Emily’s Blog: Tuesday, January 5th 2016

      What an amazing journey this trip has been so far. The opportunities and experiences our team has had to minister have been awesome and I feel we all have been touched in many ways. Every day has been great but today was definitely my favorite and a day I will never forget.

      Our day began by grabbing some breakfast at the house and having team devotions before heading out for the day. Mike, Kelsey and Lane left for their second day of bible study that they have been holding at Pastor Robby’s church. They had a good turnout of people from the community once again today and engaged in some great conversation. They also were able to bless Life Is Wealth orphanage with 30 mattresses that they brought to them and spent time unloading them and spending time with the orphans there.

      Our second group (Chrissy, Tori, & Savannah) left for Children’s Health Ministries clinic where they spent their time assessing and teaching expecting women as well as many newborns on breastfeeding and nutrition. They were very busy and saw many people today.

      My group (Grant, Cody, Teddy & myself) spent our day at the maternity hospital in Carrefour where we had some amazing experiences. When we arrived we took the first hour to get a tour of the hospital that included seeing urgent care, family planning education, and the vaccination area. The nurse there explained to us all the vaccinations they offer and was willing to let Teddy and I each give one to two infants. We then stopped to see the newborn nursery where there were several healthy babies and one jaundiced preemie weighing around 3 pounds. After seeing most of the hospital we then made it upstairs to the labor and delivery area as well as postpartum recovery where we spent the largest part of the day.

      As soon as we stepped into L&D I think we were all shocked to see the limited resources that they have to work with in Haiti and the different ways they do things throughout the laboring process. It was so busy today and one after another women kept arriving in labor all at various stages and within about 30 minutes Teddy and I were right there to assist in the delivery of a baby. As soon as the baby was placed on the mother’s stomach I jumped in to clean it off and help clamp and cut the cord. Although this was not the first birth I have witnessed I was still overcome by much joyous emotion during this time. I then took the baby girl across the room where I weighed, diapered and swaddled her. It was beautiful.

      Just when we all thought the day couldn’t get any more exciting we were wrong. Within 20 minutes of seeing the first birth we jumped in on another and Cody was able to cut the cord. Right after that delivery Grant and Teddy assisted another laboring mother in walking around to help her progress. Around the same time I had the opportunity to check another woman to see how far dilated she was. This was a new experience for me and was glad to have had the opportunity to do it. In the meantime we all jumped in and assisted wherever needed and if not most of us, especially myself were content holding all the newborn babies.

      Once again, just as I thought the day could not get any better I was wrong. I had taken a moment to help one of the nurse’s transport a new mom and baby to recovery and as we got her situated I could hear the screaming of a laboring woman just a few beds down. All the sudden someone said there’s a head and I immediately ran over to see what was going on since there was no nurses around in that area. Sure enough the head was out and I quickly reached into my pocket to grab gloves and had to take charge. Within just a few minute I had delivered the baby all on my own as I had sent our translator Jerry to get some more help. It was definitely a bit scary for a moment because as the baby came out the cord was wrapped around its neck which I had to quickly untangle, I was never so happy to hear a baby cry and take its first breath. Mom and baby were both healthy and well and it was an incredible experience. I am still in shock of the fact that I actually delivered a baby but was glad that I was able to be there in that very special moment.

      Not too much later we headed back to the team house where we were all able to share our day’s activities. It was amazing to hear the many experiences and ways God was moving today, I’m privileged to be a part of it. Today has most definitely been a day I will never forget.

      Once all back at the house we grabbed some dinner and got to go to the local Deli Mart (grocery store) where we all bought some Haitian items we can enjoy while here and to bring home.   

       Tomorrow some of us are headed to a bible study and others for a prayer walk in the community. Afterward we are are all very excited to be heading to the beach where we can relax and enjoy more of this beautiful country together and soak up some sun J Everyone is healthy and well at this point and enjoying the trip. It is a blessing how God has allowed our team to mesh so well together, grow and developed new friendships as we do ministry here. God is good!

      Please feel free to comment or ask any questions, we love hearing from everyone. Praying all is well at home and look forward to sharing all about the trip when I get home. God bless!

Savannah’s Blog 1/4/2016

      Today started out like any other day. We all ate breakfast on our own time and all the nursing students began to crack down on our medication studies. Today’s devotion was on expectations and how things do not always go as planned, especially in the Haitian culture. Honestly, I couldn’t come up with much that really caught me off guard so far this trip. Yes, there were things that were different, but I tried to come into this trip with a clean slate. As the day went on, certain things started to pop out at me (I’ll reference this later).

