Tania is off to Haiti

Just another ordinary day in Jacmel

2010-05-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Monday May 17th, 8:15AM. Wake up right on time for our morning clinic. Would have loved a couple of extra hours of sleep but duty called in the middle of the night and we had a lovely little boy born at 2:17AM. There are only 2 of us midwives on site right now so clinic days are long and tiring. Monday is our pediatric clinic day. We see 40-50 babies and kids up till the age of three. Basic care and counseling. Lots of colds and coughs and scabies and diarrhea. Each child more precious than the next. It’s a delight to see them healthy with just little runny noses and it is heartbreaking to hold the severely malnourished. Thankfully we are seeing less and less of these cases now…
Resia walks in for care. 35 weeks pregnant, she’s come all the way from the mountain for a consultation. She is expecting her 3rd child and definitely not in labor. I go to assess. She proceeds to tell me she had an episode of heavy bleeding dating back to 5 days prior. Run through my questionnaire. Baby has not been moving as much as he used to. I send her right away to our local hospital for an ultrasound. She comes back an hour later to tell me the ultrasound machine is not in working order…And here we go. This has happened before and has turned out to be a total fib so I decide to go talk to the OB myself and see what is going on. We hop on a moto taxi. A little moped – driver, very pregnant woman and me on board zipping down the hill to St. Michel hospital.Turns out this time it is true. No ultrasounds today. Ask when the problem will be fixed and get the oh-too-common “God only knows” answer. By now it is 2PM and the sun is scorching hot. There are 2 more ultrasound machines in Jacmel –guarded behind the tall walls of the private OB clinics. Our NGO pays for these and at 20$ a pop, it’s not hurting our budget. Fingers-crossed that the machines are functional today. Back on the moped…And zip we go. First clinic is closed for some reason. Second clinic, sigh of relief, is open. At least physically. But after 30 min of waiting, we are told the OB has left and we should return the next day…Resia is so grateful, she promises me she will come back to the 2nd clinic at 7AM to get her ultrasound done. We part ways and I worry all day and night about her and her baby. Partial placental abruptio running through my mind (when the placenta partially separates from the uterine wall…). I hope and pray for a healthy outcome.

Next day, 11AM, Resia comes back with her ultrasound report in hand. I’m at the dome clinic with a mama in labor, first baby, transitioning nicely. Diagnosis confirmed (my worst fear coming true) plus, the report reveals that the baby is compromised…I leave Pamela (our current volunteer midwife) alone with the laboring mom hoping to have enough time to make it to the hospital and back before the birth. And zip, zip, zip…back on the moped and off to St. Michel we go. Today is National Flag day and the streets are full of people and loudspeakers have been blasting compa music since sunrise. Party day indeed. The maternity ward is deserted but I manage to find the OBGYN. Present the case and they decide to keep her under observation. They can’t do anything until they get her lab work done and obviously, since it’s a national holiday, the hospital lab is closed. Resia understands this and says she will go home. The OB non chalantly hands her back her ultrasound results and walks away. I stand in disbelief…I have a mama that doesn’t seem to understand the severity of her and her baby’s situation – she’s about to get onto a pick-up truck and ride the hour long bumpy road back up the mountain where there is no medical care available. She is adamant about going home. And I have an OB who can’t take the time to tell her in creole the reason why she should stay put. The OB is not reacting well to me asking about what his clinical plan is. We have a confirmed partial abruption with a non-reassuring biophysical profile and no-one seems to be too concerned. My hands are tied. I just manage to get the OB to at least explain the situation to Resia and let her walk away informed. I walk with her, back to the house. She insists that she will come back to our clinic if she bleeds again. I ask her to go directly to the hospital instead if that happens. But she keeps insisting. I get a translator on the phone to explain this to her, just in case she is not understanding my creole. She still insists to him that she’ll just come back to our clinic. We part ways after walking together from the hospital. She doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. Smiling and waving bye-bye as she walks down the dusty street to go find a ride back up to the mountain.

