Expecting the Unexpected

When living in Haiti, one quickly realizes that things never happen as expected.  That’s why flexibility is an important personality trait for long-term personnel and visitors alike!  And, it’s why Haitians have adopted a fatalistic world view, feeling that no matter what they may want in life, things happen as God wills and they have…

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Torrential Rain

Things have been pretty quiet here in Jeremie for the past week.  There have been no further political demonstrations, although people are still unhappy about their dismal economic state and the high price of food. The big news last week was that we had torrential rain for several days.  On Thursday morning, the 17th, we…

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Unrest Update

Today, Thursday, we were able to successfully make it up to our clinic in Gatineau without running into any problems or disturbances.  There were about 6-8 places along the road coming out of town where there was black dust on the road and burned steel wires from tires which had been burned there earlier in…

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Unrest in Haiti

Hello all, Just wanted to write a quick note to let you all know that there has been some political unrest here in Haiti this week.  Protests against inflation, the high cost of goods and lack of food were scheduled for yesterday, Monday, all over the country.  Unfortunately, in many areas, the protests became violent…

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Public Health Corner Spring 2008

Medical personnel sometimes wonder what is the difference between medicine and public health? Or, as I like to phrase the question, what is the difference between the medical model of care and the public health model? Physicians are trained according to the medical model, which basically involves looking at an ill patient and deciding how…

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April 2008

Last month I reported on the very dry conditions in the area around Jeremie, where we live.  Crops were being lost due to lack of rain in the past few months.  Well, it seems the Lord heard your prayers, because it began raining last week and has rained almost every day since!  That’s good for…

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