in Petionville with an afterparty in another venue. Dr.Renulus had to get back to St. Marc and Adonique didn’t want to go to the festival so we kept it local. We went to a local Haitian restaurant called Kokoye which looked nice especially from the cars in the lot. Daniel and a couple of others finally met up with us there, but as it was dark by now, Adonique and I went and ate there ourselves. The food was good, I have a good friend local dish called Akra with some spaghetti Alfredo and he has Shrimp cocktail with a Shrimp salad. We talked for a long time there and headed out, it was late around 10 or so, we ended up catching a moto.

Last day for a mobile clinic for me on this trip before I would pass the baton to the Haitian clinicians/ staff and others helping until I can return. The clinic in Cite Soleil went very well, although it felt like the patient flow was never ending. By mid-day or so, I had a total of 6 docs helping, Haitian staff outside entertaining the children with soccer I think and there was a visiting artist who’d flown in from NY, she was doing paintings with the children which was fabulous, a leader from the community took time to pass out the goodie bags to children that I’d brought. The pharmacy, I volunteered in went well, it was super busy throughout the afternoon. By the days end, we had to have the doctors come and start filling the prescriptions they had written themselves. We had to have a couple of trucks bring us as there were so many people, Nick who works at the guesthouse had a chance to visit the clinic and see us in action after he dropped us off. Fortunately, I’d had a chance to stop by the store earlier and stock up on water bottles and Haitian pastries so we had snacks to get us through the afternoon. We had to unfortunately, cancel the other clinic due to time constraints. It was the perfect way for the Haitian clinicians to have a start to clinics to carry on after I leave. By about 5 pm a couple of the doctors needed to get back to the trauma hospital so I had to have the driver take a separate trip to get them and others back. The driver did not want to take two trips and for a few hours or less he did not return. It felt like a test of faith cause we were in Cite Soleil after dark and he initially was not willing to come back. After several phone calls to others we were unable to secure another ride. One of the guys who was with us was a friend of his and he talked to him so he came back to get us all. We brought a little girl back with us and her mom to the hospital who one of the doctors felt like needed additional medical care. The girl was seen in triage at the hospital. Her and her mom were given cash to get back to the camp the next day. The driver, Gideon from the hospital dropped me off at the guesthouse.

I spoke with Ramata on the phone that morning, who’d flown out from Portland, she goes to the same church as me, Immaculate Heart. She wants to do work with the mobile clinics in the future, but will be flying back to Portland th next day, she was only out briefly for another group. She does trauma care and is originally from the Congo where there have been many traumas so it is a great future source of support as many people in Haiti have endured significant traumas. If possible, she’d join for the mobile clinics this Saturday before flying back to Portland. I had planned to spend this Friday working with Dr. Ramel who is the medical director in a clinic in a town called Croix-des-Bouquet I’d volunteered at before which provides a variety of community services from maternal care to primary and speciality services. He had a group come out from Puerto Rico who were holding a remote mobile clinic. Due to my transportation issues and having a cold, I was unable to make it in time. I decided to use the afternoon to prepare for our mobile clinic on Saturday, the last before my departure, although the plan is for the Haitian clinicians to continue them in my absence. It required more planning to make them successful then I realized. Our hope for Saturday was to have a sort of grand finale and have two clinics, one at the camp in Cite Soleil which really is intense with the high volume of patient’s needing care and another after in one of the clinicians churches near downtown which I’d previously volunteered in with him and his friend running a mobile clinic in 2012. I really liked doing clinics in churches as it was a nice way to meet the health needs in the local community and also in tented camps as it was a chance to really meet complex health care and ideally in the future social needs.