Mama’s still labouring at the dome. Have a quick shower and walk up the hill to sit by her in the afternoon heat, taking it one contraction at a time.

Pictures...finally

2010-04-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

Been having the hardest time uploading onto this blog...FB makes it easier...Going to keep updating my FB albums with shots of Jacmel and our work here...Cheers!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5710318&l=a8943d4b86&id=642175405

Good Friday in Jacmel

2010-04-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

Good Friday in Jacmel…

There is nothing like waking up to the sound of a pious procession walking and singing through the damp streets of downtown Jacmel. We all gather on the balcony and watch in awe. I loooooooooove this scene unfolding beneath us. The usual morning traffic of trucks, tuk-tuks and motor-taxi and their incessant honking replaced by a beautiful chorus of voices. I can’t help but get teared-up. Moments like these are few and far between in this place. All the hardships we’ve had and problems we keep encountering when trying to do our work are tiring. So this morning was healing in a way. Nice to feel hope and happiness for a change.

Things with the Olive Tree Projects are standing still. Waiting for the furniture to arrive so we can get this clinic started and Sara has been adamant about not beginning any clinical activities until we have an adequate set-up and I completely respect her decision.

My mantra for this journey to Haiti has been: expect nothing and prepare for anything.

I came to Jacmel to help with the Olive Tree Projects. I’m still involved but the work that I am doing for them is nothing like what I had prepared myself for. However, what I am learning is just as valuable. My journey takes me in a completely different direction as I walk through the door of the big pink house on Portail Leogane street on March 17th, 2010. Meet Susan and the other volunteer midwives. Work in the big white dome clinic and see woman after woman for prenatal care. Bumi Sehat Haiti. Next thing I know, I am living in this amazing home, sharing in the work with a crew of eccentric but passionate people, getting a better understanding of where I have landed.
Kelly, the executive director arrives from the Okanagan on March 21st, a fellow BC midwife I click with right awat. The energy of this place changes completely and it feels good to have her presence. Get right down to business on Monday morning and next thing I know, I am knee deep in politics, administration and staffing issues. Totally not what I expected to be doing here. Far from it actually. I was open to helping in whichever way would be needed but this mandate was definitely not something I thought I would have to open myself to. I struggled for the next 48hrs trying to figure out whether or not I could take this mandate on. I came very close to just packing my bags and coming home. So what could be so bad that I was ready to pack up and say goodbye?
Bumi Sehat has been in Haiti for 6 weeks now. The dome tent that serves as a clinic and birthing center was inaugurated less than 2 weeks after the team’s arrival. Talk about hitting the ground running. Prenatal care and primary care for children under 3yrs old. The space just opened for births and thus far we have had 5 (all boys) and expecting many more as the word spreads in the community. It’s all good except for what is going on in the background. Kelly finds out that the location they had picked for the dome is not in a regular tent city, it is in the most infamous tent city of Jacmel. A real ghetto. And so we struggle to integrate this community of hard people. Lots of drama, fights, and threats after a few of our workers are laid off. Our security was never an issue but the dome suffered some damage in the midst of this all and we learned some valuable lessons. It’s been 5 days now and the ambiance has completely changed. Lots of meetings and talks later, I believe we have found peace here. Lots of issues with work ethic, professionalism and pride. Haiti’s issues run deeper than any earthquake and every organization trying to establish itself within communities will find similar challenges. Long term sustainability means counting on having a majority of Haitians working for the organization and less and less expatriate volunteers. It will be a challenge to find workers that will be responsible enough to complete their mandates without supervision. We have a few already and our next step will be to make sure that the community in the tent city understands that we are only here to help and that their collaboration is the key to enable our project to do the good it was meant to do.

