Over Land & Over Sea…

By Adam Sarbin March 10th, 2019

After dinner yesterday it didn’t take long for the entire team to retire for the night. And in 9 years, I don’t think I have ever had as restful a night…in any of the places we have stayed…and this was Port au Prince! The night was cool, there was a slight breeze and the generator kept the fans going until about 3am. How do I know? Well, when the fans shut off, the silence was deafening…it woke me up. I listened for a time and heard nothing – no roosters, no dogs, no cats, no music or crying babies…just silence! Eventually, the generator came back on and the fans restored the white noise which drowned out the inevitable soft rumble of someone’s slumber.

The good news was we still had another hour or more to sleep…or so most of us thought. You see, we were informed that Haiti would not be setting their clocks ahead, as in the States, and it appeared to be true – I checked my phone’s clock a few times once awakened and confirmed we were still 1 hour behind the US. But, as we are in Haiti, apparently they decided to advance the clocks after all…at about 5:15, or rather now 6:15! So all of a sudden we were late for breakfast and Garry arrived with our van in the next half hour. We all rallied well though and our original departure was only delayed by 30minutes. In Haiti, one must always be prepared to adapt and adjust…a good lesson for life in general.

Once we met up with our friend Boaz, on the main road, for the journey to Les Cayes, we made a quick stop at a pharmacy for some medication needed for our clinics. Then we headed out in earnest for our destination. Garry did his best to make up the lost time but traffic and stalled vehicles in downtown Port au Prince as well as an impromptu musical parade in Leogane conspired against him.

Despite all this, we still made our customary stop at the Mango market where Garry once again braved the barrage of vendors insisting he purchase their produce. Like a pro, he settled on his favorite, depleted her supply substantially for us…and again off at breakneck speed for Les Cayes – bound and determined to get us there safely AND on time! And on time we were…even with our stops and starts and traffic delays, we made it to the boat in under 5 hours and we even beat Big Boss and Big Boss Lady. Must have had a great tailwind!!

Once at the pier, we realized the seas would be rough and the ride over damp and long…and so it was. Everyone fared well though and since the supplies went ahead, we had less to unload and the trek up the hill was more manageable. We quickly unpacked and hung nets and immediately marched over to the building site.

Here goes:

Covered porch all around.

View from Exam Room 2 (same as 1, 3 & 4).

Check out the size of your pharmacy Jenn…and your view!!

View from the future Birthing Room.

As you can see, the site has come a long way. The 1st floor walls are complete, the cap laid and iron framing in place. Just waiting for the forms to go up and the ceiling/floor to be laid…The Peter Y. Whitehead Memorial Clinic is going up! And anyone wishing to know exactly where we are…Tom has marked and named the site on the Maps.me app and we intend to mark it on Google maps as soon as we figure out how.

For now, we will head back to our current lodgings, unpack supplies and await a delicious meal. Tonight we will dream of dining on the 2nd floor of the new clinic and enjoying the ocean breeze on its roof deck. The Dream is indeed becoming Reality. We are Bound and Determined to be sure!

That is all for today…it has been long, warm and damp for all. We will have most certainly have much more to share after clinic tomorrow.

Love to All,

The Team