July 2018

July 15.18

CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Gupta recently published an article titled “The man who inspired me to be more selfless.” Confession? I immediately thought he was going to be discussing Jesus but alas, I was wrong. Disappointment would have set in but as I read on, I learned that he’d be focusing on another one of my personal heroes, Dr. Paul Farmer. This article could not have come at a more perfect time because part of the reason why my heart was ignited with a passionate fire for Haiti was a result of Dr. Farmer – his voice, his sense of advocacy, and his calling to resolve the “structural violence that influences the nature and distribution of extreme suffering.” You see, in 2013 after reading Mountains beyond Mountains (I highly encourage everyone who has not read this to do so, easily my top 5 favorite books), I felt my world shake “out of a state of complacency." This book documents the life of Farmer and his journey towards becoming a healer. His devotion to the people of Haiti, brought to light a comprehensive social understanding about human disparity, agency, and the dismantling the separations that grant some access to care while subjecting others to horrific injustices. For the past 5 years, coming to Haiti has been a dream, one that I felt would happen later in life, but life never seems to work out how we expect it to, does it?

Reflecting on the past month in Thomassique, Haiti (3 hours away from the capital, PAP), I realized that I had come in with an overly idealistic mindset. A book can only tell a person so much about people, culture, villages and poverty. Though I had witnessed poverty and experienced being a ‘foreigner’ in other countries, I underestimated the magnitude of the later. Poverty in Haiti is as tragic as one can imagine, and it’s clear simply by looking at the economic condition; $1.oo USD = 67 Haitian Gourde. Streets are unpaved, people starving/ malnourished, and preventable illnesses run rampant. Before I go onto share about the past month here, I want to quickly give y’all some background about the fellowship.

The Medical Missionaries Global Health Fellowship grants 2-3 students the opportunity to work for one year in the Central Plateau at St. Joseph’s Clinic and throughout 6 bordering villages. There are 9 major projects which we oversee: Community Health Workers, Matwons (traditional birth assistants), mobile clinics, water purification, child malnutrition, salt iodization, chronic disease/prevention education, student work study program, and the dental hygiene program. The beauty of this NGO is that it is focused on sustainability and continuity care- ideas are centered around the whole concept of “give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and feed him for a life-time.”

As for the past month here, well…It has come with a lot of challenges. Adjusting to the materialistic aspects (food and shelter) were relatively easy, and to my surprise we have water and electricity more regularly than I thought. However, the difficult part for me has been learning to navigate in a place without speaking the language (Kreyol). The region of Thomassique has approximately 250,000 inhabitants, and the 2 other fellows and I are the only Americans here. I've always been aware of my skin color, but I have never felt less brown than I have here, and have never felt more like a foreigner than I have here. My inability to speak Kreyol has been one of my greatest obstacles. The dilemma I am facing now is how can I be of service if my level of communication is elementary. Grace teaches me to be patient, and through this, my heavenly father reminds me daily that I have two other fellows (Jason and Ruth) that I can rely on and who are constantly willing to help me.

Enough about the first 3 weeks. The challenges still exist and will continue to persist in different ways. However, in the past 2 weeks I’ve been able to see Haiti from a different lens. Haiti is a place covered with beauty-- If not in the waves and smiles of people, it can be found walking in the Ondeo which is filled with Mango trees, banana trees, and corn fields. Some quick facts you should know about Haitians/Haiti:

1. People here are resilient and resourceful. They work hard but poverty is a condition that continues to oppress. The community health workers (CHWs) that we meet with are advocates for their people and the hands/feet that bring healing.

2. Water is a sacred resource and I’ve learned to value it even more during my time. People are victims of contaminated water systems which results in increased cases of cholera. We are currently working with one of the most susceptible village in Barank and their Community Health Worker+committee to develop ways to mitigate this issue. Latrines are one of the main priorities at the moment.

3. Haitians LOVE sugar! Im going to spare the details about the amount of sugar required to appease Haitian taste buds but, I learned my lesson during the first Matwon meeting of our year, as the 5 gallon cool-aid mix I made went untouched(Lets just say that Ima need to up my sugar game).