Back to Good Friday. The afternoon clinic is open, although not many patients come as it is a holiday. I take this quiet time to finalize inventory and stock. I’m working on making prenatal booklets for our many women right now. And this week, I continue with the teaching workshops. Looking forward to seeing our motivated community educators again. A beautiful gang of very bright university students that will be qualified to teach health workshops at our clinic and in their own communities after they complete their training with us.

After a good days work, 3 of us head out to the countryside for “ra-ra”. After carnival (mardis gras in March), communities organize ra-ra’s each and every day for the 40 days of lent. This year, the government has banned ra-ra’s but there are still some happening and Reggie takes us to his grandfather’s village to ra-ra away the evening. Imagine a crowd of 50 people, starting at one location, much like a parade with a band and band leader. Marching to the beat of the drum. Start at the cemetery, lots of rhum being spat onto the graves of the elders. Then the music starts and we walk to the next location. Going from door to door. The crowd getting bigger and bigger and we just follow their cue. Hours later, we part ways and walk home, still feeling the rhythm of the drums in our systems.

It’s been quiet on the birthing front. A few peaceful births here and there. Our prenatal clinic is getting busier and busier which means, we will soon be experiencing an exponential rise in births as we build a larger clientele. Stay tuned…

Bumi dome birth

2010-03-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

I had my first birth last night, wonderfully peaceful birth inside our big white dome. The construction crew has finally managed to fence off our area as hoards of curious on lookers from the neighbooring tent city would literally just come and hang out while our women laboured. I've been pretty hand off the last few births as the other volunteers here are just dying to catch Haitian babies - so rather than fight about it - I just set back and continue working on all the sorting of suplies and equipment and join in at all the mobile clinics we've been organizing. Marc ( our Aussie medic) and I have been hitting all the neglected tent cities, seeing hundreds of patients. I've never bandaged, sutured so many wounds or ever seen and treated so many scabies cases. I promise to write more very soon and I'm working hard at getting my million pictures up...slow Internet and not enough time with running electricity is seriously slowing the process down.
Off to the beach after a 12hr day. Well deserved, I'm aching for a good dinner and cold beer!

Hello Jacmel...my new home away from home

2010-03-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

Sara picked me up in Carrefour and after a chatty 2hr pick-up ride, we make it to her house in the outskirts of Jacmel. The maternity center is beautiful and I cannot wait to see it all set up with furniture and supplies. She had expected to receive a shipment of furniture a week ago, but there were delays as usual and the shipment is not scheduled to arrive to port until the end of March. Sara had called to give me the heads up as she was worried about me coming and being bored since none of the clinical activities can begin until we get the actual furniture.

Awesome that things always seem to work out despite changes in plans...

An NGO named Bumi Sehat had gotten in contact with me (word spread quickly within the midwifery community that a French speaking midwife was coming to Jacmel and staying for a couple of months). They asked me to come work with them ASAP. So it worked out perfectly as things with Sara's Olive Tree Projects will be slow until the end of the month.

