Haiti Here I Come!

Haiti Here I Come!

By: Skyler Bennett

I am traveling once again to Haiti with the FFCC (Friends & Family Community Connection) based out of San Diego. The FFCC is a Non - Profit Organization that travels to many different countries to treat medical needs including; Fevers, Intestinal Disorders, Vaginal Infections, Cholera, Minor Surgeries and most Skin Infections. I will be documenting through Photography and Film to raise money for the FFCC to fund these trips to help the Haitians in need not only medically but academically as well. The FFCC is undergoing the building process of an Academy to help assist Haitian youth to attend a university. They have created a rigorous program where the children are tested in many different levels of schooling where they can become educated, empowered, and motivated towards what they are striving to become.

Here is My Story: 

Day 1 : The Pack & The Push

Today I started my morning at 2:30am preparing myself for this adventure. When traveling too a place like Haiti you must be aware of what you are getting yourself into. You must travel LIGHT, but effective. What I mean by this is simple, pack only what you need! Keep in mind, you are in a country where you can not drink their water and it is normally very humid. Here is my top 10 items I feel are most important to have on you when traveling in Haiti.

1. Water Filtration

2. Light Clothes / Shoes

3. OFF Bug Spray / RAID "Spiders"

4. Malaria Medication

5. Sleeping Pills / Humidity = Hard To Sleep

6. Money Belt / Travel Wallet

7. Flashlight / Head Light

8. Toiletry Bag / Sham Towel / Toilet Paper

9. Journal / Pen

10. Camera Equipment / Laptop

Here is some of the equipment I am bringing along with me. Yes, Canon & Nikon unite as one!

Once all packed and ready, we headed for SFO ( San Francisco Airport ) where we had a 6:05am departure time. Once arrived, we had many difficulties trying to get through TSA Security due to our bag width was a few inches too big. After this 45 min detour we finally got to get some food and drink.

Snapchat Quality My Apologies :)

                                               

After a tasty meal and some champagne & OJ we boarded our plane for departure. The flight was not only a smooth ride but a beautiful flight.

             

         

After a 4.5 hour flight and a safe landing in Miami, we headed for luggage claim to collect our baggage. The Marriott is where we  checked in and will be staying for the night. After dropping off all of our luggage we headed to La Rosa for a tasty meal to conclude our night.

                       

                

Time To Sleep.....zZzZzZ 11:30pm 

Good Night.

Day 2: Broken Wings, The Adventure Officially Starts Now!

Woke up this morning around 6:30am to finish getting packed for our final departure to Haiti. Once up and packed, we headed for a quick continental breakfast downstairs before heading to the airport. With learning from yesterdays struggles with the TSA I was prepared for anything and everything. To my surprise everything went very smooth.                                                                                                        

My mom had to jump on the computer for an online class before our boarding time so I decided to start playing with the new camera. Here are some shots I got.

                          

             

                                          

   

Once she finally finished we had to quickly run and got some breakfast and a drink before boarding at 11:30am. 

 

What we were not aware of was the plane was not working correctly so we were soon asked to get off the plane and wait till further notice. About 45 minutes later we get word that we will be needing to change planes and its going to be an additional hour wait before boarding again. 

                             

I decided to get a short nap in while my mother watched Frozen on her iPad. Once the plane was ready they had us all start boarding once again. Right as we were about to get out tickets scanned we were stopped for emergency reasons. After waiting for about 20 minutes we were told once again that we will need to wait for a maintenance check. I was starting to get a bit furious right about this time. We were all later informed it would be another hour and a half delay to fix one of the turbines on the plane. All passengers were credited a $12 food/beverage coupon so guess what I got???

                                             

                                               

Once we finished a mexican salad and this delicious Pomegranate Margherita it was about time to board once again. Gotta love flying American Airlines :) We finally got packed back into the plane and began our flight too Port Au Prince, Haiti. If you don't know where that is, I attached a picture below.

                      

It took about two hours to fly there from Miami and we didn't arrive till around 5:30pm. I was very surprised how nice it looked this time around. When we arrived in 2012 there was not a baggage claim but a bunch of men just pulling bags off the plane and driving them over to us. Todays experience was very nice with all the new advancements and upgrades to this very small airport.

