Haiti Trip 2018

Friday-Travel Day 

The excitement and anticipation for leaving for such another great trip led to little sleep before waking up at 3:15AM to catch our flight out of Kansas City at 6AM. We checked two bags each, leading to long lines and lots of luggage. Reuniting with many returning volunteers, alongside many new ones, we waited to leave. Our first layover put us in Miami for 5 hours before leaving for our flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We did lots of reading, walking, and eating our last American food for the week. We left Miami at 3:30 and arrived in Haiti at 6. The airport is very chaotic as we have to pay a $10 travel tax, go through customs, and pick up all of our many bags of luggage. The Haiti officers try to find medical equipment as we pass through the last security check to charge an extra tax. It was dark outside, which is much different than last year when I arrived in the afternoon, where it was very hot and muggy. We made it through to the parking lot where we loaded all our luggage into a big box truck that was suppose to leave the next morning for the Mission. We all loaded ourselves and carry-ons onto our first tap tap ride of the trip. We took a little ride through Port-au-Prince to our hotel for the night, Coconut Villa. Driving through the city, smelling all the dirt, gas, and garbage, and seeing all the tall walls and pure poverty. We stay behind a large gated wall and dinner was ready for us as soon as we checked into our rooms. There were already 12 people at the hotel so we doubled the amount with us 12 travelers. We met everyone and had a little devotion before going to bed early after a long day of travel.

Saturday-Travel/Arrival Day

We woke up and had breakfast, omelet, toast, and mango/nectarine juice. We were on the last group out so we had until 11 to hangout and relax. We did just that, we all spent time reading and relaxing, waiting for our tap tap ride to the airport. At 11 our chariot arrived and we hopped in. We got to the regional airport, which is packed with Haitians waiting in line. I'm not sure what they are waiting for, maybe a ticket, maybe a flight, maybe incoming family members. But, we were taken straight to the front of the line, where they weighed us and our luggage to make sure we didn't surpass the plane's weight limit. After all the chaos we waited in the airport's waiting area for our plane to arrive. The planes we take are 10 and 6 seater planes, piloted by missionaries who fly mission teams all around Haiti. Our flight from Port-au-Prince to Port-au-Paix is 50 minutes, where once we've arrived, lands on a dirt/gravel run way and literally drops us and our luggage off on the side of the runway where we waited for our next tap tap. After everyone had arrived, we got into a dump truck that has benches down the side and loaded all our luggage into the middle of the truck, where we rode all the way to St. Louis du Nord. An 8 mile trip that takes close to an hour by tap tap. Driving through the Northwest part of Haiti is eye-opening and a lot to take in. The road is very bumpy, dusty, and dirty, but this is their main road. You can see the ocean, mountains, and all the Haitians working, coming home from school, or doing housework. We arrived at the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission, where we completed our group of 49 volunteers for the February Eye Team. We set up our tents and started to get settled. We started cleaning the dental clinic out and getting all the supplies unpacked to be ready to see our first patient on Monday. Dinner was ready not too long after we arrived and then we had devotions after. We played card games before going to sleep in our new beds for the week.

Sunday-The Lord's Day

We woke up and had breakfast (corn flakes) then we headed across the street to church. Church has no time limit or rush to finish. We sang and prayed and listened to different groups sing worship songs. Although we can't understand what they are saying/singing there were some songs I could tell what they were based on the melody that was familiar to me. Dressing up for church is something that the Haitian people don't skimp on. All the women wear beautiful dresses and the men wear collared shirts and ties. The children are dressed in their finest. The pastor gave a message on the promises of God. After a couple of hours church was dismissed and we walked back to the mission. We had lunch and then went on a little stroll through town. Walking through the town is encouraging but also sad because you actually see how the population lives and how normal they find the condition in which they live. We walked to the beach, that is full of trash and animals, where many children came to meet us and greet us. All the children call us "Blanc!" which means white. You can hear them coming, laughing and yelling, but it brings so much joy as they are welcoming us into their land. As we walked back to the mission, numerous children hold our hands a hang on our arms. Some drop off as we hit different landmarks, but some walk with us all the way to the mission. We finished setting up the dental clinic after making it back, and were all ready for the next day of busy work. We relaxed and had evening devotions before going to bed to be ready for the first busy day of work the next morning

