haitiministry

Mission Trip Report- February 2-10, 2012

Overall Missions Goal: Serve God’s beloved poor

Mission Focuses:
1. Continue to build sister parish relationship and understand current status of ongoing projects.
2. Provide health care for the people of our sister parish in the following ways:
a. Run medical clinic/pharmacy and provide the best possible medical care to the greatest number possible.
b. Run dental clinic and provide cleanings, restoration, and extractions.
c. Create ID cards for patients for best possible patient tracking.
d. Improve blood pressure program patient tracking by more effective means of identifying the blood pressure program patients at the point of entry into the
clinic.
e. Work for the first time side by side with the Haitian nurse which was hired to work in our sister parish.
f. Continue with our referral program and referral patient tracking which provides the support for the people in our sister parish to get health care in the cities of
Jacmel or Port-au-Prince when we are not in Haiti.
g. Transport emergency cases from Gandou to the cites of Jacmel and Port-au-Prince using our truck.
3. Provide opportunity for our team to experience Haiti and especially our sister parish.

Focus Area #1 - Sister Parish Relationship/Status of Ongoing Projects
• Earthquake Rebuilding/Construction projects
o School
Completely finished and in use.
Very beautiful and wonderfully functional.
3 good sized class rooms inside.
According style doors separating the three classrooms. Doors can be pushed to one side to make the whole building into one room. Father said this
is done sometimes on Friday’s when they have a presentation to show.

o Church
Old Church building taken down when they had the equipment to work on the road. Now just a pile of rocks, dust, concrete, and rebar.
Father gave us a copy of the reconstruction building plan. This 9 page document details out the rebuilding plans. New Church building is to be 85
feet by 42 feet.
The new Church will have a metal roof rather than cement (better earthquake resistance).
The reconstruction plans show the project as an 18 month project.
Total cost estimated for this new Church is $190,230 US. Likely to cost a little more when they actually get started. Father already has $20,000 US
from a German organization. We currently have about $75,000. That means we are short $95,000.
PROCHE – Catholic Church’s Organization of the Rebuilding Efforts in Haiti. This is the organization that was formed by Catholic Relief serves and
the Catholic Church. They help organize the aid organizations to help rebuild Churchs in Haiti.
Father had a meeting this month with the Vicor General (Bishop). The estimation for the project will then be given to PROCHE. We are praying they
will find help for us.
We made it clear to Father that we did not have full funding for this project.
As with most construction in Haiti, there was not plans to wait for full funding to be available to start this project. Since there are no winters most of
the construction material is rocks and cement, they can start and stop on the project without much trouble.
Father has talked about the big need for the Church in Gandou. Father needs to get a Church for mass. When it rains everything has to stop and
people get wet.
We should be getting updates from Father by email.

o Two Homes Earthquake Rebuilding Pilot Project
 They are done with the earthquake rebuilding homes we sent money to rebuild after earthquake.
 Both are very close to the rectory. We visited both and took pictures.
 Both homes are two room homes with a total size of about 12 foot by about 18 feet or about 250 square feet. (Compare this to the typical US home
which is about 1,500 to 2,500 square feet.
 One is in use by a family of 8. There were two beds which were hard as a rock…made from boards and rags, I think. I asked where the kids slept and
they said on the floor. Can you image 8 people in a home this small?
 Second will be in use in a couple days…only thing left is for Father to bless the home.
 Father still wants us to kick off a home building project because many of the poorest people still need homes (2 years after the earthquake).
 Father said the cost to build are more than expected. Estimate was $3,000. Reality is more like $4,000.
 We are sending down $3,000 for one more home which was donation received from Chicago from someone that has gone on a trip, specifically for
rebuilding a home for a specific family.
 Father specifically asked that we try to seek out money to help rebuild one of our health workers homes.

o Newly Purchased Ground for New Clinic
 In 2011 we had a doctor from the USA that wanted to take on the project of constructing a new clinic in Gandou.
 Father described that the best place for this was a piece of flat ground by the rectory.
 Father negotiated with the owner and through a couple donations that came in specifically for this project we were able to purchase the land.
 We stepped off the land. The land is about 90 by about 80 feet, but the road goes through the center of it. Maybe 25 feet of the width is currently
road.
 The ground is a very good location very close to the rectory. Close to the water source, but the water would need to be pumped up the hill to the
clinic.
 We believe the ground will work for the clinic. We think the clinic would be build on the one side of the road and the nurse’s living quarters and the
latrine should be built on the other side.
 Don’t need to wait on the Church to be started or completed to start on a construction project for a new clinic.
 Father could start right now if we have the money.
 Church needs the Bishop’s approval but the clinic doesn’t.
 Father is fine with two or more construction projects at one time.
 Father said it is possible to build the clinic in about one year if he has the money.
 We estimate that we need about $40,000US to build.

