2007 Medical Mission
First off, a few notes from yesterday - we were tired after traveling and may have been short in our email (imagine where this will go) because of that. I forgot to mention rice and beans for dinner. Repeat that daily! Shortly after our email Father Rex announced that mass would begin at 6:00 a.m. That quickly cleared the room! Everyone was off to bed or cold shower depending on their shock factor. Sleep isn't mentioned much in these emails due to roosters, roosters, roosters, Leigh's cough, and Mark and Leonard's snoring. The noises resonate all throughout the thick walls of Haitian construction.
Mass was at 6:30 a.m. which is Gobert time for 6:00. Father Rex promised a two hour mass but didn't disappoint us and managed to squeeze in a full three plus hours. George got banished to a section all by himself. One new addition besides the balcony was the brass section. Joel Bolen has lots to work with when he comes. One of the selections was "How Dry I Am" and we closed with "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee". And we were truly joyful to be closing. Our own Dr. Mark had the stage for a welcome from all of us. He told them we have been blessed with many outstanding team members and numerous supplies to distribute.
After a mid-morning Sunday brunch we headed to our stations for the first day of clinic. Mary Ann and Peggy cut their teeth in Triage. Jeff and Evelyn did their best to get rid of the massive quantities of drugs we have. Lee, Ursula, and Pam took over treatment room #1. Jennifer and Debbie shared the room with Mark. That leaves the dental suite with George, Eric, and Leigh. John spent much of his morning filming dental extractions except when an exciting case like a man with three toes missing showed up in clinic. John has already shot half of his tapes between the trip here, mass (remember it was three hours), and all the sights of clinic. John also cut his teeth in dental and took out four teeth on one man after he got over his own dental fears. He says he won't be back in dental!
We saw a 17 year old girl who appeared to be ten who was a severe diabetic. Her blood sugar was 408!! Her parents could not afford insulin for her. We gave her IV fluids and money to get more insulin. We hope she makes it.
We were all sitting on the porch preparing for a team meeting after clinic when a woman is rushed to us holding what appeared to be a mass near her abdomen. This all turned out to be not as eventful as hoped and Mark shrugged it off when asked about it later. Of course Lee and Ursula wrapped an Ace bandage around her abdomen to help her look better!
Please say another prayer for us (add us to the list again) because we found out that our missing two bags did not get shipped on Lynx Air due to a lack of fuel in Cap Haitian. The two bags don't seem important at this time since we are surrounded by all the supplies that have been generously donated and shipped. But the NO FUEL does strike a chord in our hearts (and fears). Leonard has assured us that he was in the Haitian Navy and can get us a canoe to get us back.
We have been so sad the last two trips because we have not been able to shop while in Haiti. No souvenirs or memoirs could be brought back. Our prayers have been answered by a man packing several boxes on his sons' heads full of local? crap (oops I mean crafts) we bought a lot of. This is our only chance at wooden bowls and key chains until we get to the Ft. Lauderdale airport. The man made us several good deals including a free gift for everyone after we cleared out most of his inventory for the year. American suckers! Some of us thought he just didn't want to carry all that crap (sorry crafts) back down the bumpy road, across three rivers, and down some lonesome road to wherever he came from.
The roosters have been quiet the last few hours so we know they will be well rested come midnight to dawn. We also had no chicken today for meals so there is no help from the kitchen staff with our problem. John says he has many nice pellet guns he will bring next time. John, Jeff, and Mark slept next to the porch with the light on all night to go with the roosters and Leigh's cough - from upstairs!
Jennifer has been the pied piper as usual. The kids still love having their pictures taken and then seeing them. We gave them a football and they kept kicking it and throwing it with two hands over their heads like a soccer ball. We have a lot to teach them during spring practice.
Off to bed - not sleep necessarily. We are geared up for a full day of clinic tomorrow. We still have lots of medicines, lotion, soap, shampoo, and our own stuff to give away.
Love and prayers as always.
DAY 2 Greetings! We are in full swing by now and the rookies are no longer rookies after several nights of the roosters, meals with rice and beans, fish heads with eyes and teeth (all of them) for lunch, and an invasion of gnats and ants. One horrible thought occurred to us - we have eaten peanut butter most meals on this trip. What if it had been that forbidden Peter Pan and not JIF!!! We are so blessed!
