Haiti Mission 2009

HAITI MISSION 2009 Larry Bailly
18414 Broadway Ave.
Snohomish, WA 98296
360-668-5031
baillybusbarn@juno.com
This letter is going out a little earlier than normal, but events in Haiti recently have made planning for the next trip even more important than in the past. This will be my ninth trip to Haiti, the 8th to the North Coast. I will have teams at two locations, one team at Passe Catabois and another at LaPointe. The hurricane season this year has been devastating, and there are more storms possible before the season is over. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to have absolutely just the basics of life, and then have that all taken away with the wind and the rain. As this is being written, overland travel to PC is impossible except by foot or motorbike, and even the airstrip at Port de Paix has been damaged.
Passe Catabois
This small settlement in the Northwest section of Haiti is home to a mission compound that houses a medical clinic run by Rob and Anne Marie Hulshuizen-Wessels. Anne Marie is the sole Doctor in this part of Haiti, and her clinic the only medical facility in an area with as many as 1 million people. Her help comes mostly from a Haitian staff of nurses and helpers, a young Haitian assistant who has learned the medical trade by watching AM, and visiting medical folks from around the World. One of the nurses who traveled with our group in January, Ryna Hansen (see her blog at http://rynah.blogspot.com), went back in July for an extended stay. She has seen first hand what a Hurricane can do to an impoverished nation. Though PC is located on a plateau and was not significantly damaged, there was damage to the water system and the 4 roads into the compound were all washed out. There have been a number of deaths in this area, some at the clinic due to lack of medicine, and more in the outlying area due to the impassable conditions to get to medical care.
Our team for January is evenly split between Medical and construction skills. I have a Doctor coming from Minnesota, as well as several nurses from here and possibly there also. We could still handle a few more for that team. Let me know if you are interested.
LaPointe, Port de Paix, Centre Medical Beraca
This is where I will be in January. This medical facility is one of the largest in the Northern part of Haiti. It started back in the 1920’s and has been in operation since. The grounds at Beraca house a full service Hospital with surgical and clinic functions, as well as our main focus, The House of Hope. There is also a K-12 school, a vocational school, a CEF school to teach the bible, and a camp facility to host large groups. All of this is run by the UEBH (Union of Evangelical Baptists in Haiti), along with Crossworld Missions, a world wide mission organization.
Most of our work here centers on infrastructure repairs and maintenance. We also supply teaching assistance for the Crossworld missionaries. There is a large mission compound with a number of homes and storage facilities as well as workshops for vehicles and carpentry. We are usually met with a long to-do list as we arrive, and do our best to complete as much as we can in the time we have. We do plumbing, roofing, electrical, cabinet making and painting just to name a few of the projects. I of course spend much of my time in the garage, working on mission and Haitian owned vehicles as well as repairs on the only source of electrical power, the generators.
The House of Hope is a care facility for children. TB, malaria and malnutrition are the most common maladies, but burns and other diseases are also cared for. HIV cases are usually sent to another facility, unless the children are very young and have a chance of medical treatment to cure them. Jenny Reitz (Crossworld) and her Haitian co-administrator Linda Felix have had some success with treatment, and have an adopted a little girl, Nani, who has gone from positive to negative under their care.
Children with disabilities or disease are often neglected or abandoned due to the lack of money for medical care. This leaves the HOH with the task of raising, educating and loving these kids until they are in their late teens. The entire staff, including many of the kids raised there, works for one goal; to provide a happy, safe and healthy life for children who would have been abandoned by their own families. They are masters of just this mission. The kids are hard working in school, help from the time they can walk and become active members of their community when they are ready to leave. These kids are what will keep me going back. A few minutes of holding one of these kids, and feeling them draw love from your body softens your heart and brings you back to what really matters, God’s love and mercy, given freely without any compensation.
Who Goes
Over the last 7 years, I have taken nearly 100 people to Haiti with me. Some have gone back several times, some only once. By going you get to feel, smell, taste and see the true condition of working in missions. Pictures can never express the true despair of a place so poor.
People with different occupations, education levels and physical conditions have gone. Some have specific skills when they go; all have a skill when they get back.
This year my daughter Rachel will be traveling with me.
These trips are not real expensive, but the planning and expense does cost something. Each member of the team supplies their own funds for airfare, lodging, food and transportation. Some get donations, some don’t. Over the years we have supplied tools, building materials, hardware, vehicle parts, medical supplies and everyday items for the missionaries. Some of this has been donated (like the brand new glucometers supplied by my doctor’s office), but when it comes time to travel and there is something requested, we don’t hesitate to purchase and deliver.
Most of the items we take are not available at any cost in Haiti.
WHAT WE NEED
The team doesn’t need anything. The people we help in Haiti need everything. The fund I draw from is donated by people I will never know. Money appears in the Haiti account, and I don’t question where it comes from. We have used those funds for providing things that the missionaries in Haiti request. We need funds this year to help with rebuilding, not only on the mission compounds, but also Haitian homes that have simply disappeared.

