Excerpt from A Volunteer's Haitian Experiences

By Tim Plaut, MD
August, 2008

“God Bless you for what you do”. “It is amazing that you folks do this.”  “Those kids get so much out of what you do”…I hear these types of quotes frequently from folks who know about my trips to Haiti with Asheville’s Mission Manna.

    I have been to Haiti four times now, with medical groups from western NC, on mission trips that focus on hunger and providing medical care for children in the region of Montrouis, about 2 hours north of PAP.  At first it was an adventure, a chance to “do some good” and explore a country that I had never seen. 

    Sure, I knew that Haiti is a poor country, but having grown up in Appalachia, and travelled the world while in the Navy, I had seen poverty before.  I had seen kids with stunted growth before, in Tunisia, North Africa while helping build a school as part of a US Marine Corps good will mission.

    But I had never seen kids dying from simple hunger up close before.  I had never imagined the sight of a child scooping water with his hands out of a refuge filled ditch, while a donkey urinated in the water he was drinking.  Who in America can imagine a “tradition” called Te, where the mother mixes spice in a dirt cake to feed their children at bedtime to quell pangs of hunger.  
The first time I came home after a week in Haiti, (which by the way is a mere 2 hours by plane off the coast of Miami,) I was so angry at the unfairness of it all that my wife had to ask me to stop telling the kids not to complain, to settle down, to in effect “get off my high horse” and live happily with the life I have here.

    If it was so bad, why do I continue to go, and look forward to the next trip as soon as I get back?  I think everyone who has made trips like this, and continue to do this type of work, ask this question of themselves.

    On the way home, our group arrives back in Miami enroute to NC.  We all share a kind of high, a quiet appreciation for a job well done.  There is a discussion of certain cases we saw, remembering the tragic, and reflecting on the good.  And it never fails, eventually someone says something like “I think I got more out of this trip than I gave”.  This is gift is hard to describe, but we have all felt it, an inner sense of calm.  An enrichment of the soul.  A return to the basics.

   We go to Haiti with the idea that with all we have here in America, all the blessings and gifts we were lucky enough to be born with , that it is time to give back.  There is a conscious choice to leave our families, sacrifice a week’s worth of income, and spend a large amount of money to go to a sometimes dangerous place to help people we don’t know.  

    We do it because we can make a difference, however small in this big world of ours.  We see many of the same kids every time we go, keep records on their growth and health status, provide AK-1000, and provide worm medicine and vitamins to each child we see, usually between 1000-1200 per trip.  We do it because we can; in America we have the resources, will and determination to help the poorest of the poor.  We volunteer and head out on that first trip to the unknown with the gusto and zest of conviction, conviction that we are blessed, lucky, and it is time to pass our gifts on to less fortunate folks…and the next year we come back.

    We return because of the love.  Love for these incredibly dignified people, who persevere though drought and famine we can only imagine.  Love for the children who start out so afraid of these white people, but trust us because their parents do.  The love that develops within our group, the volunteers from America AND Haiti, that carries us up the mountains when the tap-tap breaks down and we have to hike in.  And mostly, the love we are given.  Each trip brings more hugs from friends we have made, and the kids who remember us from last year.  It is a basic human need to be appreciated, and we leave Haiti feeling fulfilled.   For all the sacrifice we make on these trips, the Haitians sacrifice more. They make sure we are fed, when they have nothing to eat.  They make sure we have a place to sleep (like a church in the mountains), when they sleep on the dirt.  They make sure we know how much we mean to them.  I just pray that they know how much they mean to us.

Community Health Agent Initiative Yields Results

By Kate Lalor
July, 2008

For many years, Mission Manna has hoped to employ community health workers to help children between our twice-yearly visits. Prior to the departure of the April team, we decided to put a pilot program in place, hiring Eddy Prophete and Givneaud Louis to follow thirty children determined to be at risk from malnutrition.

    For $800 a month, we are providing akamil, nutritional education and when needed, emergency medical care to 30 children. Eddy and Givneaud go to the home of each family from two to five times per month, depending on the severity of the need. They are tracking data such as body weight and arm circumference on each of the children so that we can evaluate our efforts and make adjustments to improve results.

    In light of the effect of global circumstances in Haiti's economy, the timing of our decision to “jump in” could not have been better. It is possible only because of your generosity.

    If every person on our mailing list donates $40.00, it will cover the cost of the Community Health Initiative for a year. We have two supporters who send $10 per month. If you do the math, you'll see what an impact their donations make.

Haiti

By Val Smith
April, 2008

How can something so lovely be so ugly at the same time? Haiti is full of beautiful, grand mountains. “Mountains beyond Mountains” is how Paul Farmer, MD describes it. The people of these mountains are as grand and lovely as the mountains on which they live. They are also as impoverished as the mountains. There are few trees on the dry, desert mountains. Most of them have been harvested for use.

    The locals don’t know the importance of re-planting. They do not know the importance of sanitation, they find themselves drinking and eating whatever they can get their hands on. Sanitation is a low priority when their children are starving to death. Healthcare is virtually unheard of. In the villages where Mission Manna sends physicians, nurses, teachers, and other volunteers, the locals virtually form a protective hedge around us, ensuring that our travels are safe, and our mission is carried out. They greet us with smiles, hugs, and warm spirits as they anticipate the medicines, treatments, means for hospitalization, and nutritional support to be delivered to their people. They come from miles and miles away.

    Traveling barefoot with no water through the hot desert mountains, they come with their children in hopes of getting medication, medical care, toothbrushes and vitamins. Those who are extremely malnourished, which can be an entire village at times, receive the life saving Akamil, the World Health Organizations’ recipe for meal that can nourish a starving child back to life. Mothers receive teaching to help them realize the importance of feeding their children Akamil, instead of dirt tea and mud cakes.

    And then we leave. The people know that in six months, they will have the chance to see Mission Manna again. The most fortunate families, (who are the most mal-nourished) will be assigned a Mission Manna local Health Care Worker, who will monitor the nutritional and medical status of the children, and report back to the Mission Manna Board in the states. All are hoping and praying that Mission Manna’s presence can make a difference in the lives of the children in Haiti.

    The long-term goal of Mission Manna of building a hospital in Montrouis is so desperately needed. With a local hospital in place, the people of those mountains could receive on-going healthcare and nutritional support, which is necessary if life is to be sustained in the town of Montrouis. Mission Manna is making a difference in the lives of the people of Montrouis and surrounding villages. Perhaps more personal, however, is the difference the people of Montrouis have made in our lives. They have demonstrated to us an amazing grace by welcoming us into their lives and showering us with their love.