• School in Gandou
o On Sunday we visited the new school with Father. He showed us everything. He was very proud of it.
o We saw the new benches and desks which we had sent money for after the last trip.
o We worked out a plan to go with Father Nexcene to the school during the week when school was in session to get updates on the sponsor students
and their pictures.
o Father took Jennifer to the school and they worked through finding nearly all the sponsor students and taking their pictures and getting there
information.
o There are more than 100 students in the sponsorship program. There were only a couple that was not available to get their picture and information.
o We tried to figure out a better way to get information on the sponsor students for next time. Father said he tried to open the Excel attachment we
sent him and he was not able to. He showed us what he was doing on his email and he was right…there is something wrong with his yahoo account
and he is not able to open attachments. We need to work on getting him another email account.
o We took several check bags of school supplies with us to Gandou and gave them to father. He seemed very happy to receive them.
o We took toothpaste and toothbrushes to the school and gave them to the children. We had enough for every child. Praised be God!
o A wonderful woman from our Church had given us some homemade hand bags to give to the kids in the school. We had enough to give to all the
girls in the 4, 5, and 6th grades. They girls were all smiles.
o Father showed us that the teachers in the school have no desks/no place to put there papers and they stand the whole day. Father asked that we try
to raise funds to have some simple desks made for the teachers.
o With the new school building there are now 9 class rooms total, 3 in this new (third) school building, 3 in the first school building, and three in the
second school building. The problem is that three of the classrooms were condemned after the earthquake. Father did not use any of the three
condemned classrooms at first, but as time passed where they were trying to hold school in muddy tents, he eventually decided to move the
kindergarten kids back into the condemned class room. So today of the three condemned class rooms one is in use. There are about 85 kindergarten
kids going to school every day in a condemned classroom with a 8 inch thick cracked cement roof that is over top all of their heads. To try to help
with the situation, Father Nexcene has built a 6 foot tall sub-wall in the middle of the classroom in hopes that if the ceiling does fall the sub-way may
help save some kids lives. He has also added a support to the center of the ceiling, but honestly if the ceiling does crack and break will not help
much. We need to figure out something better to do about this.
o Besides the two classes of kindergarten kids in the condemned class room father still has two other classes that don’t have a classroom. Currently
the have school under the tarps and corrugated steel roof and poles of the make-shift church. Father asked that we find a way to help with this
situation.

• High School/LaVallee House (House we are renting in a nearby city that has a high school so the 14 kids from Gandou can go to high school.)
o This is working very well.
o Father had organized that all the students come to see us on Sunday. They all showed up together. They all seemed very happy.
o All the students had written a letter to their sponsors. Jennifer translated their letters and will be giving them to their sponsors soon.
o Everything seems to be going wonderfully with this program.

• University Kids Project(Sending Kids done with High School to University)
o The first full day we were in Gandou Father introduced us to the 3 students that we are sending to University.
o In accordance with the contract we had provided to them, which stated that they should come back to Gandou to help with the medical and dental
clinics when we have them, they had cleared the schedules and found a way to get back to Gandou and were there to help us run the medical and
dental clinics.
o We spent significant time with them and we were super impressed by them. They all seem very intelligent. They all spoke some English.
o They helped the whole week with patient flow, blood pressure checks, and with the blood pressure program.
o We provided them with a blank copy of the copy of the contract we had for them to go to university which has several pages of questions and essays
they had to write. They had seen it before on the Father’s computer, but did not have a hard copy to respond to. They all took the papers and came
back later in the week with them completely filled out and signed. We were very impressed. This information will also be translated and provided to
the sponsors.
o The three students talked about their desire to come back to Gandou to start a high school there.
o They worked together to make sure they were all studying different subjects so that when they come back they would have a broad subject range to
teach. One is studying Mathematics, one is studying Language, and one Literature.
o The students told us a little about the way the school year goes in Haiti and they made a request to go to school in the summer as well so they could
finish early. They want to make sure they are done with their schooling before Father Nexcene is transferred from Gandou so they can get the high
school started in Gandou before another priest starts in Gandou.
o This would mean that we need to find money for their sponsorship sooner than planned.
o Father reported that the sponsorship that we are doing does not include all their costs to go to school. Father reported that their parents are trying to
help them all they can, but it is difficult.
o Father reported that one of the students (Noel) has no parents left…they both died….mother died recently….so he could use extra help.
o Father reported that he does not yet have their grades from the first semester…should have them soon.
o Father reported that the 4 student (nursing student) has not yet passed the pre-college exam and will take it in June.