If you can give ANY amount: Send donations to Snohomish Community Church, Haiti Missions, 13622 Dubuque Rd., Snohomish, WA 98290. Make checks out to SCC. With a notation that it is for Haiti.


This is Aline. She was 8 years old. She was brought to the HOH with an unknown disease that was never diagnosed. She died this summer. She was the very essence of what a Haitian child is. Even while dealing with severe pain, she always had a smile on her face and tried her best to fit in with the other kids. She had already accepted Jesus into her heart, and her last days were spent in a loving, caring family at the House of Hope.

Seattle Times Opinion, Inspiration

INSPIRATION
Special to the Times, by Larry A. Bailly

My inspiration comes from many places. I have taken my life’s direction from people who have had an influence over both long and short time periods. From Drill Sergeants and Commanders in Vietnam, who led by example and didn’t always follow the manual. I learned about the world and composition from my teachers. I was taught about my body from dedicated Doctors who have given me nearly double the lifespan I might have had. They all had a hand in forming my vision and goals for gaining a feeling of success in life.
Over the last 10 years, inspiration has come mainly from interacting with Missionaries. About a year ago I met one that has had a profound effect on my vision for my future. Over the course of a conversation that lasted only a couple of hours, I learned that to work on the mission field, you have to have a love of your fellow man, and a passion to do something to make others feel it.
Chris Zoolkoski is a local kid. He grew up in South Snohomish County, and learned his Christian faith at Alderwood Community Church. After high school, he earned a teaching degree, and joined the Peace Corps to use his knowledge to help others. He traveled to Africa, and there he met a young MK (missionary kid) named Helene. They came back to the States; he attended Medical school and as an M.D. returned with Helene to raise a family and to serve at Galmi Hospital near Madaoua, Niger, West Africa. They have three children, who no doubt will learn from their parents about service and sacrifice.
But this is not about Chris, because the conversation was with Helene. This was the only time I would be able to talk with her. From that conversation I was able to clear my mind about what I wanted to be remembered for; and how I would spend the rest of my life; trying to help make life a little better for those who struggle just to survive.
Helene showed a commitment and resolve to continue in her quest to serve that made the reality of her life seem impossible. She was here on a visit, with family, friends and Doctors. She had been diagnosed with stage 4 malignant melanoma the year before. Given less than a year or so to live, the family had gone back to Galmi, so she could try to complete the work she had done all of her life. She would spend the time teaching her kids, and the kids of Africa what commitment is all about. In that year she would battle, and flourish and the cancer within her would wait. On the visit a year ago, Doctors here were amazed at her ability to continue, against an enemy that would not quit. She was told that there was nothing more that could be done, except massive Chemo that would maybe work. Instead, a decision was made to use a less toxic form of treatment that could be acquired in Africa and would allow the Zoolkoski family to return to their home and work.
I was looking forward to getting together with them a week ago. Our Church (Snohomish Community Church) had rented them a cabin at our annual family camp and they were coming to stay on home assignment for a year. I was looking forward to another lesson from this great lady about what is important in life. They didn’t come home. But Helene is now on a mission that will not end.
Hundreds of Africans attended her funeral. Among the condolences Chris received, one stood out from those that were more traditional. In the local Hausa language the phrase is “Yaya zaman kewa”. This language is exceptionally descriptive with just a few words. Translated it says “So how is this void you are experiencing which no one or nothing will ever be able to fill?”
I will never get another chance to chat with Helene, but the one conversation we had will always be an inspiration to me.

Seattle Times Opinion, Love and Kindness

Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
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ARIANA CUBILLOS / AP
A boy carrying bottles passes by a mural wall in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.


