Lauren Lyons, finally back home


After an eventful return trip it is wonderful to be home. The snowstorm in NYC cancelled our return flight, but the extra day in Santo Domingo was actually helpful in easing the cultural transition back to the States.


We had a wonderfully exhausting two weeks at the Bon Samaritan Medical Clinic in Carrefour. I was privileged to work with some very talented physicians, incredible nurses who made me a better person for knowing them and fantastic support staff who kept us all organized and laughing when we wanted to cry.


We were able to serve the medical needs of approximately 130-170 families (so about 250-300 patients each day) suffering from a combination of physical injury from the earthquake, chronic medical conditions due to lack of access to health care (we were often the first medical staff any of the children had ever seen) and extensive psychologic stress and trauma from the experiences they had suffered through. 


The living conditions in Haiti were sub-standard before the earthquake, now they are nearly inhumane with people largely living in hastily structured lean-tos of wooden stakes and sheets or scraps of building material for walls and roof. The depth of the sadness in many of the stories was untouchable and we struggled to spend a few minutes with each, attending to the spiritual as well as the physical needs, in a system vastly overburdened by patients needing care. 


Our safety and needs were attended to graciously by the Millien family and though there were moments of chaos in the streets our safety and security were always protected within the courtyard walls of the dance studio where we lived and operated the clinic. Father Millien, his wife Mona, son-in-law Luc and fantastic grand-daughter Gaelle were all well respected in the community and were able to be voices of reason and a mechanism for trying to coordinate with other existing programs in the area. The translator and security volunteers kept us on our toes but also were advocates for our safety and the needs of those we worked with.


We were blessed by the intermittent support of JCLDS, Americares and IMC/Hope for Haiti in helping us fill the gaps with medical supplies and food as they were able.


The needs of the people are so great – and so much deeper than just medical care as they struggle to find access to food, supplies and shelter in an ever more desperate time. Through it all, the peace, patience and hope of the people we worked with could truly be an inspiration to us all – their resilience and hope for a brighter future will always be a beacon. 


We were able to worship on Sundays with the Paroisse Ascension Eglise Episcopale d’Haiti – an experience more moving than many other services I’ve ever experienced. To hear the voices of the people raised in prayer and song as they worshipped outside a building they were too afraid to worship inside of, was enough to send chills down my spine. We had the opportunity to speak a few words of our experience, as well as give a few simple public health tips and suggestions at the end of the service. 


The needs are so great, it is hard to feel that we made more than a small difference but "pitti a pitti" as the Haitians says (little by little)…


Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers, for all of your support and encouragement and the tremendous generosity of each of you. We were able to carefully distribute tents and blankets, toiletry items and clothes as well as simple amounts of food – there was never enough, but those who received were so grateful – thank you for making it possible. It is always a struggle to return to life as we know it and not feel an incredible sadness for the needs we could not meet – but with it comes a renewed way for looking at the everyday moments in life – a new appreciation for all our gifts, a new patience for moments of trial, a new gratitude for the lives and safety of our families and friends.

Bon dye beniw (God bless you), Always, 

Lauren