Live From Haiti?

It's been three years since I've actually been Live From Haiti. Hard to believe. Three years ago yesterday John and I flew home from Port-au-Prince with our son Luke after a seven-month sojourn in Haiti waiting for his adoption to finalize.

Despite my absence from our second home, I've been able to report on the good work other people, mainly my husband John, have been doing there. I've also been able to report on our Haitian Hearts patients.

Everyone knows a little more about Haiti than they did two months ago. I wonder how many times the word Haiti has been uttered in January and February? More than all the years previous combined, I bet. I hope the attention will amount to some positive lasting changes for Haiti.

In the meantime, we'll keep writing and trying to help Haitians as we can. Here is an article about Haitian Hearts and here is an article about how John has influenced one young man making a difference for Haiti. And one of these days, I'll really be Live From Haiti again.

Why This Blog Hasn't Been Live From Haiti For Over a Year

I first went to Haiti in 1990. My parish, St. Mark's, had a sister parish in Jacmel, and I went for a 10 day trip to help deliver supplies. It was a memorable trip--most first time trips to Haiti are--and I had a sense that some day i would return, though I didn't know when.

It wasn't until 2003 that I traveled back to Haiti. I was dating my future husband John, who has spent so much of his time working as a doctor in this poor country. It was the first and almost shortest of the 10 trips I have taken with him. The longest trip was the last one, clocking in at seven months from July 2006 to February 2007, when the adoption of our son was finally completed. With the exception of a five day stay in Jeremie, a coastal town in the northwest of Haiti, we have spent all of this time in the Port-au-Prince area. Life in the capital is harsher than life in the countryside. In fact, people say there are two Haitis: Port-au-Prince and everything else. Between this harshness and the dire medical situations I've seen due to John's work, the time spent in Port-au-Prince has been more shocking than my original trip.

Anyway, so why hasn't this blog been live from Haiti for more than a year?

The short answer is family. My husband's mom, Mary, who is 93, recently moved from her home to the home of her other son and his family. It takes the help of the whole family to make this work and has ruled out long term trips to Haiti. John managed to go to Haiti three times in 2007, for about a week each time. He made these trips to bring people to the United States for surgery or escort children back to Haiti after surgery.

The other family member who has something to do with my remaining stateside for over a year is our son Luke. He's had a wonderful thirteen months in the United States getting to know his extended family, attending pre-school, taking swimming and tennis lessons, and in general becoming Americanized. While we plan to travel to Haiti with Luke, it has been nice to have this time with him at home.

So when will we return? I know that we will, but I'm not sure when. It's difficult to put a timetable on family situations. However, having a little Haitian living with us helps keep the spirit of the blog alive.

Between John's extensive involvement in Haiti and our adopting Luke, my life is more intertwined with Haiti than I ever thought it would be 18 years ago. It has been one of the big blessings in my life.

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.