Another day  off

Well it's back to the old stuff in good ol Port-au-Prince.  The elections took place last week but the results weren't released until last night.  Schools were our all yesterday and today.  Actually yesterday there was no good reason for them to be closed since all was peaceful  at least until the late afternoon.  That's when I was coming home from Heartline where I see the sick babies and mothers on Tuesdays.  Things seemed relatively normal as I was driving home except for the fact that the amount of traffic I found myself in was gradually growing by the minute.  What I had not realized was that "they" whomever they are, had announced that at 6pm there would be an announcement about the results of the election.  So as I drove by the stores that I was supposed to have stopped at to buy the food for our dinner I found them closed or closing as the streets quickly were changing from somewhat full  to full.  

So I gave up the idea of obtaining food but made my goal change to getting home by 6pm so I could get the car in a safe place before the rocks and fire started flying.  

After eating I noticed my neighbor was outside our living room window and calling for me.  We don't see Phillip very often since he's a very famous Haitian Artist and spends much of his time in other countries at shows and sales.  He had just come up the mountain also and said that he had a new phone number and wanted me to have it and wanted me to have his just in case things got dangerous around here.  He had heard rumors that Martali, the famous "Sweet Mickey"Rap star, who was running for president had not placed within the top two vote getters and it was expected that his supporters would try to burn the country down or other idiocy.   

Actually the announcements came much later than what had been expected but was right on with what Phillip had called.  Actually though the only violence happened down town in Port and Petionville.  We did here some of the gunfire that was going on but luckily it never moved up our mountain.  The biggest disturbance of the night was simply a lot of drums from the local voodoo temple that let us know that we were probably not only in a political battle but also a spiritual battle and no! we're not going to debate that one.  

So anyway, it seems that Martali's gangs are still in the streets but to be honest I doubt if this going to go on all that much longer since these guys are going to get tired and they'll simply give it up.  It always happens.  Not that they won't get a new breath of air and start over again sometime when we least expect it but they will take time off to eat.  Another day in the life of a young (200 yo) democracy. 

Now it's time to get back to school and work.

If you're interested in seeing some of the pictures that a friend of ours posted on their website from this morning go to : http://allthingshendrick.blogspot.com/2010/12/haitidelma-758-10-am.html

And so it Goes

John

Cholera

Many of you have probably heard about the recent outbreaks of Cholera in Haiti.  I have a special friend who is so very knowledgeable and has all the inside news on these kinds of things.  The following is an email that I received from her this morning.

"Some of you have seen the news about an outbreak in the Artibonite Valley.  It looks like a microbial infection, and so far there have been reported about 150 deaths.  But the good news is that there seems to be some waning in the attack.  For instance, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, not far from the epicenter of the outbreak, has only 45 hospitalized and they are all stable.  The program I work for, Supply Chain Management System, has been put on alert by USAID, and we have mobilized our hospital-based products and staff to help as needed.  No, so far no real problems in Port-au-Prince, but everyone is keeping an active eye out, especially for the camps.  Please continue to remember us in your prayers, this has been some year!"

A Note to Don 3 days post earthquake

Today has been crazy and I still don’t have all the pictures ready to go up. So, go to ND and do a great job. I’ll try to get them in order so you can get them up sometime this weekend. I may have a couple first hand experiences also.

I’m working on hopefully getting a trauma surgical team from Methodist in but I’m afraid Dr. P may step in and screw up that also.

We’re Seeing lots of dead around. When the Montana went down it took an entire family, one of which was one of Jodie’s student two years ago.

The pressure, although we think we are riding it out well, is slowly climbing. It just seems to be sneaking in and grabbing on tight. Please keep us in your prayers.

And so it Goes!

John

Delmas from our front porch.

Delmas is the area of Port-au-Prince where we spent the first eight years in Haiti. It isn't all that bad as long as you like heat,mosquitoes, and lots of noise. As you can see we don't live there any longer But Jodie's school is there and I spend most of my days in that area. We haven't lived there for 15 years. Not only does the altitude mean that our temperatures are usually lower, we also have the privilege of looking down on this beautiful site almost every night unless we're socked in with clouds. Delmas is beautiful, From a distance.

And so it Goes

John

Couldn't happen to me!

