Rocks in the Sun--Monday, July 24, 2017--Doug

"Woch nan dlo pa konnen doule woch nan soley."--Haitian proverb
 I'm in the back of a tap-tap. We've rented it out for the week to ferry us back and forth from the Methodist Mission house in Cap-Haitien and the clinic in Latannerie. I'm sweating and my butt hurts, but I'm trying to look like I've  been here before. 

I feel every bump. I am not comfortable. With us on this trip are 8 young people, in their late teens or early twenties. I am sure they are not comfortable either.
That's sort of the point. People who live here ride in these same tap-tap's all the time. I want our team to experience a taste of what it is like here. To us, the thinly cushioned benches, the smell of charcoal and burning trash, the sights and sounds of the crowded market, the constant beeping of tapa taps, trucks, and motos in the stop and go traffic, these are all novelties. I close my eyes and wonder  what it would be like to live here all the time, for this to be everyday. This week, in the heat and humidity, there will be no A/C. I wonder if we will get used to it. I wonder if we will embrace it. Embrace a slice of discomfort for our short time here. 
I am always so honored when people volunteer to go on trips with us. They spend a lot of money, endure inconvenient travel, and give us a chunk of their time. In return, we give them hot bumpy rides and humid nights. It is not comfortable.
 
But they also get to see a way of life that they've never seen and connect to people who live that life and see both our difference and our commonalities. Which can also be an uncomfortable experience. when we develop a relationship with someone who is happy to get just one meal a day, poverty becomes more real to us.
 
That in itself is a valuable experience. One that has the potential to fundamentally change the way we view the world.
Which brings us back to the proverb:
'The rock in the water cannot know the pain of the rock in the sun.'
We are the rocks in the water. We are the comfortable ones. We can never know what it is truly like to live in poverty.

But this week we can get a little uncomfortable.
(all photos by Leah Stieferman)

July 2017 Team

Please pray for our July 2017 team as they prepare to serve along side our Haitian friends in Cap Haitien and Latennerie. Our team will be supporting the medical clinic in Latennerie as well as hosting a Vacation Bible School for the church in Latennerie. The team will be leaving this weekend and will arrive in Haiti on Saturday July 22 and will return on July 29th. We look forward to hearing from our team; please stay tuned to Facebook and Blogspot for daily journals and stories from our team!

So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. — Colossians 1:9 (NLT)

Our July 2017 Team
Trip Leader: Sabine Dessieux-Boudreau
Doug Boudreau & Joséphine (Phi)
Grace Boudreau
Leah Stiefermann
Morgan Fischer
Kayla Bax
Dwight Jones
Chandler Haxton
Jeanne Boudreau
Luc Dessieux
Jackie Dessieux
Olivia Ayers
Ashley Smith
Quinn Osborne

The Importance of Leaning In

Right now, we are in Haiti on a medical mission to Cap-Haitien. While we are here Hurricane Matthew is expected to make landfall in part of Haiti. Now, our part is not threatened according to the weather forecast, but all the same, it is not a comfortable place for us to be in.

And we are accustomed to seek comfort in our lives, aren’t we? In all seasons, we like our thermostats to be set between 68 and 72. We crave soft sheets, pleasant smells, a comfy couch. There is nothing wrong with any of that, but everyone is going to face situations in this life when things get uncomfortable. Many times in order to get what we need or to do the right thing, we have to intentionally get a little uncomfortable.  When faced with uncomfortable situations, it’s normal to seek to minimize discomfort, to shy away from that which troubles us.

That is why it can be so difficult, during troubling times, to lean in. Lean into the discomfort, lean into the fear, lean into the danger.  It can be as small as a few kind words to a stranger who seems troubled or as big as a firefighter running toward an inferno that everyone else is fleeing. As physicians and nurses, our daily lives are filled with uncomfortable conversations, uncomfortable procedures, uncomfortable hours, but all that is done for a greater good: the health and longevity of the people we serve. As real people of all stripes, we face discomfort on a daily basis because it is the right and just thing to do.

It is hard, but life should be hard. It is uncomfortable, but life should be uncomfortable.  A life that is always easy and comfortable is boring and useless.  We believe that life is about trying to make a difference, leaning into the discomfort , and ultimately saying to God ‘Here I am, use me for your purpose.’

