Session 4, Days 1-4

Day 1: The first day of each of our sessions is very similar. The advocates go through orientation, presented by the officers and board members-- in this case, Kevin-- to the lifestyle at the compound, expectations for the session, and more. Once again, Caroline is sending us updates, and she is happy to report that “session 4 is off to a fantastic start! The advocates spent their first morning in Haiti being trained on how to educate patients about common illnesses in Haiti, then the afternoon was spent relaxing at The Bouchanier in Léogâne, enjoying the beautiful Haitian sun.”

Day 2: “Session 4 got right to business: [T]he advocates [spent their] second day in Haiti running their own clinic. The advocates took turns going out to pick patients up from their homes, tallying medications, observing Dr. Tony in the exam rooms, and putting their training to work by teaching patients how to improve their health.”

Caroline asked Kyle Conley, now on his second expedition, a few questions about his experience during the clinic. Kyle said he feels like "there's a bigger picture now... With the developments to the compound and inside the exam rooms it seems a lot more formal. A lot of people are taking to the new education program--they're actually asking questions and seem genuinely interested in improving their health". The advocates have noticed great improvement in our facilities and the organization as a whole, an encouraging sign, as we continue to build and grow within the Morel community. We are very proud of how far we’ve come!

“Thursday night the advocates sat down in the compound and had a reflection session. Everyone said their ups and downs of the day, and there was a nice [sense] of accomplishment and thoughtfulness [among the group].”

Days 3-4: “For the past few days our public health group has been hard at work doing follow ups from our clinic. They have been walking around in neighborhoods, such as Nolivos, Cafuvert, and our own neighborhood, Pont Morel, searching for patients that we saw in the clinic on Wednesday. Aside from all the hard work, the advocates learned a lot and made some friends on the way.”

“Back at the compound, the community development group has been working on a special project that will be released in the coming days.” In the past, community development groups have conducted in depth interviews with community members, written up case profiles, and proposed rehabilitation plans to allow these people to get back on their feet with anything from business start up budgets to education funds for their children. The session 4 community development members “are walking around interviewing different patients and asking them questions about their lives. Jasper Flour said the following about the project, "I love what we’re doing right now. We get to actually enter the lives of people [the public health group has been] working with... We get to see them as more than medical cases, we get to see them as people! We get to know them as friends instead of people were saving." I asked the rest of the group what they thought, and they agreed that the informality of the interview setting allows them to feel closer with the interviewees.” These interviews are so valuable to us because they help us assess the effectiveness of our programs and gauge the community's needs, so we can plan future programs.