I'm home....

...till Thursday night, just a quick visit. Most of you have probably figured this out by now, if not, SURPRISE! I'm enjoying/loathing my time here, but more on that in a future post. All you get tonight is my article (written April 24, if I wrote an article now the subject matter would be VERY different.) that was published in the La Sierra Criterion. Enjoy!

I Never Thought I’d…
Greetings from the Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti in Carrefour, Port au Prince! I’ve been here for a few weeks now. I’ve been helping with food distribution, running the central supply department, and organizing volunteer transportation (all while growing my hair back). It’s a big job and I’m definitely still learning. But I have time. I’m here all summer, but I’ve already had so many new experiences.
…be in Haiti.
Until January 11, 2010 Haiti was a hot, humid country, with high infant mortality rates, low literacy and employment rates (easily 66%), as well as a being one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Why on earth would I want to go there? On January 13, 2010 Haiti was still all of those things, but it was also a country devastated by an earthquake. Even more reason to stay away.
I’d always felt bad about disasters happening around the world but I’d never done anything other than donate money. For a variety of reasons I’ve never been on a mission trip. But because of my circumstances (not having school for 6 months) and connections at Loma Linda University (thanks Dad) I was given a unique opportunity. God opened a lot of doors for me to be here and I am truly thankful that I get to be a part of this.
…miss having a cult around.
The Supreme Masters of Ching Hai is a cult that was founded by Vietmanese fashion designer Ching Hai. Her teachings include compassion to all things, so her followers are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. It also means no killing, so no meat. They have a whole campaign focused on veganism because of the health and environmental benefits. One of the things they do is provide food in. They provided about 3,000 meals a day for the volunteers, patients, patient’s families, and the surrounding community. They were at the hospital for more than three months after the earthquake and departed the week after I arrived. The hospital kitchen has struggled to provide food for the patients and volunteers so things have been, interesting.
…hang out with so many “old” people.
I am by far the youngest foreign volunteer. Everyone I’ve encountered is at least old enough to be one of my high school teachers, if not my parents (some even act like it). I really shouldn’t have been surprised by this. I’m at a hospital where medical professionals are needed. People my age generally aren’t medical professionals. Even though many of them are more than twice my age I’ve made friends with everyone from med students, mission doctors, and retired plumbers. I’ve gained meaningful insights as well as new friendships.
(of course this doesn’t mean I haven’t made friends with Haitians my age, older, and younger!)
…develop such an aversion to “Junk for Jesus”.
“Junk for Jesus” is usually a positive term. Not so much in Haiti. It’s great that so many people and organizations have donated stuff, but in my time here I’ve encountered a bunch of things that have made me wonder, “What were you thinking when you sent this to a mission hospital?” I’ve seen single sample packs of medicines (written in Arabic), people’s old prescriptions, used sharps containers, random UNO cards, and every Haitian’s dream: DD breast implants. Even when medical supplies are sent, some are things that won’t get used here. Moral of the story: Think before you donate!
…thank God for power outages.
The internet here is kind of shaky. The wi-fi goes out periodically, but is easily reset by unplugging and plugging in the router in one of the hospital offices. It’s easy enough during the day, but at night the door is dead bolted shut and the person with the keys has gone home. Nightly power outages are welcome here because it powers off the router and turns it back on when the generator kicks in again. Dallas Koperski (amazing photographer and 4th year LLU med student) and I have spent hours in the volunteer break room hoping for the power to go out momentarily so we can regain our connection to home!
… ask “Why me?” this often.
The two word inquiry is generally uttered by people who feel that the world has done them some tremendous injustice, this rings true in my case as well. However in the past few weeks I’ve come to realize that this injustice is in my favor. Now more than ever, I find myself wondering why I was born into an upper-middle class family in a country where opportunities are endless, food is in excess, and the biggest problems are generally not having money to pay the bills.
Saying that the earthquake has caused significant problems for everyone is a grave understatement. It’s impossible to find someone who hasn’t lost a friend or family member. Moses, one of the hospital translators, was at school when it hit. He felt the building shake and ran as the ceiling, walls, and stairs starting collapsing. He made it out unscathed, but many of his closest friends didn’t make it out. When school started again at the end of April, in tents, it was difficult for him going back to school knowing many of his friends wouldn’t be there. I’m not an emotional person but that hit me hard. This kid is my age and he lost the people who he spent a lot his time with. I thought back to everyone that I don't get to see all the time now and so many "what ifs" went through my head; it sent shivers down my spine.
Other conversations I’ve had have shown me how significantly lives were altered. Many people have lost their jobs. Kids who were preparing to continue their education after high school have changed their plans. The vast majority of people I encounter live in tents.
…miss home this much.
I’ve lived in the Inland Empire all my life. The longest I’ve been away is fifteen days. By the time you read this I will have more than doubled that. I haven’t breathed “vitamin air”, been stuck on the 91 (okay, I don’t miss that. Haitian traffic is way more exciting!), led praise with a band, eaten at Del Taco, In-n-Out, Kogi, or Guppy’s, done laundry in a machine, slept in my bed, watched or played basketball, or seen the people I love. Am I homesick? Of course! But not enough to leave. God is doing amazing things here and I wouldn’t trade this experience for an In-n-Out 4x4 protein style with pickles!