We made it back to Fargo around 11:30a.m. on thanksgiving day. We were definitely all feeling extremely thankful to be home just in time to be with our families for the holiday. Now that we have been back for two days, we have had plenty of time to relax and reflect on our adventure. Regardless of our delay in returning home, we still are extremely thankful for the amazing experience we had in Haiti. The people we met, and everything we learned will stick with us for a lifetime. We truly believe that this experience has prepared us to be even better nurses in the future. We will remember what we have learned, and apply it to our practice.
We would like to thank everyone who has supported our adventure and made it possible for us to serve the people of Haiti. Thank you to the people of Horns Up For Haiti for being amazing hosts and taking such good care of us. Last but not least, thank you to Molly and Abigail for everything they did to plan for this trip and everything they taught us along the way. Haiti will forever be apart of us! -Lexie and Taylor
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We’re Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving Our sheltered extra days were not too shabby here in Haiti. We spent our extra full day lounging out on the beach, swimming, eating, and relaxing. We had a small adventure and took a taxi boat to belly beach and resort nearby Labadee to spend the day. We all stepped out of our comfort zone and ate grilled fish for lunch which included eyes, teeth and scales. (Pictured below) This trip is about new experiences and stepping out of our comfort zone right? Today we departed from Cap Haitien as after our flight was delayed by more than 1 hour. We left around 2:30 and landed in Miami around 4:30. We are currently awaiting our flight to Chicago which leaves at 7:46 pm. Arrival is planned around 10:00 pm. There we will spend the night, awake to a continental breakfast, and leave for Fargo. Our planned arrival in Fargo is just before noon on Thanksgiving. Our hopes are now high that we will make it home in time to at least get some pie with our families. As we post this, we are anxiously awaiting to board our flight from Chicago to Fargo! See you soon!!! What’s your favorite Thanksgiving pie or dessert? We are almost home, Morgan and Taylor Good evening family and friends. As Abigail and Molly posted earlier today, due to the current events in Haiti we were unable to leave as planned. If this trip has taught us anything, as nurses and nursing students, flexibility and adaptability are necessary for the job. We will roll with the punches and make the best of the situation. The riots that took place over the weekend on the historical day of Haiti’s last fight for independence have escalated, and it is unsafe to travel in any mode of transportation currently. We have been advised to stay sheltered until further notice and well, what better and safer place to be sheltered in than a beach resort far from danger. We even heard from the US Embassy today - they called to check in on us! It was reassuring and please know, we are truly safe here. We will stay here until it is safe to travel home. We will keep updating the blog with travel plans, where we are, and any changes as we can. Our current plan, if everything goes as planned (and we have learned on this trip that sometimes things do not) is to leave Wednesday from Cap Haitien and follow the same itinerary as we would have Monday: landing in Miami with a 4 hour layover, then flying into Chicago around 10:00 pm, and staying the night there before returning home to Fargo Thursday around noon. We hope to truly have Thanks to give! We are all eating well, drinking well, and getting our vitamin D (maybe some of us too much vitamin D). Some of us (your author specifically) look like lobsters and are also eating lobster, so I guess you could say we could have it a lot worse. God bless. Morgan and Rachelle We wanted to send a quick update for you all. There has been some rioting in Cap Haitien for the past couple of days. Fortunately, we have been safe and far from the city, enjoying our time at the beach.
However, the fighting has escalated today and American Airlines has cancelled all flights to Cap Haitien for the day. So, we will not be able to get to our scheduled layover in Chicago tonight. We are working with the team on the ground here and the Hands Up for Haiti team in the US to reschedule our flights and keep abreast of the situation. We are safe and will continue to be. We are monitoring the state department alerts, as well. They are advising us to shelter in place, which we are gladly doing here at the beach where we are not only safe but well cared for. We miss you all and hope to get home as soon as it is safe to do so. We will keep you updated. Molly and Abigail Where has the time gone? We cannot believe tonight is our last night in Haiti. On Saturday, we said goodbye to Open Door and some of the great staff we have been working with. We drove through Cap Haitian and found our way to Cormier where we held our final clinic. The scenery was beautiful with the ocean waves as our background noise. The clinic was a great success and we treated many of the same diseases and ailments we've learned from prior clinics.