• Clinic/Health Care Workers
o Typically we take advantage of time of Sunday after mass to sit down with the health care workers to talk through how the referral program is going,
however this time we and the health care workers had some many other things going on Sunday afternoon that we were not able to do this to the
level that we typically do.
o We were able to spend a few minutes with just the health care workers without father and asked them about how the referral program was going and
what subjects they wanted to talk through when we had our real meeting.
o The heal care workers listed the subjects they wanted to talk about. They said they wanted to talk about money for the referral program because
there is never enough for them to do the work well.
o They wanted to talk about improvements to the clinic because it is not a real clinic. There is not a bed, table, storage area, ect…we need
improvements to care for patients well.
o Later in the week we were able to dive into these subjects more when we finally got a meeting together with the health workers and father.
o We spent considerable time talking about how to improve the blood pressure program.
o We talked about our desire for the health care workers to have more organized information on the blood pressure patients. It is taking too long to
find the records of each of the blood pressure patients. They are usually able to find the record sheet of the blood pressure patient, but it typically
takes them a significant amount of time once the patient sits down in front of the doctor, and our desire is that the health care workers sort out the
patient information before the patient gets to the doctor so the doctor is able to quickly just see the records and move on.
o The health care workers seemed to understand the request and asked if it was possible for us to bring binder tabs next time to help them organize
their information. We told them we would and for the short term asked them to use tape as flags/binder tabs to help them organize their information.
o We then spent a large amount of time talking through the referral program.
o The health care workers stated that they are not given enough money from Father to cover the costs that they run into with the patients. The hospital
charges are often more than Father gives them to do the work.
o We tried to understand from Father why he was not giving more. We told that they should use the referral money that we give is there to care for the
patients. Once the amount we send is gone Father should email us and let us know. If we can send more we will.
o Father and the health care workers talked about the problem with the referral program is the fact that they have so little access to transportation.
They cannot rely on Father to drive them back and forth to Jacmel. They requested the motorcycle to help with patient transportation.
o Both of the health care workers that have been working the referral program (Francois/Xavier) took time to show us the details of the referral patients
that they have been working on. Several of the patients needed tests to be completed and the health care workers had taken the patient for these
tests, but the hospital did not provide the results. With the help of the Haitian doctor that we had with us this trip (Dr. Andre) we were able to talk to
them about what they need to demand from the hospital in the event they take a patient in for a test. They really seemed to understand this point and
push harder for this in the future.
o Both the health care workers showed us the patients they had completed the referral work on and the receipts they had to demonstrate the costs
associated with the referrals that they were working on.
o Both had several patients that had surgery done on them since the last time we were there. Several hernia surgeries were done and the total costs of
the whole referral for a hernia patient was about $100 US. That is fantastic. This far cheaper than we would do this work ourselves. The referral
program may always need a few refinements, but the fact is that it does work and works cheaply..all be it slowly.
o It is very clear that the referral program is working well now.
o I estimated that about 10 patients were completed in the referral program since the last trip.
o I would expect this number to increase in the future as the two new health worker start to do more of the referral work.
o For next time we asked the health care workers to come more prepared to share the status of their referral patients. We asked them to have the
receipts already sorted out and with the referral patient information so we could go through this update process much more quickly. They
understood and agreed to do so.
o We continue to be impressed by the skills of the two new health workers…Oscal and Ricko. There blood pressure measurements seem to be good,
they are hard workers, and they seem to be picking up most of the skills that our older health care workers.
o Last time we found a rat and rat damage in the clinic.
o This time we did not find any signs of this. Still need to continue to bring more containers with lids that we can leave in the clinic.