I worked all morning with the people of Bumi, a gang of midwives all very eager to work and all sharing a philosophy of low-intervention births, which are the kind I love. They have set up this amazing dome tent in the middle of the field with beds and a full pharmacy. We have 6 consultation beds and do 2 days of pre and postnatal consults per week, seeing anywhere between 50 to 100 women per day. They all have charts with us and we offer them the option to come give birth at the dome when their time comes. Basic prenatal care, but oh so important. Love it! Felt right at home as this is what I had been doing in Carrefour, except that the set-up Bumi has is much easier to work in. There is still A LOT of organizing to do. Susan, the coordinator and I got along like 2 peas in a pod and she was impressed at how autonomous I already was. Really helped that I had been doing this in Carrefour, as I was back in my comfort zone of standard prenatal and postnatal care. My creole is getting better and better. My comprehension is 90% but I am still having a hard time speaking as I quickly revert to French as it is easier than to try and find my creole words. Anyways, my official application (a 4 page essay written late last night) was reviewed by the directors and approved and I got offered to come live at their huge house a couple of minutes walking distance from the dome. A comfy set up with meals included at no cost since they have taken me in as official staff. I am set up at Sara's for now but might take the offer and move in. They are expecting 8 births in the next couple of weeks and an average of 40 per month starting April. It would be most convenient for me to live with them as I will be expected to be on-call. I'm going to weigh my options and decide tomorrow. Got offered to stay at the assistant's directors hotel which is a couple of blocks away. Cheap but not free. I might just do that as I don't necessarily want to work, live, eat and sleep with the same people day in and day out for the next couple of months. Knowing myself, I will go a bit stir crazy if I don't have room to breathe. Anyways, gonna sleep on it and decide. Happy to have so many options. Everyone I have met so far has been hilarious and there is quite the mix of personalities at the Bumi Sehat House, so I'm looking forward to being busy there until things get more organized at Sara's. The beach is at walking distance and everyone meets there on Sundays for beers and BBQ. I really thought I was coming into total devastation and didn't bother packing a bathing suit as I thought that I would surely not have any time to even think of beach bumming...Apparently, it ain't so. We work hard, but SUndays are everyone's day off and all the expats come out from their guarded NGO compounds and meet at the beach. It's nice to see that there will be a healthier balance here. I'm really looking forward to the road ahead.

If you wanna know more about Bumi Sehat's work visit their blog: bumisehathaiti.blogspot.com

Internet access will be easier from now on and I will make sure to upload my pictures as soon as I can.
Love from Haiti,
T.

Bye bye Carrefour...

2010-03-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

First leg of the journey is done. I left the Carrefour Mission yesterday morning. A week earlier than I had planned because an NGO in Jacmel got a hold of me and was asking if I could come ASAP.
So I survived a total of 10 full work days in Carrefour. Splitting my time between home (tent) mother-baby visits, community health teachings in the tent cities and the Mission's home clinic during the day and working long nights at the Dikini maternity ward catching babies by the dozen. Amazing experience but exhausting at the same time. Stretched myself and my skills to the limit, having to provide primary care as well as dealing with complex obsterical complications I have never treated in my career before. Each day at the compound was different and I had to be flexible as things were constantly changing. The needs here are endless...
My last 24hrs in Carrefour were memorable. I was signed up for a day shift at the maternity ward which started at 7AM and was supposed to end a 7PM. Caught 4 babies in less than 8hrs, saw over 20 women with gynecological issues, monitored and medicated my 2 severe pre-eclamptics and helped a mom cope thru a spontaneous abortion at 16 weeks gestation... As my shift was ending, a new mom was wheeled in. She had given birth to a very premature little boy. There was not enough staff available that night to cover all the patients that we had so I offered to stay the night. This baby was on the brink. Not sure if he would make it thru the night as he was not able to breastfeed. I rigged him up with a gastric feeding tube and I offered to be the one to come feed him every 2 hrs. He just got to me. 1.5 kg, tiny little creature, hanging on to dear life. Mom was exhausted - had delivered by C-section and was still pretty out of it. The hospital does not have incubators and not enough staff to look after high need preemies. So I basically sat with him in my arms all night. Kagaroo care has been proven to help premature babies...Keeping them craddled helps them regulate their body temperature and vital signs. So I had him in my arms all night, feeding him every 2 hrs, slowly so he wouldn't regurgitate...a feeding could take up to an hour...The night turned out to be crazy with mom after mom coming in to birth and being short staffed, I had to help. I assisted the other midwife on-call during 2 deliveries with this little man still in my arms. By 3AM I was struggling to stay awake. Running to fetch labs, getting extra supplies, looking for meds we needed for our preeclamptics and taking new patients history as the midwife on-call didn't speak creole. All while having this little man strapped onto me. Not hard to do as his tiny body just fit perfectly only mine.
My ride was coming to pick me up at 8 AM but I was nowhere near being done my shift. I ran all over the hospital trying to find someone who could help me figure out where the baby could be transfered because our hospital was definitely not equipped to deal with such a premature baby. I couldn't bare to leave without knowing what was going to happen to this baby. Took me an hour, my ride waited patiently and at 9AM I got the final answer that this baby had found a new home in a feeding center closeby where he could stay with his mom and receive the TLC and medical care he would need to have a real chance.
Needless to say that I walked back into the compound and went straight to sleep in my tent. 2 hours later I wake up in a puddle of sweat, with my heart racing and feeling dizzy. Completely dehydrated, overheated (so tired, I fell asleep in a boiling hot tent with little ventilation) and too exhausted to understand what was going on with me. Thankfully Cheryl and Rodney acted quickly and I was put under a cold shower, clothes and all and fed bottle after bottle of gatorade. I slept for the rest of the early afternoon, indoors this time...I had to postpone my ride to Jacmel to the next day as I was definitely not in a state to travel.
Woke up the next morning, rested and rehydrated. Packed all my stuff, did a couple of last home visits to check up on my babies and said my goodbyes. Happy to go off on a new adventure but to say goodbye to everyone I had been living, working and sharing in this experience with...

