Sleep Tight. Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite!

Once everyone finished seeing their last patients for the day, my first clinic in Haiti was officially over. I went out into the courtyard to see what everyone was doing. There were many locals still hanging around even though the clinic was already done. I saw Oriel, (the blind man who traveled with us from St. Francis Church) he was playing his guitar and singing with Duns (pronounced "Dens") one of our translators. They played guitar and harmonized their voices beautifully! I loved listening to them even though I had no clue what they were singing about due to our language differences!



Once their voices were exhausted and before it became dark, I decided to go to the girls' room to set up my bed and make some sense out of all my mess.

My corner and bed.

The Girls Room.

If you were wondering, the floors are concrete. They are constantly covered in a nice dusting of red clay (which gets on everything, as I was prepared for). You can see our "windows", they are bricks turned to the side so there is always some air circulation (Haitian Air Conditioning). However, they are always open so there is not much privacy. We have a tin roof and a wooden door. I felt like we had very nice accommodations and I was very grateful!

After my bed was all set up, I got to take a shower!! A shower you may ask. Yes! Again, I didn't really have a clue what to really expect. I didn't think I was going to get a shower in Haiti at all, so this was a wonderful blessing! However, to most people this would not be considered a shower but more like a bird bath. I did not care at all, it was water and it was cool!

One of the shower rooms. Yes it has a door!

Let me explain how this process works. As you can see from the above two pictures there is a large basin in each shower room. There is a cup in each basin so you can dip the water out and then pour on your body/hair. Then you wash with soap and rinse as explained earlier. I wet my hair but was unable to wash it because I did not want to waste any more water.

There is a hole in the floor so all the water drains out of the room. Now remember, you cannot. I mean CANNOT open your mouth or you run the risk of getting ill. Even after knowing this, it is still hard and it requires much concentration. Not only that, but there is no lock on the door. I was trying to hurry up in fear that someone was going to swing the door open on me!

These showers are only used by our team and translators, they are not for the public. Some people chose not to bathe, but I will not disclose that information for fear of retaliation! Just Kidding!

Overall, the experience of showering was glorious! After a day of traveling on the dusty roads and being all hot and sweaty, this was the perfect ending! I am sure everyone else that was in close proximity to me appreciated it as well!

Once I finished with my shower and put on clean clothes, it was time for dinner.

This is our dining room. We have a window with a nice view overlooking the vista.

It also provides a nice breeze.

For each meal, we move the chairs from our clinic into the dining room while we eat and then we move them back. The ladies that traveled with us from St. Francis Church brought all of our plates, cups, and utensils. I was blown away by the set up and even more so with the amount of food they prepared for us!

The view from the other side of the room.

You can see all of our coolers that keep our bottled water, cokes, and a view adult beverages. There is a door to the room so we can keep it locked while we are working. However, when we are eating, we like to keep it open to get a nice breeze.

There were only 13 spots available at the table so our translators were not able to eat with us. They ate in another room with the ladies who cooked and other helpers. I was upset that we couldn't all be in the same room, but there just wasn't enough space. Plus, they wanted to treat us like guests and make us feel welcome and special in our own room.

When preparing for this trip, I was told not to expect much when it came to food. Mainly due to the recent food shortage crisis plus all of the recent hurricanes that ruined many crops and other food sources. These ladies went above and beyond! We had a huge spread of food! I ate my staple Haitian diet, rice and beans! I also tried a lasagna dish with a Haitian twist! It was a little spicy, but it was very tasty!

I had a bottled water to drink, but others had some special adult beverages. Some Haitian beer was brought up just for us, it is called "Prestige". I did not partake in this delicacy, but I was told that it is pretty good! No one got intoxicated or anything, just a night cap!

Our first dinner was very enjoyable. It was nice to have everyone in the same room again and to hear about each person's day. We shared all kinds of stories from the day to catch up. By this time it was getting dark. Good thing we had our trusty flashlights and headlamps. It was funny because 5 of us had the same exact head lamp!

While we were busy eating, there were men putting up wires across the ceiling in each room of the building. In each room on the wire, a light bulb was placed. They then connected the wires to a generator! Yes, a generator! I had absolutely no clue that we would have electricity in Lotore! Once the generator was all gassed up, we had real light! No need for flashlights and head lamps now!

Now that dinner was over, we gathered together in the men's room/adult clinic room for a time of reflection and devotional. With the nice hum of the generator and children's laughter outside our room, we opened in prayer. Mandy led devotional tonight and wanted everyone to share something positive from the day. Each person said something about another person whether it was about their positive energy, patience, kindness, diligence, etc. We had a long session of prayer which was very touching for me.

After devotional, Mandy passed out bandannas to everyone. I chose blue, of course! These bandannas have a long history. They have been handed out to the team members for years. They originated from driving down the dusty roads to and from Lotore to Anse-a-Galet (St. Francis Church). At this time, they were driving in an open bed truck, so all of the dust would blow in their faces. One year someone decided to bring bandannas to put around their mouth and nose to protect them, and they have been a tradition ever since!

We said our good nights around 9pm. You may think we are fuddy-duds but we were all so exhausted!

Once I got in bed, I wrote in my journal: " I am so eager and willing to do God's work. I pray that God works in me and that I can glorify his name. Thank you Lord for bringing me to this beautiful place. I realize that I am where you want me to be. Please change my way of thinking and my heart, continue to help me realize that I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I pray that I will continue to have a servant's heart and be generous in spirit and heart."

Coming Up Next...What a Wonderful Day!