• Training Video Program
o We asked Father or the health care workers have been able to use the portable DVD player that we took down last time to help with health education
in Gandou.
o Father reported that the portable DVD player was being used in the school, but it was not something they had found a way to use for the community
yet.
o The portable DVD did not have speakers that would make it possible to project to a crowd.
o Need to bring father some or bring him an adapter cord that would allow him to plug it into his Church amp and speakers.

• Full Time Nurse Project
o This was first trip we had where the full time nurse was in place at Gandou.
o Her name is Germain.
o She is staying in a house off the road before you get to the rectory.
o She has two neighbor girls staying with her there….things seemed fine with this.
o One of the major trip focuses this time was understanding the capabilities of the nurse, getting the nurse up to speed on what we do during our trips,
and what she is to do when we are not there.
o The nurse seems to have the nursing skills that she needs. Several of our nurse agreed that she has the skills they expected her to have.
o She worked hard for us the whole week.
o She opens the clinic everyday of the week. Before she was there the clinic was only open two days per week.
o We had a hard copy of the nursing responsibilities sheet that we had emailed Father when we started the nursing program.
o She had seen the document before and did not have any issues with it. She seemed to agree with everything that was there.
o I got the nurses phone number. She said she don’t yet have an email, but would be getting one.
o She does not speak much English at all.
• Economic Growth in Gandou
o We talked to Father about having the school kids make cards that we would bring back and sell to people in the USA. We had taken card stock down last time for them to do this.
o He still seemed to think that the kids would not be able to make anything that people would want.
o When we visited the school we saw that the kids had already produced some drawn pictures for Christmas.
o We told him that was exactly what we were looking for.
o He seemed to understand and said he would have them do it.

• Economic Growth in Gandou
o We talked to Father about having the school kids make cards that we would bring back and sell to people in the USA. We had taken card stock down
last time for them to do this.
o He still seemed to think that the kids would not be able to make anything that people would want.
o When we visited the school we saw that the kids had already produced some drawn pictures for Christmas.
o We told him that was exactly what we were looking for.
o He seemed to understand and said he would have them do it.

• Communication
o We talked for some time about communication. We asked father how often he checks his email and he said that he checks it often.
o We told him that if everything is working and he can email he should email us more often. I told him that we have a Haiti meeting in the USA every
other week and we would need an email from him before each of these meetings to give us an update on how things are in Gandou. The email don’t
need to be long, but we are looking for something every other week.
o We also asked him to be sure to respond back to every question that we email him…even if the response is just…”I am working on this.”.
o Father understood and promised to send more emails. He asked us to send him a quick note/request when he has not given enough information
lately.

• Magic Jack/Vonage
o We asked Father which device he preferred….we needed to get one of the two shut off.
o Father said to our surprise that he now preferred to us the Magic Jack. The magic jack is all working well, and it is the cheaper and more preferred
one from Harry’s standpoint anyway (he is the funder).
o Harry took all the Vonage device stuff with him.
o Harry will cancel the Vonage service.
o This is all done.
o Several people from our team had gotten a global cell phone to bring with them this trip and they seemed to work ok out by the school. The
translator’s phones did as well.
o There was not an issue with the translators and father and the use of the Magic Jack.

• Next Trip
o The next trip dates are June 12-20. These are good for Father Nexcene.
o Father said he is willing to come down and spend the night at Matthew 25 house for us, but he don’t want to do that again if we don’t leave Port-au-
Prince first thing in the morning. For this trip we worked at the missionaries of Charity Orphanage in the morning before we left Port-au-Prince and
Father is saying that if we are going to do that, he can just come to Port-au-Prince that day and meet us somewhere….he would not need to spend
the night with us in Port-au-Prince.
o This is something to think about for the upcoming trips.
o Several people on this trip are interested in setting the dates to go back one year from now again. Many are wanting to go on this winter trip again
next year.
o Dr. Wendt suggested we go next year from January 25-31. We will need to make sure this don’t fall on days that Father Nexcene is his yearly priest
retreat with the other priest from the diocese.