Monday-Strike Day 

We woke up, had devotions, breakfast, and were ready for our first patient, but there was a problem. We didn't have a translator, which pretty much inhibits any communication between us and our patients. One of the Haitians came down to our clinic and told us that all the translators had gone on strike and that the situation was causing some problems. By the grace of God, the missionaries found enough translators to fill their places and we were able to begin seeing patients. I had the privilege of working with the famous Dr. Jim Elias in the dental clinic, and learning just a little bit of his wealth of knowledge. Dr. Jim and I met 3 years ago on a trip to Jordan and Israel on a Holy Land tour. Ever since then, Jim has been one of my best supporters, mentors, and overall go-to for all my dental questions. This was the first time we actually got to work in dentistry together, and learning how he has run different dental missions was very helpful, because last year I was figuring it out all on my own. One of the main advantages we had this year was a portable dental unit, with a drill, suction, and air/water. Having this equipment allowed us to be able to save teeth that were savable, instead of having to extract everything. This first day we were able to pray with every patient that walked in the door. With the help of my assistant, Kelly, and Jim's assistant, my husband Luke, we were able to treat 22 patients, extract 24 teeth, restore/fill 2, and complete 6 cleanings. A great first day, but we were exhausted after seeing so many. We saw all the patients that came and closed up shop. We took a much needed shower and had dinner, devotions, and went straight to bed.

Tuesday-Everything is Already Okay

We woke up and were challenged at devotions by Tore, one of the missionaries, to remember that "Everything is already okay" because Jesus is on the throne, He died for us and we have salvation through Him. To remember that when we get frustrated that things aren't going well, equipment isn't working, or we are tired, that everything is already okay. This was very encouraging, because everything doesn't always go well, there are power outages, we can't get a tooth out, or logistics don't flow well. It kept running through my mind during the week that everything is already okay, to not sweat the small stuff, and keep moving forward, and doing what I can do. We had a very busy day in the clinic and saw 29 patients! We made it a point to pray for every patient before treating them the entire week, and each patient was very thankful and said "Yes! Yes!" when we asked if it was okay to pray for them. While we are treating these patient's temporary pain or infection, we want to aid in their spiritual need as well, and we saw praying for them helped remind them the real reason we were there. Being the hands and feet of Jesus, to bring them closer to our savior. On our 29 patients, we extracted 24 teeth, restored/filled 17, and provided 10 cleanings. Among these patients, we utilized the anesthesia team and sedated a little girl we sedated last year to complete 7 fillings. Last year I extracted 8 rotten teeth, and was so thankful I could save 7 teeth this year instead of taking more out!

Wednesday-God is good

We woke up after a long night of strong wind and rain and were ready for another long day in clinic. The NWHCM has a nutrition program that feeds a lot of community members and part of it is a program called Meals on Heels, which takes meals to the people who can't physically make it to the mission to receive food. We take a 5 gallon bucket full of rice and beans and the families have a bowl to be filled. Jim and Luke hadn't been able to experience this ministry and I wanted to make sure they were able to be part of it, so we decided that today would be the day to close the clinic a little early so we could go out into the community for meals on heels. We started the clinic seeing a lot of patients who were in pain and needed cleanings. We focused a lot on the education part of a cleaning, because most patients came in and we could tell they brushed their front teeth, but were neglecting the back ones. So we showed them how to brush along the gum line, how to floss, and to brush every surface of every tooth, not just the ones you can see. Prevention is key in dentistry, and the education of oral hygiene is definitely a missing link in impoverished communities. Haiti also has a lot of minerals in the water, so calculus grows like crazy, teeth are very dense, and bone is as solid as concrete. There are always different environmental factors that affect oral health. Teaching Haitians how and why to take care of their teeth should help prevent future problems, but there is never a guarantee. We were able to see 23 patients, completing 12 cleanings, extracted 15 teeth, restored/filled 2, and I was able to fix a woman's "bridge". Jim was able to complete one of Northwest Haiti's first root canal therapy on one of the security guard's front teeth that was infected. The limitations of Haiti make simple dental procedures a challenge. We have no access to x-rays, so we have no idea what the roots look like, how long the tooth is, or if there is a cavity in between the teeth. Root canals rely heavily on x-rays because the entire procedure is internal, but Jim has a lot of experience, so he took this tooth on and completed the entire root canal blind. He kept on calling it the Lord's root canal, and that everything was already okay. I look up to this man so much and the way he views dentistry. I once told him that sometimes I feel like I don't know how much good I am doing and he looked me straight in the eyes and said, no matter what you do, you will always be doing better than what they came in with. Dentistry is very taxing on a dentist's body and Jim has such a positive outlook on life and dentistry, I just hope to be half the dentist he is. We finished the day with an intense extraction and were able to go on meals on heels.

