Child Health in the Caribbean

Our second full day here commenced bright and early as we traveled from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. Over the course of the bus ride from Santiago to the border we all had time to take in the scenery and country side. This time to absorb the sights of the Dominican Republic increased the initial shock, for me at least, as we walked across the Massacre River into Haiti. In just a few short minutes as we walked under a concrete archway we entered a whole new world, and an entirely different way of life. I had the experience of meeting my first UN officer, who happened to be from Uruguay, as I nearly ran into him trying to get out of the way of a truck. The presence of UN officials was constant as we drove from the border to Cap Haitien.

The drive in and of itself was once again a great snapshot of life in Haiti. I was very excited to see the presence of horses for the first time since leaving Albion and I was struck by how they seemed to keep themselves contained. Horses, however, are only the beginning of the animals present here in Haiti. During the drive to the hotel we observed cattle, goats, chickens and donkeys just to name a few.

As shocking as it has been to see the way in which both the Haitians and Dominicans live it has also been quite remarkable to see the effort that goes into making life at least a little better. One particular advancement here in Haiti is the road conditions. Throughout our journey we ran into road construction fairly often, which is nothing new to those of us from Michigan, however here it is an amazing occurrence. By paving the roads, travel time has been decreased and road conditions are tremendously improved from before.

It has been another long day of traveling and we are all looking forward to our program visits tomorrow. Hopefully we are all able to continue to keep our minds open as we continue our journey.

Brittany White

Flying in yesterday left us all a bit tired this morning. I woke up and in the first few seconds I was stuck with the dreaded feeling of not knowing where I was. This soon passed since right outside our windows we can hear the mornings in the DR begin. Carts flood the streets carrying peppers, bananas and other fruits, but the one things that really grabs your attention is the traffic. Cars are always passing by, honking, screeching to a stop. Our breakfast was served at the hotel and we were provided with a wide variety of fruits as well as some good old Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, so we felt right at home.

Our day was filled with visits to several homes, all people involved with ICC DR, which is the organization we are with here with. We learned about the many programs they have set up here in the area and we were able to meet with individual families to see exactly what type of training is given to the parents of the children that the ICC DR provides care for. We also were able to visit a home for abandoned children. This large house was filled with beautiful paintings as well as many smiling faces which all welcomed us as if we were longtime friends.

Lastly we sat in on a meeting run by the ICC . We were able to participate with the mothers and their children in a variety of songs as well as follow along with the presentation on how to avoid and treat diarrhea. We also were able to watch some of the children be weighed. By looking at their past weights that had been tracked on a chart, we were all able to visually see the dramatic progress of each child.

This first day in the DR has been a great experience, showing us first hand how the programs of the ICC DR change individual lives. The people in charge of the programs as well those affected by them all have stories to tell and things to share. Hopefully we will all use our time wisely and listen to what they have to say.

Halley Sissom