• Mass Stipends
o We had 13 mass stipends this time.

• Water Project in Gandou
o Father Nexcene showed us the work that was done by an organization called Caritos to help move water closer to the church/people of Gandou.
Looks like they added a collection device near the spring of the water about 20 minute walk from the rectory and piped the water from that spot to a
spot that is about 2 minutes walk from the rectory. So basically this saves about 20minutes of hard walking every day for the people, and it is very
likely that the way that they capped the sprint for the collection device has made more water available as well. Father says that water is available all
year long now at the site two minutes from the rectory.
o Father reported that the people were so happy about this work. They told him that this was just a big project for them that Father did not need to do
anything else for Gandou. This was enough.

• Mass Consecration Bells
o Father Nexcene had asked us before this trip if there was any way that we could help them to obtain consecration bells for mass in Gandou.
o We had talked to a few people about it and someone quickly told us that they would like to fund this project.
o We ordered a set off the internet and took them with us.
o Father was so happy to see them when we pulled them out and gave them to him.
o During the Sunday mass while we were down there he blessed the bells and began using them.
o It was so beautiful to see the bells blessed and used in Gandou. We can’t thank our donor enough.

• Printer/Photo Copier
o Father Nexcene had asked us if there was any way we could bring a photo copier with us to Gandou. He talked about his great need for it for coping
exams for the school.
o I am sure he also needs it for coping things to hand out during mass….for example announcements or songs.
o Father also needed a printer for his computer.
o We had talked about this need at a couple of our meetings and we were looking into spending several hundred dollars for a copier/printer.
o God then sent someone to us who said that they had one in their house that they were not using and we could have it to take to Gandou.
o Father Nexcene was so happy to have the copier/printer….life should be just a little easier for them now.
o Praised be God for all that He does!

• Solar Lights
o Someone donated some solar landscaping lights to help out at the rectory.
o Great idea to cheaply add lighting to the place for getting around after dark (after 6pm) when there is no electric!

• Father Nexcene’s Priorities
o Father really wants to fix the room on the old part of the rectory that was damaged by the earthquake. The estimate to fix this is $14,800.
 This would yield another room for our team to stay when we went to Gandou.
 This would also have another bathroom on it.
 Father said this room has become his #1 priority.
o Father wants some help for Catechists, to train the people in the faith. Father would need to buy books, hold some classes, and likely feed the
people. He did not yet know how much he needed for this. He said he would let us know.
o Father still wants to move ahead with the motorcycle project. We have talked about this several times; father would like us to move forward on this.
We need to raise these funds. The motorcycle is greatly needed for transporting patients and health care workers back and forth from Gandou to the
Jacmel Hospital (3hrs drive away). The health care workers go between Jacmel and home so much now and they have to find their own way to get
there and back all the time. They really need this. Many of the patients are able to ride a motorcycle…some would not, but the majority still would be
able to travel through this method.
o Father is asking for desks for the teachers.
o Father is asking for money to fix the truck windows right after the tire exploded. He said the temporary fix that he put into place does not allow the
truck to be locked and anyone could get into the truck if he leaves it parked somewhere.
o Father is asking for money for tires for the truck. This is not something new it is just time.
o Father wants to kick off a construction project for the clinic.
o Father asked for a project to help the rebuilding of homes after the earthquake, not just the two we started but all the other ones in the area that need
fixed.
o Father is asking for help for farmers of the area. When they don’t have good crops then they don’t have money to buy seeds. Can we help them?
o There is an epidemic of Cholera in Gandou. 5 people have died. 12 people went to the hospital. Father wants to start a project for Latrines. The
Latrines would be at the home. People now go all over the place.