Luke and I support an elderly woman who lives in the elderly care part of the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission and we had been trying to find her the entire week. The residents are allowed to leave the mission, work on the mission, so it's sometimes hard to locate any one person at a given time. We went down to the Gran Moun (elderly home on the mission) with Tore as our translator, and once again Meprilia was not home. So we came back up to the dental clinic, and on our way up to the common area, we ran into Meprilia! She speaks Creole and I speak English, so we can't communicate without a translator. I said "Hi, Meprilia!" I looked at her, she looked at me, and her face just lit up like she was the happiest person in the entire world! She was jumping up and down, hugging and kissing me and picking me up because she was just SO EXCITED to see me. Wow, I am a very loved person, but experiencing this made me feel like I was the most important person to this lady. Tore came and Meprilia was saying that she prays for me everyday when she wakes up. She said she heard a dentist was here and she tried to come see me, but I wasn't there. She said "God can do anything." She said, "I have been depressed lately, but now that I have seen you I am very happy and blessed." We bonded last year after I extracted 10 of her rotten teeth and checked on her nearly every night to make sure she was doing well. Dentistry is a strange profession, as most people hate me when I'm working on them, but a couple days later they are thankful to be out of pain and like me again. Meprilia was an odd case, because she loved me from the beginning. Tore told me that she asks about every other day, and asks if she can call me. This sweet little woman loves me like a child, and prays for me daily. What an amazing force for good she is and how special she makes me feel. I introduced her to Luke and told her that he is my husband. She hugged and squeezed him so hard and said "I didn't know you had a boyfriend, or that you were getting married, but now that I do, I will pray God will bless you with a baby!" I said, "Oh no! Don't pray for a baby yet!" She laughed. She then said, "God had blessed me with 6 children, but then he brought you to make 7, and now Luke makes 8!" What an honor for her to consider her us her children and the motherly love we gain from having a sweet godly woman praying for us. I think the sweetest part of our encounter is that she has no idea that we sponsor her. She doesn't love us because we help pay for her expenses or make sure she has everything she needs. She loves us because she loves us. It's as simple as that.

Thursday-Final Clinic Day

By this point, we were all feeling utterly exhausted and for lack of better description, like we were ran over by a bus. Bodies aching and lack of good sleep, leading to a lack of moral. We went to morning devotions, and we heard one of the missionary's testimonies about how he had been an atheist and became a christian because he finally met people who were different. He challenged us to be different, to love, and be the hands and feet of Jesus. A message we all needed to here after a long week was coming to an end. We had another full day of patients, seeing 19. We also had to pack up after clinic before leaving the next day, so we had to stop seeing patients early. We extracted 31 teeth, restored/filled 16 teeth, and completed 8 cleanings. We had two big sedation cases that I took on this day, where a girl with down syndrome was treated and a 6 year old little boy that I extracted 6 teeth and restored 10 teeth on. These big cases are only possible because we can put them to sleep, because they would fight the whole procedure if we didn't utilize our favorite sedative, Ketamine. We also completed a "bridge" on one of the translators that works in the eye clinic. She had a very loose front tooth that was falling out, but she didn't want a gap in her teeth, so we extracted the loose tooth, added some retention on the two adjacent teeth, cut the root off and re-shaped her extracted tooth, and bonded it back it to fill in the gap. This translator came in last year to see me, but I told her I couldn't do anything because I only had equipment for extractions. So, she came back this year, and because of Jim's vast experience, we were able to help her have confidence in her smile. Unfortunately, there were patients still waiting to be seen as we started to pack up. This is really hard, because there is always going to be one more patient who needs treatment. There is now almost a year before dental treatment will be provided, which is hard to swallow, but it is honestly the reality. We saw all the patients that we could see, provided all the treatment we could, and spread the love of Jesus as far as we could.

