Networking

The week has gotten off to an interesting start. Yesterday, Patrick and I awoke ready to restart days at CONASPEH. Although the vacation has been nice, we’ve missed the children at the school, and so we happily drove to work ready to get the new semester started. But the halls were strangely quiet. Velena and Gouka were sitting in the foyer, sifting through some papers and laughing to themselves. “Its quiet” I said. We were told that apparently the children weren’t done with partying yet. Maybe they’ll come next week. Huh. And sure enough, most of the teachers were there, milling about in empty rooms. Wish I had known about THAT rule as a kid after Christmas break. Would have milked it for all its worth.

So the week's tasks have evolved into cleaning our office and the clinic, running errands, meeting with the Villiers to discuss plans and meetings ahead. I've enjoyed some alone time in the clinic to rearrange and organize. Some patients have wandered in seeing the clinic door open. We've had informal sessions and much to my surprise, I was able to give some basic counseling in Creole. Maybe our studying is paying off after all!

Yesterday, further networking occurred for the clinic. Over Christmas break, Patrick and I met a German couple who had extensive experience working in Haiti. They gave us the contact information for a Haitian physician close by. I met Dr. Laplaunche initially last week. She is a female physician who has built up a small inpatient hospital, a lab and pharmacy around her multi-specialty clinic. Her facility works to host a variety of interventions from dentistry to surgery, obstetrics to pediatrics. When I met her last week, she seemed eager to help this blan in the city. She recognized the challenges CONASPEH has and reported knowing ways to maneuver through them. She asked for a chance to meet Patrick Villier to discuss her ideas. Although I wasn’t sure what would materialize out of the meeting with a Haitian physician already knee-deep in her own clinic and hospital activities and Patrick whose schedule is overflowing with different responsibilities, the meeting magically materialized today.

After some brief introductions, the doctor and the pastor quickly settled into a rapid flowing conversation in French. Patrick and I were left to interpret tones of voice and facial expressions. Both seemed happy and excited. I’m not sure what the doctor proposed, but Patrick Villier seemed to think it was great. He proposed that I work with her a bit in her own clinic, and she seemed to think that was great. The rest was Greek (or French) to us. At the end of the meeting, Patrick Villier seemed very happy to have had the exchange. We shook hands under an agreement of some sorts to work together. We have a second meeting set up for Thursday so that Dr. Laplaunch can come tour CONASPEH and meet the director of the nursing school as well as the clinic nurse.

In the last week, we've also met some incredible people thanks to friends of friends passing along e-mails, phone numbers given, and introductory meetings around the guesthouse table. We have reveled in the stories told, of lives lived, of knowledge passed on. After each encounter, Patrick and I feel a little bit richer, richer for the chance to encounter people with vibrant life stories, who work tirelessly on their projects, who offer perspective and guidance, and are potential resources to help our own work grow and flourish.

So with the help of friends and acquaintances, slowly we are getting to know people and resources around us, we are building community with every meeting, every encounter, every intentional moment. It feels good reaching out in a spirit of collaboration to see how we can work together to better meet need and make real our visions for outreach.