Good Evening for the last time from our rooftop oasis in Haiti. Last night was a night of some celebration as we prepared to lose one our members. We enjoyed some beer and wine and fun conversation to the hum of the generator. That’s right – no electricity here for 3 days now. Luckily we have a generator for temporary power. Unfortunately the generator goes off at night and it was sultry to say the least, however no rain.
Had to take a 3 gallon cold water shower just to get going today, but it worked. Upon arrival for our final clinic I was treated with the opportunity to make a house call along with Josi (my translator and godson) – my patient was an 80-year old man suffering from senile dementia and incontinence…right up my alley. I then returned to clinic where we saw a very manageable 60 patients by 11 am. Of course then came the difficult & reluctant farewells – we said goodbye to Lucson, our clinic manager and Max and Gaspar, two of our great translators. We also had to part ways with Loden and Paulo – no more easy this year than last. We are counting the days when we will see them again and hope to build our Creole vocabulary in order to carry on a decent conversation next time.
We had a nice walk home down Delmas 24 and compared to last year there are very encouraging signs of progress being made – what a delightful surprise. One of our greatest regrets and disappointments though is not knowing the whereabouts and status of our friends from the roof. We missed the fun of games, song and dance as the sun set nightly. We only pray that they are all well and thriving.
Once home and after lunch we had two more very difficult farewells. It was hard to say goodbye to Sendhie (Kez’s “general manager”) – she is a very sweet and bright young lady with endless potential and we are hopeful she will be given the opportunity to fully realize it. We also had to say goodbye for now to Kez. Once again, we are in awe of what such a young woman has been able to accomplish in this challenging foreign land and we are privileged to have walked in her shadow for the past week.
After a cooling down period spent under or in front of a fan, we enjoyed our long anticipated and delicious meal prepared by and enjoyed with Mona and Manis. The picklees was as good as we remembered and definitely worth the wait. We were also lucky to get to see Christine one last time as we enjoyed dinner together. Of course that meant yet another difficult round of farewells.
Tomorrow we will have one last difficult farewell – last year’s group will not be surprised to learn that Josi will make a 1 hour tap-tap ride just to say farewell before we depart for the airport. What a remarkable young man.
We will most certainly keep them ALL close in our prayers until we are able to see them again.
And now we share one last night on our new rooftop with a bright full moon and a nice cool breeze. Our time here has once again passed too fast and we find ourselves already missing our friends. As always, please keep them in your prayers for good health and safety.
That is all for tonight. We will send a quick message as we are boarding the plane tomorrow. See you all soon. Love to all!
The Team