Mission Focus Area #3 – Team Members Experience Haiti and Especially Our Sister Parish
Port-au-Prince
   1. After we go on the plane in Miami to go to Haiti there was some problem and we simply sat on the plane for about 1 hour.
   2. Once we got to Haiti we found the air port arrangement in Haiti was totally different than before.
   3. No longer do you ride the bus to the other building to go through customs and immigration.
   4. There is now a much more fancy immigration setup and baggage claim.
   5. We had no issues and all our bags came in….it took us a while to find them all, but we did.
   6. By the time we got all our bags and went through customs it was getting late.
   7. Bertony Domond was inside to help us.
   8. We went straight to the trucks.
   9. Everyone was able to load up in the Matthew 25 truck and our trucks and go straight to Matthew 25 guest house.
 10. Everyone settled into Matthew 25 guest house well. There was many cool missionaries there to meet and to talk to. We had great fun.
 11. The translators showed up at Matthew 25 house the next morning on time.
 12. We were able to pack the trucks up and were ready to go by about 8:30am.
 13. We had planned to got to send the team to the Missionaries of Charity orphanage for 1.5 hours or so, but just before we were about to go we called Father Nexcene to see
        ​where he was and he said he was not far away. He asked us not to go.
 14. However it took him more than 1.5 hours to get there so we clearly should have went. Even after he got to Matthew 25 it took us more than 1 hour to get his truck loaded
       ​and ready to go….this helps us understand a better plan for next time.

Travel to Gandou
   1. Since the road to Gandou was bad we wanted to get going as soon as possible.
   2. The traffic in Port-au-Prince was bad and it slowed us down much.
   3. There was also some road construction going on that cost us some extra time.
   4. Once we got out of Port-au-Prince we were making good time.
   5. However we stopped just before Baudin to go to the bathroom and as we got out of the truck the bumper fell off the truck. We were stopped at a place that was able to fix the
       ​truck, and they did, but it took them more than an hour to do so.
   6. By this point it was about 5 to 6 pm and we had many more hours of travel to do yet. Despite all our efforts we still were going to have to travel in the dark.
   7. You could tell the road had been highly damaged by the hurricanes.
   8. When we finally got to the river before Gandou where the road get super bad, it was very dark.
   9. The trucks ended stopping on these big hills several times due to the drivers not knowing the road very well and knowing what gear to have the trucks in to make it up the
       ​hills.
 10. We can’t thank God enough for helping us get to Gandou safe and sound.
 11. Supper was ready for us when we got there. We set up the tents, ate, and everyone went to bed.

Accommodations in Gandou
   1. Women stayed in one of the rooms in the rectory, while men were in tents on the flat roof and a few men stayed in the second room to allow for the use of a C-PAP machine.
   2. The weather was perfect the whole trip. In fact several times people said they were cold…I don’t think anyone was ever very hot. This made the trip easier for those in tents.
   3. Water from the cistern seemed to be available as the team needed it.
   4.  Everyone did great. What a strong team.

Travel from Gandou back to Port-au-Prince
   1. By the end of the week we had one patient to go back to Port-au-Prince with us. She was ready to go at 4am as we had asked her to be.
   2. As usual 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 ... other
       ​people we did not know.
   3. 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. Many people tell
       ​how this is the best place to ride on the way home.
   4. Everyone talked about the beautiful mountains that shown brightly as the sun came up that morning.
   5.We made good time down the mountain on the new road and even all the way to Port-au-Prince to the Radio Lab where we needed to stop to take the patient for a scan of the
       ​jaw.
   6. We got right in at the Radio lab and had a quick diagnosis. However the stop still took more than one hour.
   7. The radio lab diagnosed our patient as having an ameloblastoma. She has a huge mass on the side of her face. Inside her mouth her teeth are all pushed around and the mass
        ​is bleeding and leaking inside her mouth.
   8. She really needs help and the good news is that this is completely curable if we can get her somewhere that can help (like the USA).
   9. We are working on that, but we could use help.
 10.  The planes were close to on-time the rest of the trip with little to no issues.

Exposure to Haiti
   1. Since we were not able to go to the orphanage this trip I don’t think our team had as good exposure to Haiti an usual. That experience simply adds so much.
   2. I don’t think there is anything that better describes the suffering in Haiti than one trip to this orphanage. The sickness, the pain, the crying, the hunger, the longing for love…
       ​but in the midst of all this the will to live and grow in love and the loving hands of nuns and the rest of us trying our best to help out.
   3. 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 in Haiti. It helps you realized how trapped
       ​by poverty the people are.
   4. The sights of the “tent” cities are clear signs of suffering people. Still today they are there, and I can’t image the suffering that must have existed after the hurricane that went
        ​through during the later part of August.
   5. The slum area we drive past is unbelievable. People out digging through and working next to huge piles of trash.
   6. 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. Some of the team took a walk up
        ​the mountain. This really helps them see how people in the area live.
   7. One area that we feel we are lacking on the trips is building a real connection to the people in Gandou and the translators.
   8. It seemed like on this trip especially that our team simply was not able to spend enough time with the Haitian people to make a connection. I wish we were able to spend
       ​more time sitting with them near the rectory or on the Church steps….maybe after the Church construction is done.

Other
General Haiti Earthquake Situation
   1. Some progress in Port-au-Prince. Seems like there are fewer tents…not sure where these people went.
   2. The capital building is down taken mostly down.
   3. Clearly there are many suffering people.
   4. I can’t even imagine what it was like when the two hurricanes went through this past year. I talked to one young mother who lives in Port-au-Prince in a tent and asked her
       ​what she did in the hurricane. She said it was so wet she could not sit or lay down. She simply had to stand the whole time while it rained (likely days). Can you image going
       ​through that when everything you own in the world is in a tent or under a piece of plastic or a tarp.

Day by Day Events Summary:
   1. Thursday Jan 17 – Team traveled to Port-au-Prince and stayed in Mathew 25 guest house.
   2. Friday Jan 18 – Father Nexcene arrived at the guest house and we loaded up the trucks and we all drove out to Gandou. We got there in the dark and we setup tents and
       ​prepared for the next day.
   3. Saturday Jan 19 – Setup medical and dental clinic and had clinic all day.
   4. Sunday Jan 20 – Mass, meeting with the health workers, nurse, and with Father. Most of the team was able to get out and walk around Gandou some.
   5. Monday Jan 21 - Ran medical and dental clinic all day and late into the evening.
   6. Tuesday Jan 22- Ran medical and dental clinic all day and late into the evening.
   7. Wednesday Jan 23 - - Ran medical and dental clinic all day and late into the evening.
   8. Thursday Jan 24 - Got up at 4:00am. Traveled back to Port-au-Prince. Took patient to radio lab. Traveled to Miami and spent the night there in a hotel. A couple members
       ​spend one day in Miami. The rest of us traveled home.
   9. Praised be God he keep us safe!