Friday, November 30, 2012

December Trip



The tickets are bought, the bags packed and now for a few days of hurry up and wait. Our crew is anxiously awaiting the opportunity to open up the clinic and see the neighbors of Santo. Here is what they can look forward to.  Haiti is a crazy place when you first land. When you arrive and disembark the aircraft you are hit by the heat and the smell. The smell is unlike anything here that I have come across.  It was suggested that if you crossed a manure pile and a boys locker room and lit it on fire you could come close to recreating it.  Since the arrival gate was destroyed you find yourself elbow to elbow in an old airplane hanger. You get jostled about trying to get your bags together.  Hot, tired, sweaty, nervous and that is only the beginning. The drive through Port Au Prince is over whelming. Rebuilding has been steadily improving the roads and buildings but it is very apparent the shear poverty that surrounds you.

A few things you might see on the way to clinic.

The tap-taps (taxi's) with more than a dozen people crowded on board.
A family of 4 on a motocycle.
The street vendors with most of their wares on their head.
The kids dressed up for school with their matching hair ribbons.
An assortment of pigs, goats, chickens and dogs that seem to live in every alley way.

45 minutes later you arrive at the clinic and unpack your many 50# bags of supplies. Then the fun really begins. Good luck crew.

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