We are worn out after seeing at least 500 patients today. Father Rex was checking the people's admission cards at the gates this morning and kept at it filing people in until well after 5:00. General Leonard is contacting the union to renegotiate our mission contract! Leonard was tired from playing soccer all day so he may need a few days to get our point across. Leonard has also been giving malnourished and needy people - mainly children - money that he and his coworkers collected.
One follow-up from yesterday - the young girl with Diabetes passed away. She made it to a clinic to receive insulin but was too ill to be treated. This obviously brought sadness to our team. We treated her sister who was hysterical with grief with Tylenol P.M. Fortunately this worked and she had to be carried away.
While on sad notes, we were all shocked to hear an uproar of noise outside the clinic towards the end of the day. Instead of what we thought was a soccer game we discovered it was a funeral. Apparently a six year old boy had died and was being buried. Leonard talked to the family who said the parents were not there because they had recently lost another child and were too emotional. John filmed part of the funeral and witnessed as they dug through another person's grave. They found bones and clothes as they were piling dirt on the casket. The sad part is that the harshness of life here makes this a frequent occurrence.
Time for more uplifting news. The team is in full stride with the people flowing through the gates to receive the loving, touching, squeezing from the medical team. We throw in bad tasting medicine and a wonderful "Happy Meal" with a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, Tylenol, vitamins, Tums, shampoo, lotion, and toys for the kids. Thank you to all who donated and helped pack the pills that we have been so fortunate to pass out to this needy community. If they don't get enough of a parting gift then they won't depart - they literally won't get out of their chairs until they get what they think is fair after seeing what others got. We know this is their big chance.
Tidbits from the day: Dental passed 80 people through including two kids who were sedated. Thanks to Jeff for concocting a cocktail from whatever limited resources he has. We are so glad to have a pharmacist with us finally!!!! Eric and George have been joined by Monty the interpreter in extracting the dental pain of the people. We have two dental chairs shipped last year and had to make use of a wooden chair we found. One lady was not going to settle for the crappy chair and waited until a dental chair was available. She then proceeded to tell us she only wanted two of the five teeth removed that she had originally planned. We told her no one would be pulling teeth here for a year so she had better take advantage of us. Plus we have music and dancing so she had few complaints really. We sent at least 25 people away and gave them the first appointment for tomorrow.
Digits. A tiny baby weighing eleven pounds and 22 days old came with extra fingers. Since we have no therapist to help her with the emotional pain of growing up with extra digits we chose to remove them. Jennifer and Pam tied the two extra digits off with sutures and told the mom to leave them on and the unsightly extra digits will fall off in a week. They gave her antibiotic ointment and children's Tylenol. Now she can "high five" when she gets older.
Mark, Ursula, and George went into the catacombs underneath the school/clinic in search of lost supplies. Ursula found lots of rat poop and directed the rest of us from there. We found soccer equipment we sent last year plus many boxes/buckets we got on the last day of clinic last year and didn't get to go through. More stuff we can use and distribute. Plus some rat poop. Ursula made it very clear to Father Rex that she didn't want to see a rat while we were there. He seemed unconcerned!
Popcorn and hot dogs for dinner!!
More of the usual malnutrition seen today - a 19 year old boy who appeared to be ten. Lee had to confirm his age with his mother because he was so emaciated. And as Mark says - the usual hydroceles and hernias! The interpreter Lakard had given plenty of shots in the posterior and gets excited with every one. We are very glad to have him too!
Some of the people had been waiting in the church since the first part of the morning. They were lined up down Main Street in Gobert before 5:30 this morning. They are probably the ones keeping the roosters awake! May the circle be unbroken. Our latest plot is to put some Benadryl or Ambien in their food source - the roosters, not the locals - and try to get some sleep for us all.
We have attempted to send pictures but have no way to make the files smaller so bear with us. We are just lucky to be able to send emails from the middle of nowhere Gobert.
Greg - what do we do with the copper tubing we unpacked? The locals have been eyeing it with lots of suggestions. Hanging the roosters?
Please email us with any hellos, I Love You's, or news other than Al Gore winning an Oscar.
