Trip to Haiti Nov 29-Dec5

We are going to Haiti in less than 24 hours.  So naturally I am up at 4 AM thinking about it.  We have 19 folks traveling with us this time, from North Carolina, Connecticut, Washington DC, New Orleans and Memphis.  The love of God which is so evident at St Vincent's, draws people from all over the country.  I am even taking a set of letters from a boys' school in Canada, written to the kids and handcarried by me.  The letter exchanges started about a year ago, and I will bring letters back from the St Vincent's kids, to mail back to Royal St George's College in Alberta.  I always feel like I am transporting great treasure when I carry these letters from one set of children to another.

So the last few days have been full of excitement, early morning awakenings, and flashes of momentary panic.  Calls to John Mutin "I forgot to buy lollipops!!!"  (for the children who come to the clinic).  Do we have enough batteries?  Where is the -FILL IN NAME OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT HERE-"
Calls to Sherye "Did you tell everyone to bring a bathing suit?  Did you get stickers for the kids?  Do the team members have everyone's phone number?  Did you tell them to take their malaria medication..."  Each of these questions was a SEPARATE phone call, mind you.

Sitting at my computer yesterday morning, I suddenly couldn't remember booking my flight to Haiti.  Of course I did this in September, but for a long 10 minutes I was searching my email for the CONFIRMATION email from Orbitz.  Couldn't remember it was from Orbitz, so it took a while to find it.  What happened to the days when they MAILED you an actual ticket!!!  My brain is not conditioned to keep up with all this digital stuff.  My kids shudder when I hand them a piece of paperwork to keep up with.  They keep everything in their phone.

I realize that my anxiety is mostly founded on the feeling that I am not prepared for this trip, that I am not bringing enough supplies, that somehow despite months of planning I will fail to use all the resources available to me to do the most possible good for the children of St Vincent's.  Of course, there is no way to meet the vast needs we will encounter.  We can only bring what little we have and offer it in love. But I still worry that I am not doing enough. 


So to all of you wonderful  Haiti supporters who pray for our safety and our work in Haiti, get your knee pads ready.  We depart early Tuesday morning and return late Monday, Dec 5.  Pray for the safety of our medical supplies (no diversions by customs agents or anyone else) and especially for the Haitian people we will see in our clinic.  Pray that my Kreyol is better than it actually is.  Pray that our team members will be able to offer all the love and gifts we have been given, to share with our Haitian friends.

I hope to send posts to the blog while we are in Haiti.  If you are not already a follower, you may want to add your email to the "Follower" list.

Thank you all for your endless support

Susan Nelson