The Return

We will either find a way, or make one."
~ Hannibal ~ soldier, patriot and statesman.

In March, 2010 I left my beautiful apartment in New York and headed for Haiti. I’m a nurse, I have decades of experience and I was compelled to go down and help out. Despite some opposition to the idea (a few friends actually did an intervention), there was no stopping me. Soon after the earthquake on January 12th, I wanted to go. But life kept getting in the way and for one reason or another, I couldn't. On February 20th, I got an email from a friend asking if I could possibly get my hands on some antibiotics to overnight to a friend of hers that was leaving for Haiti in 48 hours. Anyone who knows me knows - I love a challenge. I was at work (I’m the nurse in my husband’s gastroenterology practice) when I got the email. I immediately started scouring our sample closet for antibiotics. Since the law changed last January and doctor’s offices are no longer allowed to be entertained by pharmaceutical reps, samples are hard to come by. We had one box of Amoxil (a brand name amoxicillin used to treat H. Pylori – a gastroenterology thing – Google it) with 2 tablets in it. Not a good start. I left work and went from doctor’s office to doctor’s office asking for samples, trying to put together a decent supply. After an hour, I had 12 doses; hardly worth the FedEx overnight charge. But after making some phone calls and turning myself into a pretzel and making a few people crazy, I was able to secure 5000 doses. I overnighted them along with some hand sanitizer and miraculously it all made its way to Port-Au-Prince (PAP). That opened the communication between me and another relief worker and the wheels were set in motion for my trip.

At this point you must be wondering why, with all the medications and supplies donated to Haiti, a relief worker would have to contact me for antibiotics. Certainly, the American Red Cross and countries all over the globe were sending supplies. And they were. There were tens of thousands of boxes of medical supplies sitting at the dock, hidden in warehouses and piled in the back of abandon hospitals. Nothing was being distributed and with the massive number of amputations and crush injuries, infection was rampant. The desperately needed antibiotics were nowhere to be found; a problem I discuss in my "Mission to Haiti" blog (click Truly Madly Deeply on the right and go to "April" in the Archives). But that fateful email connected me to the incredible, Jitterbug Pearce; a nurse and journalist who spent months in Haiti after the earthquake providing aid for thousands. Like all committed relief workers in Haiti; she was a force to be reckoned with. She was working at Centre Hospitalier du Sacré-Coeur (CDTI), one of the better private hospitals in Haiti. The hospital building was no longer sound but the parking lot had been set up with multiple M.A.S.H units. She assured me there would be plenty for me to do if I could get myself down there. I got my ticket, packed my bags and was ready to go when I read on her blog; CDTI was shutting down, effective, immediately. I decided I would go anyway and take my chances.

How could I have possibly known what I was getting myself into? Nothing and no one can prepare you for Haiti. It’s a lawless country. Even the airport is a nightmare. After deboarding the plane, you wait in an un-air-conditioned, glass enclosed walkway. Everyone is jammed together like sardines before you are herded into the passport check line. Fans roaring making a lame attempt to cool down a massive hanger filled with hundreds of sweaty bodies. But when I walked into the area where you are suppose to claim your baggage, I was speechless. Hundreds of people swarming around hundreds, if not thousands of suitcases piled to the ceiling on top of a broken conveyor belt. How was I supposed to get my bags? I had 2 suitcases filled with medical supplies and all my camping equipment. Ugh! I’m sure I stood there for 20 minutes with my jaw dropped to the floor. The Haitians don’t seem to mind the fight. Finally, I found someone who looked like he was an airport employee. I gave him a ten dollar bill and used my best hand gesturing (because no one in the airport speaks English) to describe my luggage. I showed him another 5 dollars, assuring him that it would be here, waiting when he brought back my bags. How did I know that was a good idea – instinct!

I documented my time in Haiti on my blog: Ihttp://cory-trulymadlydeeply.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html. If you’re interested, I believe it gives a good and accurate account of what it is like doing relief work there and what life is like for the Haitian people. It’s not pretty. Life for Haitians was difficult before the earthquake. It has become unbearable after it.

I knew when I returned home from Haiti four months ago, I would go back. There is something about the work there that is difficult to explain but it is well beyond rewarding. Every day presents itself with challenges you could never in a million years anticipate, yet you meet them. I was doing what I love to do more than anything in the world and doing it under the most challenging conditions imaginable. What could be better? My plan was to return in the Fall when the weather improves. Since I’ve been back home I have connected with another relief worker, Stacy, tall and beautiful, she spent three and a half months down there, pushing her way through the streets of PAP on a motorcycle. She distributed thousands of pounds of food, placed children that were wondering in the streets, built enclosures for classrooms and made connections with every relief organization down there. Together, we've decided to do some official fundraising. We are in the beginning stages of starting our own organization called Art Store 4 Haiti. The premise is simple and not at all original. Our focus will be on Haiti’s orphanages: Improve the living conditions and set them up with materials to produce some form of art; jewelry, canvas, photographs, something. Whatever is produced will be exhaustively merchandised and sold on the Web Site. All proceeds will go directly back to the orphanage to help supply food, shelter, health care, education and replenishing the materials to make a product. Our goal is to make the orphanages secure and self sustaining. It’s a work in progress and progress is being made (as s soon as the Web Site is up and running, I will provide a link). But the Fall trip has been unexpectedly and emergently moved up to this week and we will both be heading back.

On July 10th I received an email from Paul Sebring, the relief worker I worked with and co-founder of M.M.R.C., one of the small, highly effective NGO’s working in PAP. He informed me that children in an orphanage run by nuns are being abused. You can read the story on Paul’s blog (http://sebringphotography.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/abusive-nuns-abusing-65-girl-orphans-haiti-update-07132010/). I have firsthand knowledge that what is going on is far worse than what he reported. Despite all efforts to rectify this situation, nothing has been done. Paul, along with his partner, Paul Waggoner have exhausted every official and legitimate avenue. To date, the abuse continues. Both Stacy and I feel certain, one way or another, we can get it to stop. Doing nothing is simply not an option. So the organization of Art Store 4 Haiti will make its first official trip to Haiti. Like all work there, it’s never what you expect. Every day is a surprise. Every day you work hard to solve problems that seem insurmountable, but you solve them anyway. I know it all sounds crazy but the truth is, working in Haiti is very challenging and it’s not for everybody (to say the least). If you have been there and you can tolerate it - it is a very harsh environment; you feel an obligation to be there. I will keep you posted. Wish us luck, pray for all of Haiti’s children and pray for the rain to hold up. XOX