Well, maybe it could. I got an email from a lady on the west coast that I knew very little about other then I felt she was a good person and was basically interested in humanity. She was originally an Australian but I came to know her when she visited Haiti a number of years back and spent a day at one of my clinics. That happened to be one of those sort of unforgettable days that we have occasionally at the clinic. On that day a mother brought her three week old baby of whom she had given it nothing to eat for the past five days because the baby was sick and she thought her milk "wasn't good." We spent most of our afternoon pumping the mother's breast, collecting the milk, and giving it to this almost comatose baby via a 3cc syringe. Since Kay had little else to do she was the designated syringe/milk handler. We took lots of pictures and have used that picture of Kay's hands at work trying to keep this extremely little one alive at almost every church where we visited for the past four years. I have kept in occasional contact with Kay and we even recently became official Friends on Facebook. You should know that a friend on Facebook is almost one step above marriage if you know what I mean.

So now to the email. Actually it was not an email but rather a direct message that was sent to me through Facebook. She first told me that she had something very important to talk with me about as soon as she heard from me. I wrote back and asked her about her problem.

Kay introduced it by letting me know that she had been traveling in Africa with a group that visits one of three extremely impoverished countries and works with clinics that deal with the HIV problem. She was in the country of Nigeria for the past couple weeks but yesterday she was riding in a taxi, forgot her purse when she got out, and had the purse, all her money and credit cards stollen, and her passport was gone. Knowing Kay, this could all be credible.

Then she went on to tell me that the management of the hotel where she was saying was irritated with her knowing that there was a chance that they wouldn't their money. She went on to say that she didn't know what else to do except write to me to see if she could humbly ask me to loan her $1050 for her hotel bill and $1350 to help her get another plane ticket and also for food until she make it home.

Now Kay is a friend of mine (I did say that we were friends on facebook didn't I)but not one that I would think of as a last ditch effort to keep me from being roughed up by hotel owners in deep dark Africa. So, I told her I'd get back with her.

I then wrote to her via her Hotmail account which I didn't think would be used by anybody but her, let her know that I thought someone else had probably stollen her Facebook account and was using it to try to get money out of her friends. BUT, if it was really her in need that I would try to get some money to her in time for her to hold off those evil hotel thugs.

A couple hours later I got the followup via Hotmail that she understood why I had question but that it was really her and she was still in great need.

I responded that I needed her to send me the name and address of the hotel where she was staying along with their phone number. Also I needed at least her home phone number and the phone number of at least one other friend that is near her home on the coast.

Then it hit me that I had the email of the person who first directed Kay to my work here in Haiti. So I wrote to Sandra, sent her all my emails both received and sent from "Kay," and asked her to try to get hold of someone who could confirm this awful story before I began to break my piggy bank to send it to Africa.

Well, Sandra called kay at home. Someone had stollen her Facebook account, did away with all her contact information, and somehow got the password to her Homail account.

So, there you have it. I just let them, whoever them is that I will call them soon as I can when I get in from my clinic tonight. Would love to get these guys.

And so it goes

ONE OF THOSE GOOD ONES

There are those weeks that just go by but occasionally I find one that helps me feel that maybe there really is a reason for my existence. Don't get me wrong, it's not all that frequent.

This past Sunday after church I was asked by a friend if I could help them out and give a shot to a young boy for them. He was 17 years old but when you're 60 he was still young. It seems that he needed some penicillin Benzathine Penicillin as a prophylaxis for a mitral valve regurgitation that he has been under a doctor's care for for a couple years. I said that I would do it but I wanted to take the time to listen to his murmur before giving him the shot. I am rather personally involved with mitral valves since I had a rather massive prolapse in my 40's and would have long gone by now (or at least displaced) had it not been for a number of very loving and proactive friends of mine who happened to be in the medical field.

When I listened to Robert's chest I heard nothing but a normal chest with no murmurs. Well, since I was there to give a shot and not to play doctor I went ahead and gave it which was no fun. This type of penicillin is almost a glue-like substance especially when it is given in 5cc doses. Needless to say this young man was not without complaints about his treatment. I didn't blame him.

Just to satisfy my personal questions I asked Robert's mother if I could get a copy of his medical records to look at and possibly have someone else to check through. By last Wednesday she got them to me and since they were in French and also in detailed medical terms they were basically useless to me but when I stopped at Dr. Theard's office on Friday he was kind enough to look at them for me. He wasn't surprised that I couldn't hear a murmur since he discovered that Robert's heart was still of a normal size and this mitral regurgitation was extreme minor at the present. Not only will Robert not have to have the shots every other week but he would not need the expensive echo cardiogram every 6 months but would have to be checked out when he had time in "five years or so."