After we closed up and cleaned up clinic, Luke and I made our way down to the Gran Moun to meet Meprilia again. We wanted to take a picture with her, and she was more than thrilled. She went and changed into a blue dress, out of her work clothes, and I just thought it was the cutest. She squeezed us so tight in the picture and her love just radiates. I told her we had to leave the next day and she was sad, but said we had blessed her so much by coming and seeing her and she was thankful to see us. She had to go back to work, but sang a song to us all the way back to the main area.

Luke and I then went to the eye clinic where we found Benji and Dodo. These brothers are the cutest little ornery boys. Benji is 4 and Dodo is 2.5. Benji experienced extreme malnutrition, when he was 2 he weighed only 9 pounds. He became part of the nutrition program and now is healthy and thriving at 25 pounds. He has definite growth restriction and is smaller than his younger brother, but compared to how he was, he is doing much better. We spent time loving on these little boys, tickling, and playing. When we had to leave them, their little faces and "bye-byes" are enough to pull on anyone's heart strings. Something I've noticed about Haitians is that they want to be loved and treated normally. They don't want a pity party or for people to feel sorry for them. They want dignity, respect, and to feel important. They don't have much, but they take care of the things they do have. They are clean, well put together, and take care of each other. The people of Haiti are truly beautiful inside and out.

Friday-Travel Day 

We woke up at 4:45AM to leave the mission by 6:30. We then rode the tap tap back to the Port-au-Paix landing strip, where we waited almost 2 hours for our plane to arrive. As we waited kids and families walked by on their way to work or school. One little girl was walking with her mom, wearing her school uniform, and I waved and smiled at her. She looked up at her mom and said something and her mom nodded and pointed our way. This sweet little girl came right up to me with a puckered lip kiss, I put my cheek close to her and she gave me a sweet little kiss. Stealing my heart, one Haitian at a time. I really want to learn to speak basic Creole to be able to communicate a little with them, because all is know are the words for "spit", "open big", and "teeth". I would love to be able to talk to these community members as they walk by and ask part of their stories.

Our plane finally arrived in Port-au-Paix and we traveled back to Port-au-Prince. We waited about 15 minutes in the regional airport, before taking a tap tap ride to the international airport down the street. We waited at this airport for a little over 2 hours, before departing around 2PM for Miami. We had another layover after going through customs for 5 hours. We were able to have a nice American meal, after a week of chicken legs and rice, and relax before departing at 9PM for our final leg of travel to Kansas City. We arrived in Kansas City at 12AM, where we picked up our luggage and said goodbye to our little travel team. We got home and took a nice a hot shower before going to sleep at 2:30AM. Don't worry, I slept until 2PM on Saturday, but exhaustion is real, and sometimes no matter how much sleep you get, you're still tired.

Final Thoughts

Haiti has such a special place in my heart, and I can't seem to stay away. After giving so much to help them, and the gratefulness they exhibit, I forget all the hard things we went through. All the blessings outshine the cold showers, tent sleeping, and long travel. If I don't go, who will? I challenge you to be stretched. Stretched in a way that feels uncomfortable. Stretched into a different field on a mission trip, like my husband who is an engineer, but spent a week in the dental clinic assisting. Stretched like my friend Kelly, who is a hairstylist, working as my dental assistant the entire week. They were both vital parts of our team and without them we would have been close to useless. I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone. To realize how well you have it, whether you have $0 or $1 million in your bank account I guarantee you have more than nearly everyone I encountered this week. Be stretched to your limits to pure exhaustion to bless someone. You don't have to go to Haiti, but what you do need to do is ask what you can do. Have you seen those homeless people on the side of the road? What can you do for them? You haven't lived until you have given something to someone who can never repay you. 

If you are unable to give physically, the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission is need of monetary sponsors to help keep the lights on, help provide the needs of each individual living in the mission. There are people needing sponsorship in the orphanage, special needs center, nutrition program, birthing center, medical center, and elderly care. You can visit nwhcm.org to learn more about the ways to help, and I promise you will not even miss the $25-$30 you give a month. The impact you can make on these ministries, these people, is worth much more than $30 a month. 

Be stretched, be challenged, be changed. You'll never regret it.

"My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19