Larry Bailly

Love and kindness in a harsh land
By Larry Bailly
Special to The Times
After a full day of modern air travel, the jolt from landing on the rock-strewn runway at Port de Paix always brings my senses back to the reality that is Haiti.
Port de Paix is on the country's north coast, a busy seaport that is one of the main supply routes for goods, mostly castoffs of our society, coming in from the U.S. Ship decks will often be covered with used cars and trucks, building materials and even mattresses. At the airport terminal, we met Rob Hulshuizen, a missionary from the Netherlands. After fording a river, we traveled west on a United Nations-built road that could stand to be redone.
The 30-kilometer drive to Hulshuizen's compound at Passe Catabois was an extraordinary trip into what could have been the Old West of the United States. Though the area is usually dry and devoid of vegetation, this year, the rain has been kind and the desert was in bloom.
Many of the locals live in grass-roofed huts, or just outside along the rivers. Nighttime drums remind us of the predominance of voodoo in the Haitian culture. The sound must be similar to what the pioneers heard in the American West.
Hulshuizen's wife is Dr. Anne-Marie Hulshuizen-Wessels, the only modern medical doctor for as many as 700,000 inhabitants of this area of Haiti. She has her hands full, on call continuously. She also has responsibilities as a wife, mother and missionary.
Their mission is ... just amazing. They provide free medical care at a clinic that is not much more than a hut with an office. The waiting room is open-air, and the pharmacy doles out precious medicines in small baggies. The medical care is far beyond what many of their patients could ever have afforded, given out with love and kindness in a very harsh corner of the world.
Rob and Anne-Marie have provided this mostly with their own money. They do have support from churches in Holland and visiting teams from many places in the U.S. In the next couple of years, a hospital will be completed there. Our team from Snohomish Community Church was there recently to complete a number of tasks at a guesthouse for future workers and medical staff.
Haiti, like many other small countries that have been abused by their own and other governments, lives on a thin margin. These fellow human beings are so unbelievably resilient. They survive on the leftovers of their richer neighbors, but just barely. The infant mortality rate is chilling. In the past several months, the clinic has been unable to save 14 infants. More arrive every couple of days, and even more never make it to the clinic.
We, as brothers and sisters of these people, need to do something. Anything will help, but just realizing these problems exist is the first step. We go about our pampered lives, believing that somehow we are entitled to the blessings we have. There are people right here in our own country, our own community, who also need our help.
I firmly believe that, whether you are Christian or not, we are all connected in some way. As a nation, we could make far more difference in the world by caring for, rather than insulating ourselves from, our neighbors. Our foreign policy should be one of aid rather than oppression or meddling.
Wars, embargoes, blockades and regime change seldom impact those who live at the top of the society. But the effect on the middle class and poor of countries like Haiti is devastating. I think of our own Revolution, the battle against the oppression of England, and if we could have been embargoed and blockaded into submission.
Haiti fought for a similar independence from France; it is the second-oldest free republic in the Western Hemisphere, second to ours. I have great admiration for the Haitian people and their determination to survive. Like our country, they should be afforded a chance.
Rob Hulshuizen and Anne-Marie Hulshuizen-Wessels will give hope, and a chance, to the next generation of Haitians in the far west of Haiti. We all should be willing to do the same.
Larry Bailly, a lifelong Snohomish County resident and a mechanic by trade, spends time in the mission field in Haiti, Mexico and other places. Contact him at baillybusbarn@juno.com
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company

Haiti 2007

EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME
USE YOUR MEDICAL OR DENTAL SKILLS TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF
HAITI
My name is Larry Bailly. I am the short term missions’ coordinator for Snohomish Community Church, in Snohomish, WA. I am a mechanic by trade and have traveled to Haiti 7 times since 2002. On my last trip I met some extraordinary people.
From January 13 to 27, 2008 I will be taking a group of Medical personnel to the Far West of Haiti. I am looking for all skills from 1st responders to experienced Surgeons, from dental hygienists to Oral Surgeons. I have already had some interest from a few Doctors and Nurses. I need a team of from 9 to 12. Working conditions will be more basic than most are used to, but the facilities are constantly improving.
The team will support a new Hospital facility in Passe Catabois. The hospital complex is under construction, but there are on going clinic and surgery needs. Currently the only Professional Medical person at Passe Catabois is a Dutch physician, Anne Marie Hulshuizen-Wessels. She and her husband Rob (Missionaries with Crossworld Missions) have given up all of their ties to Holland, and are intending to stay in Haiti. She is the only Doctor for as many as 700,000 people in this part of Haiti.
Passe Catabois is in a “desert” region, with rolling hills and open plains. In January of 2007 a team from Snohomish Community Church put some finishing touches on a nice guesthouse on the property. There are several sleeping rooms for 3 or 4 people, showers and cooking facilities in two “apartments”. Couples are welcome; however private quarters may or may not be available.
Unlike much of Haiti, there is abundant, clean spring water available. Though the building was not “electrified” during our last trip, we hope that will be accomplished before January. After a few days, some comforts don’t even seem that important.
Haiti is in the Caribbean, just East of Cuba, and is the second oldest Free Republic in the Western Hemisphere. Corrupt Governments and unscrupulous dictators have destroyed what was once a tropical paradise. The result is that the common people, those at the lowest rung of society have little to eat, no education and very often no contact with the outside world. This is about as close to Africa as you can get without traveling half way around the World.
Though there is always some risk when traveling in the 3rd World. We are hosted by missionaries who have been there in some cases for decades. We work with an organization that is very well thought of throughout the country, and particularly in the area around Passe Catabois, on the North Coast.
If you would consider being a part of this team, please contact me by Email or phone.
I have attached a sheet with basic information about costs (your responsibility) and a recent letter from the Missionaries; more information will be available for interested parties.