      Anyways, today’s ministry was a little different. Instead of doing everything as one big group, we divided into three smaller groups: one group of three leading devotions at a church, another working at a nutrition clinic, and my group which visited a maternity hospital. If anyone knows me, you know that pregnancies and babies are definitely my favorite and you can most likely in vision a huge smile on my face. We began our tour of the maternity hospital in the NICU. As expected, the NICU was not like the NICU in the United States. None of the six babies were in an incubator, unlike the hospitals back home. One of the babies had meningitis, another was premature, and another was also born early due to her mom having eclampsia. The other three babies were progressing nicely and seemed to be doing well. Another huge difference I noticed was the labeling of the infants. In the United States, a baby has two bands (one on the wrist, one on the leg), one on the mom, and maybe significant other. In Haiti, the children do not have any sort of band and only the crib is numbered. That being said, just don’t put the baby in the wrong crib! Haha. Next, we moved to the labor and delivery section . . . the most memorable part of today. When, we first came in, it was obvious that men were not at all welcome in the delivery section. Our translator had to hide behind a wall so that he could translate, but also not see what was going on. There were two laboring women waiting to be checked when we first arrived. The first woman was only at 4cm so the nurse told her to leave and start walking. (A little side not, no pain meds are used, PERIOD!. Also, just think about this, the women have to go to the pharmacy and buy sterile gloves, tubing, and all of the above on their own while laboring). The second patient quickly gained my attention and was where my expectations were caught off guard. We walked over and noticed she was contracting and just wanted to push, but obviously she just needed to breathe. Crystal, the head over our missions trip, taught the woman that she needed to breathe. The girl grabbed our hands to help relieve her tension and I was so ecstatic that I could be there to help her in that point in time. The hospital did not have a working dopler so the three of us (Tory, Chrissy, and I) attempted to find the heartbeat of the baby with the old fashioned suction thing. Lol oops…I don’t know what to call it. That was fun for sure. Soon after, the nurse checked to see how far along the woman was (9cm) and also asked if any of us would like to check too. Of course, I couldn’t turn the offer down! That experience was not anything I ever expected to ever have, especially while in Haiti, but it was super cool (I’m not a creep, I promise J).        The day continued with Tory giving babies shots and Chrissy and I stayed in the urgent care center and helped with different wounds. Overall, the pregnant woman touched my heart the most. I cannot imagine going through something that life changing at the age of 19 all on my own. Not that I’ve had a kid or will any time soon, but for life in general, today I was reminded of how grateful I am for all my family and friends who have and are always there for me. I am most definitely blessed!

       On a side not, this week has been awesome! I am definitely excited for a huge salad and a nice warm shower, so heads up mom and dad! Lol!! To the whole family and my Ritchman, I love you all so much and cannot wait to see you in about 3 days!!!! I have so much I want to tell you!! Oh and go Steelers! Dad, the luck was definitely on their side this week; you’ll have to fill me in on how that last game went! Ritchie, I love you and I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to talk to you much, but I am so excited to hear about what has been going on since I left!! And to anyone else, please feel free to comment. Everyone here would love to hear how life is going back home. Oh and Chrissy wanted me to say hi to her mom and Logan, of course!

With Much Love From Haiti,

Savannah

Photos-day 4

We dont have a lot of photos of the children at the hospital to respect their privacy but we did take a few. 

The stage area for church. (Before it got crowded)

Getting a little more crowded...

Awesome worship

Two seats shared by three friends

Tori holding an abandoned and very malnourished baby

Home made wheelchair from the parts of an old one- nothing goes to waste!

A cute little one whose mommy dies about 4 mos ago. He was there with his father. 

The little guy with a bone infection in his leg. 

The iron market... A famous landmark in the city

Entrance to the iron market

The national cathedral- most fell in the earthquake in 2010. 

TED'S Blog

TED’s Blog (Just in Haitin… I Hope)

This morning started off very quick. We had to leave for the church service at 5:45. Our room however did not wake up until 5:30. So I had to fight lane off to go to the bathroom before he got his shower.  All of us worked it out and we were able to get to the church on time. Today’s service was a little different than a regular Haitian service. Today’s service was a combined service with 5 other churches. Church was held in the parking lot of a sports complex. When we got there, there were only about 20 people in the parking lot. We were not sure if we were at the right place or if we were there to early. Crystal asked one of the pastors if we were in the right place and they said we were, and that people would come eventually.  30 minutes later, the parking lot was filled with probably 500 people.  We had worship for probably an hour and it was just how you would expect. People were dancing around singing loud and proud and just having a good time. They sang a few songs that I was able to recognize but I did not know them well enough to be able to sing the English part with them. Obviously I could not understand the sermon so I ended up reading my bible and playing with the 2 kids beside me that was interested in my skin and arm hair. Church let out at 830 and it reminded me of getting back to a car after a football game. While we were getting on the bus, Grant made a friend. A homeless guy decided to wrap himself around his leg and would not let go. Grant kept a good attitude though and just stood and smiled until one of the translators ran over and was able to get him off and get the rest of us on the bus. After that, we went back to the base for a late morning breakfast that consisted of fried scrambled eggs that were mixed with onions and peppers. I loaded them up with hot sauce and they were delicious.