We had to go downtown to the Valiere Pharmacy by the Iron Market to pick up the medications. I was able to get the order that I had previously placed. A couple of the Haitian clinicians met us down there. I was trying to buy a few more meds but decided not to with the wait taking too long and them wanting me to pay first. We headed out and I was able to get a pack of blank notebooks off the street for 150 gourdes. I use these to keep track of the patients seen, the medications needed and for the doctors to write on their patient’s seen plus write prescriptions. I had help from another doctor and two other women from a Canadian medical team who could help with logistics, we were also joined by 3 other of my Haitian friends who helped with translating and entertaining the children with playing soccer I believe at the clinic that day. A project manager who knew a friend of mine and had flown in from NY that day doing some sort of documenting for an artist coming also joined us. The artist would be in the next day and planned to paint with the children and may do some murals in the camp.
We prepared to host a tented camp at a place called Cappva in Cite Soleil, an extremely impoverished area which has been adversely affected with crime, riddled with poverty and a lack of access to resources, this coupled with numerous people living in tight quarters with poor housing facilities has rendered this a dangerous area where the only the brave travel within. I recall in the past wanting to volunteer here in another other clinic in Cite Soleil a not being able to find transportation, presumable Capp due to the inherent risks. The people in the tented camp Cappva had been displaced from the earthquake; I understood from a previous visit that the tented camp residents had not had access to food, clean latrines or water for extended periods. Such harsh conditions, a complex culmination to survive amidst, make it difficult to contain diseases that occur din poverty. Running a mobile clinic as the head person leading the initiative here was no small task, certainly different from the challenges that arise with focusing on seeing a multitude of sick patient’s in a day with having to improvise in treatment plans. Now I had to make it possible for: multiple providers to be able to give care effectively with time constraints to a whole lot of people; ensure that a make shift pharmacy is adequately stocked and organized to handle the flow; have the community leaders step up to manage the long lines and prevent havoc from developing and taking over as impatience grows from long waits in hot climates; have transportation was available; and the many other small and large tasks that come about with surprises like possible equipment failure; lacking enough tests like pregnancy tests or running out of certain medications. Yes, without faith in God and the strength He gives I don’t think there is any way I could have made it through. And knowing were serving and helping people, no matter how tiring it may get or maybe even overwhelming at times, still somehow I love it all. We set up an area for the pharmacy. As it was later in the day by the time we arrived, and we were one clinician short, as we weren’t able to connect with him downtown in time, we had to come up with a plan to minimize the volume and return for more complete clinic another day. I had those assisting pull out the 50 sickest patients (i.e. with fevers…) to be seen. It felt like the line continued to grow as there were many patient’s trickling through from babies on up in the covered wooden contained, but open building we were stationed within. We made plans to return Saturday as there were many more patient’s with medical needs that day. After the clinic, a group of us went out to eat at Muncheez, a pizza place in Petionville. I had a cold with allergies so we stopped by a street vendor in the area to get some medicine, it was nice to just by a few pills and negotiate a low price with some change instead of having to pay for a big box of meds. A couple of us had got out of the car to walk to the vendor and got separated from the group, but we reconnected. Once together we all together we enjoyed pizza, they had Prestige, a popular Haitian beer and I had coke. The intention was to take the doctors out to eat as thanks for their hard work, but due to it being late they were not able to come. I decided in the future I’ll just pay them some for the clinics and not try and arrange for group meals. Later that night, I met with Dr. Daly, a neurosurgeon interested in helping out a lot with the mobile clinics. He has some unique visions that are exciting including partnering with local hospitals to be able to share resources like use of an ambulance for mobile clinics so that we can be better equipped with oxygen and other supplies as needed. He wants to talk to the Ministry of Health in Haiti to make progress with this initiative and he can work with the Haitian doctors to embark on this promising connection. He moved recently to Haiti from Eastern Europe, I found it admirable that he sold his car to help with the move. I helped him find a place with a friend of mine closer to the hospital which was walking distance. We met there for a long time for planning and he came to work at the mobile clinic in Cite Soleil that Saturday.

