I returned to the US from Haiti mid-February after spending a month working in St. Damien hospital post-earthquake. It seems like years have passed since we were there – I often times wonder if it was all just a bad dream…
Upon my return, my mind was made up that my next step must be to apply for a master’s degree in International Health. I had been thinking about it for a couple of years, but never had thought as seriously about it as I did on my return trip from Haiti. After all, one thing that motivated me to go into nursing was my desire to do international work someday. I had no idea that it would happen so quickly after graduating or that I’d be doing it for so long. Clearly I’ve been sucked in. Thank you NPH.
The application to the program was due just a couple of weeks after I returned from Haiti, so instead of taking the time I needed to readjust and figure out what exactly it was that I had just experienced, I had to pull myself together and get the application material sent off.
Due to the earthquake and our medical team’s extended stay in Haiti, other travel plans were put off. The NPH International board meeting which was to be held in Mexico in February was cancelled. Our international medical workshop which was to be held in the Dominican Republic in April also had to be cancelled. Thus, I was blessed with a bit more time to spend in the States, and was able to visit family and friends that I rarely get to see.
My return started out by being welcomed at the Des Moines Airport by my parents, niece and nephews. Oh, it was so good to be home. Shortly thereafter, I got to spend time in Waterloo with my sister (BFF!), brother-in-law and their wonderful children. That was quickly followed by a visit to Minnesota to see my beautiful friends Christine, Nick (who i just recently found out are pregnant! yay!) and Jonny over St. Patrick’s Day.
Two dear friends of mine, Pat and Christine (a different Christine), got married in Connecticut in March. It was an honor to be able to be there for their special day – a beautiful ceremony and reception. I got to play big sister for the weekend, and hang out with Pat’s daughters Alex and Casey (we shared a hotel room). ‘Twas a fantastic time for sure.
I took advantage of my time out east to visit another long-time friend and her husband – SJ and Sean – in New Jersey. Way too much time has gone by – I wish we lived closer! Love you guys…was so good to see you!
Following a couple of days in Jersey, I hopped over to NYC to see mi amiga Michelle, with whom I volunteered in Honduras in 2005. Wow – that was really 5 years ago?! Seems like just yesterday we were hanging out in the pasillo of Casa Personal, drinking rum and tang, eating baleadas and whatever was left of whichever boxed cake mix some volunteer had made for proyecto familiar. During my days in New York, I finally got to meet the mysterious Alex that I’ve heard so much about over the years. So nice to meet you – you now have my permission to marry Michelle. (I don’t have any photos from those days – it was raining cats and dogs and I was just too nervous to carry my camera around…lame.)
April finally rolled around, and the medical team I work with got together in Miami for a week of meetings. We spent the week planning for the coming year, updating our health policy, and revising the forms for the NPHI Health Care Manual. They were long days, but quite fruitful. We’re still working on the finishing touches, and waiting for our Health Policy to be approved by the Consejo. But, things are moving forward. Slowly, but surely. NPH style.
From Miami, I took off for Peru to spend two weeks working in our clinic in Lunahuana (while my colleague Jan was stuck for days in Miami – he had finally just left Haiti/DR – due to the ash cloud covering Europe). Since my trip to Machu Piccu had to be canceled, I decided to at least spend a weekend in Lima, since all I really knew of Peru was Lunahuana and Cañete. I stayed in a pretty nice hostel in Miraflores, located just off of a nice park where I was able to spend some time lounging. On Sunday I went to the central park with a volunteer from our home, and hit up the market – hard. I found a guy making jewelry…and well, if you know me at all, I’m a sucker for necklaces and bracelets. I nearly bought him out.
From there I headed to Bolivia, where I would spend another two weeks working in our home just outside of Portachuelo. Really – the jungle. I love falling asleep to the sound of monkeys in the nearby trees. Unfortunately, the visit just wasn’t the same as in the past. A couple of key elements were missing – Kara and Ismael. Kara is another ex-volunteer from Honduras, who had been working as the House Director for the past several years in Bolivia. Just a couple months before I arrived, she returned to the US. Ismael, who now is working as the House Director, previously was the Local Health Coordinator, was in El Salvador at the time of my visit. I was lucky enough however to see him the day before I left. (please note the sloth at the bottom of the tree behind us in the photo)
Some of the staff and volunteers had a lovely “despidida” (going away party) my last night there. We went into Santa Cruz, started the evening off with an amazing BBQ at one of their homes, and then a couple of us danced the night away.
