The view is always better from above…

Today, Team Rubicon’s northern element returned to Gonaive from the rugged, rural terrain that they have been working in for the last few days, and descended through the mountains that they trekked through just a few days before. It is a 3 and ½ hour trip between Saint-Michele and Gonaive, and it is some of the most beautiful country these eyes have ever seen. It’s also impossible to make the trip in anything but a stout 4×4, and the road there and back will jar just about anything loose, including your thoughts.

A year ago today, I left Port Au Prince in a helicopter with Jake and Doc Griz, after the birth of Team Rubicon and the most exhausting and exhilarating week of my life. I remember looking down as we waved goodbye to Brother Jim and Mark Hayward, banking east and seeing nothing but devastation below as we flew over the city on our way to the D.R. I also remember wondering if there was any hope for the Haitian people, and what the place would look like if I ever returned. Well, a year has passed and I have had the opportunity to return twice already, and to have those questions answered for me. Hope is all around me, and it’s on the face of everyone I see as we pass them on the road. The air is filled with the noisy hustle of streetside markets, and commerce as trucks fly by loaded down with equipment and supplies. There is also still rubble everywhere, and a nasty little bug named Cholera floating around.

We’ve spent the last three days trying to squash that bug, and doing a pretty good job at it. The CTC in Saint Michele is now running more efficiently and the local doctors are able to be more effective. Due to our input, the center is about to be quarantined better with a higher wall of plastic sheeting, that will cut down on cross-contamination. The triage and treatment protocols will be revised and will help conserve resources, and help to better identify how aggressively a patient needs to be treated. We’ve helped to better train the local nurses, and shown them some easy little tricks that can save lives (possibly their own). I feel like we accomplished our mission there, which is always cool. And I feel like the mission is going to continue once our new members return home- which makes me want to run around in circles and do backflips like a 5 year old at the pool.

I just got done eating dinner with the other guys, and we talked about what we’ve done the last few days, and what we want to do for the next week with the IMC here. But we also talked about what we’re going to do when we get home and get “sorted out”, or decompress for a bit. The stuff I heard from these three men was pretty sweet. Dr Ogles, who is a family practitioner from west Alabama was cracking jokes left and right as usual, but something else came out for a second. He said “Ya know- doin this kinda stuff gives you more of a heart; more compassion. But it works both ways- It makes you more grateful for what you’ve got. I’m gonna have a different reaction next time someone comes to me whinin’ or complaining about something silly. I’m gonna be like well, you’ve got something to eat today, right? Well then what are you complaining about?” which was immediately followed by his hearty southern chuckle that keeps us laughing along with him all the time.

Travis Rohde, a Paramedic from Denver, Colorado was talking about a conversation he had with one of the IMC staff earlier this week, where they discussed setting up an EMS service in the rural areas (via donkey-carts; yep, you heard that right) and was glad to be back in Haiti- he came down with fellow TR member Dan Fong last March. “It feels good being back here… I’ll definitely come back here again and help teach EMS practices if I can, that would be awesome.” Travis’ unflappable coolness and critical thinking has been a great help this week, and he has been a great teacher to the Haitian staff at the CTC.

The quote that has stuck out to me the most so far was during a conversation I had last night with Bryan, as we sat outside and tossed back a couple Prestige’s. We were talking about all sorts of stuff, and he was telling me that a lot of people back home thought he was nuts, or foolish to come down here to Haiti. But as he was talking to his Grandfather who he said was the biggest role model and mentor he’s had during his life, he said “ he looked at me and called me son, which he’s never done before, and he said ‘Son, I’m so very proud of you and what you’re doing’ and you know that just means the world to me.” Tonight as we stood outside after dinner, he said something else that’ll stick with me, because it’s exactly how I feel. He said “Man, I haven’t had a single moment of anxiety or sadness while I’ve been down here, even though I’m surrounded by it at the CTC. I really wish I could share that feeling I’ve had with others, you know?” Well, be careful what you wish for Bryan haha- there’s thing called the internet hahaha….

Getting to know these 3, and our new Haitian friends Havertin, Fito, and Moise has been awesome, and getting to see their compassion and willingness to serve has been even sweeter. We’ll all go back home at the end of next week (minus myself, I’ll be here until March), but we’ll go back more aware of the world around us, and with lessons learned here that we can use to help those in our own communities- and that makes me want to do backflips. That’s what keeps me coming back for more, and why Team Rubicon’s missions are so important both at home and in the field- we get to change the world for the better, and in the process we do the same for ourselves…

Well, that’s it- I’m Clay Hunt, and you Stay Classy, TR nation…

Pics of a possible oral rehydration point and random scenery

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Filed under: Haiti, News, Personal Reflections, Photos by William
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