After the clinic, we made our way to Cormier Plage, the resort we have spent the weekend at. Its a beautiful place with a sandy beach and lovely water. Our Saturday afternoon was spent on the beach and in the water. On Sunday, half of the group went to Labadee, an island of Haiti to meet some of our team's family and attend church. The other half chose to stay at the beach and lounge for the morning. To get to Labadee we took a small boat. We were kindly welcomed by this community. After attending church, we walked to the home where two of our team members grew up (Thermitus and Fritznel). It was so cool to see where they grew up and meet some of their family members. We were spoiled with coconuts, a yummy Haitian lunch, and some lovely guitar music by Thermitus. The evening concluded with amazing food and great toasts made by many. We will miss our Haitian family more than words can describe. While here, we have learned so much about ourselves, our skills, and each other. Haiti will forever hold a place in our hearts. This experience has been once in a lifetime and so eye opening. We will be better nurses because of Haiti and forever advocate for our patients and their available resources. In closing, we want to thank everyone who has been a part of our journey. We are beyond blessed to have had this opportunity. As Dr. Manol said, “We hate to say goodbye, but if you don't leave, you can’t come back”. P.S. This was before we knew that our flight would not arrive for two more days. -Anne and Lexie Day 11, where did the last 10 days go? We have all become so self aware, more clinically competent, and globally cultured. This morning we started our day with a beautiful hike. The sun greets the hillside at around 5:45am down here near the equator. The early rise would make our timing impeccable to catch the breath taking views. Colors of orange, pink, golden rod and hills of green lent to our positive energy for our final Friday in Haiti. When we returned to the house that we have made our home the past two weeks we had a change in schedule. Our clinic for the day was cancelled. Instead of splitting up for the day, our entire group would educate nursing students at a University near Cap Haitien. The topics of education included; Nutrition, CPR/Choking, Hand Washing, First Aid, and Sexual Education. It was at times challenging trying to depict our teaching because of the language barrier. On the upside, it made us better able to break down concepts and make them tangible. It was a fun day of interactive learning and teaching alike. It was a privilege to educate and in turn learn from the students and providers today. We had a biology lesson upon arriving to the University. Molly, one of our leaders showed us a plant that reacts to touch. The plant referred to as a “Touch Me Not” completely folds up when it is touched. Fun little science lesson for the day. It was enough to Awww a bunch of Senior Nursing Students anyhow. Haiti has been full of lessons thus far, light hearted lessons and life lessons etched into our hearts. Our clinical practicum wraps up tomorrow as we complete our last clinic day at Cormier. We’re looking forward to Thanksgiving in the upcoming week and spending time with our loved ones we all dearly miss. Oh, and the pie. See everyone soon! Casey & Rachel Last year’s Horns Up for Haiti group will be pleased to know that the rooster lives on. Every morning around 2 to 3 AM we all hear the screeching cocking-crow from one or all of the roosters that live at Open Door. Once the generators are off, he is clear as day and we have to replace the white noise with apps and ear buds. Rachelle will tell you she’s never wished to shoot an animal before 2 am each morning, until now. Today our plans for clinic were rearranged due to some construction concerns. At 9 pm last night, our guide Thermitus made some calls and by word of mouth we had a new clinic spot for 9 am today. It is amazing how communal Haitians are and how efficient word of mouth is here. Even Haley who grew up in a small town where the daily news is spread at the local gas station over morning coffee in mere minutes, was thoroughly impressed. We set up clinic at the Hands Up for Haiti main office in downtown Cap Haitian and saw over 80 patients. Among the most common today was pneumonia in children, gastric reflux and hypertension. What is so neat about the people that we work with here are the amount of programs they have established around the community like a prenatal, hypertension, diabetes and eye programs. Sadly, we said our first of many goodbyes today to a few of our wonderful translators. Jefferson and Andriss you will be missed! Among one of the many things we will miss here is Ma Paz’ cooking. She is so good to us and we treasured tonight’s meal knowing tomorrow will be our last. Although we all miss American food, she is one heck of a cook and we have all cherished being spoiled! It is hitting some of us how surreal it was to be here in the beginning and how surreal it is to be going home so soon when we’ve only just begun to get to know all of our friends and help so many people. - Rachelle and Haley Bon Jou friends and family! Today, our team split into two groups. 5 of us went back to the community of Robillard and setup a prenatal clinic. The rest of the group setup a clinic at Fondation de l’espoir des Orphelins in Cap-Haitian. Orphanage Clinic During our clinical at the orphanage, we saw around 100 patients, but it felt like we helped a lot more! As soon as we arrived, we were greeted with a song by the children and then kind gestures to say hello. A few of us had many children cling to our sides as they were so happy to have new visitors! Our triage station was set up outside while the pharmacy and assessment areas were together in one big room. You can imagine it got pretty loud and crazy with so many staff and children! For lunch, we requested peanut butter and banana sandwiches. When it was time to eat, we realized they gave us bread and peanut butter with a banana on the side, which all made us giggle about the language barrier. This experience was truly humbling as we had many thank yous from the orphanage workers. The director shared a touching story of how he and his wife at first could not have children, but the children at the orphanage were his children. Eventually he was able to have children