I was really excited to be back! I have missed this experience for some time now. Once we got outside to load up the vans the poor smell in the air and the humidity already started kicking in. I asked our group to take a group picture and then we were off! The adventure starts now!!! Here are some shots through town I captured.

                          

                          

                                                       

Had a long and productive day and an amazing dinner to follow. The Haitian cooks here are great at bringing great flavor and vibrant colors to their food. Check it out!

Well it is really late (1:45am) and this wifi is running really slow so you know what time it is.....ZzZzZz

 Good Night.

Day 3: Time To Get To Work!

Sorry all for the delay everyone, the wifi was down for many hours today.

Today was an amazing! Started off with an amazing breakfast with the most amazing tasting oatmeal and bacon. All the meals served here at the FFCC compound seem to be very satisfying.

Here are some of the fresh ingredients that are used daily to cook for our whole team. I am very grateful for every meal I am given here because most of the people in this country struggle daily for food.  

 

                              

Once we finished breakfast we headed straight to Leaf Sunday ( Church Service ) in town. I decided to walk with a group of people and had a few great shots along the way.

Once we arrived to the service I was very surprised how large the building was. I really enjoyed what I could understand due to having a Haitian translator speak for portions of the service. I took some videos of the singing and dancing and I will be putting this into my documentary. After 2.5 hours of service we headed back for another great meal. 

                          

After lunch we broke into groups where we got to meet our translators for the trip. I recognized many familiar faces from my last trip in 2012 and was very excited to have them here for the next week with us. It was really nice reconnecting and sharing new stories. Here is a panoramic I took from my phone, quite a large group now!

After our medical team was assembled we had a moment of transition, then headed out to Medical clinic 1. I rode in the back of a truck with all these guys :) It was quite a rugged ride while trying to photograph the scenery but this is what I managed to get!

Once we arrived at the clinic we all worked very hard and quickly to set up so we could see our first patients of the trip. It took us about two hours to get all departments including Triage, Nursing, Doctors, and Pharmacy. We had many other types of specials that came along too including Dentists, Eye Surgeons, and Physical Therapy. We are fully staffed this trip and I could not be happier to see all these types of specialist donating their time to do such a wonderful thing for so many in need people. Here are some last pictures of our day.

Well its about 3:15 am here so I must be getting to sleep for I need to be up and ready by 7am so I challenge you to try to think about how many thousands of starving, homeless, in need people there are out there! No really, stop and put yourself in there shoes and realize that every dollar you waist, shopping, eating out, gambling, or whatever you may do with you earnings could have been put towards saving a life. Really open your eyes to change, save your money, take initiative of what is really going on in the world and let yourself give more because its amazing how much you get back, the reward is indescribable! 

Good Night.

Day 4: Giving It Your All

What a day it was today! With minimal sleep from the night before, I battled staying awake and being active.  Today we had teams go everywhere in Haiti to help the community in all areas. Before we all went our different routes, we gathered for a nice breakfast and talk. Once finished with our meal, there was no time to lose! We split into 3 different teams and three different vans and headed to our destinations. We had Clinic 1, Clinic 2, and the Red Cross Clinic. I am on rotation throughout the week to all of these locations but today I started at Clinic 1.

Arriving at Clinic 1, we saw many children and parents with all different types of symptoms. I went straight to the roof access to start getting some time-lapse video of out team getting to work. It was truly amazing watching this medical staff take on 10x the amount of patients they would normally see in the states. I really have to give it to my mother for being the only RN (Registered Nurse) on this trip this time around. She managed to keep a steady flow of traffic to all the doctors and pharmacy staff. With all departments working very hard I had some time to capture them in action.

Doctors:

 

Nurses:

Pharmacy:

 

Security:

We had a very busy morning seeing over 65 patients in 4 hours, bringing us to a lunch break around 1:30pm. It was nice to finally sit down and relax for 20 min and enjoy yet another great meal by or FFCC kitchen staff.

After lunch I made it my priority to go and photograph all the beautiful children waiting in line with there mothers and fathers. It is very tricky when photographing in Haiti due to their beliefs of what a camera does. They believe that once a child's picture has been taken so has their soul, so it was very important that I made sure that the parents were perfectly ok with me doing so. Most of the time I would show the child and parents the picture after to give them a feeling that I am open to sharing there child's beauty to the world. Here are a few from today.