DAY 3
Greetings from all of us tired and hot workers in Gobert. Everyone who got an email LOVED the responses you are sending. Ursula shrieked with delight when told she had four emails to read. Of course she was in the shower which can be a bit cold so she may have just been under the water. Either way if you are a friend or family member of anyone on the trip - especially Ursula - please send an email with motivation and encouragement and any news from Nashville or elsewhere in the world beyond Haiti.
A third day of clinic brought out more of the usual with a few twists as always. A man made his way to us with his feet completely turned backwards. He stomped around as any other person would walking normally. He made it all the up to dental suite and walked a straight line after we removed his sideways molar.
Yesterday and today Mark and Jennifer saw two different boys who had huge blisters on his eye that caused blindness and their eyes to bulge out. We are unsure of what is going on and are going to take some pictures and investigate.
Debbie saw a very emaciated woman with either TB or a bad case of worms in the lungs. We'll see her back on Friday and see what she coughs up! Debbie also saw a woman we treated for possible reoccurrence of malaria.
Lee saw a five month old baby with extra digits whose mom DID NOT want them removed. Juice the interpreter told us that when a baby is born with an extra digit they think that there is a twin in the womb and one baby ate the other. So this one will be "High Sixing".
Mark saw a nine month old with Down's Syndrome who was floppy and had failure to thrive. She also had a congenital heart condition. She needs to see a pediatric cardiologist - pass this on to any of your friends who fit this description. They can come next year!
Ursula saw nothing special today but saw 93 patients with her interpreter. They must have simply rubber stamped them say the other nurses!
Jennifer, when she was not surrounded by the children of Gobert, saw a lady with exploding wounds. She has had these septic leg wounds for ten years. Yes ten years that she has been the outcast of town. She started scratching and then went to the river and then the usual downfall from there. Jennifer poured Hydrogen Peroxide on it and then ran away. After the chemical reaction and the smoke had cleared she returned to apply antibiotic ointment and tell her to avoid the river and come back in a few days.
Evelyn and Jeff have been entertaining themselves with singing and whistling in the pharmacy. It relaxes the patients who think the staff is nuts. More on that theme later in dental. A lady came by herself and wanted a bag of baby goodies for her baby that her husband had. They refused her at first and then felt bad and sent the interpreter Lakard after her with a bag. He found that she had conned us and already had a bag waiting with her baby and husband. The street value of the stuff we give them is high in Gobert. Evelyn is practicing her distribution of worm medicine. She hasn't figured out how to make it taste good yet though and the babies still don't like it.
Peggy and Mary Ann have mastered the pumping and reading of blood pressures. At first they were just doing it for show and attention for the people but now have actually caught several cases of hypertension. They were forced under the porch this afternoon as the rain showers washed triage away.
A young girl showed Jennifer a picture of Cindy and asked where she was. Barbara Waggoner was also asked for. You are missed here!
Eric and George and Leigh worked Monty (yes the same guy from last year) very hard as they saw 80 people who left with more than 190 fewer teeth. One little girl presented with a buccal abscess and was crying and swollen. We decided to give her a few days to adjust to us while on antibiotics. John was tremendously helpful in dental keeping our equipment/tools "clean" and ready to go. He was working in pharmacy and wanted an escape from the Gobert edition of the Broadway production of Evita by Jeff and Evelyn. They sent Lakard their interpreter to ask if we had "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" on our radio. John remained for much of the afternoon after that and returned to pharmacy later singing a different song "Ticket To Ride" he had picked up from the dental jukebox and made them sing along.
Leonard, with all of his state work experience, made sure we quit on time so we could walk through the town of Gobert after work. All of us grabbed our after work beverage and headed for Main Street. Our first stop was for the Parade of Homes as a woman insisted we come tour her house. Ten of us made our way through her three room house with one flashlight. She pointed out the one oil lamp, boom box with no electricity to run it, and some of our giveaways. She had a beautifully carved headboard and footboard. We recommended this be a cottage industry for export. George will try to get a sample to bring home to match our bedroom furniture. Jamie's birthday is the day after we return and she has always wanted bedroom furniture!
After the home tour we made our way to Main Street and hooked a left to see the Baptist church and school. The digital cameras and parade of white people brought out every child in the area. They all want to hold our hands and have their pictures taken and shown to them. When we made it to the church/school we played on their playground until darkness approached. As we headed back George began what would later become a riot by passing out glow sticks. Over 200 glow sticks were given out and still some kids were empty handed. One is hanging in a tree (glow stick, not child) for the taking. Father Rex's gate to the porch broke during the madness. Peggy O has already asked for George's forgiveness and absolution has been given.
