Dearest Family and Friends....I was blessed and privileged to be a part of this team. Words come to mind like passionate in care, fun, energetic and committed and willing to do whatever is necessary to assist our Haitian brothers and sisters. This week most patients had to sleep on the floor of the waiting room or outside awaiting care... the team before us had canceled so we were "behind the 8 ball" as they say from the get go....3 deep they stood as we approached the clinic and squeezed hands and said Bonjour.... prayerfully we made a difference... they said we did. We diagnosed 3 new type 1 diabetics...UGH, provided hospice care and refilled many hypertensive and diabetic meds and creamed many a child for scabies...God knows their needs and we are there to provide some relief and education. So I am lucky to be the pediatric component of this team ....so many cute, beautiful breastfed babies!!!!!!! Thanks to friends who knit blankets and sew pillowcase dresses and cute jackets for my children in need....I'm on the good end of the stick!! That being said I needed a boy to return for wound care and did not return. Pray that he comes to the next clinic in 3 weeks (isn't that cool... just 3 weeks between care!!!) The following clinic isn't until January!!! Please keep your thoughts and prayers rolling for our patients and their needs to be fulfilled!!
Tomorrow we will begin our journey home to you after a long, hard, amazing week of humanitarianism, stewardship, and friendship. Here a few observations, thoughts, and/or stories from this week.This has been one of the most amazing weeks I have ever had. We keep saying to each other that we will never be able to describe the things that we have seen, done, and experienced; while I believe this to be true, I hope that someday you will be able to feel what I have felt this week. I have been blessed to take part in the hands of God, doing his work, in his name. We were able to help over 1,000 patients in 5 days! I am proud and blessed to have had each and every single person with me on this journey, everyone playing an integral part. I will never forget this trip, this feeling, or my new Little By Little Family. Thanks be to God! <3 courtney="" p="">
What an incredible week, everyone came together, both the newbees and oldins, as an amazing team with one goal, to provide our Haitian friends with loving but professional care. It was so good to see old friends including Hatian friends and a delight to have the students and meet new friends. Each trip here both amazes and humbles me. Everyone has something to offer and there is so much wisdom abounding. God blessed us with great weather too so we could trek up and down the mountain safely. As I get ready to leave to go home I will always keep Haiti and my special friends here close to my heart. Laura D
It never ceases to amaze me that when you provide service to another, God blesses you in return. He has blessed this team with the endurance and strength to trek up and down the mountain every day, providing service to hundreds of the most gracious people. Our hearts return to the states full of love and gratitude. – Emily
I did not know what exactly to expect when I received the invitation for the trip but I truly believe that God knew that I needed this country in my life. There are not many words to describe what this trip has meant to me as it goes beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I am returning home tomorrow full of love and a new appreciation for the little things I have taken for granted. I cannot wait to come back. This group was truly amazing and I am so blessed that I got to be a part of it! -Renae
This my last night in Gramothe, Haiti and I can honestly say it has been an eye-opening experience. An experience I was original scared of: could I handle the physical demands that would be made on me, could I handle the many different emotions I will feel, could I handle being away from my family for a week as I have never been gone this long. What I have learned is that I am strong and I am surer no than I ever was before that I want to be a nurse and help others. I have learned so much here but I have so much still to learn. I am grateful I have chosen a career that will provide me with the opportunity to learn daily. The people of Haiti are unlike any people I have ever met. They are without so much but their lives are filled with a faith and love of life that it shines through them ever day! I am beyond humbled by this experience and I cannot wait to come back as a nurse, not a student and continue to improve my skills. Much thank and love to Little by Little and Mountain Top Ministries for providing me with this opportunity. – Katie Diakow
My trip to Gramothe, Haiti has been an incredible and faithfilled experience. I am glad that I accepted the invitation to join the group and serve the people at Mountain Tops Ministries. I feel that instead of us serving them they serve us by their smile, humility, love, patience, faith and gratitude. Fr. Pierre Polycarpe~
What a wonderful week it has been – my 7th trip with Little by Little, and always leave feeling humbled and grateful for all we have, and for connections with new and old friends here in Haiti, all with a “servant’s heart”. God Bless all of the team, Willem, and all of the people of the village of Gramothe. Kris McHarg