Focus Area #2 – Health Care for our Sister Parish
• Medical clinic/pharmacy
o Clinic Results/Numbers
 Totals estimated at about 1,000 Patients that went through our 4 days of clinic including school kids.
o Patient flow was steady.
o We made sure that anyone who wanted to go to clinic got to go to clinic, those who seemed the poorest or the most needy were put at the front of
the line.
o Most every patient that came into the clinic had an ID card either from a previous trip or from our ID card station that was producing ID cards this
trip.
o We used lights most every night some to finish.
o Several patients came back to thank us for medical care they had received in the past. Many of these were from the last trip where we had done
surgeries. There were people that had mass removals, and hernia that came back to thank us.
o We had two major areas of focus for this medical trip. We wanted to further improve our blood pressure program process and we wanted to
understand the capabilities of the nurse, see how she fit into our whole health care plan, and see how she fit into our medical clinic plans.
o Before we started the clinic we talked to the health care workers about the blood pressure program. They said they could still handle the number of
patients in the program and would be ok if we added about 50 more patients. We added less than this number to the program.
o The heart murmur patients were back through clinic again this time and there is still a great need to bring them to the USA for surgery.
o We had a 14 year old girl come to clinic with a baby that was only a couple months old. The mother of the baby was not able to feed or care for the
baby so this girl was now taking care of it. The father is also not around. She has been given the baby. She was trying to care for the baby. She has
no milk for the baby. She has been feeding it anything she can find for it. We had some formula and bottles for the baby. We worked out a plan for
Father to get some formula for the mother to give the baby. Father will have a health care worker track the weight of the baby to make sure it is
growing. Formula is very expensive in Haiti. We left $300 for formula but I don’t think it will last too long.
o On Sunday a very poor mother with 7 kids came to the rectory. She had only one arm. She had come to see us on a previous trip. Her situation was
so bad that it made Father and a translator cry…and they never cry. We had left money with Father during the last trip. She and Father showed us
the receipts documenting that she was getting $50 US at a time from Father until it was gone…and now it was gone. She was very thankful, but still
needs help. We left some more money, but not much. This is a clear example of why we go to Gandou.
o We started an IV and got some fluids in her. We gave her some pain medicine and started cleaning her wounds…this took a large amount of time.
o We went back to see her the next day and she was much more responsive.
o We decided that we would try to get her to a hospital. The Haitian doctor with us suggested she should go to St. Croix hospital in Laeogone.
o Father Nexcene took her there and found out that the doctor that needed to see her there was not going to be there for two weeks.
o Father made arrangements to move her to the public hospital in Port-au-Prince called General Hospital. We decided we would check on her when we
got back to Port-au-Prince. We did and found out that she lay at the general hospital for 3 days with almost no care because she did not have any
money.
o It is unbelievable…this country…the patient told us that it was like hell laying there for three days….for her to say that is really something because
she was living hell before she went there.
o We connected them with a family member of Father Nexcene and gave them money to get care. We asked father to help care for the patient. There
was little else that we could do. Father emailed a couple days after the trip that the patient had been moved back to Gandou and died a day or two
later.
o We also had a very pregnant woman come into clinic. By the end of the day we thought she was ready to give birth. We left some of our team down
with her and at about 10 pm they said it was time.
o The mother pushed and pushed until she was completely exhausted. Most of the women on our team stayed with this mother the whole time.
Everyone was very exhausted. The baby needed to come out. We prayed and prayed…then at about 3:30am the mother pushed her last and a new
little wonderful gift from God came out…a healthy baby girl….praise God.

• Dental clinic and extractions.
o Unbelievably strong team that had lots of fun serving the poor.
o 2 dentists were doing extractions.
o 1 dentist doing repairs.
o 1 hygienist doing constant cleanings.
o 3 support people doing pre-care blood pressure checks, tool cleaning/sterilization and pre-packaging.
o Dental Results/Numbers
 Estimated at about 400 extractions (used almost all the anesthetic).
 Estimated 20 cleanings per day or more than 80 for the 4 days of clinic.
 Estimated 10 repairs per day. 40 repairs for the 4 days of clinic.
o Worked in the old school room under the condemned (following the earthquake) cement roof.
o The team worked out a great system where one person would take blood pressures, the Haitian dentist would pre-sort the patients and take care of
crowd control as well as do extractions.
o The team was very happy with the lighting. They seemed to have plenty of light in their room during the day, and in the evening they used simple
shop clip lights we got from Lowes in combination with the head lights.
o For restorations we used the small portable dental unit that we now have purchased.
o For cleanings Fran Grebel brought an expensive cavitron machine. It required electrical power as did the portable dental unit. Several times the
generator would not start for the team and they had to wait until we got it going for them.
o Team reported about the great needs for dental care in Gandou. The told stories about patients coming in full of infected rotten teeth….just push on
the gums and a huge amount puss came gushing out.
o Team reported the number of rotten teeth that had to be pulled with huge…they pulled 8 teeth on one patient.
o Last time we left the dental tools with Father Nexcene at the rectory for storage in one of the hard shell suit-cases. This seemed to work well and we
did the same thing at the end of this trip.
o Father was so happy with our dental team and asks that we have a similar dental clinic each trip.