Dinner is on the table so we must not be rude. Hot dog salad and noodle vegetable soup await as well as our ever-present grapefruit juice.
Love to all as usual. We appreciate your emails of love and prayerful support. Tomorrow is market day here so we must get ready for the biggest thing to hit Gobert weekly. Lots of stories from that experience will come tomorrow night.
Day 5
We are headed down the home stretch with only one more day of clinic remaining. We have started our loaves and fishes practices trying to spread out what we have left as the week progresses. What started out as thousands of pills, toothbrushes, toothpaste,band-aids, etc. we are now down to just a few scraps for the last day.The biggest news of the day didn't end up happening yet as we have all been awaiting the arrival of a baby. A woman is waiting in the OB wing of our clinic until the local midwife arrives. Pam and Debbie staged a delivery sight with some gym mats and have been caring for her with bottled water and popcorn. This will be her eleventh baby so she is the calmest one of the group. We are excited because it would be the first delivery during a medical mission for us. We are recommending Matthew for the name if it's a boy or Theresa if it's a girl for Theresa Patterson. This lady walked over many mountains from a great distance to get here. Her husband is on his way. No word on what the other ten kids are doing. Poor grandma. If only Gobert had a youth rec center like the mayor mentioned last night!
The theme of today has been more of the same - Haitian Malaise over and over. After several days of this everyone is used to the typical complaints all of these people present with from their harsh way of life - headache, backache, stomachache, and general full body ache. Highlights included a man in his early twenties whose arm was twisted from disuse because he had no one to care for him when he had typhoid fever. Lots of open wounds including a man who cut his hand in the web of his thumb with his machete. Two people presented with Sickle Cell Anemia (one was a child) and we had enough medicine to give them for a year for treatment. They would not make it without this medicine. Luckily we didn't have to do the "loaves and fishes" thing for that!
Jeff has discovered many hidden treasures in the pharmacy and brought them around while whistling. He brings out shrieks of delight from the nurses. It doesn't take much at this point. Ursula shrieks with every email she receives!
We took a little time right before clinic to take some pictures with our Walk For Haiti t-shirts. We were able to give the interpreters and many of our local helpers t-shirts which they adored. Everyone here loves having their picture taken and want to see it and have it printed. They even ask Lee to see their pictures on her disposal camera. Jim wouldn't let Lee bring a digital camera even though this is her fifth trip here! Maybe after ten trips she will get one from the church.
Many of our patients have cell phones which shocks us. George thought he was back in Nashville when his patient got a call while in the chair. She knew she'd be in the back of the line if she stopped for a call. And man that line is long and in the sun! One lady was brought in by Father Rex and put in the front of the line. We took care of her in such a way that no one else will ask to be fast tracked ever again.
We had a full day after the people started making noise before 6:30 a.m. again. As the sun was fading the people kept coming and the local helpers brought light bulbs to screw into our treatment rooms. We were worried and weary that Father Rex planned for us to work all night. Just a little before 6:00 p.m. we shut down and went out in front of the church to pass out Tums and vitamins to the remaining people who didn't make it to clinic. They had to get something for their three hour trip here.
Peggy and Mark and others were meeting with Father Rex to discuss our week, what his plans are for the next year, and ideas we have for him. This is part of our annual fact finding we do when we get to sit down and talk to him. It also helps us know where he wants to go with building and other projects.
One more day awaits in which we will see the rest of the patients we can fit in, give away the rest of our loot, and pack up for our departure. The heat, food, smells, and intermittent sleep have all worn on us and we are ready for the comforts of home.
One constant theme in the emails has been the roosters! They are still surrounding us and making noise nightly and throughout the night. But today they stepped up their attack. One was in the pharmacy which was locked overnight when we opened it this morning. Another soldier flew over the fence/barricade and nearly landed on her head. Her tennis moves came in handy as she dodged him as she felt his wings flap by her ears. She has plans for tomorrow for that bird! We all have noticed that we haven't had chicken since the first day! Hmmm.
