It certainly has been a roller-coaster ride these last two weeks.
As some may know, and many may not, the Haiti election process has been a fiasco, at best. Allegations of fraud with first round voting have been endemic, and with that, civil unrest in the big cities has been rampant. Between the State Department's memo regarding restricted travel to Haiti, the suspension of commercial air traffic into PAP, and my difficulties in obtaining a bush pilot to fly me inland, my travel plans were very tenuous, at best. Even 24 hours ago I was discussing with my family and colleagues the very real possibility that I might have to suspend my mission altogether.
Call it fortune, divine intervention, or fate, but matters for me have turned around significantly. After hearing real warnings from the Pastor over the last few weeks, he now tells me that things are settling down, the streets are calm, and it is much safer to travel in-country. I have secured for us a pilot who can fly us in and out of PAP airport (no overland travel thru the city), and other security arrangements have been procured.
It is as if an huge obstacle has been removed from my path to the orphanage. While only two days ago I was wondering how I was going to tell my donators the trip was cancelled and how to return funds, now I can proceed with medical supply purchases. My thoughts shift from airlines and emails to ciprofloxacin and fluconazole. I have a master list of medications which I took with me last year, and am ready to place my order for them with our hospital pharmacy, plus a few new ones. Good stuff- Greer's Goo, ibuprofen, urine dipsticks, hydrochlorothiazide; lidocaine with epinephrine, otoscope speculae, gauze wraps, and ceftriaxone. And chloroquine, of course.
Things are a go. T-minus twelve days and counting....
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