• ID Cards
o We had the creator of the ID card database with us, Karen Fisse….so she knew right what to do and how to do it.
o The plan was to rotate people through the ID position, but since we have moved the pace where we do ID cards out to the porch from side a small
dark room in the rectory, it is much more pleasant to do ID cards and Karen decided she wanted to do ID cards the whole time.
o She worked with Harry McCullough they made a great team, and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
o Still really need a “How To” document to train new people how to do this.
o Last trip the small printer we use gave up, after a total of about 1500 ID cards. Karen brought a different printer this time. It was still finicky, but
between Harry and Karen they were able to make it work very well.
o The ID card team was able to do them fast enough that they were able to keep up with the pace of the three health care providers in the clinic and we
never lacked patients.
o The ID card team has a very difficult job to do when they are there….keeping peace in the crowd, keeping things organized, keep the equipment
going, getting names spelled correctly, sorting out who is who, keeping pictures connected with names, and doing this for 10hours a day….wow!

Mission Focus Area #3 – Team Members Experience Haiti and Especially Our Sister Parish.
• Stay in Port-au-Prince
o Our flight into Haiti was delayed several times such that by the time we landed in Port-au-Prince it was dark. This made some people nervous.
o The customs people searched most all the bags for outdated medicines.
o The customs people complained about our ministry of health form. They said we do everything exactly right, but should get a form back from the
ministry of health. We have always sent in our forms months ahead of the trip and never gotten anything back. We asked Sister Mary at Matthew 25
house and she said with all the people that stay there, no one has ever gotten anything back from the Ministry of health.
o Everyone settled into Matthew 25 guest house well. Father Nexcene showed up about 9pm. Everyone went to bed early.
o The translators and the Haitian doctor (Dr. Andre) showed up at Matthew 25 house the next morning on time.
o We were able to pack the trucks up and were ready to go by about 9am.
o At about 9am the majority of the team walked with the translators to Missionaries of Charity Orphanage to work the morning session.
o Father Nexcene drove Jennifer/Rita/joe Rennekamp to the air port to pick up Dr. Wendt and his son who had planned to come in that morning due to
being unable to get off work the day before.
o Dr. Wendt’s flight was on time and everything worked extremely well.
o The team left the Missionaries of Charity a little early and came back to Matthew 25 house and we were ready to leave for Gandou by about 11:30am.
o Everyone came back from the Orphanage very quiet. I think they had an unbelievable experience there. You cannot describe with words what you
see there…the rooms full of sick kids, all attention starved, all love starved, all needing a mother and father.
o I think everyone left the orphanage hurt, confused, sad, and pained by the fact that such a place as Haiti exists where so many kids are left in such a
situation…having nothing…not even that with which everyone is given by nature – a father and mother. Not only did these kids lack God given
parents but they also lacked basic health. Truly this day what we did was see and hold Jesus…surely this changed everyone of us forever…surely
we will no longer be happy just helping the poor while we ourselves lack nothing…surely we will no longer be happy until they are happy.

• Travel to Gandou
o We had only a few stops on the way to Gandou.
o The travels went extremely well. We took the new road that father had made with the construction equipment he had barrowed and we had paid for
the fuel. The new road even has spots where it is a totally new path through new route.
o They had smoothed to road much and it was in very good shape. We were able to go much faster in spots.
o The new road is very steep in spots, and we are very worried about what will happen when it is wet and the erosion when it rains.
o Father Nexcene reported they were happy with the new road but were not able to make the ditches on the sides of the road to guide the rain down to
minimize the erosion damage.
o We made it to Gandou in record time for the trip there…less than 6hrs.
o Supper was waiting on us there. We ate, set up the tents, and everyone went to bed.

• Accommodations in Gandou
o Women stayed in the two rooms in the rectory, while men were in tents on the flat room.
o Two bathrooms were available for the women.
o The tent used by one group of men kept breaking and was partially falling down on them.
o With the capped spring and pipes that Caritas paid for, we had plenty of water at the rectory, but people were still very conservative.
o Everyone did great.