I wish you could have seen the shear relief and tears of joy when I told Robert's mother that Robert wouldn't have to have those shots and that he should have a relatively normal life. It was giving her a new son back.

Sometimes we have these days! I'll take them.

And so it goes. John

Instead of Bringing Down the Prices
They Brought Down the Prime Minister

Well, it has been a fun week! We spent most of it inside our house since it was too dangerous to get out and run around. School was canceled for the week and I went ahead and gave into the obvious and canceled the Thursday clinic.

One thing that made it particularly difficult for us was that we had visitors. Jessica's friend from South Carolina was here. They spent most of their week watching DVDs of Gilmore Girls. Now wouldn't you like to take your spring break and fly to the Caribbean and watch old videos? Also Jess, a young teacher from Michigan who used to teach at Quisqueya was in town and was stuck in another home where we couldn't get to visit with her. Anyway, on Friday we did get out and went to see Jess,who had been sick all week. I guess if you're going to be closed up in a home for a week you may as well be sick.

So both the visitors are now gone. The looting, rock throwing, tire burning, and demonstrations are now history. Of course the prices are still going to be too high for most Haitians to purchase food for their family but they have the satisfaction of knowing that their mass destruction has led to a change in the government. It seems that those who were protesting agreed to stop if the Prime Minister was fired. So it happened. One more out of a job and a population who still can't eat. Sounds normal to me!

And so it goes!

John

Mardi Gras and Super Tuesday all in one Hunk

Yes, a big day in the history of the world but certainly no bigger then SuperBowl Sunday. All in all though I am getting my side of the bedroom cleaned up and can even see my desk. I even discovered that there is still a computer under all that paper. I just wish that was the only reason not much was being posted to this blog recently. Any excuse is as good as none. Please forgive.

Here are a couple pictures for your beholding. The first is of Jessica and the next is of Jessica along with her friends Josine, and Natalie all dressed up (sort of) and ready to go downtown for Carnival. I really don't believe my mother would have allowed me to go there at that age.

And So It Goes!

John

Thanksgiving

We always celebrate our Thanksgiving on the Friday after the traditional Thursday Thanksgiving. We have a tradition of going to our friends the Vervloet's home after the clinic and school on Thursday evening just to have a chance to spend some quality time talking and in general solving all the world's problems during that evening. Then on Friday we, along with about 20 missionary and embassy friends, do the turkey thing. We stuff ourselves sort of like our parents used to stuff the turkey then we stop and wait till we have enough room to ingest the great deserts. Following that it's back to more general talking and even a great football game, that is if you're not an LSU fan. But of course that went to three overtimes, which delayed our traditional time of sharing.

For about ten years now as our celebration winds down in the evening we always gather in a circle and each share those things for which each of us individually give thanks. Surprisingly, we have never had one person who wouldn't be part of this tradition. Although the Kleenex box is usually depleted by the time we finish it has always been a time of renewal and often even healing. I thank God for giving us this time. Although many would say that what we do is give thanks to people instead of God, I would say that if you actually do this in honesty and openness just the opposite happens. We end up giving thanks to God for all these things and people that he has brought into our lives. No, this is not a time to worship people and appreciate God; it is a time to appreciate and verbalize our dependence, appreciation, and love to people in the context of worshiping God. I believe that maybe we should be doing more of this kind of thing instead of sitting (or standing) in lines together, singing words that others write, and reading about and listening to someone talk about things that we believe we are doing in the way God would have us do anyway. I tend to believe what I have described is what is today referred to as worship. I believe that definition needs to be broadened to include more the speaking of good words and doing of good things to and for those we are called to love: our families, friends, the Church, the world, and God.

Now that my tirade is ended here is what I give God thanks for, especially today:

1. The job he has called me to do and the country he has called me to serve, Haiti. Not a lot of people get to do exactly what they want to do in life. I do. In that context I especially give thanks for the the little 6 month old babies who when I speak to them smile back at me knowing that they are loved.

2. I thank God for my wife Jodie who puts up with all my weirdness and loves me in spite of it.

3. My daughter Jacquie who is far too much like her father. One of these days that may haunt her with lost jobs, fewer friends, less money, and at times a tough life. But what she does give that makes her so special is truth and honesty. We never have to question where we stand with her. She tells us she loves us in no uncertain terms whenever we communicate and is never afraid to disagree with us when she knows she is right (and sometimes when she doesn't).