of his own with his wife and carried on his father’s vision of managing the orphanage. They also mentioned they had been waiting two years for a group to come volunteer at the orphanage, which made our time there very special. Prenatal Clinic At the prenatal clinic, we first provided education about eclampsia to the expecting mothers. We educated about what what it is, the signs and symptoms, how it is treated, and how to prevent it. We’ve noticed hypertension (high blood pressure) is very prevalent here in Haiti. Many of the patients had a family history of hypertension, which increases their risk for eclampsia. The prenatal clinic is a monthly clinic that is used to assess expecting mothers around Cap-Haitian. During the clinic, we took a initial health history, family history, OB/GYN history, vital signs, weight, and current presenting problems. We measured a fundal height to determine how far along the pregnancy was and when their due date is. We used a doppler to assess the fetal heart rate and ensure the baby was healthy. We also provided prenatal vitamins and medications for symptoms such as acid reflux or back pain. On our way back from the prenatal clinic, we got a couple flat tires, and only had one spare tire, so we got to ride on a school bus to get back to Open Door. The unexpected adventures have been the most fun! Traffic in Haiti One thing we have found interesting is the different modes of transportation and lack of enforced traffic laws. There is no speed limit, no crosswalks, and no rules of the road. We have only seen one traffic light in Cap-Haitian, but it was not working. Many people get around on motorcycles or taptaps (taxis). It is normal to drive around Haiti and see four to five people squished onto a motorcycle, and people sitting on top of vehicles. There are police around, but they rarely pull anyone over. The only rule of the road: if there is space to drive, you drive! This has been very different for us because we are used to obeying traffic laws and driving on the right side of the road. We also noticed how often car horns are utilized. They use them to simply say hello or when they are wanting someone to move over so we can drive by. We can’t believe our time here in Haiti is almost over! Time really does fly by when you’re having fun! We have learned so much in just a week and a half! We look forward to our last three clinics before enjoying some sun at the beach. Chelsey and Aly Bonjour! Today we set up a clinic in the village of Robillard. We provided care to variety of age groups, but primarily women and children. Many of the diseases that were diagnosed and treated today were skin conditions, including impetigo, scabies, and some fungal infections of the skin. After our clinic we drove to the city center of Limonade to provide education to some young adults about nutrition and sexual health. It was exciting to see the passion that the community had about learning about each topic. There were many questions asked and they showed great gratitude towards our group. Also while we were there we visited one of our awesome translator’s house. It was cool to see where he came from and meet his family...and his two cute puppies :) At our clinic, there was a patient that particularly stood out to some of us. He is a 22 year old with Down syndrome. His mother helped him walk to the seat in our station. He was seeking help due to the significant blisters on his feet which were later diagnosed as Impetigo. As we cleaned his blisters he did nothing but put a smile on his face and showed us bravery. Regardless of the possibly painful treatment we were providing, he remained in good spirits. It’s inspiring to us all to see patients such as this one. Thank you all for continuing to follow our adventure! We love and miss all of you! -Lexie and Meggie! Today is already our second Monday on our Haiti trip! We started again bright and early on the road to a new place to help a new group of people. The clinic site we visited today was in a community called Don Don, which is far up in the beautiful mountains. To get there, our vans traveled up twisty, bumpy gravel roads to our destination. Once we arrived, the Haitians were already there waiting for us!
The building where we set up is an existing certified medical center and approved to provide medical care to those in the community. The space was very limited and lighting was poor. Our team was split up into the many rooms of the building, findings spots for our triage station, assessment areas, and pharmacy. After we finished the clinic our team strolled the streets of Don Don. At the end of the neighborhood we came to a well. Our Hands Up for Haiti family was responsible for the new well in the Don Don Village. It was pointed out to our group that this community in particular has suffered health disparities and acute malnutrition due to the lack of clean water. The well that was drilled in October by HUFH will be an immense improvement for the entire population of Don Don. It was a humbling experience to walk to the well. Nearby villagers came and surrounded our group to listen for informative insight about the well itself and what they can do for optimum water usage. One of the men from Don Don came forward and gave a speech of gratitude for his community. It was moving to see something we tend to take for granted mean so much to so many people. After visiting the well, we loaded the vans for home. The sky was ominous which was an obvious threat to us on the top of the mountain. The windy, steep, and treacherous road back would bring even more apprehension to our crew and a challenge for the vans for make it downhill safely. There were areas in the road already washed out by the rain the night before as well. Today, Haiti’s blessing of rain was fear provoking for us, but we were able to make it down the hills safely in our vans (without anyone getting too car sick). Day 7 in Haiti ✅ Aly & Casey |
AuthorWe are 12 North Dakota State University senior registered nursing students on a mission to expand our knowledge, culture and diversity. Our professors, Abigail Vetter and Molly Secor-Turner, will guide us on our final experience of nursing school (short of graduation and boards!) to complete our practicum in Northern Haiti. This is our experience. Archives
November 2018
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