The First Trip...or so I thought

I went to my first Haiti Mission Trip meeting at one of the "founders" homes. There were a few people at the meeting that I already knew from church, but there were a couple of new faces also. I was nervous and excited to hear all about the adventure I was getting myself into. Everyone that was at this meeting (except me) had been to Haiti before, so they all knew what was going on (I didn't have a clue). I just sat there smiling and trying to keep up. I was hearing all kinds of different stories and scenarios about past trips. Some of the stories were sad, others a little scary, but the majority of them were hilarious! I knew right then that this was a great group that I wanted to be a part of.

Since I was the only "outsider", I needed a little bit more of the basic information. I needed to know exactly where we were going and what was going to be expected of me ( I had no clue, again!). Our fearless leader and veteran (team member that has been to Haiti multiple times), better known as Ariett, filled me in on every detail there was. She has been to Haiti many times and is a wonderful christian woman.

One thing I quickly learned with planning a trip to Haiti is that nothing, I mean nothing is ever 100% certain. By that I mean that we have no control over the weather, the political situation, or airline schedules. One day the dates for our trip are "planned", then the next day they are changed again. Sometimes it is frustrating, especially when people have work/family things scheduled. I have now learned that this is all part of the experience. It gives me the opportunity to say "Okay God, you are in control. I trust that if this is your will, then it will be done". I have now adapted my Haitian way of thinking, let things happen and just go with the flow.

After about 3 meetings, it was finalized, my first trip to Haiti! We were scheduled to leave in mid April of 2008. I was prepared (so I thought), I had raised all of my funds through donations from family members and friends, bought and packed all of my supplies and was ready to go.

Well, like I said before, nothing is ever certain. Two days before we were supposed to leave for our trip there was a political uprising. The price of food had been raised in Haiti and the people were protesting. The people of Haiti were angry because they couldn't afford to feed their families. (I may not have all of the details 100% correct, so please forgive me if I say something wrong.) I read an article online during this time that people were eating mud cookies (mud that had been shaped in the form of cookies and baked in the sun). People were so hungry they were literally eating dirt!! My heart was breaking for the people of Haiti. Here is a link to an article and video about the protests. http://www.nowpublic.com/world/haiti-protests-food-shortages-5-dead,
Video: Click on the 7th video box on the left side of the screen.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4GPEA_enUS290US291&q=haitian%20protesting&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#

Due to the violent demonstrations (i.e. burning cars/homes, looting, setting up fire barricades in the roads, shootings, etc.) our team met the night before we were supposed to leave and decided that we should cancel the trip. We all wanted to go desperately, but knew that it was not safe for us to go. I felt really bad for the team members who had shut down their entire businesses for the week and now they weren't even going!

At this time, I had not become a registered nurse yet. I was babysitting for different families and studying to take my boards. So, once the trip had been cancelled, it gave me the opportunity to study even more. On May 9th, I took and passed the NCLEX (exam for my nursing license)!! Now I was even more official and knew that when the next trip to Haiti was planned, I was going as a NURSE!