Thanks again for the emails. We are preparing for our last day and rationing all of our supplies until tomorrow's fire sale. Believe us when we say everything will go and there will be no shortage of hands to take whatever we have to offer. Cleaning up is also a treat because the vultures (I mean locals) are ready for anything we throw away or don't want. All empty containers, boxes, and buckets are prized items. No matter how much of anything we started with on Sunday we have found that we can give any amount of anything away. So please start collecting everything for us for next year. We always say that we can just go to Sam's or Wal Mart and pretty much empty the shelves and bring everything here because they can use it all.
Not sure about dinner tonight - they may have blown their stockpile of food on us already. No real loss or disappointment here. We all have survived on protein bars and rice and peanut butter up to this point with the great grapefruit juice as the constant.
See you all very soon after a final chance to touch the sick and needy lives in and around Gobert. More prayers for us all as we finish our medical mission
Medical Mission 2006
Thursday, March 9, 2006
With only two days left for the medical team to see patients the crowds came out today. Tomorrow will bring all the 
leftovers as we have put everyone extra off until Friday. The stories and unbelievable cases keep coming across our lives.
One lady came busting through the gates only to be wrestled down by the local security.
One of many interesting parts of the day included Chuck and Ellie weighing a sixteen year old boy at Triage over and over in astonishment that he only weighed fifty pounds. Yet another prime example of the malnutrition.
And on that front Greg took the day off from trips to Cap Haitian for our things to continue the work on constructing water 
filter systems. The saw was going nonstop as they try to produce as many filters as possible to get them to everyone. Coupled with our massive deworming efforts we hope we can make a difference. Eventually the tons of food we sent will get here as well.
We sent some scrubs to be washed but not all of them made it back. Those lucky souls will be wearing our scrubs when we leave and continuing our mission.
Another child had weeping scabies wounds throughout his body. More and more cases of children who look half their age. We keep saying this but we continue to be wowed by this.
Wednesday was shopping (market) day for us and today was sightseeing day. After our day was finished several people walked through the town. We almost witnessed a cock fight but we did not have the admission fee so they took it elsewhere. Junior the translator bought Jane and George lottery tickets at the local hut.
Then some people made it to a nearby church and school. The pastor speaks some English and has been welcoming Ellie 
with her deworming medicine this week. They had a basketball court there and a badly broken down church with a grass floor. They were preparing for a service so the music was loud and people were gathering.
The microwave has produced another blessing of popcorn so we must partake or else seem rude. The printer has been a huge hit and we are always taking pictures and printing them for the staff here and translators and other Haitians who rarely see themselves on paper.
Two more nights until our long return home to all of you. Our love, thoughts, and prayers are with you.
St. Matthew Medical Mission 2006 - The BEST Little Mission This Side Of The Caribbean
P.S. Leigh Milam - We got your message. Dental has been missing you this year. You would not believe the loads of patients, hundreds of wisdom teeth, and the skills of Frantz the translator who has saved George by taking out so many teeth. Everyone here looks forward to having you back here next year!
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Hello Again From Gobert! Big happenings today as the circus has expanded to new sorts of entertainment. The first part to mention happened towards the end of the day as Mark our fearless leader pulled out the digital camera, printer, and acdessories and began the chaos that was taking photos of all around and prinitng them for the people to keep. Please remember that unlike all of us who have photo albums full of every memory of every trip, birthday, and birth these people have never ever seen a photo of themselves. So you can only imagine the incredible event that was the picture taking and printing. Someone said Father Rex was as excited as if we had built a new church!!! The best part is we will leave himn a camera and the printer and all the hecessary goods to continue this celebration.
Clinic once again...We managed to pass more than 500 people through the secure gates of our clinic to be weighed, blood pressured, stuck, pulled, poked, loved, hug, photographed, and dewormed before sending them back to Gobert with their happy meal - vitamins, Tums, and pain relief.
Our very first patient was a teacher who "fell out" and was hysterical after being carried in to clinic. We treated her with Benadryl and Ultram and she became cooperative.
From there we got into a groove and uncovered multitudes of the usual Haitian Malaise along with continued cases of extreme malnutrition that has saddened our hearts. These kids are truly half the size of their American counterparts. These are perfect candidates for the state fair "Guess Your Age" game because they look so much younger than their real age. Once the beans and rice and peanut butter arrive their lives will truly change. This is what makes the deworming and clean water so imperative to our overall mission. Until they can rid themselves of the parasites from the water the food is of minimal use.