4. I thank God for Kevin Bonewitz who I really don't know well but upon Jacquie's recommendation (she married him) he must be a great guy and someone who is will be a large part of our family.

5. My daughter Jessica who is just one of the neatest kids around. She is now in process of a major life change in that she is starting to take her education seriously and finally all those things that she knew she couldn't do, she now can. She is unswerving in her beliefs and life style. Last year she started practicing a vegetarian diet and since then is yet to eat something that could smile back at her. She has been practicing the discipline of fasting one or more days a week. Although I bug her about not losing too much weight she just tells me to go away and goes about living her life certainly much better than I ever lived mine.

6. Our fellowship at CSI. For a little over a year we have been worshiping with a group of missionaries and an occasional government worker. It isn't all that I've ever dreamed of in the worship sense but it really fills a void in my life with something good.

7. My friends. As you can probably tell if you don't know me personally I'm not all that easy to live with. As a friend introduced me last week, “this is John. You don't have to worry when you talk with him. He'll tell you where you stand.” I trust it's not quite that bad but I do realize that occasionally my overemphasis on honesty does make it hard for those acquaintances to take me on as one of those people they would most like to hang around. So those of you who are left, I do love you and thank you for being a big part of my life.

8. I thank God for Steve Hersey, truly the finest high school teacher I have ever met and who could have taught in most any university in the States. Two years ago he stepped down from his teaching position at at Quisqueya Christian School and took over as the director. This was necessary because of some prior “stuff” in the leadership of the school that I won't go into. But Steve is doing such a great job and is helping to mold possibly the finest PK-12 school in this country.

9. I thank God for all our supporters that sacrifice to keep us here and let us do the things that we believe God is calling us to do. (Refer to #1) We have a number of churches and individuals who make it possible for us to live here and do what God calls us to do. We thank God for sending those supporters our way.

10. Lastly, You. Thanks for reading the blog. I hope it hasn't wasted your time and hope you don't leave here an enemy because you disagree with what you read. Remember, most all my friends disagree with me. They just love me in spite of it.

Part of the group at dinner

And So It Goes!

John

A Strange Sight

When visitors come to Haiti one of the things that many of them are surprised to see are the number of people who are carrying and using cell phones. Actually we have three very active cell phone companies in Haiti. Two of them, Voila and Haitel are under Haitian management but Digicel is a fairly large international company who has just recently (two years ago) come to Haiti. When they came in they came in with a bang. The first month they offered free phones to anyone who had Voila or Haitel phones who would exchange them for a better phone and charges that were cheaper. Needless to say the Haitian companies weren’t all that happy to have the new visitors in town and often let it be known that it was just unfair that their government would allow foreigners to come in and give competition to the home team. But there seems to be enough room for all three companies to function here without a lot of loss in income. It’s still fascinating to watch each of them come up with new gimmicks in order to get the people in their front doors.

This is a picture of the front wall of a Digicel office located in the Delmas Area. If you can’t make it out, it is a line of people waiting with their cell phones and chargers to get a chance to charge their phones from the extension cords that come from the Digicel office. That seems like a great idea to me. They must have realized that most Haitians only get two hours of electricity a day. I would say Digicel has done their homework.

And So It Goes!

John

So You Think You’ve had a bad day?

Check this one out. Our neighbors woke up this morning to this sight of their front wall having fallen into the road. The pressure against these walls from the waters of the many days of rain is tremendous. Now about two months of a lot of manual labor and about $5000 and they will probably have a new and even higher wall. And this is one of the families with money. Can you imagine the effect of all this rain on those who are poor?

And so it Goes!

John

No School

It continues to rain and there’s no school. But we still had to go down the mountain to Quisqueya Christian School (where Jodie teaches and Jessica attends) for a memorial service. On this past Saturday morning a lovely 25 year old teacher and staff member from the school was found dead in her bed. Katie was one of the really loved and appreciated persons on that campus and this has been a real downer for the QCS community. In addition to being the teacher recruiter, basketball and soccer coach, athletic director, and student council director she was an all around loved person who lived out her Christian life in ways that impacted most of the students she came in contact with.

