Getting Ready! - September 17
I've had my shots (Hepatitis A and B). I've started taking my Chloroquine so I won't catch malaria.
These things seem to be causing my wife just a little bit of concern ("Are you sure this is a safe place?") Too late to think about that now! We leave tomorrow.
Most of our team have been working hard to prepare for our mission trip to Haiti. Cotton balls, bandages, toothbrushes, Q-Tips, syringes, an assortment of drugs (exactly what is Zovia for anyway?), thermometers (the rectal kind), and alcohol (the rubbing kind). We have packed over a dozen footlockers, carefully weighing each to be sure the airline will be happy to see that none of them weigh over 70 pounds.
The team has done an amazing job getting these materials contributed to the church.
Jane is one of the members of our mission team -- she has been on this same trip 5 times out of the 6 years Good Shepherd has been going. I asked her where all these medical supplies come from.
"We have an account with King Pharmaceutical who have provided most of our drugs and supplies at no cost to us. Through Priscilla's efforts (another team member who has been to Haiti several times), we were approved by them about 5 years ago. They receive overstock and short-dated medical supplies from many sources.
"A second source is a grant from the CVS pharmacies that I received last year for the first time. It was for $2500. We sent that immediately to the hospital and are using the $2000 we had budgeted for the hospital for later in the year to buy things King could not supply that we know we will need.
"The third source of funding is from our own group and congregation and amounts to about $1800 this year. The drugs we purchased at cost were from CVS, Kaiser, and Bill's sources (Bill is another member of our team). We just negotiate the lowest prices we can get. Everybody in the congregation is made aware of our needs and we get donations from our personal dentists, John (who is a nurse practitioner), and other health professional contacts within the congregation.
"Through our Relief Account, we are helping one of the Haitians we've worked with by paying his first year of college in the US. We are also actively pursuing a way to set up scholarships for the new nursing school in Leogane, which will open in January. One of our group has provided over $5000 worth of aid to a family in Leogane for their educational needs. All of this is the fruit of love expressed in obedience and hard work by Good Shepherd. I could shout it from the rooftops some days."
Now all we have to do is pray for good weather! What is left of Hurricane Ivan has arrived in Georgia, allowing me to discover a serious leak around my son's bedroom window. There's nothing like standing in the rain caulking and nailing plastic sheeting in place.
Ivan should not be anything to worry about when we leave on Saturday morning. Our eyes are also on Hurricane Jeanne in the Caribbean.
These things seem to be causing my wife just a little bit of concern ("Are you sure this is a safe place?") Too late to think about that now! We leave tomorrow.
Most of our team have been working hard to prepare for our mission trip to Haiti. Cotton balls, bandages, toothbrushes, Q-Tips, syringes, an assortment of drugs (exactly what is Zovia for anyway?), thermometers (the rectal kind), and alcohol (the rubbing kind). We have packed over a dozen footlockers, carefully weighing each to be sure the airline will be happy to see that none of them weigh over 70 pounds.
The team has done an amazing job getting these materials contributed to the church.
Jane is one of the members of our mission team -- she has been on this same trip 5 times out of the 6 years Good Shepherd has been going. I asked her where all these medical supplies come from.
"We have an account with King Pharmaceutical who have provided most of our drugs and supplies at no cost to us. Through Priscilla's efforts (another team member who has been to Haiti several times), we were approved by them about 5 years ago. They receive overstock and short-dated medical supplies from many sources.
"A second source is a grant from the CVS pharmacies that I received last year for the first time. It was for $2500. We sent that immediately to the hospital and are using the $2000 we had budgeted for the hospital for later in the year to buy things King could not supply that we know we will need.
"The third source of funding is from our own group and congregation and amounts to about $1800 this year. The drugs we purchased at cost were from CVS, Kaiser, and Bill's sources (Bill is another member of our team). We just negotiate the lowest prices we can get. Everybody in the congregation is made aware of our needs and we get donations from our personal dentists, John (who is a nurse practitioner), and other health professional contacts within the congregation.
"Through our Relief Account, we are helping one of the Haitians we've worked with by paying his first year of college in the US. We are also actively pursuing a way to set up scholarships for the new nursing school in Leogane, which will open in January. One of our group has provided over $5000 worth of aid to a family in Leogane for their educational needs. All of this is the fruit of love expressed in obedience and hard work by Good Shepherd. I could shout it from the rooftops some days."
Now all we have to do is pray for good weather! What is left of Hurricane Ivan has arrived in Georgia, allowing me to discover a serious leak around my son's bedroom window. There's nothing like standing in the rain caulking and nailing plastic sheeting in place.
Ivan should not be anything to worry about when we leave on Saturday morning. Our eyes are also on Hurricane Jeanne in the Caribbean.
posted by Maynard at 6:53 AM
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