Kolkata, India

I made it back after another great trip with Operation Smile to Kolkata India.  I had a near kidnapping by taxi episode, flat tire changing on a dark highway in the fast lane, 5 sutures repaired by team plastic surgeon in my hotel room, and we helped make 138 new smiles.  The trip was amazing and I am even more in love with India this time around. More to come soon! Peace

This is Haiti

 

My trip to Haiti was such a mix of emotions and I have found it difficult to convey my experience. We were warned of this during one of our many 7pm, porch team meetings. It is hard to explain the feelings, images, atmosphere, smells, sounds, the people...the lives that continue to go on, full of hope and love in the mist of the brutal devastation and death...and so I will try to answer the question I have been asked again and again…How was Haiti?

March 1st, an email landed in my inbox, the subject line was simple… “Haiti?” A brief message followed, “I hear that despite having just returned from an exhausting mission you may be interested in going to Haiti. I am putting together a team of nurses to go in just a few days. If there is any way you would be able to go, please give me a call so I can tell you about it. Mark”

The exhausting mission that he was referencing was my 2nd Operation Smile mission to Guwahati, in North India. We were able to successfully complete, with 2 back to back teams, close to 1000 surgeries in less then 2 weeks of surgery, the largest OpSmile mission to date. I had just gotten home late on February 28th after 2 weeks of hard work in Assam, several days in Nepal (flying around Everest) and then a few more days traveling solo around Amsterdam. As soon as I read the email, my mind started racing. Would it be possible? I still had to recover from jet lag with only 2 days off and then work 3 12+ hour shifts in a row in the busy ER, with a departure day of March 7th to Miami. I also had to find a way to get my shifts covered while I was gone. As much as I love being a part of Operation Smile missions, this felt different. It felt like something I would regret if I didn’t try. Yes, I was exhausted, yes I was tired, yes I was even sick….I had to fit in a quick trip to the Dr. after having a fever only 2 days before heading to Haiti. But, I’m a nurse, an ER nurse in a busy county trauma center, and I have always had a desire to serve in a disaster response setting. This was an opportunity, my opportunity, and I was and am so extremely grateful for the simple, short email from Mark, allowing me the chance to go.

The following days were a blur. I had malaria meds to get, 99% DEET to find, which I’m sure that one item alone necessitates the need for me to do an extensive detox. I had food to buy, my suitcase from India to unpack, and then repack, rides to the airport to secure, and my ER shifts to get covered. I had made a deal of sorts with myself, saying that if it was ment to be, it would all come together and it did!  Thanks to the ER director, charge nurses and my co-workers I was able to get all my shifts covered…I was a go and on March 6th, my flight itinerary arrived in my inbox.

March 7th, I headed to the airport. I was meeting up with 2 other Operation Smile nurses in Miami where we would spend the night and then leave early the following morning to Port au Prince. I had no idea who these nurses were and had only a photo to go by that was sent in an email from Barb. I touched down in Miami, rounded up my suitcase and then ran to the other side of the airport, hoping to catch up with Barb and share a ride to the hotel, her flight was minutes behind mine. She was easy to spot, just as described via email, carrying a big, blue backpack. She had a warm smile and we both chatted a bit about what we were signed up for, missions we had been on, and talked about some of our worries. We made our way to the hotel by shuttle and then walked to IHOP to grab a bite to eat. Our third partner in crime, Linda, was not to arrive until later. On our way “home” from dinner, we stopped at the gas station and found some single serving, plastic bottles of wine, which we of course scooped up for late night debriefing sessions after work in Haiti. This solved our dilemma about locating a wine bottle opener. When we got back to the hotel, I went up to Barb’s room to meet her roomie, Linda. As soon as I opened the door and saw her I yelled and ran for a hug. It was the same Linda that I had just left in India! I couldn’t believe it. We both said “What are you doing here?” It was such a comfort to know that we were going to be together for our journey, to know one of the faces. After our hugging and hollering, I showed Linda the path to the plastic, single serving wine at the gas station around the corner and then we hit the hay. I took what would be my last, relaxing, hot bath complete with hotel shampoo poured under the faucet for some bubbles prior to bedtime.

Barb & Linda after we landed in Haiti

March 8th- We had a 4-am-something wake up call, loaded up and then headed to the airport. The airport was fairly quiet, most of the foodie type places had yet to open.  We were flying direct to Port au Prince on Insel Air. I noticed that the check-in desks didn’t have any luggage conveyor belts, they simpley loaded our bags on rolling carts after a pile of bags accumulated. I eyed my bag as it was loaded on the silver cart with wheels and hoped it would get where I was going. At the terminal, people wearing all sorts of NPO shirts and carrying all sorts of survival type packs were sleeping on the floor. Many of the travelers appeared tired, exhausted and in the bathroom, I ran into a girl filling up her camel water pack in the sink. She looked at me and said “I’m not sure if there’s water where I’m going.” I replied, “I think we are all headed to the same place.” We boarded, I was able to sit by Barb, Linda was closer to the front of the plane. We chatted a little, read, ate (delicious cream cheese and croissants with jelly and coffee) and tried to nap during the short, less then 2 hour flight. As we neared Haiti, I looked out the window. The ocean was beautiful, hues of greens and blues, the warm sun reflecting off of the water. I could see lush hills smattered with what would soon come into view and what would be a common, almost familiar site by the time we headed home a week later. White, camo green and blue tops of tents. Dozens and dozens in groups. We prepared for landing, and I saw what looked to be little military camps inside the airport fence line, also tents.

 

One of the many tent communities we passed on the drive to the hospital

 

Im working on it.

It has been a while since I have blogged. It's on my list of projects for 2010...Is it really May already? Things have been busy. I have managed to make time for trips to Ethiopia, back to India, Mongolia, Denver x2, and Haiti, with pit-stops in Nepal, Turkey, and Amsterdam...all since May 2009. I promise to post some pictures and stories from my travels. I am currently working on sorting through how to describe my Haiti trip, it has been difficult to convey.

We have also recently started something I have dreamed about for over 10 years. With a few like-minded, amazing women, we have started The Nourish Collective. A non-profit dedicated to empowering and educating women around the world. Be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter. 

http://twitter.com/nourish4life 

www.thenourishcollective.com

Nourish (v): to care for

Synonyms: attend, cherish, comfort, cultivate, encourage, foster, furnish, maintain, nurse, promote, provide, support, sustain, tend

Antonyms: abandon, deprive, neglect, starve

The Nourish Collective’s four fold mission is to:

1.Empower women through education.

2.Support and equip communities.

3.Promote hygiene, health, and sanitation.

4.Improve environmental sustainability.

Our plans for 2010 include:

•Community health education seminars on topics including the importance of hand washing in preventing disease, bloodborne pathogens, natural healthcare, women’s health, and childbirth education;

•Supporting women as they start and run small businesses;

•Conducting small business seminars for female entrepreneurs

•Fundraising for and partnering with organizations including Operation Smile, Foods Resource Bank, and The Eleanor League.

So, here we go. Superhero Style. Join us, we need you.