Haiti... The first day...

I left Flagstaff on Thursday after work. Drove down to Phoenix, stayed at my sister's house, got a ride to the airport early Friday morning. I met my group at Sky Harbor and we began our travel day to Miami. A long flight to Charlotte, NC... a little layover, then on to Miami.

We stayed overnight in Miami and left for Haiti on Saturday. The flight to Haiti was a little delayed, but we got there! The first thing I noticed was when we got off the aircraft... 80+ degrees with 90+ percent humidity! It was like walking into a wall! There was only one baggage handler to offload 140+ people's luggage and cargo, so we all pitched in to help offload the aircraft. All of the luggage was piled into a truck, about 6 feet above the cargo sides... one guy climbed up to make sure none fell off, and he was almost our first trauma as the driver didn't realize the clearance was limited and drove under an airport gangway, almost taking off his head!

We got to the University of Miami/Medishare camp late. After we registered and checked in, it was a scramble to find sleeping arrangements... then a quick meeting of the providers coming in. Trying to cover and fill some night shifts, figuring out where everyone was going to be assigned, and other assorted tasks.

Went to bed around midnight, only to get up early enough the next morning for a general camp/staff meeting. Then off to work!

Little to no orientation... just jumped into it!


Ray