Arrived in Haiti!

The first time we were all together in Miami

No pictures, because I can't quite get the internet in the guesthouse to keep it together enough to actually write and publish a post.  (But the pictures are pretty cool.)

Haiti is hot.  I had forgotten what hot really was.  After getting off the plane, I went from being happy to be someplace warm to feeling happy to actually be hot for a change to wishing that the Haiti airport was air-conditioned in the space of about a minute.  About five minutes later I was sweating like I was back in Samoa.

Haiti is one of the most densely populated places that I have ever seen, with the smallest airport that I have also ever seen.  Someone had fixed it since the earthquake (probably so that aid could get in) and made a nice little walkway.  There was a band playing for us as we moved down the  walkway into the main terminal.  Throughout our trip, we would pick up various people from various places that were in our group, and this was honestly the first time that I saw us all together.  Most of the people that were on the plane were Haitian or of Haitian decent, and all the white people that I talked to was there with an NGO.  We gathered in the main terminal (which was slightly smaller then the woman's bathroom at LAX) and tried to figure o Tut how to fill our our customs forms that had been written in French and Creole.  I think that this was one of the first places were English was not an option.  I wondered why this was, since there was such a strong (and highly dysfunctional) relationship between the US and Haiti.

From there, it was a pretty long walk from the terminal to the truck, even with our bags (50lb each x 2) on carts.  Some guys that were identically dressed swooped in to take the carts, I found out (too late) that they didn't work for the airport.  I tried to get rid of mine, and handed him a dollar.  He said "Give me five dollars" and refused to take it.  It turns out that "give me five dollars" is a common catcall for Americans here, there was a kid that called to me from the other side of the gate "Hey, sister!"  When I looked, he requested this distinct dollar amount.  Fortunately, but this point, the guy who is in charge of Mountain Top Ministries, Willhelm, told us not to pay and the haggle was over, although I was out my dollar.  I didn't feel to mad about it, I was temped to give more to the kid at the fence.  But I also know that such handouts are not helpful in the long run.

We left Port-au-Prince in a huge traffic jam.  I was in the back of a pickup truck, and I am not going to describe driving in a third world traffic jam except to say that if you've even been in a third-world traffic jam, you know exactly what I am talking about. It's not for the lighthearted, and the danger was compounded by the fact that we were climbing up mountain roads along cliff sides.  I had been nervous about my stomach-- I don't do well on windy roads, but after just a few minutes I forgot about my stomach and would have taken the chance just to get the car to move and generate some breeze.  I was wearing a hat, my face was burned just a few minutes later anyway.

The area that we are staying was not directly affected by the earthquake, but a lot of people fled Port-au-Prince and came back to these villiages, so they are going to be the people that we are helping as this area isn't well set up for medical help.  Our first job, after lunch, was to sort the bags.  We had a ton of bags to sort, and Linda had packed them in a way where the necessary supplies we spread out rather then in one bag.  As the bags were lost or pilfered, this made for a extensive re-sorting process.  We scattered all our pills on the table and made then into little 30-day packets.  We bundled them into baggies and slipped in a little piece of paper saying what the pills were and how they were to be taken.  We are thinking that we sorted 30,000 pills as we went through about 1000 bags.  It wasn't a bad job, very zen.

Tomarrow, we will go to the clinic.  I will be drawing blood for the iStat.  Tonight, I took my first bucket bath since leaving Thailand and loved every bloody second of it.  The ambian is start to really kick in, and as much as I would like to write in my soon-to-be-forgotten ambien high, I think that I will turn in.  Talk to y'all tomorrow!

Forest Park Hike

Took a break from Haiti preperations for a hike in Forest Park.  Forest Park is known for being the largest forest reserve within city limits in the country.  (Not be be outdone,  they also have the smallest park in the country as well, but this one isn't a very good hiking spot.


Hailstone!



Can you see the harp in the window?



