As I sit here and type, the non refundable tickets that finalize my decision to go to Haiti are now bought. I'm going!
So a little background on why this is happening. First off, I'm a born and bred missionary kid. Traveling and being part of different cultures is in my blood. It's like food to me, and I begin to get antsy if I haven't been out of the country in over a year. When I was on my DTS in 2008, I was in Indonesia for 2 months doing the missionary thing, like speaking in churches and helping out in slums. One day, my team was in a bus driving to another church. While we were driving, I happened to look across the street right as a lady on a motorcycle collided with a car, sending her over the car, and landing on the street with a tremendous thud! She automatically went into convulsions and shock. Everyone in my bus wanted to stop, yet no one knew what to do. So we kept going and prayed for her. I can honestly say that that was the pivotal change in my life where I knew that the medical field was where I wanted be. Praying is awesome, and I believe God can heal, but I also know that he gives us the tools to help others with our hands. And I wanted to help not only in the spiritual, but the physical realm as well. Thus I pursued the field of paramedics and I am now licensed by the state as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
This is now the present. I have two more terms before my paramedic training starts, yet I only need one more term to finish all the classes that I need to apply for it. This left a good couple of months of me just twirling my thumbs. Ever since the earthquake in Haiti happened, I have longed to go and help with relief work. Then three weeks ago, I got a newsletter from a lady that my parents know talking about a medical team that she would be leading down to Haiti. I mentioned that I would love to do that. Weirdly, that next week, my parents met the lady, named Lori, who was leading and mentioned me. She called me up two days later and invited me to join them on the trip! I almost immediately said yes!
So this is how it is going to look. I'm going to travel down to San Francisco to go train with a relief program called RescueNet. They specialize in first response relief to catastrophes. They were one of the first first teams into Haiti and ended up finding a man under the rubble ten days after the quake! If I train with them, then I'll have numerous opportunities to travel with them in the future. I'll be there in San Francisco from October 9th to the 23rd. Then I'll travel with the team of 13 people to Haiti. And we'll be there till mid November. Unfortunately, I'll have to come back home a week early so I get back in time for paramedic interviews which are on the 12th of November.
While we are down in Haiti, we'll be doing clinics in different cities and neighborhoods. We will be bringing down supplies like vitamins that are sorely needed etc. We will also be putting on schools and teaching the Haitians about all things medical. I guess the best way to describe it would be that we will be loving on the people down there. And that's more than enough for me.
I'm going to try try try to keep this blog up to date! But the internet is, well, as you could probably guess, not the best down there. But you have my solemn promise that I'll do my best!