 

 

Such Beautiful People Here!!! I cant help to fall in love with all these kids. With seeing over 130 parents and children today in 7 hours, I say Clinic 1 did a great job. As a group we all decided to walk back to camp where I grabbed my last images of the day. Let me know what you think :)

 

Once back at the compound, we met up with all the other groups and shared stories over dinner. Clinic 2 ended up helping 100 patients while down at the Red Cross the dentistry team saw 20 patients and pulled over 17 teeth. WAY TO GO TEAM FFCC!! Looking forward to tomorrow, gotta get some sleep tonight though! Its going on 1:30am now, think its time to throw in the towel.

Good Night.

Day 5: Work, Work, Dance!

Another Great Day In Haiti! We started off bright and early for another great meal from our kitchen staff. I am really falling in love with the oatmeal, it has such a great consistency and a bit of a cinnamon kick at the end. It really helps motivate me when you have to wake up at 6:30am Haitian time which would be 3:30am California time. Once done with breakfast it was off to Clinic 1 again, with a different team of people this time around.

The new group of doctors and staff did an amazing job today, seeing over 150+ people. The doctors, nurses, pharmacy, and staff did outstanding working together to take care of all the Haitians in need. I was mostly shooting video and interviews today for the final piece I will be creating for the FFCC fundraiser so tonight will be mostly text. Towards the end of the day we had a lady come in with a good size injury to her hand. She had injured it wile working and needed immediate attention. Here are some shots form the surgery.

 

With a long day accomplished we all went met back at camp, ate a delicious dinner and headed to a pool hall for some drinks and good times. I thought it was great explaining the game of pool with all the haitians. They did not know how to hit the ball or hold the stick, but they loved trying to play. I felt this was extremely funny to watch but at the same time a great experience to teach them how to play. Later we danced to many different types of music including Haitian and Salsa. We all danced for many hours before we all loaded back into the vans to head back to camp for the night. Great Beer, Great People, Great Times, Great People! Tonights a short blog due to the festivities, but I will make sure to make it up for tomorrows blog. I am heading into the mountains and jungle for Clinic 2. Hope you all are well! Thanks for keeping updated :)

Good Night.

Day 6: Missed The Boat!

BEEEEPPPP......BEEEEEPPPPP......BEEEPPPPPPP.....SKYLER WAKE UP!!! With 15 minutes to get ready, eat and get packed, lets just say I had to move fast! I jumped up barely awake and slightly hung over from the pool house the night before, got ready and ran to the kitchen area to grab a quick bite to eat. As I finished and headed for the front of the compound, I was sad to see the back of the van already on its way to Clinic 2 and the Red Cross. I missed my ride, so it was back to Clinic 1 for another day of documenting and interviews. To start the day off I began to take pictures of some staff and patients inside the clinic.

  

 

 

 

With roaming the clinic I started to see more and more familiar faces from the past few days. I thought to myself, these parents and children must be coming back for another symptom or food, right? As I got deeper into the issue I found out that there was a few culprits to be watched for they were starting to abuse the program we are out here working so hard to make happen. I felt bad I had to be the individual to pull a few people from the crowd to ask to leave do to already being seen, in some cases more then twice. We are starting to develop a better way of tracking each individual patient and their needs. Speaking of needs there are many things I wish I had in Haiti. Here is a list of twelve things you should be grateful for everyday followed by a comparison to what we have here in Haiti.

1.     Electricity / Everything is run from a generator

2.     Hot Water / Shower from a spout from a water tower, some shower in river

3.     A/C / Fans that blow hot air

4.     Drinkable Water / All water CAN NOT be consumed without filtration

5.     Wifi / Each Blog nightly takes me 5 hours on average / 1mg per 15 min

6.     Fresh Air / Smell is very dense with burnt trash and toxins

7.     Washer and Dryer / Wash all clothes in water bucket

8.     Opportunities / 15% of children attend schooling

9.     Living Conditions / Most people live in tents and shanties

11.  Food / 75% go 5 days out of the week not eating

11.  Wages / Average wage per day is 1$ American / 8 dollars haitian

11.  Roads / You think Tijuana was bad??? hahaha

 

Good Morning.

