Friday, July 24, 2015
Day Four... the Final Day in Haiti
Day four was quite a whirlwind and is pretty much a blur at this time. (Of which I'm glad - at the time it was one of the longest days ever.)
We were picked up nice and early by our driver who took us to the hospital not far away. I was still doing pretty well, working on breathing and not feeling queasy, and Olivia was still feeling really bad. Very upset stomach, etc.
The hospital was quite an experience. It's nice, don't get me wrong, but as nice as it is it's still in the middle of Haiti. A/C is not there, the building just is not what we know of in the US, and not much English was spoken so communicating with the doctor was interesting. At first they had put Macy on the table which she was NOT happy about. Finally I got them to understand it was Olivia to be looked at and not Macy.
This is the room where Olivia was seen. Their ER I'm assuming. It was as wide as you can see from behind the camera to behind Olivia and then ran lengthwise one more patient to the left of Olivia and room for a third to the right. They were separated by curtains. They took her temperature with a simple thermometer like you or I might have at home, under her arm. It was air conditioned in this room thank goodness, because out in the waiting area I was beginning to feel pretty bad again with the heat.
After the doctor examined her they wrote on a piece of paper a list of four different medicines which I had to walk to the pharmacy to get. It was out through the waiting area and was a little room with a locked door and one doctor/pharmacist inside. She took my paper and went to gather the medicines and some pedialyte. She let me know how much money it would be and as I went to take money out, the receptionist told her we were here under Gladys' care and that we were not to pay. I was shocked. Such a blessing!
I took all the medicine to the room with Olivia and the doctor went over them. She was given two immediately but the other two we had to wait until she had eaten.
We were cleared to go (again no payment of any kind) and went out to try to find our driver. We waited outside quite a while but saw no sign of him. We were sitting down and in the heat I again began feeling rough. Olivia and I were both taking deliberate breaths and trying to keep our stomachs calm.
Finally we went back inside the hospital and the guard (there are armed guards everywhere) helped us call our driver who came a bit later. He then called Gladys who said she was on her way and we should wait. Waiting inside was almost worse than outside with no kind of breeze. I went to the restroom a couple times and was almost trying to make myself sick. It was not fun.
Gladys finally arrived and decided to send us to their guest house with the house manager so we could re-coop a bit before going to sit in the airport since we still had some time. The house manager was SUCH an amazing angel of God. He stopped on the way to get crackers and Sprite for us, made up two bedrooms, set up fans, got us water, and was just so accommodating. Olivia laid down for the hour or so we were there, sipped Sprite, and ate a couple of crackers. It was during this time I also began getting worried about the medicine Olivia was given. Mostly because I hadn't given them the names of her current daily meds to make sure they didn't interact with what was given. I'm not sure they would have understood anyway, but it worried me. I decided not to give her any more.
Macy was doing so well during all of this. She was a true trooper and was going along for the ride. She got to try her first Sprite too! Quite the face, but she loved it!
Our driver was due to arrive in a few minutes so we gathered our things and went to wait at the front of the house. Right before we walked out there, the house manager prayed over Olivia. He is just the sweetest. He shared about his two children and you could tell what a great father he must be.
While waiting Olivia began to get very nauseous. She ran to the bathroom and was pretty sick. I was helping her and thought I heard our driver honk. I went to check and when I returned there was the house manager, holding Olivia, putting water on the back of her neck, and helping with absolutely no hesitation. As I said, simply amazing.
Olivia felt much better after that. Our driver arrived and we made our way to the airport. That was a hard ride with all the bumps, twists, and turns. We were both doing some very careful and deep breathing. But even with all that, we made it. We made it through the multiple security checkpoints. And we were finally sitting at our gate. My focus all day was "Get to Miami..." and we were so close.
