Welcome to Live From Haiti

We arrived in Port-au-Prince today, November 30. Not to start this blog with mundane comments about the weather, but locals have told us December and January are the most beautiful months here, and if today's any indication, that's true. I'm sitting outside, typing this and it's sunny, 86 degrees, with light winds and low humidity. Even with global warming we don't get this weather in late November in Peoria; the only downside is the cognitive dissonance experienced hearing Oh Holy Night on the radio in such balmy climes.

Though I've never been to Haiti in December, this is my ninth trip to the country, eight of them with my husband John, over the past two years. I've taken about 500 pages of notes during the past trips, and I thought I'd start posting these bon mots on line for the benefit of anyone who wants to read them. In the past, I've been kind of loquacious in my journal; I'll try to curb this tendency and be more pithy, but I can't make any promises. There is so much to say (and do) about Haiti.

A little background: John first came to Haiti in 1981 as a med student. He's come back several times a year since then and is now an expert on Haitian medicine, at least for a U.S. doc; Haiti suffers from some of the diseases and public health problems that cause them as did the U.S. 150 years ago. John also speaks Creole. Besides all the great work he has done in Haiti, in 1995 John founded a program called Haitian Hearts, which brings children and young adults to the U.S. for heart surgery, which isn't available in Haiti.

John and I were married on May 29, 2005. It's been a huge adventure and a gift for me to spend so much time with him in Haiti. John is board certified in internal medicine and worked as an emergency room doctor in a large medical center for 13 years. He also knows a lot about orthopedics, pediatrics, and cardiology and he likes to try to teach his medically illiterate wife. He's a good teacher; I've finally learned that the ventricles are the lower chambers of the heart.

I have worked as a foster care licensing worker, a special needs adoption worker, a therapist, a communication specialist, and a college composition instructor/counselor/advisor. I like to write and have published dozens of freelance articles and essays. Running Haitian Hearts--diagnosing children who need heart surgery, finding doctors and U.S. hospitals willing to treat them, raising funds, arranging for children to come to the U.S.--now occupies most of our time.

Haiti is a compelling place and I want to convey its beauty, horror, and humor through the concrete details included in my posts. I will focus on what life is like here for poor people--as much as I can, not being materially poor--and also what life is like for two middle class Americans who spend a large chunk of time here each year. So, on with the blogging.