Day 7: The Final Stretch

Well today was it! It was our last running day for all the clinics we had up this week. They will be back up and running in 6 months with the next Haitian trip that comes out to volunteer. Today I finally made it up too Clinic 2 "Shepard's House" located in the mountains of Gracie, Haiti. When traveling to this location you must drive into Port Au Prince then head north deep into the woods. When driving to this

clinic we had to fort up a river bed for more then two miles. On our way up we would see many different things including wild horses, haitians bathing, and many broken and beat down homes from the past natural disasters. Heres a few shots I got.

Once finally arriving to Clinic 2 there were 75 or more people already waiting for medical attention. This clinic is very different from the others though, it is smaller, less professional, and all outdoors. I wish I could explain to you how far packed into the jungle this location is. It is truly remarkable! We got straight to work and helped many patients for hours and hours. Here are some pictures of staff and patients while we were up there.

 

 

   

With only having the clinic open for 4 hours we happen to many more then we expected. It blows my mind how "pressed" these people are up here. I felt the whole time that i was under dressed when you compare with the people coming from all directions in the jungle, wearing their nicest clothes with not a wrinkle in sight. I feel the Haitian culture promotes this lifestyle and I really enjoy the effort they put in to come and see us. Around 2pm we closed up shop and did an hour long seminar for health/sex awareness for any haitians that were interested in staying for. There were many great questions asked and I felt that it was very helpful for the community up there. After the seminar we headed back to base for dinner and some dancing. Sorry for the late post, been very busy around here! Here some picks from our dinner.

Good Night.

Day 8: The Day Has Come

This is the final full day in Haiti! It is sad that we are already think about leaving this beautiful country early tomorrow morning. I woke up early to get all I could out of this day. We started with another great breakfast and the legendary juice they make fresh squeezed made me awake and active. Half of the group split up after to go retrieve any and all medications that had been left at any of the clinics. The other half stayed to observe three extensive operations to better the lives of the individual. I only got to observe one of the three but for what I did see it was pretty gruesome! This little girl had webbed hands where the doctor went in and re cut out her fingers. The reason for this was due to being severely burned when younger and the formation of her hand was sealed back with scar tissue. This operation took a little under 2 hours. This 11 year old girl was one of the strongest people I have seen here in Haiti. After all the surgeries, we as a group headed to what I like to call "Paradise"! Here at a local hotel in Port Au Prince we got to swim, drink, and have fun with all the interpreters, children, and staff.

Here are a few pictures I captured!

 

 

It was a great day with all of our family here at Shepards House and FFCC. We had great 5 star Haitian rum and a little taste of the states with some Coca Cola. Great Stories, Great People, Great Memories!

Day 9: Do I Have Too?

Packed and ready to go back home! Im sad to say its time to leave this beautiful country. I am sad to go, but happy to leave. It is hard to express how I am feeling right now for it feels to me like limbo, neither here or there. I love the simplicity of this beautiful country, where everyone lives for the day and enjoys everything god has given them. Every day this week we woke up every morning to serve others, not once thinking about yourself. It feels so weird to me that we americans are given so much opportunity here in our home land and many people take this for granted. Haiti has truly taught me many things this trip including the following;

1. Be appreciative of everything you have in your life, even if it just hope. 

2. There is much, much, more to living when you have seen whats worth living for.

3. Be kind to all, even when you don't receive it back. 

4. A smile can spread for many miles. A virus we all need.

5. Money is paper, paper is tree, tree was living. Money = Death

6. Help your neighbor, be the change in your community!

7. We all live in our own closed off bubble. Its time to pop it! Experience life together as one.

8. Give back to your community, reach out with an open hands.

9. Life is about living, don't let life live it for you.

10. Work hard in life and life will work hard for you!

With being back in Miami now, I have really began to notice how much my life will be effected from this day forth. I cant began to explain to you how grateful I am to have showered in hot water that I can drink, stomach full from delicious food, having a soft, comfortable bed to fall asleep on and running electricity to contact all of you. 95% of our culture take these daily luxuries for granted every day. We all need to be more aware! This is not given to a great percentage of people in this world. Many people die day after day without ever being able to experience these things. We need to be more grateful for what little things we use on a daily basis. Without them, your life would be very different! Think about it!

"You don't know what you got till its gone."