That brings us to Greg's trip to Cap Haitian to gather more of our goods. He finally got six more bags that we had to leave in Fort Lauderdale and have desperately needed the first three days. We have been out of Tylenol, Tums, and other medicines vital to this medical mission. Walgreen's has yet to break ground on any corner in either Gobert or nearby Plaisance so we have been doing without. We still have more bags we need to get plus a huge shipment that is stuck in customs from the Castco sea container shipment. We hope all this will be here by Thursday. Otherwise we will be having a stripped down and overly ripe clinic as the week goes on if our clothes don't arrive (some of the bags have our scrubs).
The late arrival of the goods has been lessened by the arrival of the nurse that Father Rex has hired. She has been working in the same room with Dr. Mark so he can assess her abilities. Father says she has seen around ten patients a day when we are not here in a small building he finished in front of the rectory. She is young and energetic and has not been scared off from the first day with all of us and returned today for another round. We are very hopeful that she will be able to continue our medical mission once we leave by assessing the people and doing follow-up care that we have been unable to provide in between our yearly trips here.
Now that we have completed a second full day we are all in the routine of things and the system works well. We are even able to use many locals who speak no English but are given certain tasks to do and will do them faithfully for us. This helps in moving people here and there and provides security for us.
Tomorrow is the biggest day of the week in Gobert (other than Sunday mass naturally) because the market opens for buy/sell/trade of skinny chickens, bony cows, meager goats, and whatever else they can get a hold of. This means a flurry of activity in the area plus even more spectators to our clinic.
As usual we love and miss all of you and look forward to our safe return Saturday. We sense all your thoughts and prayers and ask that you please continue them. Off to bed to gather the strength for another day filled with hope, blessings, and roosters.
St. Matthew Medical Mission 2006 (the Best Little Mission this side of the Caribbean)
P. S. We enjoyed a lovely dinner of soup and pimento cheese sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Lee had the pleasure of asking three different people at lunch what the meat was and got three answers of goat, chicken, and turkey. She has stopped asking questions.
P. P. S. Ellie Russell enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in the dental penthouse despite being thoroughly grossed out. She gracefully gave her job back to Barbara before returning to the school children.
Sunday, March 5, 2006
Most of us woke up with the roosters this morning. Sunlight has nothing to do with a Gobert rooster, they just crow whenever they feel like it. We are running trials (on ourselves) for sleep medicine while we are here.
Fr. Rex celebrated Mass this morning. Several hundred people were in attendance in the old church that has been mostly restored. The people carried chairs from miles away. They were dressed to the max and can sing with such passion and volume. The electric guitar and bongo drums set the tone. Richard is giving Jimi Hendrix lessons tomorrow. Mass lasted about 3 1/2 hours and the little children behaved incredibly well considering there were no Cheerios or cry room for them.
All of this celebration was followed by the first day of clinic. We started with three rookies giving out worm medicine on the rectory porch. This is their trial by fire. The entire lawn in front of the rectory was packed with "healthy" people who did not have to see the medical team but are still ready to get rid of that empty feeling in their bellies. Chuck, Ellie, and Richard took on the crowd and marched over 200 eager participants through their line.
On the other side of the church the main ring of the circus housed the medical team. More than 200 other men, women, and children were treated for conditions varying from scabies, ringworm, malnutrition, Down's Syndrome, vitamin deficiency, and on and on. The translators are not only essential to our mission but are fabulous and caring to work with.
Richard managed to do some testing with finger sticks despite the chickens pestering his patients. Jane and Cindy held the front line in Triage and set the tone for the day. Mark and Jennifer saw all the best stuff including a flashing (it is Mardi Gras time) from a woman with painful breasts.
Lee, Ursula, and Mary Ray ran another room checking people for the various diseases and fell in love with the many children they want to bring home with them.
Jennifer has fallen in love with the people here. She is always holding hands, laughing, singing, and dancing with them. She got all the children even more excited to see us and helped them bring out the jump rope that everyone participated in despite their age and uncertainties.
Kelly and Mary Perry dispensed all the medicine in our pharmacy. They have to decifer all the writing and orders from the rest of the team. Their job is vital to get these people the proper medicine they need and convince them not to take it all at once.
