In just a few short days I’ll be jumping into my “summer” in the good ol’ US of A as most everyone there is wrapping their summer breaks up. My original plan was to return to the states June 1st and spend a few weeks visiting family, friends, and churches for support raising. Scratch that. As we (the midwives at the MC) looked at the coming months, June seemed as though it was going to be a little crazy with all the mommas we had due. With that in mind, I decided to push back my travels until the end of June to keep us from being short staffed during the busy months. Ditch that. I tried a few times to buy plane tickets, but thanks to occasionally sketchy Haiti wifi, my tickets didn’t go through and plans changed again. My sister and one of my dear friends from midwifery school decided to get married in August.
So…here I am. August is quickly approaching and it’s strange to think of leaving here to live in my other reality for the next 6 weeks. Sometimes I find it hard to fathom that my life, as I know it in America, is actually part of my life. The past 7 months have brought a change of perspective. In the Fall I came to Haiti thinking I would be here for a short time and then return to my life in the United States. After only 3 months and the mindset that I’d be returning to what I had left in the US, returning didn’t seem like such a strange thing. Since I returned (to Haiti) in January, my mind has made the switch…I live here. I’m no longer visiting Haiti…I’m visiting the US.
Living in Haiti means encountering a lot of people who come and go, many of whom you may only see once. Hence you’re always asking or answering the same 20 questions. “Where are you from? How long have you been here? What do you do here? How long are you staying?” And my very least favorite question, “How’s your Creole?” The "how long are you staying" question always gives me slight pause…I mostly want to answer, “forever.” However, one really wise ginger midwife I get to work with always says that saying we’ll stay forever shouldn’t really be ‘a thing’. She’s right. Things change, God leads, some doors open, some close, and saying I’ll stay forever doesn’t keep me open or flexible. Instead of answering, “forever” I usually end up saying…”I don’t know, but I hope it’s a long time.”
Thursday morning, while pregnant bellies waddle through our little maternity center door, I’ll be getting on a plane to fly back to the land of big highways, air conditioners, hot water, corn fields, green trees, my sweet family and lovely friends. I’m thankful I get to visit my other reality filled with so many wonderful people and thankful I get to return to this reality. I can’t wait to see and connect with so many of you!
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In other news, I’m a terrible blogger as you’ve noticed. Actually, I don’t think I even get to hold the title of ‘blogger’. Let’s just say I’m terrible at keeping you up on what’s going on here. If you’ve been following me or anyone who works in Haiti, you know we all ended up having Chikungunya. The acute phase was basically the most miserable I’ve ever been. That is long over and now most of our community continues to suffer from residual arthritic pain. It has been discouraging and downright depressing at times. The studies about longterm ChikV symptoms in the chronic phase have not been encouraging. We moan every time we see another article or study on it. The numbers are not good, but we are praying and hoping that those statistics, from other countries, will not be the case for our community and our little Caribbean island.
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Here are some news highlights in pictures…
My last few blog posts where about a baby named Marvens who suffered from Chikungunya. Many of you followed and shared his story while praying we’d see a miracle. We did! He’s doing amazing!
I get to see sweet baby Sofoni and her momma Guerda everyday. Everyday I'm still in awe of the miracle that they are. Guerda lost seven babies before giving birth to Sofoni. You can read her story here.
As always, births continue. Our last several births have been uncomplicated and quick! One of our recent moms arrived fully dilated and when I told her she dilated fast and could push whenever she felt like it, she responded with, "I went fast because I walked here." We teach, during prenatal education, that walking and being active in labor can help decrease the length of labor. I love it when the education we do makes a difference!
I've written before about taking moms home once we 'discharge' them. It's always humbling and eye-opening. You can read about it here, here , and here.
Tuesday's Child Development program and Thursday's Prenatal program continue weekly.
The new maternity center is slowly, but surely taking shape. This new site will eventually be an extension of what we do in the current maternity center.
Last, but not least, I had my first visitor! My sweet sweet friend Krista came, brought lots of fun goodies for us, loved on us and our mommas, and snuggled lots of babies. I LOVED every moment of having her here.