In typical Portland style, the day was clear and sunny when I left, started to rain while I was on the road, overcast when I got to the parking lot, and started to hail about fifteen minutes into the hike.  The hailstones were a good few centemeters in diameter, unfortunatly we were not able to get a good picture of one before it melted.

Pitcock Mansion

 I was hiking with a new friend, Casey, who is also studying wildlife and has most of his labs in places like this.  He was able to point out most of the different plants that we saw, let me know which ones are edible and which ones will sting (and demonstrated thier stinging properties over my protests).  He also pointed out the types of birds that we saw, although having only seen a robin, his skills in that areas were not quite as impressive. 

A mysterious stone structure

A doorway becons..

Me in the mysterious stone structure

Casey investigating the moss

The view of Portland from the top

Jeremy Cowart's "Voices of Haiti"

One of my teamembers posted a link to our list that featured the photography of Jeremy Cowart, who is truly very talented and has captured the Haitian people in a truly unique and touching way.  I highly recommend that you check out his photography work in Haiti.

Haiti Preview

T minus 7 days until Haiti!!  If you (like me) can't wait to see my blog from Haiti, check out this link.  It's from a guy that went to Haiti and worked with Mountain Top Ministries in the Gramothe Villiage.  He seemed to have a pretty good time.

http://hiking-cyclingchristian.net/vacations/2008-Haiti/2008-Haiti.htm

Also, I learned that the villiage I am going to be is someplace between Petionville and Kenscoff, but Google Maps does not have it.  So, the best that I can reckon is that I am going to be someplace in the little red circle that I made:

Or, someplace on the little squiggly blue line that can be seen here.

iStat-tastic

Connie, Mary Kay, and Julie

On Thursday I went to the office of the pediatrician who is going to be going with me to Haiti.  She wanted to make sure that I knew how to use the "iStat".  Not developed by Apple, this nifty little device is going to enable us to check the blood of our Haitian patients.

It comes with cartridges that you put a little blood on.  Slide the cartridge into the device, and it will tell you the blood chemistry, Hbg and Hct.  This is normally a test that you would have to send down to the lab.  I learned that the clinic in Haiti will not electricity.  That means, in addition to not having power to run devices, we also don't have any refrigerator in the clinic.

Me showing off my awesome blood collection technique

 This means that we can't spin down blood and store it, so this device is pretty handy.  So why isn't it used in all labs, or at doctor's offices?  Because the device is very expensive, and the little cartridges cost more per pop then I fork over for a co-pay.

We really wouldn't have the funds to have anything like this in Haiti, but the company that developed them decided to donate the device and 300 cartridges.  This comes to several thousand dollars (they have to give back the machine, but still.)  The amount of generosity that I have seen while preparing for this tip has been pretty incredible.

Figuring out the iStat
(Note: it needs you to configure it to require a barcode.)

And hard to use!  To get the blood, I had to use a little glass tube (similar to a swizzle stick) to get the blood without any bubbles.  Fortunatatly, Julie, the pathologist was more then willing to be a guinea pig as I demonstrated my ability to suck blood.  (She proved to be in good health, according to our iStat.)  There was another person who worked in the lab, Connie, who knew all about getting blood, and she helped us out. She said that she would like to go, hopefully she will be on the next trip.  (So might I!)

We are also taking a bunch of urine sticks, that technology has been power-free for quite some time. I was the guinea pig for that test (no pictures of that, I am afraid!)  I am happy to say that from a urinary standpoint, my health is quite good.
T minus 10 days!

Peanut Butter

I think that we are good for peanut butter donations for Haiti.

On getting the Flintstones Vitamins, I started singing the Flintstones vitamin song ("We' re the Flintstones Kids/Ten million strong, and gr-o-owing") and none of my coworkers knew what the hell I was talking about.  I'm old.

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major

Well, here it is.  Andante from Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, performed on 4/6/2011 at Classical Revolution PDX.  It's good that I can record this as I am able to hear that I really need to work on pitch, although the other flute isn't much better, which tells me that a) I am coming along well when copared to a more professional student and b) we didn't tune well and c) the recording equiptment didn't have the best sound.  (This ws a cell phone video that Kazu took, which is why it is so bloody dark!)