Made it...

2010-03-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

Been meaning to update the blog but my schedule here has been insane. Its been 5 days and yet I feel like I've been living here for months. Splitting my time between daytime community outreach clinic and night-time hospital births. Definitely sleep deprived and learning to function on 2 meals of rice per day. Feeling great though!

I promise to post more details as to what has been happening here but for now, here are some pictures...I'll post more as soon as I can. Love you all!

What it really means to hit the ground running

2010-03-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Made it! Safe and sound and exhausted but thrilled to finally have arrived.
My first 24 hrs in Haiti...

"Expect nothing and prepare for anything"- my mantra.

Land in PAP at 9AM: emotional landing as we could already see the vast fields of tents and rubble and military tanks. Looks like a war zone with thousands of refugees in the streets and fields. The US military is everywhere and UN tanks regularly driving down the streets. The airport is busy, cargo planes, military helicopters and now commercial flights. Feels unreal to have this setting as a backdrop.
Took almost 2 hours to push and shove our way thru the piles of luggage and masses of passengers running around all over the place. Hallelhuia for us making it thru customs without much trouble. luggage was a blast. Felt right at home in the chaos - pushing and shoving your way, hoping to find your bags intact. Mine were (thank God - all that tape held and
noone broke the locks). I smoozed myself thru customs, busting out the little creole I know and putting my haitian accent to the test. Turns out it worked and I managed to get Molly and Cheryl to go thru without any glitches. Then the wait. Someone was supposed to be picking us up. We end up getting a hold of one of the chauffeurs and after a couple of hours of waiting patiently, he finally arrives to take us to Carrefour. Crossing the arrivals gate to go into the street was quite an ordeal as everyone just grabs at the luggage - offering to take it to the Jeep for us in exchange for a quick tip.

Bumpy and not too long road to Carrefour. It's actually hard to tell the difference between
the temporary shacks that were set up after the quake from those that have always existed. Aside from the massive piles of rumble one sees every few blocks, the streets look the same as
they always have and people are going about their daily life so non chalantly it's strange to think of how much loss they have suffered and are still grieving since the quake. Resilience,

strength and powerful faith. The markets are open, vendors are selling, buses and traffic as usual.

Here goes...

2010-03-05T03:52:00.000-08:00

6:25AM Fort Lauderdale Airport
Sipping my dunkin donuts coffee.
Met Cheryl and Molly last night at bagage claim. I am so happy to be going as a gang, at least for the first part of this tri. We'll be working together at the carrefour hospital. We got to the hotel at 1AM. Unable to fall asleep though and laughing as we were setting the alarm for a mere 3 hours later. We're tired but pumped. Molly is my age and also aspiring to work with soca without borders. We clicked right away. Cheryl has kids that are our age, very sweet and maternal. We are going to be eacothers main support for the next 10 days. I'm really glad we're all in this together and it's reassuring to see that i am not the only one who is not to sure what to expect once there. Our NGO has been more a source of confusion than a reassuring entity. We are the first ones from this NGO to got to Carrefour so we shall discover as we go...