I guess my rag with the whole thing besides the obvious is the fact that we have to have a reason for it all. I heard more than once that “God had taken her home to be with him” or “today she is up in heaven having a better time than she ever did here on earth.” Why can’t we just grieve? This beautiful young lady died far too early in life of probable natural causes and she never had a chance to marry, have kids, grandchildren, nor had she a chance to do lots of other things that many of us think are a desired part of life. I think that really sucks (I didn’t say that!) and I get tired of seeing people avoid that reality when simply stating it would help us to get through the difficult times. Now don’t get me wrong. I have no knowledge about the afterlife. I simply have beliefs just like everybody else. Katie may be having a great sun soaked day in heaven and I personally hope she is. But she isn’t here and she should be. It’s time to grieve. We miss her and want Katie back.

And so it goes!

John

Katie Broecker

A couple days of Rain

It was so strange that yesterday during the clinic it began to rain. Hard! I used to tell friends that if they would come visit us I would guarantee that the weather would be beautiful. Don’t get me wrong: we have our allotment of rain in this Caribbean haven but the rain almost always happens at night. Actually, this rain did start at night, two nights ago, rained all day yesterday, poured all night last night, continued today and is still raining as I write. This morning they cancelled school because of rain. Have you ever heard of that one? In my time here I never remember it raining so much for so long a time. So what has changed? We’re not going there.

Actually the culprit is a tropical depression named Noel. Like the others, he formed off the coast of Africa about a week ago and drifted our way but unlike most he didn’t keep drifting to the west. He just got big and started to move north and quietly is in process of devastating lots of lives here in Haiti. To be honest I haven’t heard that on any news reports but because of the length of time the rain has continued and with the “heaviness” of the rain, I just take it for granted that we will begin to get reports within the next couple of days that someplace in Haiti some community or communities will be an afterthought. Their people will be ravaged with water and mud and their families will be mourning losses again. It always seems to happen. So, prove me wrong this time. Show me that no communities will be wiped off the side of a hill killing every last one. Feel free to write a comment telling me how dumb I am. I hope you’re right.

We are already seeing some of the effects of this rain in Port-au-Prince. The usual dark blue color of the water in the Bay of LaGonave is now brown. Check the picture out. I took it a couple hours ago.

I ask you to join with me in prayer for those who are (probably) at the present time fighting to keep their families out of the water and alive.

And So It Seems to Always Go!

John

It’s Nuts

The Church of God Global Missions, with whom we happen to be here, have a wonderful rule in their books that says that whatever we purchase with mission dollars are not ours but actually the property of the Church of God. It may seem like a downer, but not to me, at least now. Let me start at the beginning.

Our friends and work partners of almost 20 years, Phil and Lonnie Murphy, have recently retired from missions and have returned to the United States to live. Well, last year Phil purchased a great Outback inverter and 12 batteries to go along with it. For you who don’t know what an inverter is for, well let's just put it this way, it makes life awfully nice when you don’t have much electricity coming in from the country where you live. When I tell you that we are getting fewer then 4 hours of electricity a day you will mostly not believe me if you are living in the States, or if you’re living in Haiti you will say “what! How are you getting that much? We’re only getting 2 hours a day at best.” I’m not here to argue that, but I just want to tell you that because Phil’s inverter was legally not his and I was in need of a new or at least a newer inverter he gave his to me. But realize it isn’t mine to keep. Just to use. Understand?

I told you all that to tell you that even with this wonderful blessing in our home all is not well. Even when we do get our pittance of electricity from our beloved Electricity d' Haiti the transformers are so far from our house that the line drop makes our power too weak to charge the batteries, and when we attempt to do anything with electricity during those times the inverter clicks in (due to the low voltage). So not only can the batteries not get charged, but they get run down.

Now I do realize that I’m living in a house which has more electricity in it on a daily basis than probably 85% of the rest of this country. I’m sorry for complaining but please try to find it in your heart to forgive me. I just feel like some days I’m living in one of those endless loop movies that end then start up again back a few days ago. This is one of those start-up days.

And so it Goes!

John

At least it looks good.

Here We Go Again

We tried again yesterday to have a clinic. I even had some good news that a friend of ours, Jan Flanagan, had agreed to come with me and help out for a while. I'm still limited on the amount of time that I can stand on my feet so she’ll be a great help to me.