After getting some fruit and trying to eat a little something, an American woman sat down across from us. She had a necklace with an outline of Haiti and I mentioned how I liked it. We got to talking. She shared how she was with a group that had been ministering in different ways in country and I shared about our homecoming trip. I also talked about (though I wasn't sure WHY) Olivia being sick. And then I knew why God had urged me to share that... because she was the NURSE on the trip. And she just HAPPENED to have nausea medicine! So Olivia took that which we are pretty sure helped the rest of the way to Miami. My biggest fear had been if she was sick around airline personnel that they may not allow us to fly. God just kept showing up.
He's pretty amazing like that.
Olivia slept the whole flight to Miami and before we knew it... we landed and a new American citizen had arrived!
Our time through immigration was no big deal and Olivia made it by sitting whenever she could. I had felt better since being in A/C at the airport in Haiti. We checked in to our hotel room in the airport, got some drinks, turned the tv on and Olivia and Macy went to bed. I went not long after and it was a good night's rest.
We were picked up nice and early by our driver who took us to the hospital not far away. I was still doing pretty well, working on breathing and not feeling queasy, and Olivia was still feeling really bad. Very upset stomach, etc.
The hospital was quite an experience. It's nice, don't get me wrong, but as nice as it is it's still in the middle of Haiti. A/C is not there, the building just is not what we know of in the US, and not much English was spoken so communicating with the doctor was interesting. At first they had put Macy on the table which she was NOT happy about. Finally I got them to understand it was Olivia to be looked at and not Macy.
This is the room where Olivia was seen. Their ER I'm assuming. It was as wide as you can see from behind the camera to behind Olivia and then ran lengthwise one more patient to the left of Olivia and room for a third to the right. They were separated by curtains. They took her temperature with a simple thermometer like you or I might have at home, under her arm. It was air conditioned in this room thank goodness, because out in the waiting area I was beginning to feel pretty bad again with the heat.
After the doctor examined her they wrote on a piece of paper a list of four different medicines which I had to walk to the pharmacy to get. It was out through the waiting area and was a little room with a locked door and one doctor/pharmacist inside. She took my paper and went to gather the medicines and some pedialyte. She let me know how much money it would be and as I went to take money out, the receptionist told her we were here under Gladys' care and that we were not to pay. I was shocked. Such a blessing!
I took all the medicine to the room with Olivia and the doctor went over them. She was given two immediately but the other two we had to wait until she had eaten.
We were cleared to go (again no payment of any kind) and went out to try to find our driver. We waited outside quite a while but saw no sign of him. We were sitting down and in the heat I again began feeling rough. Olivia and I were both taking deliberate breaths and trying to keep our stomachs calm.
Finally we went back inside the hospital and the guard (there are armed guards everywhere) helped us call our driver who came a bit later. He then called Gladys who said she was on her way and we should wait. Waiting inside was almost worse than outside with no kind of breeze. I went to the restroom a couple times and was almost trying to make myself sick. It was not fun.
Gladys finally arrived and decided to send us to their guest house with the house manager so we could re-coop a bit before going to sit in the airport since we still had some time. The house manager was SUCH an amazing angel of God. He stopped on the way to get crackers and Sprite for us, made up two bedrooms, set up fans, got us water, and was just so accommodating. Olivia laid down for the hour or so we were there, sipped Sprite, and ate a couple of crackers. It was during this time I also began getting worried about the medicine Olivia was given. Mostly because I hadn't given them the names of her current daily meds to make sure they didn't interact with what was given. I'm not sure they would have understood anyway, but it worried me. I decided not to give her any more.
Macy was doing so well during all of this. She was a true trooper and was going along for the ride. She got to try her first Sprite too! Quite the face, but she loved it!
Our driver was due to arrive in a few minutes so we gathered our things and went to wait at the front of the house. Right before we walked out there, the house manager prayed over Olivia. He is just the sweetest. He shared about his two children and you could tell what a great father he must be.
While waiting Olivia began to get very nauseous. She ran to the bathroom and was pretty sick. I was helping her and thought I heard our driver honk. I went to check and when I returned there was the house manager, holding Olivia, putting water on the back of her neck, and helping with absolutely no hesitation. As I said, simply amazing.
