This is what I know as I am preparing for the trip to Haiti
I don’t think this will fall into the category of Altruistic Tourists!
I am going on a Medical Mission trip along with the Little-by-Little organization, who are a self-supported independent group of medical professionals who have been going to Haiti for about five years. We are Team 20 and are going to the Mountain-to-Mountain Ministries in Gramothe, Haiti. We will be staying at the ministries’ home and traveling uphill to a clinic everyday administering basic health care, The 30 or so members of the team service a make-shift clinic with no running water (no toilets) (as is typical of the area), and sporadic power. There are no lights, so we will be at the clinic from the crow calls in the morning until before dark. Over one thousand patients will be seen, most will be children and pregnant women, but serving all who line up. Most of the patients travel many miles or days over the barren mountains to get this much needed care. Most of the LBL group are Pediatric Nurse Practitioners or graduate students in Pediatric Nursing, and some non-professional workers like myself. I know none of the personnel who are going, but I am sure we will bond over the trip. I do have some aging medical expeience as I was a Viet Nam Era medic, but I doubt that I will be doing anything but being a hod carrier.
About Little-by-Little – littlebylittlehaiti.org
The group was founded by Susan Walsh, a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner and a clinical instructor of graduate nursing at the University of Illinois in Chicago. LBL is a non-profit ministering to those who need improved health and well-being specifically in Haiti. Our friend Patty Mulvihill-McMenomey has significant involvement with the group and was with them in 2010. The group was at the clinic when the 7.9 Richter earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010. The story is chronicled in the excellent short book Walking in Broken Shoes – a Nurse’s Story about Haiti and the Earthquake. After hearing Patty’s story, I pestered her to get me the information to see if I could help.
This altruistic working group starts the trip by packing over 150 pounds of medical supplies in excess suitcases which will be transported and checked by all members of the team. Each team member is only allowed a 22″ (small) carry on suitcase and a backpack for the week.
The Haitian base is sponsored by Mountain-to-Mountain Ministries mtmhaiti.com. The founders are Willem and Beth Charles. Willem is a natural-born citizen of Haiti, and Beth, a native of Indiana.
Our group is being organized and guided by Vanda Marsh. The high temp today is 88 high and 72 degrees as the low, and 80% chance of rain every day. dew point is 70- very humid.