Speaking of despididas – I must mention that it is final. In the first days after arriving to Bolivia, I received my letter of acceptance to the Master program I had applied to. And thus, I made the incredibly difficult decision to not renew my contract with NPH when it expires in August. Although the last few years have been anything but easy, they have been beautiful, and it will be incredibly difficult to say good-bye (actually hopefully more of an “hasta luego”) to the hundreds of children and friends I have grown to love over the years. NPH really has been my life for the past couple of years, and it’s hard to imagine life without it. It kind of feels like losing a piece of yourself. August 16th will be a tough, tough day, when I roll out of the gate of NPH Honduras, en route for the US.
I will be heading to Berlin, Germany on August 30th, where I will be based for the following four months for the core course of the program. During those months, the course work will be focused on tropical medicine and public health (at the Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health – Berlin). Upon completion of that portion of the program, I will enroll in various modules throughout Europe, focusing my studies on HIV/AIDS.
Which leads me to the next big news – many, many months ago I applied for a scholarship to attend the 18th International AIDS Conference, to be held next month (July) in Vienna, Austria. To be honest, in the chaos of the last several months, I had forgotten that I even applied for it. Well, turns out I was awarded free travel and conference registration! The conference is held every other year. In 2008 it was held in Mexico, but by the time I was aware of it the early registration deadline had passed, and I was in no situation to pay the expensive registration fees. Needless to say I’m pretty excited about the opportunity to take part in the conference (I’ll be traveling from July 16-25), and get a little taste of Europe before I move there at the end of August! Eek. That still hasn’t really settled in yet!
The conference is being presented by the International AIDS Society, partnering with UNAIDS, World Health Organization, the Global Fund, and more. The theme of the conference this year is “Rights Here, Right Now” and thus will be focusing on the rights of the HIV positive population, and increasing their access to medications and other needed services. The most current studies on care for HIV positive people will be presented, and the current guidelines for treatments discussed. As I am going to represent NPH and to gather useful information for them, I am planning on attending a workshop on how to disclose the HIV status to children and adolescents, and how to continue to work with positive youth, which is an ongoing difficulty we face in our homes that provide care to nearly 90 HIV positive children and adolescents.
Early June, as I’ve done for the past five years, I assisted in organizing a 10-day medical brigade to a couple of remote villages in northern Honduras. The brigade this year consisted of pediatric and internal medicine doctors, a pharmacist, pharmacy and medical students, nurses from our clinic at the orphanage (foreign and Honduran), and a badly needed dentist. A couple of years ago we started a water project, delivering water filters to every home of a mountain village called “La Hicaca”. Since we began the project, the number of gastrointestinal infections has been drastically reduced (the infant mortality rate of the area was quite high in previous years to due GI infections and dehydration). It has gone so well that we had been asked to deliver another 29 filters to another nearby community this year.
Being a part of the brigades is something quite special – every year my eyes continue to be opened to the reality so many people of our world face. Lack of access to clean drinking water. Lack of access to health facilities. If there is a health care facility, there is an absolute lack of adequate medication. Many people of rural communities may go their entire life without ever seeing a doctor. Diabetes and hypertension are common due to the high fat, high salt, high sugar diet, as well as the lifestyle. Teeth literally rot out of people’s mouths, because there is no education on why cavities occur, and there are no dentists to do annual cleanings, to fill cavities when they are still salvageable, or to even take them out when they are already completely dead. Not to mention it is all too common that children start drinking soda from their bottles as babies, and as soon as they have teeth (maybe even earlier…) they are already eating chips and candy.
The photo above is us bathing ourselves in a rain storm. We were without shower facilities for three days (in ultra hot, dirty conditions - thank God for rain). He're a slightly nicer picture of my with a little girl that our team "adopted" several years ago. She comes back to "work" with us every year. She's a doll, no? This was taken on our way to Trujillo (beach on the north coast of Honduras) on our day off.
A part of me is terrified of going back to school (I was so happy to be done with it in 2004!), but being down here I am frequently reminded of why I went into nursing, and I guess this is the reality I have to face to continue to do what I love doing.
One last exciting thing of late – then I promise I will leave you be. When I returned home from South America, believe it or not, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama came to the University of Northern Iowa to discuss how to promote a non-violent world through education. So, naturally my sister, brother-in-law and I jumped at the opportunity to attend the panel discussion in the morning. I had just finished reading one of his books - “The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World” – which I would highly recommend to you all.
And speaking of good book – right now I’m finishing up “There is no me without you” by Melissa Fay Greene. It is the story of an Ethiopian woman who after a series of events opens her doors to children orphaned by AIDS in her country. Also an excellent read – it has been giving me a lot of encouragement in my road back to studying.
Ok, so that’s my last four months in a nutshell.
Much love and peace to you all.
And happy Father’s Day to all of you dads! Mine especially =)
And oh my gosh – Honduras vs. Spain tomorrow. VAMOS CATRACHOS! I think it’s about to get ugly…