Olivia felt much better after that. Our driver arrived and we made our way to the airport. That was a hard ride with all the bumps, twists, and turns. We were both doing some very careful and deep breathing. But even with all that, we made it. We made it through the multiple security checkpoints. And we were finally sitting at our gate. My focus all day was "Get to Miami..." and we were so close.
After getting some fruit and trying to eat a little something, an American woman sat down across from us. She had a necklace with an outline of Haiti and I mentioned how I liked it. We got to talking. She shared how she was with a group that had been ministering in different ways in country and I shared about our homecoming trip. I also talked about (though I wasn't sure WHY) Olivia being sick. And then I knew why God had urged me to share that... because she was the NURSE on the trip. And she just HAPPENED to have nausea medicine! So Olivia took that which we are pretty sure helped the rest of the way to Miami. My biggest fear had been if she was sick around airline personnel that they may not allow us to fly. God just kept showing up.
He's pretty amazing like that.
Olivia slept the whole flight to Miami and before we knew it... we landed and a new American citizen had arrived!
Our time through immigration was no big deal and Olivia made it by sitting whenever she could. I had felt better since being in A/C at the airport in Haiti. We checked in to our hotel room in the airport, got some drinks, turned the tv on and Olivia and Macy went to bed. I went not long after and it was a good night's rest.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Day Three in Haiti
Our third day in Haiti was also the day we were picking up Macy for the final time at her orphanage. As excited as she was to be with us and to be going home with us, I knew this would be a difficult day. For her, for her housemom, for others at the orphanage. Her housemom is with her group 6 days a week, with one day off. And Macy had lived there for the past almost four years. No matter how much you think and know this is for the best in the long term, that's hard.
Our driver picked Olivia and I up at the hotel and first we went to pick up the staff psychologist so she could be there with us for the pick up. It was basically a big meeting with us, Macy, and a number of the housemoms. They were allowed to ask us any questions or share anything they'd like. And we could in return. There was a lot of emotion. It was a hard all around. Those who did speak, shared a little about Macy and then just asked that we love her and take care of her. How scary for them to see her going far away with people they really didn't know. Lots of tears from us all.
Following that, we went back to the "hub" which is the hospital nearby. Our orphanage director is an amazing, amazing force in Haiti. She runs three orphanages, schools, and the hospital. We went to see her and pick up all of our important paperwork. She quickly had Macy smiling again and then Macy made her rounds to take pictures with everyone there as well.
We were finally on our way to the hotel.
As a family.
With Macy forever.
She loved all the play things I brought for us to use at the hotel. But didn't want to "play" with them, just wanted them all by her. This was funny because Olivia was the same way when she first came to live with us and it took her a long time to get past that. She wanted "stuff" but really didn't know HOW to play and use it. Macy was also given her special blanket from the orphanage when we picked her up. How precious to be able to bring that home for her to keep!
The rest of the evening and night were a bit of a blur. Macy went to sleep fairly easily. Olivia began not feeling well. Upset stomach, hard time sleeping, and then I started not feeling well. I asked the concierge for a thermometer for Olivia since the one I brought wasn't working, they didn't have one. At midnight I called our orphanage director to ask what to do. She said that she would have our driver come very early and bring us to the hospital. I was so afraid Olivia was not doing well and wasn't sure she could make it home the next day. It was not a good night. As Olivia was finally able to sleep, I spent the night between the floor of the bathroom and the floor of the hallway. The bathroom wasn't air conditioned and I was vacillating between chills and sweats. So I would go to the bathroom and lay there a while then get sweaty and come into the hall for a while then get the chills and repeat the process. I lay there and prayed HARD. We were leaving in the morning for the airport. We NEEDED to get to Miami and back to the US. In moments of feeling "ok", I would pack our bags so that we were completely ready to go and just had to put clothes on. I told God I would be sick all night as long as I could feel ok at 5 am. I finally slept a little and awoke at 5:06... feeling MUCH much better. Go God! We just had to get through the next half of a day and we were at least in the US.
