Day 1...

today was action packed, i got a tour of the whole compound and spent some time in town. we get around the compound on four-wheelers so i'm pretty covered in dust and dirt but it doesn't matter bc everyone is sweaty and dirty all the time anyways. the clinic is pretty awesome...this mission really does great things. a lot of the staff only speaks kreyol but sometimes they speak french. i got to the clinic a little after 8 and there were already a ton of patients waiting. they all sit outside in the sun and there is a triage, but it is pretty much first come, first serve. some of the patients are pretty bad. there is one patient who has sickle cell anemia and he has ulcers all over his legs and he has been coming every day for the last 7 years to get his dressings changed. he is only 22. dr. cheryl also showed me the site of where the large hospital will be built...the foundation and walls have been built, but that is it so far. it will have an emergency room, a birthing room, an operation room, and a bunch of other rooms. they pretty much depend on donations.

one of the last doctors who volunteered left some money for two haitian women he had met when he was down here, but there was some confusion about who the money was for. dr. cheryl figured it out and brought them into her office. she told one that he had left her a year's rent and the other that he had left her money to send her 3 children to school. it was really a beautiful moment to see these two women when they got the news. they were so thankful and prayerful, they were positive that God had worked through this man.

we went into town again and it was more of the port au prince craziness. still unbelievable. i can't possibly do justice to the surroundings of chaos and poverty. i learned a lot more haitian history today during the drive. we actually drove past papa and baby doc's and the presidents' mansion which looked pretty out of sorts. although there is so much that goes into it, the basic jist is that the duvaliers' were strict and harsh dictators who did awful things to people who disobeyed them...i was surprised, however, to see painting of them being sold at markets. they explained to us that haitians actually liked when duvalier was in rule bc even though he was scary, Haiti as a whole was much safer because everyone was too afraid of the regime. once there was a democratic elect things became more lax and crime and violence picked up bc people weren't as scared of the government as before. thus even though someone like Aristide may have been more compassionate, Haiti actually fared better under a harsh dictatorship. now there is no where in Haiti which is safe and people are constantly scared of each other rather than the government.

we also passed the place where brangelina stay when they visit. it is also out of place.

again, the poverty is inexplicable....incomprehensible if i had not seen it with my own eyes. some more of what i saw...men with machetes, people sleeping in wheelbarrows, garbage absolutely everywhere, tiny children wandering in the filth and streets alone, wild emaciated animals...

when i was at the compound i was also able to visit with the MOH orphanage and schools...The school is really great...i think they have about 2000 students....it is crazy to see so many kids in their uniforms that come f/ such astounding circumstances in the surrounding city. it is really beautiful what MOH does here. there are also 57 orphans living on the compound and they are adorable. they all live in a little house and they have a haitian "mother" for every 6 children. the children ("timoun" in kreyol) all call me blan which just means white person. tonight was really neat bc the kids got tap shoes which someone had donated and it was like the best day of their lives for the kids. they couldn't get over making noise with their feet!

one group left the compound today but we got another 32 people in this evening. the 3 of us interns help move them in and we are in charge of kind of showing them the ropes. it poured this evening so we are all pretty disgusting. no tarantula in the shower today, but there was a lizard. we take "haitian showers" which is basically throwing water on yourself and trying not to get any in your eyes and mouth. both the other 2 girls have been sick since i've been here, so i'm crossing my fingers and being extra careful. i'm determined to defeat the inevitable!

the food is actually really good, i haven't been hungry at all. i drink water all the time, but i was sweating so badly today that i did get dizzy at one point. i don't think i've ever sweat this much. our work is pretty exhausting but the nighttime is pretty chill. i played cards with one of the groups that was here and talked about memphis with a guy i met who was from there. everyone here is very Christian, but they are not judgmental at all. they just love Jesus a lot. everyone that i've met is just so giving and compassionate...i'm surrounded by huge hearts who want nothing in return. genuinely great people.

tomorrow i have a very difficult day. mostly everything is closed because it is a holy day but i am assigned to what they refer to as the "rat cellar"....basically like a basement/warehouse filled with rats and spiders...we all know how much i love critters. but it's cool bc on friday i'm in the clinic and saturday i go to another orphanage in another town. pretty sweet. i'm also really excited bc the first week of july i get to do 3 travel clinics with a medical team that comes in.

wow that's enough for today. bed early, big day of critter-dodging tomorrow. peace...