Our First Few Days in Les Cayes, Haiti!

Bonjour from Haiti!
       We're happy to say that we have arrived in Les Cayes, Haiti after 2 plane rides and a very bumpy 5 hour van ride avoiding pedestrians, donkeys, goats, and chickens hanging off of motorcycles. Sunday morning we went to a Haitian baptist church service. Our first language barrier experience was when you say the words, "Thank you for joining us today", the very loose translation is "They are happy to be here" -- Nate Barr as he was called to the front of the church to say a few words in front of everyone. It was a great experience to see how different the Haitian church service was compared to services in the US. Later we met up with our 'In-country' contacts Consuelo and Pauli, who are practicing therapists for Medical Teams International (MTI) here in Haiti. They took us on a walking tour of Les Cayes, in which we got to see a beautiful Catholic Cathedral, the sea, and the MTI clinic. We ended the day by hanging out and doing some team bonding at our farm house as we discussed the plan for the remainder of the week.
      This morning we woke up and split into two teams for the day. One team went to the MTI clinic to work with Pauli. In the morning we saw mostly children with the diagnoses of cerebral palsy, strokes, and developmental delays. The afternoon consisted more of older adults with strokes, scoliosis, cerebral palsy, and massive bone fractures from motorcycle accidents. The second team went to a mobile clinic at Camp Perron with Conseulo, which was about 45 minutes away from the MTI clinic. To start the day, the patients welcomed us with a prayer and sang the song "How Great Thou Art". We saw various musculoskeletal conditions related to trauma from motor vehicle accidents, falls, and birth. Today we learned that patient education is probably the most powerful tool and walked away knowing that even though your hearts in it, some things can't be completely fixed. The mobile clinic team ended the day by traveling to a local waterfall in which Nate, Sarah Kate, and Todd jumped off the cliff into the deep and refreshing water. Don't worry, we got the whole thing on video, especially Todd screaming and being dragged up the cliff! We returned home to our farm house and enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by the SEED Guest House Staff. Stay tuned for more updates and stories of our adventures! Aurevior for now!
-- Kellie