I was happy the next morning to have slept in a big cozy bed at the hotel and take a shower with hot water. All the showers I’d usually taken were cold, at best with some luke warm water that’s filtered in. I missed breakfast that was served in the restaurant, from not getting downstairs early enough at 8am, but I enjoyed some delicious coffee in the bar made by a young lady there. While I was waiting for my ride, the bartender Jeff let me listen to the music on his phone which included a lot of US West coast hip hop. Daniel came to pick me up.

This was a planning day for mobile clinics. I was picked up from Bernard Mevs buddy a friend Daniel and his neighbor Pedro and later my friend James met up with us. James helps with translation and is resourceful. We headed downtown, passing areas which revealed the beautiful sea off in the distance beyond the streets. We went to the Iron Market where Valiere pharmacy downtown is located by, so that I could stock up on medications. Valiere pharmacy seemed to have less expensive medications. After we arrived at the pharmacy, I was able to meet with a lady who was helping to run it, she told me it was a family owned the business. I had a list of the medications that I wanted to buy refills for so she gave me discounts after negotiating on the ones that I bought in bulk. I talked about plans with her to purchase medications from them for the local doctors to continue mobile clinics in my absence. I want to make arrangements with a local pharmacy so that this can be done with payments made remotely. I received some contact info from her for a local bank as the transactions would need to occur via that means with the bank transferring funds to the pharmacy. The pharmacy closed at 2 that day so I placed the orders, but would have to return another day to pick up medications. We headed out and went out to eat at the Eclipse Restaurant; it was I, James, Pedro and Daniel. I had rice, beans, plantains and sauce with Jumex juice and they each enjoyed food (total came to ~$2000 gourdes. I gave the driver like $1500 gourdes for gas. I had them take me back to the hospital as I was volunteering in triage that night. I had a sick little baby girl come in with respiratory distress that night tachypnea. I worked with the ER doc to get her treated with a nebulizer of Salmeterol and gave oral prednisone. It was a good night, I kind of liked helping out at the hospital. At the end of the shift, Adonique, a friend I’d met from Port au Prince Fellowship came to meet me, we planned to go out to eat, but most restaurants were closed. We caught a moto to Hotel Revelation, centrally located on Delmas, where they had a bar still open which was nice as I was hungry. He had a plate of food with chicken, plantains and a sauce which I had some of and I had ice cream and a Mango shake plus some of his plantains. Since it was so late by the time we were done talking, he went home and I ended up getting a room (after negotiating a discounted rate of about $65US) there which turned out to be very comfortable and clean. There was a nice flat screen TV with cable.

I was picked up after a delay due to some issues with the driver coming late which meant a late start in the clinic; this can be tough without lights when it gets dark. We returned to the school in Carrefour to distribute medications per the plan for those patients who had received prescriptions from the previous mobile clinic we held. A translator and one of the doctors came to help. We had discussions with the school director Jones with the help of a woman I’d met at the guesthouse about the need to have electricity provided since there would be medications to pass out and we’d need ample light to do so. I wanted to plan ahead so that we would have enough lighting to safely and correctly manage the patient’s. After deliberation, Jones agreed to have the lights on without us paying extra. We did not arrive at the site until late afternoon which meant it would be getting dark soon. Patients arrived, questions came up about wanted to be seen, but due to time constraints we only planned on filling scripts that had already been written. James the translator helped me with translation and one of the Haitian providers helped process medication orders. We left later on and headed back to Port au Prince.

