You are doing what?

First and foremost:  Pictures will be posted soon, I promise!  Thursday at the latest---I feel horrible that I have taken so long!


And yes, I'm going back to Haiti in a few short weeks.  I never imagined doing this, but again, God placed this opportunity in my lap, and I can't turn it down.  Let me share with you how this happened.


As most of you know, shortly after I returned, a devastating Cholera outbreak started in Haiti.  I actually spent a day in the area the outbreak started and of course it hit home.  While I was trying to adjust to my spoiled American way of life, this news hit me in the gut- hard.  I wasn't feeling all that great myself, but only imagined how the Haitians felt.  It is hot as Haiti (get it-Haiti instead of Hades...I crack myself up!) down there and to be afraid to drink the water is unimaginable.  I heard stories of people dying within hours and being able to put faces to those dying was keeping me up at night.  


So I did a little Googling and asked a few relief organizations on more information about medical relief volunteers.  New Reality International (NRI) replied within a few days and asked if I would be available for a Cholera relief trip starting Nov. 15.  At the time, I was still feeling the physical effects of my trip, I felt that my family needed me and it just didn't feel right.  So I just left the email sit in my inbox.  


Then the news of the hurricane took over the airwaves.  Paul actually texted me out of the blue saying, "I think you should go, they need you more than we do."  I knew immediately what he was referring to and his support moved me to tears.  I went to work that night and continued to pray about it.  Then it hit me:  I can not imagine sitting at home a week from now, listening to the horror stories coming from Haiti and know that I had a chance to help and didn't.  God was telling me to go and as my friend Sara so perfectly stated, "God doesn't make mistakes."  


So I filled out the information NRI asked for and decided to see where it took me.  I got a very rapid response and filled out the forms as they came (usually within a matter of hours).  I apparently gained their approval and was asked to come as soon as possible.  


I decided to ask for an extension on the Nov 15th arrival date.  That was literally a week away! We have agreed to have me arrive on Nov 28th and leave a week later on Dec 5.  Still coming up quick, but gives me some time to get my ducks in a row!


New Reality International is working to set up teams to respond to the Cholera Crisis.  I will be spending my trip working in a hospital/clinic in a tent city, most likely Petionville.  Not only will I be tending to Cholera patients, but will be educating Hatian midwives on the basics of NRP (newborn resuscitation program).  


My previous living quarters in the orphanage sound like a resort compared to this trip.  I will be sleeping in a tent, cooking my own food and taking showers with very limited water (they instructed me to turn off the water while I lather!).  I will be full on camping in the backcountry in between working 16 hour days at the hospital.  12 hour shifts at work will soon seem like a breeze!


I am in no position to ask for donations, as everyone was so generous with my initial trip.  But I also will not turn down anything! NRI has given me a list of requested items that I hope to post soon.  

Thank you for reading and understanding my motives!