After breakfast we went to the children’s hospital. The United States is so blessed to have the facilities that we do. Down here the parents have to do a lot of the care for the children with just medical professionals watching over. And they do not have separate rooms. In the first area where we were at, there was about 20 beds at least. While we were there I met some very interesting and inspiring people. There was one mom that had a 4 year old boy and he has been sick for most of his life. The doctors think he might have a tumor in his brain or some immune system problem. My group prayed for him and I felt that God was asking me to talk to the mom to see if she had a relationship with Christ. So I naturally fought it for a minute or two and just gave in and I asked her. She said that she goes to church and knows of him but she was not ready to accept him yet. So through the translator I was able to explain that God’s love doesn’t need us to be ready. He is always ready to be able to accept us. After about 5 minutes of us going back and forth between the translators, she started to just get quieter and give less of a response.  She was firm in her decision that she was not ready to accept him. So I told her that I would be praying for her and her son and we continued to pray with more families and kids in the hospital. We went through a few other parts of the hospital. We went to a pediatric burn room and were able to pray with a few kids and then we went to an orthopedic floor. On the orthopedic floor we met a boy who had broken his leg and did not tell anyone. After a month he couldn’t walk and they took the kid to Doctors without borders and they fixed his leg and drained his knee of a greenish discharge. The boy and his mom had been at the hospital since New Year’s Eve waiting on something to happen. They had a prescription for an Antibiotic and crutches but the mom could not afford them because they had already spent 20,000 Gourd which is 400 American dollars. The mom had put everything they had into saving his leg. So the group was able to bless them by giving them 1000 Gourd to get them out of there and provide the medications and crutches.

Overall today was a great day. We met some wonderful people that were put in some very unfortunate circumstances. Now we are at the base about to eat some dinner and play some Dutch Blitz!! Everyone but Cody says hi and we miss you! If you are not part of my family you can stop reading now. Happy New Years! Everyone wants to hear from everyone so please comment on here!!

Happy Birthday Victoria!!!! Sorry I couldn’t be there today but I think you will understand Hahaha. I hope you had a good steak and you are keeping Josh in line. Tell him he might not be lighter than me by the time I get back. (Who am I kidding; I’ve been eating so much here.)Mom, Dad, Mike and Cheryl, I hope you had a great time going out to the movies. Still can’t believe you ditched me! At least you didn’t see Concussion. I would have been going by myself sometime this semester.  Kayla I love you very much! I’m excited to tell you all of my stories and just to get to see you! BTW, we were able to get all the scores and congratulations on beating the browns. Big accomplishment I know. And I think that means you guys are in the playoffs because the Bills won? Let me know.  And the Buckeyes crushed Notre Dame!!! I got really excited about that. Hope you are having a good week and I’ll see you in a week or so! I love you all!

Kelsey's blog... 1/3/16

A Sunday in Haiti

Over the past four years that I have been coming on trips with Hearts United I have developed a great love for going to church in Haiti on Sunday mornings.  I just love how God can eliminate all barriers that humanity experiences; language, culture, geographical, and all others just disappear when we are in the presence of the world’s Savior and worshiping as one.  So we started our morning with the usual plan of going to church at Pastor Robby’s church, however today’s service was a little different (in the best way possible)! For a while now a group of pastors from the Carrefour area have been meeting together discussing the potential of bringing their congregations together for service.  Well today’s church service was one of their planned events; roughly five churches from the Carrefour area came together for one, united church service this morning.  What a blessing it was to be here for this Sunday.  The only downfall was that the service started at 6 A.M. which meant the team had a 5 A.M. wake up call.  Even though a few of us were a little sleepy, it did not take long for the worship from all five churches joining together to wake us up and get our spirits moving! They were hugging, laughing, holding hands, singing, and worshiping together; it truly was a sight to see and we were blessed to be a part of it.