• Travel from Gandou back to Port-au-Prince
o By the end of the week we had several patients that needed to go to Jacmel, and a patient that need to go to Port-au-Prince.
o We also had extra people that needed to travel with us…for example the three University students needed to get back to Port-au-Prince…some
cooks…the nurse wanted to go to Jacmel...Father had his driver with him.
o We talked to a few people about the large number of people we were going to have in the truck and people were very happy to sit in the bed of the
trucks.
o By the time we were ready to load up to leave Gandou we had 34 people in total…and our team was only 22 in number.
o We had most of the bags on top of Father’s truck, but both trucks still had a significant number of bags in the bed of the trucks and we had 5 people
in each bed of the trucks.
o By the time we got almost to Jacmel we had a tire that was going flat on one of the trucks.
o We stopped before the turn off to Jacmel and left two of the trucks there to change the tire and just rest while we took the patients to Jacmel in
Father’s truck.
o This worked extremely well and we should try to do this each time we have to drop patients off at the hospital.
o We then drove to Port-au-Prince and stopped to find the patient at General Hospital we had transported there earlier in the week.
o Finally then to the radio lab to work on the young boy we had brought with us.
o In the Radio Lab Father Nexcene had a cousin working there that was able to help us right away. Also Dr. Nexcene was able to help us get right
through the system. Within minutes we had the box’s X-rays done.
o We were all very scared that this issue was cancer and it had spread and the boy was going to die. We all prayed as we waited.
o Within about 40mins we had the X-rays read. Praised be God because by the time we left we no longer thought this was cancer. We connected the
boy and his father with Father Nexcene’s cousin and Dr. Andre and guided them to the next steps. We heard from Father a couple days later that the
boy was going to have surgery…likely to amputate his foot…but that is still better than cancer or dying from the bad infection that was there.
o In total with the patients the travels took us just over 8hrs.
o Everyone was very happy to be at the airport early and finally able to rest a little.

• Exposure to Haiti
o The time at the orphanages in Port-au-Prince are probably the most eye opening experiences that show the true side of Haiti. Since we were able to
walk back and forth to the orphanage, just walking the streets like a Haitian…dodging the yuck on the streets, the people selling stuff, the traffic was
good for everyone to see.
o The travel to and from Gandou is always good for people to experience because it too opens our eyes to the way that people live.
o The sights of the “tent” cities are clear signs of suffering people.
o The slum area we drive past is unbelievable.
o Working with the patients and the Port-au-Prince hospital system is unbelievable and good for exposure for the group.
o While in Gandou much of the team went to walk to the spring and to market. This helped them better understand the daily life in Gandou.

• Other
• General Haiti Earthquake Situation
o Very little progress in Port-au-Prince.
o The capital building and the Cathedral still lay in what looks like the same condition they were in just after the earthquake happened.
o Fields of tents seemed to turn into fields of makeshift “homes”, mostly tarps over sticks.
o Unclear how this is working when it is raining.
o Unclear where these people are going to the bathroom.
o Unclear how they are cooking.
o Makeshift “homes” are all very close together.

• Day by Day Events Summary:
o Thursday Feb 2 – Most of the team traveled to Port-au-Prince and stayed in Mathew 25 guest house.
o Friday Feb 3 – Most of the team walked to the Missionaries of Charity Orphanage and worked the morning session there. We picked up Dr. Wendt
and his son at the air port. Team then traveled to Gandou.
o Saturday Feb 4 – Setup medical and dental clinic and had clinic all day.
o Sunday Feb 5 – Mass, visit new clinic ground, visit patient, walk to the spring, visit new earthquake home, check out new school, meet with health
workers, and meet with Father.
o Monday Feb 5 – Ran medical and dental clinic all day and late into the evening.
o Tuesday Feb 6 – Ran medical and dental clinic all day and late into the evening.
o Wednesday Feb 7 - Ran medical and dental clinic all day and late into the evening.
o Thursday Feb 8 - Traveled back to Port-au-Prince. Got up at 4:30am. Took patients to hospital Traveled to Miami and spent the night there in a
hotel.
o Friday Feb 9 -Traveled from Miami to Cincinnati and finally home.