Greg toured the town and checked on the water filters he helped make last year. He was a little disappointed in the men he left in charge of the project and has decided to turn it over to the ladies in town for better results.
The world famous dentist is back this year and his return has been honored with the presidential penthouse suite. Dental has upgraded to much natural light, a breeze and view, music, and two state of the art dental chairs. The dental translator is Eddie Murphy complete with the laugh and space in between his front teeth. The last patient of the day was an 11 yr old girl who knew better than to let us pull her tooth. She will be the participant in the first ever sedation in Gobert on Thursday. Will George's wife please send his safety certifications for Father Rex and the local accreditation team. Barbara has jumped into this mission alongside her mother and is learning the ways of dental extraction in the jungle.
Mary Fuelner: Please tell Dr. Seigal that Ellie the translator is in Lee's room. Tell him to email us with any questions for him. We will gladly answer them when he returns Iris to CSC!
After dinner several members of the team spoke about their day and the effects of the mission on them thus far. This gave Father Rex a chance at a second hour-long sermon. Father Beckman - we really appreciate your to the point sermons. (Under thirty minutes) The theme of the speeches was love for this place and the people and our excitement of being here. We made sure they realized how many people in our community help and support us and that we are here representing a gigantic population of well wishers back in Tennessee.
But, we love and miss our families and friends. We have enjoyed the day so much and have memories of home when we see St. Matthew Cross Country t-shirts on the Gobert children.
Ann - Lee is in the kitchen conducting culinary school with the cooks. Tonight's lesson is mashed potatoes with their new mixer. They are still trying to figure out why it only works when the generator is on. Tomorrow will be expanded recipes of rice and beans. Still to come are how to filet and de-eye a fish. They in turn are teaching us 1001 soups with skinny chickens.
We did have a surprise visit from a group of missionaries from Muncie,IN here from Ball State. They were so impressed with our medical mission and wowed by what was going on here.
Until the next report back from the center of the mission universe. Have a wonderful day and love to all of you whom we miss so much. St. Matthew Medical Mission Team 2006 (The best little medical mission this side of the Caribbean)
P.S. Please enjoy several hot showers a day, meals that aren't rice and beans, comfortable beds, and mosquito repellent-free lives.
Gramma Jane says Hi to baby Joseph.
P.P.S. Please send wires to string up the roosters at 2:00 a.m.
Saturday, March 4, 2006
We arrived at the airport this morning @ 4:30 and it was a long day. 
We did have to leave some bags behind but they should be here tomorrow. This country is gorgeous, it is hard to understand how troubled it can be.
The first picture is one of our vehicles blowing it's top during the bumpy ride from Cap Haitien this afternoon. There are no words to describe how uncomfortable that trip can be. We made several stops along the way including purchasing some live chickens, they were delicious. We also stopped by Fr. Rex's parents house which was about half way. Mark Peters performed a check-up and we all enjoiyed meeting them.
The second picture is the school children after they serenaded us upon our arrival. They were fantastic. Pictured with them are Ellie Russell from SMS, Jennifer Fedele and Barbara Waggoner. Jennifer and Barbara are very popular with the Haiti people.
Clinic will open tomorrow after Sunday Mass.
Haiti-Team
Fr. Rex’s Visit
Swing FORE Haiti Golf Marathon
A golf fundraiser was held on October 17th to benefit Haiti Special Projects. The event took place at Greystone in Dickson. Ted Fellman won a $100 gift certificate for the lowest score. George Adams collected the most donations and won a vacation package from RCI. Ted was second and won a vacation package from Fairfield Resorts. Thanks to all of you who played or gave donations.
![[Church of St. Matthew Tower]](/home/images/tower.gif)
![[Church of Saint Matthew]](/home/images/header_church1.gif)
interesting day. It seemed slow, and we think it is because people couldn't get here because of the weather. Even so, we saw over 300 people. Julian performed surgery! We had a patient with an abscess under her arm which had to be lanced. I was the circulator, and Ann was first assist. Julian did great, and the patient felt much better after it was over with. We saw so many starving children. Peggy O., we have given out all of the new mother kits, and they have been so appreciated. We have pictures, and will share them with you when we get home. 
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