Larry Bailly
Snohomish Community Church
13622 Dubuque Rd.
Snohomish, WA 98290
Email: baillybusbarn@juno.com
Phone: 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily: 425-218-6334

Trip report, Passe Catabois and LaPointe 2008

HAITI MEDICAL MISSION 2008
Larry Bailly 18414 Broadway Ave. Snohomish, WA 98296 baillybusbarn@juno.com 425-218-6334
This was truly a trip of “firsts” for this group leader. The team consisted of men, women (for the first time) and even a teenager (another first). The team was split into two groups, and the entire team would stay for a full two weeks. This trip consisted of medical personnel, construction and electrical specialists and teachers. We would be split into two groups at two locations and accomplish considerable good work at both sites. Eyes would be opened to this very desperate but beautiful country and its people, and many hearts were won for continued service in this place of Voodoo and desperation.
The trip to the North Coast of Haiti was a very long day and a half of frustration and waiting. The size of the team and desire to take as much material, food and tools as possible prompted us to “hire” a full plane of seats from Port au Prince (PaP) where the international airport is, to Port de Paix (PdP) where the “small” plane of 19 seats lands on a dirt runway. The problems started with two of the small planes being broken when we arrived, along with another mission group with 42 travelers who also had reserved two and a half planes! We were able to make the last flight of the day (another interesting story) but with nearly 2000 pounds of luggage, some of our stuff didn’t arrive until two days later.
All but two of the 17 of us who flew in on Monday 1/14 first went out to the hospital at Passe Catabois. Not really a town, but a “place” on Google Earth. About 20 miles west of PdP, PC as we call it, is a mission compound with several purposes. First and foremost it has a medical facility currently operating. The clinic is just a small building with rooms for paperwork, diagnosis and surgery. The waiting area is a tin roofed patio with wooden benches, outside under the trees. The pharmacy is in a smaller building, an outdoor closet if you like, again separate from the clinic. The staff is Anne-Marie Hulshuizen-Wessels, a Dutch physician, her18 year old assistant Guerlande who is learning medicine from AM on-the-job (she performed her first solo surgery while our team was there!) and a small group of Haitian nurses. The hospital provides FREE medical care to as many as 700,000 inhabitants in this area of Haiti, and some people will travel many days for the care. As the team was there, word spread of the visiting “blans” (Creole word for whites), and the workload increased to many times the norm. The most common treatments are for malnutrition, TB and pregnancy complications. Emergency situations are a daily occurrence and not always with the best outcome. Everything else, including gunshot wounds, burns and even elective surgery is done as well. AM has a nickname that is not printable here.
Our team included a team of Nurses from SCC and other churches. Each one had a specialty that was of use during the trip and in some cases, God had specifically chosen them for situations that might otherwise have been hopeless. Haiti is a land of extremely difficult life and death decisions on a daily basis. It was evident from the first day at PC that the team would be tested in their faith and understanding of Gods sovereignty. That miracles were performed was evident in small lives that could so easily have been lost. Over the course of two weeks, lives would be lost for lack of proper medicine, facilities or delay in seeking medical care. On the other hand, lives were saved because the right treatment was available or medicine carried in by our team was obviously a God send.
The other part of the PC team was tasked with progress on the Hospital building. There was a lot of tile work to be done, and it was (approximately 2800 sq. feet). Septic system plumbing was engineered and construction begun. And just the presence of “blan” workers in a land that is often forgotten by the outside world, makes the sharing of the Gospel easier for AM’s husband Rob. That is after all the biggest “construction” project in Haiti. To build a large and effective base of Christian believers who can bring light to a country with such obvious ties to the Devil through Voodoo.
After two days at PC, six of us took off for our other “mission” at LaPointe, bringing our team to 10 at that location. About 5 miles east of PdP, LaPointe is a wide spot in the road where a mission compound covers both sides of the main road. On one side is a Hospital, Centre Medical Beraca, which houses the House of Hope children’s medical and care facility and other facilities supported by Crossworld Missions and its Haitian counterpart, UEBH (Union Evangelique Baptiste d’ Haiti). The other side of the road is where we stay, in a walled compound with residences for missionaries, medical staff, and guests like us. Our projects mostly revolved around infrastructure and mechanical maintenance for the mission buildings and equipment. The main purpose though is support for Gail and Lois (two Crossworld Missionaries) and their programs to teach the Gospel through many projects with children and women. Another ongoing project is improvement to the living conditions and facilities of the House of Hope, where Jenny Reitz (Crossworld) is the assistant director. The HOH is a care facility that houses as many as 100 children at any given time. The primary focus of the care is to provide a life after afflictions such as malnutrition, TB or abuse have taken that away. Due to the Voodoo influence in their lives, many children arrive at the HOH within hours of a horrible death after the failure of Witch Doctors to resolve their disease. Many parents simply abandon these children as “lost”, but the HOH takes many in for a life full of love, care and the inspiration to succeed with Christ’s love in their heart. For many of these kids, this will be the only family they will ever know, and that is OK.
We had on this team a mother and daughter team that worked with Lois on producing teaching materials for the coming year. First time travelers to Haiti, Karen and Kim along with Nadia would give preparations for the teaching year a jump start. All of us would spend time at the House of Hope on a daily basis, just holding children and interacting with them. It is this time, spent having love and care sucked out of you into a small helpless child that makes this trip such a necessary part of my year, and once that happens, most can’t keep from going back. We were able for the first time on my many trips to tour the other facilities of the mission. We toured the vocational school, the high school and elementary schools. Run by the Beraca church and UEBH, the yearly cost of education is still the equivalent of nearly a year’s salary for most Haitians. The fact that parents will sacrifice even food to be able to afford giving their children an education is what makes me believe that these people have the heart to resolve the other conflicts in Haiti for their children to prosper.
After two weeks, most of the team was ready to come home, but most said if the opportunity was presented, many would have stayed longer. By networking with coworkers, we hope to increase the team size next year, and possibly extend the impact especially at PC by having two consecutive teams there for a month.
My final reflection on this trip is: We will need two planes next January!

