Preparing for 6 Days in Haiti

Preparing for 6 days in Haiti....What?!

I know, it's kind of crazy right? Even I find it hard to believe.

With less than 24 hours until I get on a plane from Washington DC to Miami for a connecting flight to Port Au Prince Haiti, I am still a bit dumbfounded by my plan. Why on earth am I going? Why don't I just donate the $850 to an organization doing good and important work in Haiti?

The answer is neither simple nor clear.

When most of us think of Haiti, we think of devastation and suffering. Sheer, unadulterated, no bones about it, devastation and suffering. And for some reason I am compelled to go see it, to be with it, to look it in the face, to bear witness.

My life here in Washington DC is easy and comfortable. I wake up everyday in a cozy bed, with clean water, too much food, plenty of money and every imaginable convenience at my very fingertips. Meanwhile there are millions of people living without access to the very basic necessities of life like housing, clean water and food. I need to step outside of the bubble of my privileged comfortable existence, if only for 6 days. And so, I am going to Haiti.

My destination is an outpatient physical therapy clinic at a community hospital on the outskirts of Port Au Prince. I am traveling to the capitol of poorest country in the western hemisphere to teach yoga and do whatever I can to be helpful during my short 6 day stay.

The group hosting me is the Global Therapy Group, and I'll be working with the volunteer physical therapists to see if we can incorporate basic yoga into some of the patients rehabilitation. I will also be creative about offering yoga in the community around the hospital, including the doctors and nurses who work there. My original plan was to volunteer with Grassroots United at their resource center, and to offer yoga to their staff and volunteers. I am still excited about that prospect, but it didn't come together this time.

I am incredibly thankful to the team at Global Therapy Group to being open to taking me in at the last minute. There were long difficult hours over this weekend, as I debated whether I would go or not. I meditated, I prayed, I cried, I talked to friends, and I read.

I poured over news stories about the current situation in Haiti. Civil and political unrest, cholera death toll climbing everyday, protests over the cholera outbreak, tires burning in the streets and an election next week. It is dangerous in Haiti. But still, I want to go, I need to get out of my bubble. It was dangerous in Haiti last month, last week, and it will be dangerous a month from now - so with precautions and smart planning in place, I decided I would not cancel my Haiti plans. No Mom, I'm not going to the Dominican Republic after all.

The Global Therapy group has connections with the Hudicourt family that started the Community Hospital. The family also offers guest space for volunteers in their home in a gated community, this is where I will stay. They have a driver who will get me from the airport, and the house is only a mile from the hospital. It isn't my usual style of travel, the Grassroots United plan was much closer to my usual method of operation. But the situation is a bit unwieldy, and I am very glad to have safe transport and safe housing for this experience.

Practical preparation for 6 days in Haiti:

This is the order that I did things to get this trip together, not sure everyone would go this route but it worked for me.

Step 1: Buy Airplane Ticket. $400 RT and taxes American Airlines

Step 1.5: Check Visa requirements for Haiti - none, just needed my valid US passport.

Step 2: Find group on the ground doing good work. http://www.grassrootsunited.org/projectsmain.html

Step 2.5: Communicate and sort out details with group on the ground.

We e-mailed a few times and they sent a complete set of volunteer instructions and FAQ sheet that was very helpful in getting everything together.

Step 3: Get shots and prescriptions. http://www.farragutmedical.com/

Step 4: Start collecting donations of yoga mats and medical supplies.

Yoga Mats:

I'll take 5 yoga mats for relief workers/volunteers who stay at the GRU Resource Center in Port Au Prince. The folks at http://www.yogaactivist.com/ have donated three and http://www.thestudiodc.com/ provided the other two. During my 6 days, I'll offer classes in the compound and also offer guidance on self-led or group practice.

Medical Supplies:

I am filling a suitcase with as many of these supplies as I can gather. There just wasn't enough time to get a real donation set together. But a few friends offered to chip in on some of the cost, people at work donated some items, and I found a pharmacy who would sell me items just over cost. I also got a few good leads on some options for donations when I go again.

Here is are the items I am taking, based on a wishlist provided by GRU:

--adult and childrens vitamins

--Acetaminophen, ibuprofen

--yeast infection treatment.

Step 5: Find a second group on the ground doing good work. The Global Therapy Group (yay!) They also sent a set of volunteer instructions, very detailed and amazingly helpful.

Step 6: Pack my bags. (Packing List to come soon.)