Our driver picked Olivia and I up at the hotel and first we went to pick up the staff psychologist so she could be there with us for the pick up. It was basically a big meeting with us, Macy, and a number of the housemoms. They were allowed to ask us any questions or share anything they'd like. And we could in return. There was a lot of emotion. It was a hard all around. Those who did speak, shared a little about Macy and then just asked that we love her and take care of her. How scary for them to see her going far away with people they really didn't know. Lots of tears from us all.
Following that, we went back to the "hub" which is the hospital nearby. Our orphanage director is an amazing, amazing force in Haiti. She runs three orphanages, schools, and the hospital. We went to see her and pick up all of our important paperwork. She quickly had Macy smiling again and then Macy made her rounds to take pictures with everyone there as well.
We were finally on our way to the hotel.
As a family.
With Macy forever.
We played.
We took her to her first pool.
She warmed up quickly.
She loved all the play things I brought for us to use at the hotel. But didn't want to "play" with them, just wanted them all by her. This was funny because Olivia was the same way when she first came to live with us and it took her a long time to get past that. She wanted "stuff" but really didn't know HOW to play and use it. Macy was also given her special blanket from the orphanage when we picked her up. How precious to be able to bring that home for her to keep!
The rest of the evening and night were a bit of a blur. Macy went to sleep fairly easily. Olivia began not feeling well. Upset stomach, hard time sleeping, and then I started not feeling well. I asked the concierge for a thermometer for Olivia since the one I brought wasn't working, they didn't have one. At midnight I called our orphanage director to ask what to do. She said that she would have our driver come very early and bring us to the hospital. I was so afraid Olivia was not doing well and wasn't sure she could make it home the next day. It was not a good night. As Olivia was finally able to sleep, I spent the night between the floor of the bathroom and the floor of the hallway. The bathroom wasn't air conditioned and I was vacillating between chills and sweats. So I would go to the bathroom and lay there a while then get sweaty and come into the hall for a while then get the chills and repeat the process. I lay there and prayed HARD. We were leaving in the morning for the airport. We NEEDED to get to Miami and back to the US. In moments of feeling "ok", I would pack our bags so that we were completely ready to go and just had to put clothes on. I told God I would be sick all night as long as I could feel ok at 5 am. I finally slept a little and awoke at 5:06... feeling MUCH much better. Go God! We just had to get through the next half of a day and we were at least in the US.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Our Oasis
On our first trip last year to Haiti Olivia and I were so blessed to have been able to spend our two weeks at a wonderful guest house. We became close with the house manager and had such a great time walking places with her and really seeing some of Haiti. Going back for this short trip and knowing we would have Macy with us at least some of the time, we did try to go back to the same guest house but it was booked. The orphanage director recommended we stay at a hotel this trip since we'd have Macy and could use the pool, etc so we went that route. The hotel we stayed at was AMAZING. It was hard for me though staying in such a lavish place, which uses water like crazy (we saw two pools and are pretty sure there was at least one more, the grounds were immense), and just outside their front drive were shacks with metal roofs where water is a scarce and treasured commodity.
Here is a glimpse at our residence for our stay...
Here is a glimpse at our residence for our stay...
The large pool and outdoor, elegant restaurant is in the background here:
The smaller pool right by our room:
Haiti Day Two
Our second day there Olivia and I had a lot more time to spend at the orphanage, spending loads of time with Macy...
Loving on a couple of very special boys...
Twirling round and round...
Hanging with the other kids...
Finding a new buddy...
Melting with her smile...
Being silly with our sponsored guy...
And sharing lunch with Macy and her housegroup...
We were told that she was super excited about us coming and her leaving and it really showed. I was a bit blown away. Pleasantly surprised. More in love than ever.
Loving on a couple of very special boys...
Twirling round and round...
Hanging with the other kids...
Finding a new buddy...
Melting with her smile...
Being silly with our sponsored guy...
And sharing lunch with Macy and her housegroup...
We were told that she was super excited about us coming and her leaving and it really showed. I was a bit blown away. Pleasantly surprised. More in love than ever.
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Olivia - 14
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