Report and 2010 plan

HAITI AFTER THE STORMS Larry Bailly
18414 Broadway Ave.
Snohomish, WA 98296-4800 360-668-5031 or 425-218-6334

It has taken a while to get time to sit down and write this trip report for a number of reasons. I started a new job in a new industry a week after getting home from Haiti. I’ve been learning a lot of new stuff. I took another trip to Mexico (Tijuana) in April. Then I had our annual “CAREfest” program that I handle the “car care” portion, and we did more cars than ever before this year. Being busy is good, but I still need to keep all of you in the loop as far as my future plans, and maybe present an opportunity for you to go along.
We had a great group of folks go to the North Coast of Haiti this year. The team this year included my daughter Rachel (17) and a few other new people, including a Doctor from Minnesota. A total of 26 folks were there for anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks.
The largest group was at the Hospital project at Passe Catabois. The Hospital now has a second floor and our team was able to completely tile the entire building. A lot of other projects were completed there, but the main focus this year was medical help for Anne Marie. She has her hands full with patients, and our group of nurses was able to give her a little breathing room. One project that was started this year was the introduction of a new feeding program for severely malnourished infants and toddlers. Statistics are all over the map, but only about half of the children in this part of Haiti ever see their 5th birthday! Picture a baby of 18 months (the typical age when the “next” baby joins the family) having to fend for itself to make sure they get the necessary food for survival. If the child is small or sick they are often just shoved aside. They wind up at the hospitals or orphanages usually with little hope of recovery.
The product (Medika Mamba or ”peanut medicine”) that one of the nurses on our team provided for a trial is made from peanuts, mixed with dry milk, sugar, vitamins and oil. It does NOT require water to be added, tastes good and provides sufficient nutrition to save a child from death in as little as three weeks. The product does not spoil, doesn’t need refrigeration and there has never been a case of peanut allergy in Haiti! The previous regimen (provided by UNICEF) required a hospital stay and that a parent stay there as well for up to 3 months, the product required water (almost non existent in some parts of Haiti) and would spoil if not used within just a few hours of mixing. Within a couple of weeks the product was already saving infants at the hospital.
At LaPointe and the House of Hope, we were met with the news that the orphanage and care facility will be moving! Due to problems dealing with the Beraca Hospital and the lack of sufficient infrastructure and space, a decision has been made to relocate. After getting the news, we set to work on a number of projects to keep the hospital, mission compound and the House of Hope running while plans for the move are finalized. As this is being written, many hurdles have been crossed, but a lot more needs to be done. I am part of the organizing team that will get the ball rolling as soon as a plan and the necessary paperwork is completed.
So after the Hurricanes of last summer and fall, Haiti is still surviving and it seems that the people have left that chapter behind and are now looking to complete the day, as always. The Haitian people are far more resilient and innovative than most other people I have come into contact with. So to Gustav, Hannah, Ike and Jeanne, you left your mark, but you didn’t defeat the people of Haiti.
January 2010 is already well under way as far as planning goes. Rachel and I have our plane tickets, we’ve started collecting items to give as presents and contacts have been made for medical and teaching supplies. I hope to have three teams of 10 to 12 folks in Haiti for a month of coverage at Passe Catabois, and two weeks at LaPointe. I plan to take a trip out to Passe Catabois so Rachel can get a look at the “other” Haiti and then maybe plan a trip to Nan Coco,
the new location for the House of Hope. Due to naming rights, the name of the new children’s care facility will be Hope Village Haiti www.hopevillagehaiti.org. It is located about 40 miles East of LaPointe on the north Coast of Haiti. It is a 7 hour drive from LaPointe, or about an hour and a half by car and boat. There is not currently a direct overland route. The main access will be from the northern city of Cap Haitien, which was at one time the capital of Haiti.
Planning for these trips takes a lot of time and commitment, not just for me but by my team members who have specialties and need to make sure that the materials are there when we arrive so we can do our work. We have some capability to send stuff ahead, but we usually max out our luggage with needed items, and then hope that we can get it all through Customs.
I do have openings for travelers. I can use folks with any skills, or no skills. This can be a learning experience in many ways. I encourage you all to look around you at all the things we take for granted, throw away, buy needlessly or abuse. Then think about what life would be like if you made a dollar a day, school is not free, electricity was non existent and water might not be available today, or this week. Think about what you would do if you had to make a choice to send your kid to school (typical private school tuition is between $200 to $300 per year) or give them food. Think about unemployment of 70% or more (in the cities) and nearly 90% in the rural areas. Remember that we gladly send jobs and dollars to places like China and Vietnam and India, while a country like Haiti (a struggling Democracy) only 700 miles from our country has this kind of poverty.
I have read a LOT of history in the last 8 years, and the events that shaped our nation and the entire western hemisphere depended on the Independence of first our country, and then Haiti. If Haiti had not had a successful revolution and sent the French back to Europe we would have a country that would have a border at the Mississippi with France. California and the Southwest as well as Mexico would still belong to Spain. Historically the Louisiana Purchase was a direct result of the Slave revolt that gave Haiti its Independence.
So why do I even care about the Haitian people? Because they are humans. They are deserving of the same blessings that I have received from Christ. Just because I was born here does not give me the right to deny those opportunities and blessings to anyone, anywhere. I will never be able to make as much of an impact as I would like, but I will make a small difference. Along with the many others I take, or encourage to give, a difference will be made.
The Starfish analogy:
A young girl was walking on a beach that the outgoing tide had covered with starfish, stranded in the hot sun. As she walked along tossing starfish back into the water, a man asked why she even tried to save so few starfish. It will not matter to anyone. But she continued, saying, well it matters to this one, and this one, and this one………
If you would like to be a part of this work, you can send contributions to SNOHOMISH COMMUNITY CHURCH, 13622 Dubuque Rd., Snohomish, WA 98290, designated for HAITI MISSIONS. You don’t need to make donations for me or Rachel although they are greatly appreciated. If you would like to go to Haiti on a trip, contact me at baillybusbarn@juno.com or larry@insituengineering.com