The Great Lord made a way for me to get to my favorite church thus far out here, Port au Prince Fellowship for free when I was going to pay for a taptap. Pastor John who manages Heartline Ministries over the guesthouse I’m staying at called and said it is okay for Pierre to take me to church. We got to church late, but it was a good service. There are two Pastor John’s, one I knew from previous missions and I got to meet the other one from Australia. This is a church I’d like to partner with for mobile clinics in the future and I had the chance to discuss this with him, he advised that I speak with Pastor John of Heartline Ministries which I plan do as he is the program director. After getting back to the hospital we made arrangements to go to the beach for the afternoon, we agreed on $1500 gourdes for gas. I wanted to go to a beach in the North as these are nice with sand and I’d gone before and snorkeled. We ended up going to a few different beaches in the South part of the island before we settled on one as these were closer in to the city. These weren’t as elaborate as the ones we saw didn’t have sand and have areas on the gravel areas where people play games, sports or other activities. The beach we went in cost $75 gourdes per person to enter. There is loud music playing, I recognized American R&B or hip hop music playing. A number of the Haitian doctors went with us and it was fun to take a time out and enjoy hanging out in the ocean. After we left the beach we headed to a Haitian restaurant on the roadside on the way back to the city. $1000 gourdes was enough for everyone to have a plate of rice and beans, chicken and salad with a coleslaw consistency. We headed back to town and while driving through saw music performances through the downtown area by the National Palace. We eventually made it back to the hospital and I got dropped off at the guesthouse.

This was a solemn day of remembrance sadly of a multitude of people who suffered traumas and didn’t survive the earthquake of 2010. Many of the people I’ve interacted with here in Haiti have shared their awful stories of loss in the quake. Somehow in an amazing, clearly God ordained way they have found the strength to carry on. Some of the stories they have shared seem impossible to fathom enduring. The strength, courage and resilience is truly admirable. I was so happy to be able to spend the day with two of the Haitian doctors who’d traveled great lengths catching the bus to come volunteer with this clinics, one came four hours from Okai and another came two hours from St. Marc for the mobile clinics. A pharmacy technician from the trauma hospital Bernard Mevs volunteered to spend his day off helping out at the clinic. We also had a Haitian translator and a medical student accompany us with an American EMT. Such drive speaks volumes about the passion they have to serve which ignites a spark in my desire to make the growth of these mobile clinics thrive in my absence. The driver picked us up from the hospital. As we headed up the road we saw the largest police presence that I think I’ve ever witnessed with cars, motorcycles and armed UN trucks with officers holding big guns in such high volumes. I was not sure what happened or where they were going. Part of what I sought to do on this trip is find a pharmacy we can work with regularly to get bulk medications at the best prices. Enroute to the mobile clinic, we headed downtown to a pharmacy in the Iron Market called Valliere. The area is very busy and crowded with many vendors selling numerous products so it’s a lot to navigate through. But the prices for medications were good and they have a wide selection so I will plan to do future business with them. We stopped for juice on the way to the school in Carrefour. Once we arrived, there were at first not too many patients. Maybe word spread about us being there because the volume began to grow. We had a total of four Haitian doctors who I’ve worked with before. After they each got set up in the various rooms with equipment they began seeing patients. We set the pharmacy up in the room upstairs as before and patients began to flow through. By the end of the day, it was dark in the school without electricity which I would have needed to pay for if we wanted it. We made arrangements for patient’s to come back on Monday who’d been given prescriptions from the various doctors so that medications could be dispensed. After the clinic, Jones wife Natasha made our group dinner at there house which was nice. It was good to have a medical student accompany us via the clinic. Over the days I have spent here I’ve met number medical students, majority from the trauma hospital. They have wanted to help with clinics and most have been 6th year students which is advanced. They seem to be enthusiastic about helping so I’m happy to have them involved, although they have to be supervised if prescribing medications. The potential of having a new cadre of providers who can engage in and run mobile clinics in the future is great. Even better is as they progress in their programs to internships…there are a variety of places in Haiti they may end up working which creates possibilities for mobile clinics to be held in different places throughout the country. After dinner, we headed back to Port au Prince in the truck. We made plans to spend Sunday afternoon at the beach. They dropped me off at the hospital and everyone went their own way. The night driver Gideon from the hospital took be back to the guesthouse. I spent some time talking with one of the guys Pierre who helping run the guesthouse through Heartline Ministries and he enlightened me with information and Haiti and practices.