Haiti

If you change the way you look at things, the way you look at things change.....Ian said this to me once and though he is full of other wise life proverbs, this came to mind several times on my recent trip to Haiti.

Having been there just 6 months ago, I thought I knew what was in store. However, it wasn't until we saw our first starving child that all the memories came flooding back with vengeance. You can never be prepared for those.

Sometimes I wonder if we are making any difference at all, the enormity of the world's problems are so vast. In Haiti I have seen some of the worst medical cases; things that are so easily treated in the US leave lifetime disfigurements and disability in Haiti. Compounded with the numerous consequences of poverty it is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. 

Still, I know for at least a few we have made a difference.  During our trip in May we enrolled several children into our Medika Mamba (plumpy nut) feeding program and at their recheck during this last clinic, all have gained weight, and most importantly, are still alive. Still, the curse of poverty remains, especially for the children.

Children racing to get candy. On our last day we do a "candy walk" and pass out treats, the children literally come out of the woodwork and follow us several blocks. It always makes me cry. 

Crissy, a nurse, passing out candy

This morning my mom reminded me of the story of the boy and the starfishes. When they wash ashore you may not be able to save them all but for the ones that you throw back into the ocean you did.  In Haiti it is the same, one starfish at a time.

Little boys selling seashells on the beach, I not only bought 7 but also bought each of them a bottle of cold Coke. 

This summer I met Kristi, a pediatrician living in Bend, Oregon, at a Bat Mitzvah in Juneau. We starting talking about international medicine and without much convincing she decided to join our November team to Haiti. Regardless of our new friendship, when a Haitian grandmother sat down at Kristi's table carrying a small infant, I knew from the look in Kristi's eyes that the curse of poverty had reached yet another family.

Kristi

The infant’s mother had died in childbirth and the grandmother was raising the child all alone. At 7 months the child weighted 3.2 kg, just 7 lbs. Clearly starving herself, the grandmother said that she had no food for herself or the child and was feeding the little girl mostly water. With a swollen stomach and stick limbs, the dear little soul didn't even have enough strength to hold her head up. 

I saw Kristi tear up, I too had remembered that feeling of helplessness and desperation at the sight of a starving child two steps from deaths door. While she was given numerous cans of formula with hopes that at our next clinic she will be strong enough to be enrolled into our feeding program, and a very touched Kristi slipped the grandmother some money to buy food, they both have a long battle ahead of them.

What I remember most watching this all unfold was Kristi's instinctive action to help. I have learned that helping others needs to be spontaneous, otherwise there is some kind of egotistical thing going on and that is a red flag. You hope you impact people on the deepest level you are capable of at the time, sometimes you do and sometimes you don't, but I really believe that an action without ego is an action of pure love. And somehow this has within itself a power to change things, both seen and unseen.

I could tell numerous stories about my time in Haiti. Though we do have cause to celebrate, often I often find myself on the verge of tears.

People wearing shredded flip flops that are beyond thankful to get a pair of used sneakers most Americans would throw away. Children who squeal with laughter at getting a small match boxcar.

Putting new shoes on a little girl

Or, how a homemade purse on their shoulders, or a re-usable kotex menstrual kit (yes you read that right, I am making re-usable kotex pads for school girls…brilliant idea from Days for Girls) causes a large grin. It is during these times that I hope some unseen force is filling their heart.

Little purse that I made

I have had several people spontaneously donate money, toothbrushes, cars, clothing, shoes, fabric, etc towards my medical missions because they hear about an upcoming trip. To them I am eternally grateful. It isn’t so much the tangible gifts they donate, but the awareness and compassion they have for those they may never meet, and my knowing how much those things bless the receiver.

Though the people in Haiti often need our time, help, and even money, it isn't as much as they need our awareness to their existence and our love. Going on a mission trip for 2 wks means nothing if the moment it ends they are forgotten. 

Little boy with severe clubbed feet

It's easy to be in a low income country sitting in a circle singing Kumbaya while simultaneously patting ourselves on the back for "helping the poor", the real work comes when we re-enter into our daily lives. Will we be moved to consume less and be thankful more? Will we be mindful of those who got left behind? Will we be spontaneous in our giving to people of our own country who need our awareness?

