Hi All!

Two days in a row you are stuck with a novice blogger!

I know you come here for updates on Madison and Ellie (and their wonderful parents of course!), so I will try not to disappoint you there.

Tomorrow they have the final short course swim meet of the season, so tomorrow's blog will be peppered with pics and stories about them.

Today is about Haiti.

The child in the picture is Pierre. He is one of the children at the orphanage. No one is exactly sure how old he is as he was left at the mission small, undernourished, and unable to sit up....but he had a full set of teeth. He is a bit of a mystery, but loves every minute of attention that he gets. That is Miranda holding him - she is beautiful inside and out. Miranda helped out a bunch at the medical clinic, and now aspires to be a paramedic.

We had an ambulance! It was generously donated by Halton EMS. Sadly I never got to use it as there was no jack for it, and the roads are so horrid in Haiti that you would never risk going out without being able to change a tire or two.

Much of Port au Prince looked something like this - tents filled fields all over the place. This picture looks pretty with the blue sky and fluffy white clouds, but trust me, the smell was awful. Lots of people in close proximity with no running water or sanitation is a recipe for disaster...like....cholera for example.

The children were adorable, and even in Haiti they were not immune from popular TV and music stars. Note the rappa/gangsta pose on this little guy!

Do you see where his t-shirt is from? Niagara Tim Hortons!

This is a pretty standard look of a village in the area of Titanyen

This guy, Jocelyn, was essential to the running of the medical clinic. He was the ambulance driver, and pretty much everyday we ran a patient into Port au Prince, hoping to find a 'hospital' who would accept our patient.

My translator, Farel, was absolutely brilliant. He not only translated English to Creole and back, but provided essential insights to Haitian culture.

This is my bed...dishevelled, yes.

The mosquito net made a huge difference. So many of the patients we had were suffering from Malaria or Dengue fever - both mosquito transmitted illnesses.

Look at the raw beauty of the Haitian landscape.

With 98% of the land deforested, it will be a long recovery for this fragile nation.

Sam told me I should end the blog with some sort of summative statement...so.... bye bye :)