We actually performed this without a rehersal (which would have been very helpful) and down a flute.  That violinist stepped in at the last minute.  Finally, Kristin (the player on the right of me) pointed out that the peice was actually more difficult due to the numerous long tones, and suggested that a piece with shorter tones would be easier, as we don't have to sync up the pitch so much.

My flute teacher tells me that I need to keep my fingers down, and this picture illistrates her point well...

Still, it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to perform again!

Special Things Happen

A few weeks ago, I sent out an email asking people for supplies for Haiti.  I put out a box and a bit of hope.  When I came into work today, I was pleased to see that someone had added a few items.  There was a big thing of paper towels, wipes, band-aids and Tylenol.  (I felt like a moron when I was asked why we could donate Tylenol and not aspirin.  When I told this to the meeting, half the group yelled out that it was because of Reye's Syndrome.  Duh.)

Honestly, I wasn't really expecting much of anything.  I wanted people to just bring junk from home.  So I was pretty surprised when Kevin (my hiring manager) and Barbara Crow, the CEO of the Lions Eye Bank (where I work) told me that they wanted me to speak at the monthly staff meeting about my upcoming trip.  (This is where I made the Reye's snafu.)

I got up and talked at the meeting about my upcoming trip.  I told the group about how I was going to be travelling down to provide medical aide as a nurse, and that any donations -- either money or goods -- would be very welcome.  I explained that due to the disasters that followed Haiti (namely New Zealand and Japan) donations for Haiti have dropped while the need in Haiti is still very great.

At this same meeting, we had had a lady who represented our benefits provider walk us though a few things, and she had sat politely sat through our meeting.  When I told the group how Haiti still needed lots of help (perhaps more help then Japan and New Zealand needed, as they are first-world counties) she stood up, identified herself as Hatian, and asked to speak.  With tears in her eyes and her voice cracking, she spoke passionatly about her family who were living in tents.  She told us about how she didn't know if her family was even alive for three weeks.  She provided rememberances of an elder member of her family who had died from lack of medical care.  She told us how the entire country was still covered in rubble.  And she thanked me for remembering Haiti, and asked the group to do the same.  It was a very powerful moment.

I found out later that one of the people in the office (Janet) wrote the following:

I’d like to suggest that coincidence is more a matter of the good work we do and the good energy we all put out, rather than a random occurrence.  I don’t think that anyone else had the good fortune of seeing all of the pieces that went into the phenomenal occurrence at our staff meeting last night... Kevin... suggesting that the Eye Bank get behind Kim in her assistance of the Haitian people.  Barbara forwarding Kevin’s suggestion.  Kim giving us an opportunity to help others through her mission.

Is it a coincidence our first benefits rep wasn’t a ‘fit’ and that our new benefits person happens to be Haitian?  Is it a coincidence that  we happened to have our benefits person speak with us the evening that Kim shared about her trip to Haiti?  I don’t know.  What will happen as a result of all of these ‘coincidences’?  I don’t know.  I do know that  I have experienced special things happen when thoughtful people put strong thought and energy into producing something good, whether they are directing that energy together consciously or not.   For me, this is definitely one of those experiences and I thought it was worth mentioning; as we all contribute in our own way.  It’s something to think about.”

And when I walked into the office today, I found that someone had placed a box-- with a ton of goods in it, in the front room where we greet visitors.  As you can see, someone put a great deal of work into the box, and I was nearly moved to tears.



Be the Change...

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
 -Mahatma Gandi

Haiti Jobs

I got an email from one of the doctors who is part of the medical team a few days ago:

Hi Kim, 

I am a pediatrician and the medical director of our Haiti mission team.

I am so glad you are coming along. My last team only had one nurse and it was really tough. This time we have 4 maybe even 5, so much better.