I'm actually excited. I feel pumped and ready to hit the ground running. The past few days of mad rushing and last minute everything have been insane! Thank you Matt for sticking by me and helping. The scene at Seattle airport was a classic. Over the weight limit (I was expecting it)...kneeling at the counter, taking out stuff on by one, syringes and meds flying all over the place as I open my carefully, tightly packed cases. I have a thing for chaos I guess. I think that's why I'll find something familiar while in Haiti...that chaos that forces you to step out of comfort and deal with whatever comes your way...
I feel ready! Wish me luck!

PS: thanks to Matt cause that was not an easy goodbye. Add the drama of me realizing I had left my engagement ring at the motel...

Last 24 hours in Canada

2010-03-03T22:56:00.001-08:00

Oh me, oh my! Words cannot describe how I am feeling...Departing in 12 hours....We left Tofino two days ago, with enough time to stop for more supplies and some last minute personal shopping. Picked up a last bin from Kim in Victoria (so happy to finally meet her in person) and then made it to Seattle this afternoon to pick up the last of the equipment I had ordered and shipped out to the Midwifery School. 4 extra boxes including some more donations from Rhode Island. Packing was like a complex game of Tetris and I am soooooooo glad everything fit and I won't have to leave anything behind other than a box of 1cc syringes and a couple of bags of speculums (already have 10 packs).

Alright, time to get some sleep...Last night on a comfy mattress...Gonna wake up extra early tomorrow to take a last long hot shower...

All packed and ready to go!

Supplies, supplies and more supplies

2010-02-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

6 days left...

I have sooooo much stuff to pack. And still waiting for so much more....I have NO IDEA how I'm going to pack all of this and take it with me. Looking for alternate ways of shipping donations to Haiti because, at this point, no matter how badly I feel about not being able to take every single donation on board with me, there is no way I will be able to find the extra room. This serves as a testimony to the unlimited generosity of complete strangers...just giving and giving and giving some more and doing their part in helping Haiti! Thank you again to everyone who so generously donated!!!!!

Today I found a charity based out of Victoria that is shipping containers of donations out to Haiti. They have a drop-off point in the city and have managed to ship out 4 containers of stuff out there already! I've received so many baby clothes, diapers, blankets....all precious gifts and I am soooooo happy to know they will make their way to Haiti cause I was feeling terrible about not being able to bring more than the essential medical supplies I was over-packing my suitcases with!

This is a shout-out to Kim. Kim is a fellow midwife based out of Victoria who was the first to answer to my plea. I shamelessly faxed and emailed all the midwifery practices of Vancouver Island asking for donations of any kind... And Kim answered quickly and loudly! No words can describe how generous and kind she has been, getting medical supplies together for me, packing them in bins and finding an easy way to ship them directly to me in Tofino (thank you Heather for bringing everything all the way out here!) and spreading the word! Her clients embarked and she gathered over a dozen more bins in under a week of baby stuff of precious worth! We've been emailing back and forth for weeks now and have never met! Kim is an angel. Responded so quickly and generously to my plea and got everyone she knew on board. She'll be shipping all the extra stuff via the Victoria Charity. Her house has served as a warehouse and, on top of taking care of her clients due to birth, she has found the time and energy to organize and pack loads and loads of donations that will shortly be making their way to those who need them the most. Here are some before and after pics of Kim's home, full of donations. Thank you again and again Kim!!!!!!! You have no idea how grateful I am for all your help....xoxo

Pre-departure butterflies

2010-02-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

It's hitting me at last! The busyness of fundraising is finally settling down. I'm now in pre-departure mode. The outpour of generosity, donations, gifts and support has been INCREDIBLE. Touched by the kindness of strangers. Awed by their generosity. Overwhelmed by feelings of gratitude as I sit in my floating home.