Thank you to the team this year for making this trip such a complete success in so many ways.
Lynn Lewis, Val Hansen, Ryna Hansen, Al Shelton, Tom Pierce, Craig Ullman, Richard Fairfield, Al Fadenrecht, Allen Nation, Harold Sweeney, Ken Wills (Peoria, Ill.), Katie Martin, Karen Douglas, Kim Askevold, Nadia Jones, Susan Robison (Mt. Vernon), Ken and Arlene Resztak (New Jersey). God bless you for being part of this mission
Larry Bailly
Donations can be sent to me at the above address. Write checks to Snohomish Community Church, with a memo that it is for Haiti Missions. Or you can send your donations directly to SCC at 13622 Dubuque Rd., Snohomish, WA 98290. Email me if you would like to be on my list for opportunities to serve in Haiti or other mission fields around the world. baillybusbarn@juno.com





This is Papa Noel (me) and Lovedine from the House of Hope

Passe Catabois 2008

Each January I take a trip back in time and down the ladder of society just a bit.
I travel to the country of Haiti, the western portion of the Island of Hispanola, shared with the Nation of the Dominican Republic.
I am the short term Missions coordinator for Snohomish Community Church in Snohomish, Washington State in the U.S. I have been to Haiti 8 times since 2002 and have become increasingly involved in the task of providing help for the Haitian people and the missionaries that work there full time.
I am NOT a professional missionary. I am an Auto mechanic who has taken a late start at giving back to society on as a challenge. I take teams of other guys and ladies with me to help support the missionariies and their projects. I have taken nearly 100 others with me in the last 6 years, and most have signed on for numerous trips with the same passion to serve as I have.
I have also taken or sent groups to Mexico (Aguascalientes and El Florido, a suburb of Tijuana) and I have been to Havana, Cuba. I hope to add to my scope of countries and destinations over the rest of my life.
As I travel, I realize one very obvious fact of life. We (meaning every human on the Earth) has the same goals, desires and hope for their life and the future. We wish our kids a better future, an easier life and happiness. The fact that I was born in the United States does not give me the right to just accept that as fate. I was allowed to live and work and have the opportunity to help others for a reason. Whether you believe in a GOD does not matter to me, if you have read this far, I know you care about your fellow man.
That is what is important.