Heading Home

Have three months really passed already?  

The weather has moderated - we are finding that we pull the spread up during the night!  It was blistering hot when we arrived in September.

Although we might have a rain shower now and again, for the most part the rainy season is over and dust is once again in the air and layering flat surfaces in the apartment.  It was quite wet when we arrived in September.

Our students have moved from nervous strangers to young people with new friends and new experiences, looking to the future with the confidence of successfully having the first term under their belts.

We are far past midterms - and, in fact, final exams have been given,  graded and the results have been turned in.   One trimester down at the new Wesleyan University of Haiti, Faculty of Nursing Science.

We have celebrated Thanksgiving - a yummy meal of American and Haitian fare, enjoyed with turkey lovers from both countries;

and had an joyous evening of Christmas carols on our back porch with the missionaries and ex-pats on La Gonave;

attended an amazing  (three-hour) wedding;

The bride (standing) and her attendants.  Marty got to help the bride prepare for the ceremony!
What fun!  The groom was the faithful gardener Joel at the mission compound.

and threw a Fete Noel for the nursing school students!

Haitians love to have their pictures taken!
We shifted participants several times and had more than a couple  pictures taken in this very pose!
These young people were dressed to the "9's"!  Festive games, cupcakes and popcorn, candy and punch
- a great time was had by all!!

Yes, the trimester is over, our bags are packed and arrangements have been made to fly off the island - tomorrow at 8 in the morning.  American Airlines has reserved two seats for us out of Port au Prince, all the way to Charlotte.

Three months have really passed - and we are heading home!

Ahhhhhhh ... *sigh* ... YAAAAAAY!!!

Bittersweet!  Always hard to say good-bye, no matter how eager we are to get home!

It's been another great stint in Haiti!

Thank you, Lord!

So ...... FAMILYCHILDRENGRANDCHILDRENFRIENDSCHURCH!!!

- MamaG and Sir are happily heading home! 

Better than 1,000 words!

When the last surgeon was here from Indiana, several of the nursing students were able to take turns observing during a 3-hour operation.  The patient was a 16-year old and recovered very well.  (For details, see the last post.)

Each student prepared for the observation by donning hair cover, mask and shoe coverings.

and being given instructions where they could stand, 

what to do with their hands, 

where the sterile field was, what to do and what not to do, etc. 

They then had 30 minutes beside the operating table across from the surgeon and, 

under the tutelage of the surgeon, the anesthesiologist and the head nurse, 

obtained an experience unique for first year nursing students anywhere. 

  And in the following debriefing sessions, with wide eyes and big smiles, 

more than one commented upon a new personal vision 

of nursing after this experience!

There's just something about being there to sharpen a personal goal.