Margie and Lynn have told me that they would like to work in the pharmacy. Margie said you like hands on jobs best. I would like to find out what you want to do as we are going to try to prepare a little to make things a little smoother. You can trade off later in the week but initally getting set up it's nice to have one person in charge of a station.

I will need a nurse to do the check in. It means taking a lot of weights and blood pressures, and other vitals as you see fit, like temps.  You would have 2 helpers.

The other station is the lab. We are going to have a little machine to check hgb/hcts and lytes/glucose with. Also lots of urine dips and preg tests. This person would also likely oversee the scabies treatments. Again 2 helpers along side.

Let me know what you think. I still need to ask Betty also what she wants to do.
Looking forward to a wonderful experience.

I wrote back with:

Actually, the lab station sounds the most interesting, but honestly I really want to be where ever I am most helpful!  I don't think that I would have any problem with either of these jobs, although I do not know French.

She answered with:

Thanks for getting back to me so quick. I talked with Bettie today and she is very happy to do the BP check in station, so you are set to be the lab RN. She lives up in Shelton so it would be hard to do the training on the i-stat machine anyways. I should be getting the machine in the mail on April 12th, and so sometime after that you and our pathologist, Julie Kingery will need to get together and figure out how to use it. I want to make sure we have all the right supplies and controls and all that. It's good to practice reading Urine dipstixs too before you go. No worries on the language. We will have Creole translators and they are very versed on telling people to pee in cups!! :) You can read about the i-stat on line at Abbot.com.

Item Donations for Haiti?

(This post is more for local people, although you non-locals are welcome to help out.)  I am in the process of gathering supplies to take to Haiti.  As I mentioned, my team leader is going to commandeer my checked luggage and most of my carry on for supplies that the Haitian people need.  All of my trip fees are for buying supplies, but it doesn't cover everything that is needed.  Therefore, if you are able to help out with supplies, let me know.

If you do want to donation, things can be either used or new.  If you have these lying around the house, great, if you want to pick up a generic bottle of acetaminophen (generic Tylenol) the next time you are at the store, even better!  All items will go directly to the Haitian people that we work with in the clinic, as well as an orphanage that is also associated with my group.

Here is a list of supplies that we still need:

nr Clinic:

washclothes (for hygiene packs)

bags of all sizes (large trash, small trash, baggie, snack, etc)

clorox wipes

non-latex gloves

peanut butter

batteries- all sizes

adult multi vitamins with and w/o iron (UNOPENED)

children's multi vitamins with and w/o iron (no gummy, they melt, also UNOPENED)

Tylenol (generic or regular, UNOPENED)

paper towels

For MTM orphanage:

combs & brushes for black hair

skin lotion

hair cream-with a tar or sulfur base if possible, these tend to repel scabbies

deodorant/antiperspirant

bath towels

kitchen towels/bar rags work best & are less expensive, can be bleached

underclothes & socks

pj type clothing

misc. clothing in good condition, modest (boys sizes 7-12, girls sizes 7-16)

accessories are always welcome-belts, purses, ties, hair foo foos, etc.

As I said, you can just give these things to me (either at work or at home) or if you are feeling really ambitious you could mail me the things if you live far away (although it would probably just be either to send me a check and a list of what you want me to buy.)

Three Things....

OK, the first thing is an earthquake update.  I was listening to this guy on the radio who was talking about earthquakes and tsunamis on the west coast.  His interviewer asked him about tsunami warning systems, and how people would know if there is a wave coming after an earthquake.

His answer: if the ground shakes, that IS your warning.  If an earthquake stikes the west coast, a tsunami WILL follow.  South coast has about 10 minutes until the wave hits, north coast has a little more time, about 20 minutes.  He suggested that you get about 80 feet up, more if possible.  If you don't know what 80 feet looks like, then right after a earthquake is not the time to find out.

