Here in Haiti

     04:00 yesterday my alarm rang to prep for my IBC Airways flight to Cap-Haitien. It was the only airlines that I could find that would fly directly into Cap and the only one of the day. I stayed the night before at the Miami International Airport Hotel, and I'm so glad I didn't have to get up any earlier. At the airport, a cluster of college kids and a Haitian pastor kept me company before and during the flight. As the plane approached Haiti, it was clear why this land was named Ayiti which means mountainous land in the Taino language. The Tainos were the naives on Hispanola when Columbus arrived in 1492. The mountains are glorious, the land green, that is compared to the high desert of New Mexico, and the lovely breeze is crisp.

When I arrived @ the small Cap-Haitian Airport, I was greeted by my kind host, Father Geordani. He has gone out of his way to connect me with Americans, taking me to Cap last night to have dinner with Hannah, who works with the Cap-Haitien Health Network, and today introducing me to volunteers with Mama Baby Haiti, a fairly new nonprofit that is introducing prenatal care and natural birthing to the community of Vaudreuil. I’ll be working with both of these organizations while I learn Haitien Creole. 

The living quarters are adjacent to the hospital, school and church. The buildings are behind a 24 hour guarded high concrete fence and metal gate. A locked metal gate at the bottom of the stairs and the lock on my room door further ensures my safety. 

St. Francois de Sales Hospital and Clinic in Vaudreuil, Haiti