Just figuring out how to get all my stuff to pass customs without too much hassle. From what I have gathered so far, I should be OK crossing the US boarder (fingers crossed as I wait for the final answer). But it seems like as soon as one thing is cleared - and a pound of stress melts off my shoulders - a new issue comes up... Just heard that I should expect to be taxed heavily once at the Port-au-Prince airport. Run of the mill, usual and oh so familiar corruption but man alive, am I not looking forward to Haitian Customs! Apparently, if I don't pay up, my stuff will be confiscated...

Being the first team to arrive to Carrefour, we have no real idea what to expect. And our NGO can't tell us much more about the situation there. We're just going to have to wing it. I just can't stand the thought of there even being the slightest chance that all these medicines, supplies and equipment - so generously donated and gathered - might be taken away within minutes of reaching their destination. Not looking forward to having to argue my way through customs and, although I have lived this before in other countries, I have never been responsible for transporting such preciously needed cargo.
So this is my stress-of-the-day: "How to make it thru Haitian customs smoothly?".

Hope, hope, hope some more...and just wait and see...

Fundraising 101

2010-02-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

I don't remember ever taking a class on fundraising...

Figure that the best way to learn was by doing. And so I had my 1st fundraiser last night and it was a success!

THANK YOU TOFINO!!!!

We counted over 120 people, raised a little over 800$ and donations are still coming in!!!!!! Then add the value of the love and support I received that night...Invaluable! But oh so appreciated and needed!!!!

Got all the funds needed to cover the cost of the supplies that had been ordered. Received extra donations from Victoria, Nanaimo to all the way from Ontario and Rhode Island! I'm leaving with so much stuff, we'll not only be able to set-up a fully-functional maternity center, but we'll have enough equipment and supplies to make it safely and smoothly through a good few months of births!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED AND HELPED !!!!!

Awed, amazed, speechless and utterly grateful! To the kindness and support of my family, Matt's incredible family, our friends, my extended family of midwives, our fellow Tofitians, and EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO EITHER DONATED SUPPLIES, MONEY, IDEAS, KIND WORDS OF SUPPORT and/or PRAYERS. Thank you ALL!

No gesture is too small and no gesture goes unnoticed.

I have learnt much more than the ins-and-outs of raising funds...I've learnt about and been touched by the kindness and generosity that we all have within us...whichever way we express it...
Every single person that I have met while preparing for this journey has helped and touched me in ways I will never be able to thank them enough for...From the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU.

What made you want to go?

2010-02-10T00:04:00.000-08:00

That's gotta be the question that I have been asked the most.

I don't really know. It was just my heart and gut reacting to the news and a nagging feeling inside me that I HAD TO DO SOMETHING...

Rewind....

Growing up in a bunch of countries all over Central America and West Africa. Moving every 3-4 years. Constantly immersed in different cultures. Never knowing what I could truly call my home. I always dreamed I would continue in my parents' footsteps and hoped to work in international development. Had a heart for humanitarian aid since I was a kid....In 2004, found midwifery as my calling to help others...

Fast-forward....

Montreal, Qc. Summer 2005. I meet Mathieu. Love of my life. But life gets in the way and we part. He moves to Tofino BC. I graduate as a midwife.

We meet again in the fall of 2008 and get engaged. Long-distance love for over a year until Dec 31st, 2009, when we reunite for good. I leave my job and we embark on a cross-Canada drive out to our new home in Tofino. We arrive on Jan 14th...2 days after the earthquake in Haiti. After days spent at home, listening to the news and crying, I tell Matt I have to go help. I have his full support.

Weeks of emails and phone calls later, I find a way to go and book my flight.

One-way.

Departure March 5th.

3 weeks till departure...

Time to get organised and start raising funds....