Team 15 May 24, 2012, 2:00am We have just arrived home. Our clinic week is over and our feelings are mixed. There is the emotional peace and satisfaction of providing medicine and immediate medical care for so many who otherwise would continue with an infection or chronic condition that causes suffering and worse, possibly death. The reason for our medical preparation and pharmacy inventory is to provide the best and safest care for patients, the environment and MTM. Everyone knows such preparation takes days/weeks/years of organization and study along with the help, mentoring and prayers from many. No matter the extent of our preparation, the assaults onto our emotions continue to catch us off guard when we see a patient that is beyond our expertise, the resources in our clinic or the availability of care in Haiti. We have been lullabied each night by a rhythmic cadence of bitty tree frogs, tropical bugs and nightingales and awake to the blasts from roosters and dogs versus the electronic chime from our cell phones - the first reminder of our day that life is very different here in Haiti. The missioners all agreed that they were underprepared for the rigorous walk of 1.3 miles "down the mountain, across the river and up the second mountain". Even though I mentioned that the grade is steep and the "road" is uneven and rocky, it doesn't penetrate the optimism of the missioner until they make the trek in the Haitian heat following a heavy rain. The deeper perspective is appreciated when watching the villager walk evenly and methodically over the same terrain balancing a large bucket of water on their head, limping gracefully with a recent injury or chronic arthritis or lovingly cradling a sick child or two while covering 2-3-4 times our distance... likely being both hungry and thirsty. Similar to our communities, the villagers arrive to their destination either late at night or early in the morning to secure a spot in line for something they really want, but it's not for a concert ticket or a new technical gadget. Via binoculars we see their line snaking around the clinic at sunrise. We are well rested and have eaten a delicious, nourishing breakfast, filled our water bottles, donned our sturdy and well fitting shoes. Our backpacks are filled with a change of clothes (walking clothes are too sweaty to wear all day), our recharged otoscopes and extra peanut butter sandwiches. Those team members unable to make the daily walk (and that is many, including me!) travel in the bed of a pick-up truck or on the back of a 4-wheeler. Our fragile microscope is secured in the lap of a missioner sitting in the cab of the truck. Villagers and missioners all have arrived at the same destination, readied for the day, however we are all now very humbled. Always but never the same... Our ride through Port-Au-Prince was routine with our team and cargo traveling the familiar road up to the guest house and back to the airport, but my eyes could not dart fast enough from side to side to take in the newness. The only sign of rubble was organized into material piles being used for construction. All pancaked buildings were cleared. Instead of tattered and dilapidated tent cities, restored parks, new stone walls, fresh concrete buildings, sidewalks and curbs were budding. More than 5 new lots filled with dump trucks, heavy machinery and cranes dotted the main street we traveled. The energy of vendors, construction workers, patrons, airport 'Red Caps' and Haitian flags waving proudly was penetrating; but that has always been. President Martelley and his wife are speaking of education and health care as a priority. I am aware that other parts of the country may not be advancing in the same way, but optimism seems possible. Knowing that my description of our clinic days can be repetitive, I do want to report that we continued to see hundreds of patients of all ages ranging from pregnant women, newborns, children and adults up to 88 years old! The typical maladies are: infections, infestations, scabies, wounds, worms, malnutrition and chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, thyroid and others, which occur in all body systems. Most conditions we are prepared to treat, some are so severe we are stifled and broken hearted. What's never the same are the mothers, babies, children, the people... each face, each story, each life being unique and precious and worthy of whatever medical care we can provide. Our team of 26 is talented and diverse with our hearts, hands and feet well synchronized by the beat of compassion. The stoic nature of our patients can at times interfere with our history taking, and it's not until we do our physical exam that we find a significant problem. The same complaint of fever/cough/not eating in a child or headache/acid/knee pain in the adult just touches the surface of infected skin, scalp, ears, pneumonia or severe malnutrition in the child or out of control blood pressure, GI disease or chronic arthritis in the adult. I try to check what village my patients are traveling from but sometimes things are so busy... I cared for a 5 month old baby with a cleft lip and palate who was cocooned in a tattered blanket. The baby had a fever and was coughing, but was not irritable. Her mom was quiet and stiff. I examined then treated the baby for an ear infection, watched the mom gently and with expertise feed the baby with a bottle she adapted for the child's deformity, and I packed up a bag with formula, rice cereal and a lovingly hand-made blanket. The baby's mom was struggling to carry everything when my student noticed that she had an injured elbow and knee. After inquiring about the mom's injuries we learned that she had taken a motorcycle-taxi to the clinic, carrying the baby, all the way from the slums of Carrefour, which is significantly further from the clinic than the airport and took several hours to get to the clinic. During the ride she had fallen off the motorcycle but managed to protect her precious daughter, then got back on the motorcycle and made it to the clinic; no matter that she herself was frightened and injured. Such faces and stories of each patient are never the same. We look deeply into both and find resiliency, strength, devotion and hope. That seems to always be the same. Thank you for following our trip this week and for praying us through. Please know each kindness shared with us is deeply appreciated. Thank you team. Thank you MTM. Thank you Lord! May 16, 2012, 10:20pm Bonswa! Just a quick note to let you know we arrived safely with all of our suitcases and supplies, that we made it to the guest house with the rain holding off until after we were unpacked. We readied ourselves for the week with thanks and prayers, a delicious meal, several meetings and now a night's rest. More at the end of the week!