HAITI!

My boss at the bookstore totally got on the bandwagon of this mission trip I went on to Haiti in June. She would ask me if I was excited and I'd go "yeah!" And then she'd say that she was probably more excited than me and she wasn't even going.

Well, Goodwill has this little newsletter that they publish every two months or something like that and it goes to all their stores and to their donors (I'm guess some people and companies just donate outright money or something...). So my boss wanted me to get in touch with the editor of the newsletter and have her write up an article for it. So I did and here are snippets of my answers to her questions and some pictures thrown in for good measure:

1. What is your title at Goodwill?

You know, I'm not sure what the official title is, but when asked, I just say bookstore clerk. We're all trained to sort, price, categorize, and shelve the books (along with running the register). Your email said to give as much detail as possible, but I don't think you want me to go over board on this one! :-)

2. How long have you worked for Goodwill?

I started this March. So it's been four, almost five months so far.

3. How did you get involved with mission work?

Let's see, I went on my first mission trip when I was ten to Venezuela. I went with an organization called Teen Missions International. They send hundreds of teens (and pre-teens) all over the world every summer. (It's pretty incredible) In case you want more info on them, their web address is http://www.teenmissions.org . In addition to Venezuela, I've worked in Honduras, Germany, and Israel with Teen Missions. The exposure to other cultures and different ways of life had a deep impact on me and I always want to learn something new about the world or even better, experience it. The combination of that and working to improve some one else's life brings a whole new level of personal satisfaction that I haven't found in any other occupation. It is my hope to make a career out of working aboard in a mission-type environment. Thus it probably should be explained that

I'm working at the bookstore while waiting for my application for the Peace Corps to go through. The application process can take up to a year. And my love of books and spare time created the perfect opportunity to go to work for Goodwill at the bookstore. That and Donna was hiring at the time. :-)

4. What did you do in Haiti?

I assisted the doctors who set up a clinic at a church in a rural village in the mountains of Haiti. I did a few different jobs. I even picked up a little Kreyol (Creole) to help my interaction with the Haitian patients. Before the doctors saw the patients, we had to weigh them on a scale, take their pulse and blood pressure. I learned how to say "stand here, please" (krampela souple). This was to get them to stand on the scale. There were a few people who had not stood on a scale before because they would stand on it sideways and cover up the dial that tells me how much they weigh! Then there were others who had before because they would remove their shoes (which was not really necessary, but I didn't know how to communicate that in Kreyol, so the shoes would come off!)

I also learned how to say "thank you" (mesi), and "sit over there" (chitala) in Kreyol so I wasn't always making silly motions with my hands to direct people around. I'd also greet people with a "good morning" (bonjou) or "good afternoon" (bonswa!). Kreyol is based on French with West African languages mixed in. A Haitian friend (who just graduated from FAMU) told me that the slaves created Kreyol to communicate with each other and not let the French understand their plans. So if you're familiar with any French, you'll pick up Kreyol pretty fast. Or at least the little pieces that I did, anyway!

Oh yeah, I also worked in the pharmacy and put together the medicines prescribed for the patients. I would have to use an interpreter to give the directions to the patient on when to take what drug for which ailment. Most of the medicine given was pain reliever (Tylenol, Aspirin, etc.), vitamins with iron (anemia is very prevalent and malnutrition in children is a problem), and antibiotics for a wide range of infections.

Those were the top three. We also had medicine for high blood pressure, anti-itch cream, allergy medicine, diarrhea medicine, re-hydration medicine, cold medicine and some hygiene items like soap, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes. There were a few cases of malaria and one interesting skin disease that the doctors were unable to identify without consulting outside resources. So they took pictures and searched an online database later. There was also one guy with an STD ( but I don't think that should go on the record!).

I also sat in on a few patient exams and learned how doctors check for anemia without blood tests (lower eyelids and fingernails).

5. Who else was on your team?

Three doctors, and ten little helpers with diverse backgrounds. Medical experience was a plus, but willing hands work too.

7. Tell about the people you served.

We traveled for 45 minutes up a mountain into a rural village with no medical service whatsoever. In fact one elderly lady told me point blank that there should be a full-time clinic in this area and not some little clinic every few years if that. (An interpreter was standing with me and told me what she said.) I didn't even ask for her opinion on the topic, she just up and told me they need a clinic at the least. A hospital would probably be an unheard of luxury in that area. There is no electricity up there. What they have is created from diesel generators (if they can afford something as expensive as that). Needless to say, most cooking is done over an open fire. The mission that we stayed at operates a burn clinic because of the high rates of burns in children and adults.

Something that impressed me was that everyone dressed up to come see the doctor. The little girls were the cutest with their little frilly dresses. Everyone was very patient, which was good because 150 people came through the clinic each day and we only had three doctors. Often, grandparents would bring their grandchildren through the clinic. This could be for a number of reasons. Either the parents were working, moved to a big city to find work, past away, or didn't want to go.

But my favorite part of the trip was interacting with the patients and practicing my limited Kreyol. I could tell that many of them were amused to hear this little white girl trying to greet them and give directions. And it tickled me that they could be amused by me, so I would exhaust all the Kreyol I knew and watch them light up when they understood something I said.

We had a special scale for the little babies who couldn't stand on the adult scale and I loved picking up the wee little squirts from their mothers and placing them down on the scale (most of them dead asleep at the time) and murmuring a little "sa bon!" Literally it means, that's good! But it made the mothers beam that their baby was a good healthy weight. It meant that they were able to provide a good diet for their child. And that's half the battle down there in some of these rural villages.

When we came back to the mission where we stayed, a group of Haitian women were preparing dinner and it always smelled amazing, so I got the interpreters to teach me how to say it smells good and I would walk through the kitchen and say "Li santi bon!" and the women would giggle at me and probably think I was a little crazy. But I couldn't resist. Kreyol is a smooth sounding language that floats and rolls off the tongue.