The 'beyond'...

I just realized that my blog is titled, 'Africa and Beyond...' Well, as of Feb. 18th, I am off to experience the 'beyond' as I travel to Haiti.

Disaster relief work was something that I wasn't sure I wanted to do...my experience to date has been more focused on development work rather than on people in the midst of crisis/disaster. But an interesting set of circumstances came about a couple of weeks ago, and I find myself now with a flight booked to Haiti! I was chatting with my mom about Haiti and relief work, as she had been considering going on a trip. That conversation got me thinking...thinking about whether this was something that God was asking me to do, and whether I was using excuses to prevent myself from considering going..."I have school"..."work is too busy"..."my passport just expired". That night, I saw that a friend of mine had changed his facebook status to read something like: "Global Aid Network is looking for nurses and doctors to go to Haiti. Email Lindsey for more info". So I did!

There were a few hurdles to get through before I could apply...the first was getting the time off work. My boss wasn't initially all that excited about me going, and took 24 hours to decide, but finally approved the time away! The expired passport was another hurdle. So I went to the passport office Thursday am, and my passport was renewed by Monday. I was also a little worried about missing classes for school, but then realized that the trip dates were exactly during my school break (universities are closing for 2 weeks during the Olympics). After all that, I submitted my application, and found out last Friday night that I had been accepted to go!

So this is what I know so far... Global Aid Network is a humanitarian organization affiliated with Power to Change (aka Campus Crusade for Christ). They have been working in Haiti for a while doing development work, and now are focusing on earthquake relief (mainly medical clinics and clean water initiatives). They have had medical teams on the ground since right after the earthquake. Our team is made up of 17 doctors and nurses, mostly Canadians and a few Americans. We will be working in a medical clinic outside Port-au-Prince as well as offering a mobile medical clinic in some of the IDP camps. It is a short trip, but I expect it will be busy - long days in the clinic. The main concerns that people are coming to the clinic with seem to be dehydration, respiratory illnesses, anxiety-related illnesses - essentially, illnesses related to living outside in makeshift tent cities, not necessarily injuries related to the earthquake.

So that is my story so far...I'll be gone from Feb. 18-28. I hope to post one or two times more before I go, as I get more details about my trip and reflect a bit more on it! Thanks for reading, and thanks also for praying! Very appreciated!!