And our purpose is here, in Haiti, even under the threat of a storm. Here we stand, ready to serve our brothers and sisters who here in what small ways we can. Leaning in.

-Doug

Support The October 2016 Team

Mission trips like ours can cost anywhere from $16,000 to $20,000 depending on the number of participants and the goal of the mission. Our trips are 100% supported by donations from generous donors like you! If you have ever thought about joining us or perhaps have joined us in the past; would you be willing to donate $25, $50 or $100 in support of our October Team? Joining us this October will be: Doug Boudreau, Jeanne Boudreau, Dawn & Ryan Pharr, Angela Castaneda, Ashley Zingarelli, Nicole LeBlond, Kendra Carlton, Beth Swaim and Sandra Beldor. The following post is from Ashley, one of our new team members. She is so excited to join us and serve the people of Latennerie, Haiti. As Always thank you for your love and support of our mission!

"I have exciting news to share! I have decided to volunteer on a medical mission trip to Haiti in October. I will be traveling with Ke Nou Haiti, a non-profit mission team serving the village of Latennerie, which is a small village about 30 minutes from Cap Haitien. Our trip will be focusing on the school and the 120 children who go there. Local physician Dr. Pharr, his wife Dawn, and Nurse Practitioner Angela Castaneda are attending the trip as well. All trips are funded by donations and I need your help! The cost of the mission trip is $1500.00. Would you be willing to donate 100, 50, 25 or any amount to support me?

Ke Nou is a registered 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization and all donations are tax-deductible. Please visit the Ke Nou trip blog at http://kenouhaiti.blogspot.com/ to learn more about their past missions and work. You can support my mission trip by donating through the secure PayPal donation button on the blog or use the Donate Now tab on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kenou.haiti In the purpose/note line please note: Supporting Ashley Zingarelli. Thank you so much for your love and support of our mission.

Upcoming Mission Trip

We are hosting Medical Missions Trip to Cap Haitien, Haiti this year. This will be a medical/back to school trip September 30-October 9, 2016. Some details about the trip: This trip will be our second trip to Cap Hatien. Cap Hatien is a beautiful little town on the north coast of Haiti. During our last trip, we established a relationship with the village of Latennerie, which is a small village about 30 minutes from Cap Hatien. There are no nearby hospitals. It has a clinic which was closed in 2010 due to a lack of funds. We re-opened the clinic on our last trip. Our goal is to help this community maintain the clinic year round with visits from local doctors as well as our mission trips. We will also be looking for some construction expertise to advise us on how to get the clinic in good condition. This time we will also be focusing on the school and the children who go there. The school has about 120 students. We are going to examine each of them, create a medical chart, make sure they have vitamins for the year (to be given at school, treat them for worms and scabies (both are endemic), and address any other medical issues that come up. We would very much like an optometrist and a dentist for this trip, and we will be needing nurses, for sure. Also, depending on what our construction advisers recommend from our April trip, we may need a construction team to oversee repairs to the clinic.We are excited by the opportunity to facilitate a lasting improvement in this community.We will plan on being in clinic 4 1/2 days as well as taking a trip up to see the Citadelle Laferriere. Team members will apply for specific roles (usually more than 1 team member per role), and you may apply for more than one role, if applicable. All roles assigned will be within the team member's s usual scope of practice. Team Leader: Medical Team: Physician Nurse Practitioner Head Nurse RN: Primary nurse RN/EMT: Floater RN/EMT/LPN/MA: triage/pharmacy Non-Medical Pharmacist Bio-Medical Engineer Dentist Optometrist Construction Team: Cost for the trip is $1600, which includes: Airfare, lodging, food, ground transportation, baggage fees, t-shirts, and food and medicine for our patients, and travel insurance. All donations for the trip are tax-deductible. All donors will get a receipt for tax purposes.We encourage you to raise more the required amount if possible so we can purchase additional supplies for the trip. We also accept donations of medical supplies such as gauze dressings, adult, children's and infant's ibuprofen/tylenol, infant/children's multivitamins, adult multivitamins, neosporin/triple antibiotic ointment. Infant/children's clothing (gently used) are also needed. Feel free to hold a fundraiser or if you want to have a fundraiser please let us know and we can give you suggestions and assistance. Donations through PayPal are preferred, but if you need to mail a check you may send the donations to: P.O. Box 2, Jefferson City MO, 65102. Please be sure to include an email address so we can email the tax receipt