The second is an update on my trip to Haiti.  This lady that I am going with is insanely organized.  She is bringing food.  She brings supplies.  Scrubs are already there.  There are books and a computer there.  She even has toothbrushes.  "What should I bring?" I asked her.  "Nothing, really", she admitted.  Of course, she is claiming my entire checked bag quota (and part of my carry-on bag) for medical supplies going there, and I will have to stuff my nothing into whatever is left.  I have my ticket and so this is looking like a go.

The third thing is that I MAY be playing flute at the Waypost on 4/6 at 7:30pm.  I will probably be playing as a part of Classical Revolution PDX.  I am hoping that I will be playing  Bach's Andante from Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major with three other flutes, which will sound near but not quite like this:

(Yes, there is a lot of uncertainty in this announcement.  But if you get there and I don't play, then you are probably better off.)

Only [NOT] in the US

Could you imagine the president of a major company in America personally apologising to those that were affected by his company? 

 This picture is from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42144324.  The caption reads:

Norio Tsuzumi, vice president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), left, apologizes to evacuees at an evacuation center in Tamura, Fukushima prefecture, March 22. Public sentiment is such that Fukushima's governor Yuhei Sato rejected a meeting offered by the president of Tepco, the utility that runs the Fukushima nuclear plant. "Considering the anxiety, anger and exasperation being felt by people in Fukushima, there is just no way for me to accept their apology," said Gov. Sato on national broadcaster NHK.

If this were America, not only would the mayor take the companies apology (and probably his campaign finance contributions), the company and the mayor would probably band together to place all the blame on the opposite political party.

Please consider Donating to Japan.  They are doing all they can to try to help themselves, but this disaster is too big for anyone to handle alone.

Earthquake readiness

So, my housemate found a video of some geologist that is claiming that due to a perfect storms of tides and full moons and equinoxes (equini?) the "big one" is going to hit this Saturday.  As the picture shows, I ran right out to the store, and I feel pretty prepared:



In all seriousness, if there is a big one, check here: Safe And Well.  I will put myself on the site, if anyone cares.

Here is the video.  Imminent earthquake?  Decide for yourself.  Before you panic, keep in mind that this is Fox News that we are talking about:

   

Music for All?

I attened a "Brown Bag" at the Old Church in Portland.  As the name implies, the Old Church is the oldest church building in Portland.  However, the name is misleading as it is actually no longer a church.  It is not a nonprofit that houses weddings, concerts, and other gatherings.  It is a beautiful place, and they will hold free noontime Wenesday concerts that I love to attend.  This week, we heard David Rothman, who presented us with many lovely Chopin pieces.  A list of their concerts can be found here.

They announced that the concert was going to be taped, and requested that we remain silent between movements, only clapping when the piece was completely finished.  I wondered why live concerts were taped like this, rather then just taping in a controlled environment.  I guessed that it probably had something to do with the energy of the player or something like that.

A few minutes into the concert, a few people came in.  The newcomers were obviously a group of people who were developmentally disabled, with two escorts.  They had to come in through the handicapped door due to the fact that one of them was in a wheelchair, and that door was at the front of the room, so everyone was staring at them.  I glanced at the microphones, and thought to myself that this wasn't going to go well.

About five minuets after they showed up, one of the members gave a long, loud moan.  Everyone's head spun around at the sound, mine included.  The person who had made the noise was smiling and clapping his hands siliently in joy at the music, and the room glowered at him.  I smiled, but I saw that a lot of people were troubled and a few were angry.

The pianist was one of them.  After the song, he asked if there was a noise.  One of the audience members pointed out the group and said that it was them.  There was an uncomfortable silence, then one of the escorts led the noisemaker away.

I felt so terrible for him.  Although I understood that the tape of the concert was probably ruined (at least for that song) I wondered if the audience and the pianist realized just how vital it was for the young man who was kicked out to attend a concert like this.  If it was so important to get a good tape, then they should have made this clear prior to the concert to make sure that people who were not able to listen silently would not show up.    Maybe the man who left didn't understood why he was leaving, or maybe he did and was sad, hurt, or even humiliated.  I wouldn't be surprised if the small part of the concert gave him just as much joy as the rest of the people listening, perhaps even more.  The disabled are marginalized, removed from societal, and rarely able to attend an event like that.  It was wrong for him to leave.