But this thing that I wasn't expecting happened again. As we got within hollering distance of Prospere the roads began to be running with water and we again came to a place where passage was impossible. There were large ruts in the road and when I drove off road in the fields I came to areas of flooding that were simply mud. If I would have tried to get through them I would have ended up to my axles in mud and Jan and I would have spent most of the day out there waiting for the young guys to figure out a way that they could get my car out of there. Here are a couple pictures of the young guys that came around to talk. They were trying to convince me that I would have no trouble getting through. None of these guys drive anything more mechanical than a donkey. So we returned to town.

And So it Goes.

John

Lessons of the Hurricanes

We have been through a number of hurricanes since moving to Haiti and all of them seem to be somewhat different than the others, but there are some consistencies that we have discovered in all of them, at least so far.

Almost all hurricanes develop off the shore of Africa and become a REAL storm as they pass westward through the warm Caribbean. Now, there are advantages of this fact to us personally since our house is on the side of a mountain perched above Port-au-Prince. This location makes it necessary for any hurricane which would have any major wind effect on Port-au-Prince and especially our home to come directly over mountains to get to us. In most cases as hurricanes pass over elevations their wind speed decreases, which mean that in most cases a category 4 or 5 has little chance of reaching us. The worst I remember thus far has been that of Hurricane George back in (a long time ago) getting up into the high 80-90mph around here.

Probably the only way hurricane winds could devastate this area of Haiti would be if it were to pass Haiti, say on the south side, then reverse course, and head into the Bay of LaGonave. This would set up a very highly dangerous situation since Haiti’s capital has no protection from the west. If this scenario were to take place lives would be lost by the thousands in City Soleil alone and most of the city would be devastated. I have never seen this happen in Haiti, never knew of it happening, and certainly hope that it never happens.

Most of the problem we run into in our area is with water. The rain is usually heavy and almost unceasing. Thus we have flooding and also due to the lack of ground cover in many areas the soaking rain causes large layers of land to simply slide down mountains destroying total communities and the loss of life is great. This happened about four years ago in the area of Prospere, where my clinic is located. In one village that night almost 2000 persons perished.

So what about Hurricane Dean? We personally saw very little high wind. I would say the top speeds were possibly in the high 30mph range. Yes, there was a great deal of rain but we have yet to hear about any major devastation from it. Word is that there were three who lost their lives from the storm in Haiti

Please understand, I am not saying that Dean didn’t have any devastation on the lives of Haitians but simply that the effect was fairly minimal in our living area. Especially the areas near Jacmel, LesCayes, and Port Salute, where they were much nearer to the eye of the storm, the lives of many were simply devastated. Do keep these in your prayers as you walk in the sunshine.

Our Thoughts on Haiti

John

The Reopening of the Clinic or is this just a joke?

Luckily Jodie had agreed to go out with me to the first scheduled clinic since our return. This wasn't easy for her since she is already active at school testing kids for admission and getting her classroom in shape for their opening day. But we both felt that since Eden wasn't available I shouldn't go alone. There was always the chance, especially with the roads being flooded, of getting stuck and having to walk long distances while still on new knees. So we got back into the usual morning routine of "up at five, showers, breakfast, become presentable then leave the house by 6:45.

The traffic wasn't bad since schools hadn't opened yet and the roads were in better shape until we got to within a couple miles of the clinic. Then we saw the water flowing in the road. I'm not exactly known for giving up midstream but I did consider it. As we continued the roads became more rutted out with more and more water running in the ruts. One thing I hadn't seen before was women with their large basins of laundry sitting in these water swollen areas doing their laundry.

But we slowly continued. When we came to the area where we could see the church and clinic in the distance we had to leave the rutted road for the irrigation ditches beside it then sort of by surprise we actually arrived to the turnoff and drove into the fields that led us to Prospere. They were dry.

(editorial) When I turned off the road there were men cultivating the field. They didn't stop their work. I waved and they waved. It was like I was just one of the many passers by for that hour. But I know that mine was probably the first vehicle to pass that area in more than a week, possibly two. If I had been working in that field I would stopped my work, run to the car, and asked how in the world did you get through the flooded road? But no, they almost didn't take the time to look up from what they were doing or take their hands off their tools. It was as if a steady stream of cars had been passing all day. I've lived here 21 years now and this place never ceases to amaze me. Back to the clinic.

So we finally arrived. There was nobody in sight and all was quiet except for the roosters. I walked up to the pastor's (Pastor Francois) house and finally woke he and his wife up. We asked if anybody had come for the clinic. He said yes, but said he had sent them away since he knew we weren't coming back until the end of August. The last thing I told him was that I would be back in early August and our first clinic would be on the 16th. I love these people, I love this country but one of these days this place and these people are going to drive me to drink. Enough said!