Another great Haiti trip. Amazing Haitians. The young people on this trip also make me optimistic about the future of American medicine. Everybody was great. God bless all. Pat Murphy
This week has been a great experience. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve this wonderful Haitian community and for the privilege of working side by side with such kind hearted, genuine, service driven individuals. I will now return home with a greater appreciation of the Haitian culture, a warm heart knowing we helped many, and with a determination to get back here in the future to lend a hand. Thank you to Willem and the entire team for providing a wonderful and humbling service experience. It has been an honor to be here. -Justin Wiltse
Gannon asked me yesterday if I’d ever been to a third world country, and after thinking about it for a while, I realized that I hadn’t ever been immersed in one the way that we were this week. I have learned so much from Haiti, its resilient people, and their way of life; but equally important to my experience has been the LBL team itself. You all are truly an inspirational group, and it has been great to witness the passing of knowledge from exceptional current providers to the next generation of nursing and medicine. Thank you to Willem and MTM for your support and guidance. Without you, none of this would even be possible. All of your constant displays of empathy and compassion will be a guiding light for the rest of my life, and I can’t wait to see where life takes all of you. It has been a pleasure working with this crew, and hopefully I’ll see you all here in the (probably distant) future!-Matt McHarg
It is hard to put this incredible experience into words. This is truly the opportunity of a lifetime! It has been a life-changing experience to have the privilege of providing care to the needy in a third world country. The Haitian people are so kind and patient. I feel that we have a lot to learn from them. I am proud to say that we provided care for over 1000 patients this week! However, there is much more work to do. With an open heart and an open mind we can move mountains (and climb them!) Little By Little J Thank you MTM for the best experience of my life! I will never forget this amazing week! -Connie Kotecki
Thanks to the best Man Cave Crew EVER!!!! Father Pierre, Gannon, Justin, Matt, and my old friend Murph made my life enjoyable! Best of luck to all of you! -Lou Marohn
Grateful for the amazing week-the amazing team-for this country filled with people who are resilient-faith filled, and peaceful! It is difficult to see how diabetes and hypertension have afflicted this population, and I am so happy we can provide needed care, but do wish we could do more! However, so Very Grateful to all that make what we can do a possibility!!! Thank You for saying YES -to providing us the means to carry on this mission!! -Mary Maginot
Thank you! This has been an amazing experience to serve others, especially those in great need. We are called to love and serve the poor and vulnerable, and this has been a week of opportunity to do provide those services. Thank you, also, to everyone for providing this wonderful experience for our Rockford University Nursing students. This will enrich their future practice for years to come. I look forward to bringing other students in the future. God bless you all, Laura Monahan
Another wonderful week! I feel privileged to have been allowed to participate with LBL. It is always amazing to me how a group of strangers can come together with a common goal, and quickly form a cohesive team. Thank you to Oct ’17 team. Namaste, Anne Foster
So we are on our way home to you. As team leader I thank our families and friends for your support as we ministered and attempted to heal our Haitian friends. We were able to care for 1036 patients and work toward sustainable care for our patients. MTM , Willem Charles, gave us excellent shelter and food to fuel our work. Our medical manager, Johanne, guided us through our patient load and kept us organized. This team was full of passion and spirit and smiles and hugs. I will miss them and look forward to working again with each of them. Again, thanks for sharing them with us this week.
Blessings on your day, Vanda Marsh Team Leader for this outstanding October LBL team!
I have so much to say but I am going to do my best to exercise some brevity. First, I want to thank all of you so much for being so welcoming to our group of nursing students. I can only speak for myself but I think I can safely assume that we all feel so fortunate to be pulled into the fold with all you veterans. I am almost at a loss for words for the experience I had in Haiti. Traveling abroad is such an enriching experience and it is one of the few things that helps me realize how small I am in this world. This trip helped me re-center and realign my focus on the direction that I would like to take my career and more importantly the direction I want to take my life. This week was an affirmation that love has, more than any medicine, a healing power and I felt it from all of you. Thank you again for the opportunity to join you on your quest to spread love to even the darkest corners of this world. I will cherish my experiences with you all for the rest of my life and I hope to one day trudge up heart attack hill again to be greeted by the many waiting eyes of those in need. With love and appreciation, Gannon
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