On Sunday we had a church service with a reading from Matthew about "helping the least of these. " Again I thought of how very easy it is to stroke the ego during medical missions, even with good intentions. Let me be honest here, going on these trips is actually a selfish thing, it makes me feel good when I do it.

So, as I sat there reflecting on what was being said on Sunday and watched the emotional response elicited, I thought about what it truly meant to "help people." When you help someone for selfish gain or out of a feeling of obligation or duty rather than free-flowing love, you may not only find yourself resenting the person for needing your help but also miss the opportunity to have a genuine connection with another soul.

And when you feel connected with them there becomes no giver or receiver - there is just One.  When this happens helping others truly becomes helping yourself as well.

What I realized on this trip is that the universe is giving me an opportunity to be a conduit of love and it feels good to pass it on, regardless of the outcome. It is also providing a way for me to enhance a force that has been in motion for millennia, love.  

I am prepared to defend my Spoons championship title. 

My interpreter, Hughes, who ironically is a doctor, has been with me twice now. Through his efforts in perfecting my Creole I am now able to get through a medical exam using only Creole. What is more amazing is that my patients even understand what I am asking and saying. In the short time that we have been together I can truly say that he is my friend.

 

A gift from Hughes, a wood carving with my name. 

Though he has completed his medical training in the Dominican Republic, he is unable to find a job in Haiti. He is required to spend 1 year serving the Haitian government (our equivalent of a residency) however with very few hospitals / doctors, and no official residency program this is nearly impossible. In addition, it is very costly.

 I always laugh when he shows up to interpret, he looks a lot like Puff Daddy, aka, P Diddy. And, he is the only person I know who manages to keep long white pants spanken clean in the dusty / dirty country of Haiti while simultaneously looking like a Haitian movie star. If you look close enough though, his shirt most certainly is missing two buttons and has a few random holes.

After our clinic one day I mentioned in passing that we were going to the beach (a daily thing). I was surprised to find him swimming in the ocean with a snorkel and goggles when we got there. With similar careers it is easy to view him differently than the majority of Haitians who are illiterate.

However, as we stood there talking I saw for the first time a man who grew up in poverty, lost both parents far too early, struggled to put himself though medical school, and though he loves his country, is confined to its corruption, negligence, and lost dreams. I realized that like so many others, the curse of poverty was his story as well.

We talked almost an hour before I mentioned that I was going to join the group at the hotel. We said our good byes and then I walked the 20 feet to the resort. As I was sitting there I realized that he didn't ask to come along. As I further pondered this I had a very embarrassing thought...he probably knows that he isn't allowed or welcome to come into the "white people" resort. And furthermore, he probably didn't have any money to buy a drink.

When I realized this I ran down the 20 steps to see if he was still there, hoping to invite him up as my friend. By then he was gone and I was left feeling very uncomfortable. In my life I have never felt discrimination, I am usually always welcome and usually don't think twice about not being allowed entry because of the color of my skin or my ethnicity. Things are different here in Haiti, amongst its many issues, your shade of brown still matters, and poverty is still trump.

The following day when he came to clinic I mentioned what happened and how I bad I felt. He validated my assumptions about why he didn't come up but humbly shrugged it off. I realized then that I see things not as they are, but as I am.

 

On this trip I felt uncomfortable and self-conscious with being white, wishing this imaginary pedestal that we are often placed would be knocked down. When one of my patient yelled, "Hey blanco, mwen kisa lajan!" (Hey, whitey, I want money!) though I laughed, I felt uncomfortable.

 

Uncomfortable not because she was asking, after all she was about 80 and very poor, but that as a white American, of course I have money compared to the remaining 99% of the world! 

 

The medical team with our interpreters

At times is just doesn't seem fair.  I know that it is only through luck that I was born when and where I was.  I also wonder that if living in a color blind world would solve some of the mess that we are in. Of course this is not possible, but learning to recognize the soul behind the shell is, and I do think that once we realize this similarity our world will change. 

 

Dick and Barb Hammond, the founders of FOTCOH (friends of the children of Haiti). People who I admire, aspire to emulate, and who saw a need and responded. 

Among everything experienced and felt on this trip, I am most thankful for the personal growth and for the challenges that required me to go beyond myself. With each piece of my ego that is lost I know I am closer to finding my true self. Always remembering that when I change the way I look at things, the way I look at things changes.