To make a long story short Jodie and I cleaned the clinic for the next three hours or so and left very tired and sweaty, but with the clinic was much better prepared for what will be happening on Monday: a clinic.

Note: From Prospere we drove directly to downtown Port-au-Prince to the American consulate where we needed to go to renew our passports. We got our photographs taken. When the guard at the consluate asked us what we were doing here we told him and he told us the office was only open from 9:30-12:30. It was 1:00.

And so it goes.

John

Just Checking It Out

Last week Jodie and I took the time to drive out to Prospere just to see what condition the clinic was in and to do anything that may need done to it prior to the clinic that was coming up next Thursday. As we got within about three miles from Prospere it became evident that we weren't going to make it. It seems that the nightly rains that have been coming down recently have filled the canals to overflowing and the road to a stream. Over time the streams gouge out the dirt road to make it impassable even with a four wheel drive truck. So we simply hope for the rains to subside for a while and permit some heavy equipment back in this area in order to again make the roads passable.
There is one thing that I see as good about this though. In lots of places and times I could feel all guilty that I wasn't doing what I could to keep the clinic open but this situation is absolutely beyond my ability to overcome. I just can't imagine my knees walking the last two miles through flooded fields in order to get to the clinic. In fact I can't imagine my knees walking a mile over good sidewalks, where there are none that I've seen recently. And So It Goes! John

We're back

After a long week of collecting stuff, packing, making last visits, then packing some more we again made our way to the Indianapolis airport on August 8th for our return trip to Haiti, new knees and all.

It seemed so different this time. Most of the time we are excited to return and get back to the work we love (except for Jessica who would rather stay in the States and shop) but this time, for me there was a sense of wondering if we may be returning too soon and unprepared for what we had to come. I'm not sure if the reason for that feeling was due to the continuing discomfort of the new knees or maybe it was due to our friends who would frequently remind us that "maybe you should give those knees a chance to feel well and go back later." When you hear that from so many friends who really do have your interests on their minds it just starts to make you question what you're up to.

So we ignored the advice of our friends and find ourselves back at our home on the side of a mountain in this strange country that we have learned to love so much. Yes, the knees are having a difficult time with the stairs inside and outside our house and when Jodie says that she will go up back to help get the generator started I simply have to tell her in all honesty that there will just be some things that I'll have to do for us since, even though she knows much more about running the house then I do the generator is something that is in more my ballpark then hers. So we continue on.

And so it goes!

John

Good Morning

As you can tell by the vast amount of blogging that I haven't been doing recently that I'm either sick, tired, or simply dead. It's certainly not that there weren't times when I didn't feel dead or dying but rather most of the time there was enough pain to distract me from any desire to try to bring others into my world. I am truly sorry about that and hope you didn't feel ignored but, as you can see from the last couple blogs which Jessica wrote for me, there were other things going on that simply distracted me from communication. So, just to bring you up to date: It's 6am and I'm the only person awake in the little house where we have spent most of the summer. We are located just off the Anderson University campus right across from construction of new housing for seminar families. The workers start very early so, even though we do some sleeping in we do it to the tune of brick layers and heavy equipment trying to get these places finished for the fall semester. Actually I'm awake due to Ibuprofin. I never realized that it could keep you from sleeping but since coming off the Vicodan I've had a daily appointment with daybreak around this hour. That is your "medical moment" for today. The house is a mess since we are in our final packing sequence for our return to Haiti this coming Wednesday August 8th. We're trying to get all those things that we have purchased over the summer that will never be able to fit in our luggage into boxes for shipping. In between these packing and sleeping hours we are visiting all those friends and supporters who were ignored during the time of new knees and pain. You see, the blog was not the only thing that was ignored. On a serious note I am so very grateful to those that supported me and my family during this long difficult summer. Your prayers, emails, notes, and kind thoughts kept us going. My sincere thanks to all of you. One last note. No, this is not over. I still have daily pain and continuous minor pain that is associated with the process of healing. I will be returning to Haiti still wondering how I'm going to make it up those steps to the house and still more up to the bedroom. Then there's the clinics that will be starting on August 16th with hills to walk on and sore legs to stand on for long periods of time. I ask for your continued thoughts and prayers as I take on these challanges.

And So It Goes John