After church we came back to the base for a late breakfast and then packed up for the rest of our day.  Our next stop was off to the general hospital in Port-au-Prince to visit their pediatric ward.  Haitian hospitals are different from hospitals in the United States because all of the care is free but the families must pay for ANY medical supplies needed for the care (IVs, medication, needles, bandages, etc…).  Every child in the hospital must also have an advocate (parent, other family member, or family friend) stay with them at all times during their stay because food and eating, changing of clothes, and all other basic needs must be supplied and done by this advocate.  It truly becomes a much bigger task to go to the hospital due to these circumstances and it is very exhausting for everyone involved.  That being said, our group will go into the pediatric ward and just talk with the families and children that are there.  We hear their stories, give them a listening ear during this difficult time, and then end by praying for their needs to the Ultimate Healer.  It can be a very hard but rewarding experience.  We also get the opportunity to share some of our trip funds with families that we feel called to help.  Lack of finances can be a major reason a child may still be in the hospital.  For instance, if the doctor writes a prescription for an antibiotic for a child and the family cannot afford to buy it yet then they will just stay in the hospital waiting for the funds to be collected.  This could take a day or multiple days and all the while the child is not getting their needed medical care and could be decreasing in health, it is a very unfortunate reality for many Haitian families. 

That being said, while we were there today I met a man who was there taking care of his three year old son who was suffering from a heavy case of malnutrition and various other ailments that can go along with that.  However, what made this particular case a little extra heart wrenching, if it wasn’t already, was the fact that this man’s wife and this child’s mother had passed away four months earlier and the child has been sick ever since.  This boy had been in the hospital already for ten days and had yet to receive a majority of the medication the doctors had prescribed due to the family’s finances.  The father looked exhausted but was in high spirits as he shared the tragic story of his last four months.  We could not help but feel moved to step in and assist this man with the nine scripts for medications he showed us that had been written for his son.  I am not sure if our assistance will be able to heal this child completely but we were able to assist, support, and listen to this strong and fighting family for a day and I thank God for that.

After visiting the various pediatric locations in the hospital, we were off to our next stop for the day which was to see the children at the Life is Wealth orphanage.  However, as we were driving up the final hill to reach the orphanage, two VERY FULL tap-taps were heading down and some of the little faces poking out from the vehicles looked very familiar. To our surprise, the two tap-taps were full of all of the children from Life is Wealth! They were all dressed up and shouting to us with HUGE smiles on their faces.  They were surprised with a night out to dinner by Haitian Social Services. What a treat it was to see these children on their way to a special night, a kind they do not get often enough.  Although I was sad I did not get to spend time with the children I have grown to love and adore today, I am ECSTATIC to have seen their faces before being treated to a night that every child deserves.

Since we could not spend time at the orphanage we had the chance to choose something different we wanted to do as a team.  Since we were already on the bus and in downtown Port-au-Prince, Redgi being the wonderful man that he is decided to give us a tour of some of the sights that are famous in this city.  We were able to see the famous Iron Market, the central Cathedral (which was damaged in the earthquake but the ruins were still breathtaking), the National Museum, the place where the Presidential Palace used to stand before the earthquake, and all of the parks and historic monuments that make downtown Port-au-Prince special.  Haiti has a powerful history and I had yet to experience some of these historic sites in the past four years so this tour was a definite treat.

After a very busy, emotionally taxing day we are now back at the base for the night.  As I sit here reflecting on the day I cannot help but think about all of the beauty and soul to be found here in this country, even among the challenges some of these people face each day.  As I sit here on the porch of the base, listening to the sounds of our Haitian neighborhood, smelling the food the cooks are making for dinner, and watching the sunset behind the mountains of Haiti, I can truly say I love this country and the pull this country has on my heart grows stronger with each trip I am lucky enough to take here.

With love,

Kelsey Buglewicz 

Photos-day 3

Prayer station

Blood pressure

Intake (David getting information from a patient)

More blood pressure

Pharmacy

Education was part of the blood sugar and blood pressure station. 

Blood sugar check

Every child got a coloring book about hygiene to take home and some crayons. 

Sitting with Dr Carl to observe and learn from him. 

Cody's post- 1/2/16

                Today we started our day with our daily devotion where we talked about being created in God’s image.  There was an emphasis on being God’s “masterpiece”.  After this we headed to a local doctor’s clinic where we accepted 40 people and had them go through 5 stations.  The first was where we took their temperature, weighed them, and learned why they had come in that day.  The second station was where we took their blood pressure and blood sugar.  The next station was where we prayed with them before they went upstairs to see the doctor, which was the fourth station.  The fifth station was small pharmacy where we handed out meds that we could or had access to.  We saw many different people with many different conditions.  It was very exciting interacting with the patients before they saw the doctor because we knew all of their symptoms and could try and diagnosis them in our heads.  It was very reassuring about the education we have received when our diagnosis matched the doctors.  Dr. Carl definitely showed a heart for God and his love for the people of Haiti as he examined every patient thoroughly for a long period of time and treated their conditions.  It was amazing to see how much good and help just one man was bringing to the people of Haiti and it was definitely a privilege to help him out today. Unfortunately Tori became sick today with a little 24 hour stomach bug. We pray that she is able to recover quickly and join us tomorrow.