Anything helps

I was driving to work the other day when I saw a guy holding a sign asking for money standing by the road.

Now that isn't a strange thing in Portland.  At almost every busy corner, stoplight and stop sign, there are homeless people holding signs.

What was odd about this guy is that he was standing at the end of a freeway on-ramp.  You know, the part where you have just accelerated to the speed of the expressway and you are getting ready to merge.  He was standing right where the expressway meets the ramp.

He was holding a sign that stated "VETERAN, ANYTHING HELPS, GOD BLESS".

And as I zoomed by him at 50 mph I couldn't help but think, "Well, that explains why we haven't left Iraq yet."

Micheal Bay Meets Japan

I can't believe the pictures that are coming out of Japan.  It's like the entire area was the set for some lame Micheal Bay movie.  The most dramatic pictures that I have found are here.

Please consider donating aid if you can.  I, of course, recommend the Red Cross, and you can donate directly to Japan here.

Going to Haiti!

I will be travelling to Haiti this April!

I will be in Haiti from April 25th through May 3rd.  I am very excited about this opportunity!  This will be the first medical trip that I will be making as a nurse, I am going to be using some of the money that my father left me to fund the trip.  I would like to think that he would be proud of what I am doing.

I will be travelling with a group of people to work in a clinic.  The clinic is run by Mountaintop Ministries.  I found out about this through another RN at the Red Cross who is also going.

I have added a personal goal of not getting arrested in this particular country.

Stay tuned!

Zombie Oregon Trail: Flee the Zombie Hordes!

Although it's a day late from Halloween, I wanted to repost this awsome re-hash of the classic game (on which this website is based) "The Oregon Trail".  Instead of battling natural forces, you are battling zombies to get to my new hometown of Portland, OR.  It's a blast.

You can play the game here.

There is really no better way to spend your All-Saints Day.

Let me get this straight, Fiver...

Last Friday I exposed my 11-year-old housemate to what is essentially the whole of my childhood- Watership Down. My sister and I had a game, we would name a line in the movie and the other would have to give the next line.  The loser either couldn't name the next line, or named the wrong line.  (The script, by the way, can be found here.)  That should give you an idea of how many times we watched that movie.  A lot.  And yes, on a few occasions we did manage to recite the entire movie from memory, a feat that I am sure I could repeat today.  Oh yes, and the lines also included the heavily-accented cockney spoken by the human characters at the start of the movie and during the farmhouse scene. 
I was glad to share this experience with my current foster family, as well as fill them in on any lines that they missed (and explain the Warren of the Shining Wire, which I don't think that the movie did a few good job of covering, we can't all be perfect.)  While watching this movie for an iteration that I am sure went into the triple digits, I was struck by how lovely the score was, one aspect of the movie that I had never really highlighted as one of it's charms.  Anyway, I got to thinking how nice it would be to be able to do a sort of medley on the flute.

Anyway, a quick search of "Watership Down Score" showed that no such was available.  No score is for sale.  The soundtrack is also out of print and very pricey.  I figured that I could pick it out myself, but I have a lousy ear and plus I wanted to have the option of piano accompaniment.  Anyway, just when I was about to give up, I found someone who shared the thing.  I got a copy, and I will start to work on a flute solo transposition straightaway, but first I thought that I would share it here:

Download a version of the Watership Down score.

It's not the actual score, I think that someone had my idea of putting together a medley, but they did it with a full orchestra.  Anyway, if you, like so many others, have been searching, enjoy!  And please leave a comment about the book, movie, or the score, as both are truly amazing.  (The TV show sucked however.)  If you haven't heard of this and would like to check it out, then use one of the links below as I get money from Amazon when people buy off my site.

And remember: "What is, is what must be."