Sunday, January 29, 2017

Jupiter First and A Children's Clinic!

What a week! Sometimes when I sit down to write this blog, I have to scroll back through our facebook posts just to remember everything that went on in the past 7 days. It seems like so much gets done and in the chaos of all that is happening, it's so easy to forget if something happened this week or perhaps another week - or even perhaps in a dream, and didn't happen at all! (Yes, I have a funny story about an email I sent to Cherylann, apologizing for not doing something she asked of me - she had no idea what I was talking about!) It surely must have been a dream!

As we mentioned last week, this week we hosted our first full, Florida-based group from Jupiter First Church out of Jupiter, FL. Thanks to the great leadership of our friend and Director of Florida Outreach, Dr. Reverend Deb Kaiser Cross, we were able to bring this first-time group to Haiti to experience all that there is to offer, and most importantly, to provide a home to a family in need. The group was more than motivated, and when on the first night they expressed their desire to build not one but two homes in Haiti this past week, I knew we had a great group of Britsionarys with us!


That's just what they did, too! While typically we aren't able to be quite that responsive in terms of securing a home-build site and the materials needed to build one quite as quickly as we did this past week, we happened to have excess materials on hand, and so the group divided up in to two smaller groups and set off in a friendly, spirited competition! The amount of work they were able to get done in just the first two days alone was impressive, and we decided to bring the group together to finish each house as a full and complete group - just to be sure everyone had a chance to work together! What a blessing to be able to provide two families with safe shelter after a hard working week.


While our group was busy building their two homes, we were so fortunate to have on hand two medical Britsionarys. Kathleen and Yvonne didn't know each other ahead of the trip, but after working closely for a week providing care to some of the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, I think these two have forged a great friendship. Early on in the week, Kathleen and Yvonne were able to work two morning community clinics over at the Haiti Arise clinic in Grand Goave. This experience gives great perspective I think on the challenges every day Haitians face, and the challenge that health care providers face, too. We are so grateful to be able to help the community members who come in seek of assistance!

The highlight of the week for me, at least in terms of medical, was on this past Wednesday, when we hosted a pediatric clinic right here at Be Like Brit! As I work closely with Cherylann on the strategic planning of the scaling up of our medical services, we're collecting information to develop a comprehensive needs assessment. These types of pilot project days can offer a lot of insight in to what our needs may be. As we gather this data over time, we're hopeful for the future when we can offer these services on a regular basis.



We were able to see 30 children in just 4 hours - some of them quite sick, and successfully refer them to other hospitals who can assist. It's a helpless and frustrating feeling when you know what's wrong with a child and you think you know how to help, only to find doors closed at every turn. This is why we have to start taking on more and more responsibility for our own neighbors, as we know the state system simply does not have the capacity to respond or exist in any consequential way.

We had a very exciting visitor arrive at Brit's Home in Haiti just yesterday afternoon! Our very own Melissa flew back across the pond from London to be with us for a week while she conducts research on barriers to medical care for children in rural Haiti. We're thrilled she was able to partner up with several community sites who are working in this area, and that the contacts she's made over time in Haiti were so willing to be helpful in this area! We also can't wait for her findings to be compiled, as they will also be a tool that helps us develop our own program. Let's welcome Melissa back to BLB!!!


We have a very busy year ahead of us with many, many groups (medical and other) planned. As we roll in to February this week, may we all be mindful of the limitations which constrain us, and the effects we might have on others in life through our own direct or indirect efforts.

As always, thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!!!


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