This is a momentous day. My very first "This ain't no donkey ride" post! I figured between Haiti, and the Skyfest boogie last weekend, I had something to write about. I've already told each of you a little about the Haiti trip, but pictures are worth a thousand words, (or at least a hundred). In a nutshell, the trip was pretty amazing. There were no hitches getting there. All the flights were on time. We had to 'hide' our instruments and supplies in everyone's luggage, because the customs people in Haiti are fairly corrupt, and if they sense anything valuable coming through, they take it, or extort money from you. Nothing like that happened, and everyone's bags made it. We had a 3 hr ride to Grand Guave in a minivan, (luggage packed on top, thirteen people in the van!). Port Au Prince is pretty much a hell hole. Very crowded, extreme poverty (lots of 'tent cities'), and very dirty. Grand Guave was a bit better, but every bit as poor. No infrastructure to speak of. No running water, no electricity, no plumbing. The house we stayed in was basically a cinder block structure with cement floors. (the nicest place around- we had tent cities on either side of us). We had bunk beds with air mattresses, and fans. Thank goodness for the fans. It was HOT. Mid to upper 90's, with no cool down at night. The house (which Jim Early called the 'Osama Bin Laden' compound), had water coming in from a well, which we purified. We worked in different sites every day, with two days up in the mountains, (about 2200 ft). The ride up was definitely no donkey ride. It was a small flat bed truck, in which we packed all our supplies, and 23 people! The ride was 1 to 1.5 hrs, standing. The dental set up was basically two beach chairs, and plastic chairs for us. With no electricity, or water, or suction, we used 'miner' headlamps, and gauze. A lot of the extractions were surgical, requiring flaps, cutting away the bone with hand instruments, and gut sutures. The work was very challenging at times. Sterilization was done with Birex, Chlorox, and rinses. We worked everyday, except the last, which we worked till lunch, and then were rewarded with a couple of hours at a local beach, (clean, beautiful). We ate barbecued lobster tail there. It was so interesting being in, and interacting with another culture. The people were incredible. It's amazing to me, given the depth of poverty, and the challenges they face, how they manage to eek out a tenable existence. Their daily lives seem to center on getting clean water, (a few wells throughout the city), and sustenance. The women and children get the water, in 5 gal paint buckets, (40+ pounds), which they carry on their heads! Because of this, they walk with amazing grace. They take their faith seriously, (50% Catholic, 25% Protestant, with Voo Doo mixed in), and seem to have an unshakable hope for their future. The children are the same everywhere,, funny, playful. As you all my know, because you've done similar trips with Eddie, it also impressed me how much our team bonded. To do such hard work in such difficult conditions made us depend immensely on each other. It also struck me that during the hardest times, I noticed I was incredibly content, happy, and felt very alive. The only illnesses/injuries, were Gloria Cobb, who got sick, (vomiting), and me, when I stabbed my thumb when a tooth broke. The Dr's gave Gloria some Phenergan, which helped, and me a round of antibiotics, just to be safe. The entire group unanimously said they would go again in a heartbeat. We laughed, we cried, and came back blessed. Sorry if I rambled on. Thanks for listening.
The next week, I got go play. Went skydiving at the Skyfest Boogie in Chester. I've enclosed two links. One is a 4-way my friend mike taped with a camera on his helmet. It has me coming out of the plane after him, flying down and docking on his left. The other is my helicopter jump, when I borrowed his helmet/camera. (including the low level 'this ain't no donkey ride' up). Love you all....Can't wait till HH..Daddy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl6gFIS110g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8ucfdzPwIU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvrr75Fh9zg
