April 26, 2010 Jim Ressler's Blog

We left early and all went separate ways. Karen went to the new PT clinic to teach aides how do PT. Sam and Tom went to Sacre Couer to work on their burn clinic. Pressime the national police officer picked me up. His truck came and then he showed up in uniform on a motorcycle. I had to take the motorcycle out for a ride thru town. I went out for about 15 minutes. Wow the potholes could eat a car so they would destroy a motorcycle. It was a good way to see a little of the city. We then went over the mountain in the back of the truck to Labadee. The road was still pretty rough. We had heard the road was no longer patrolled by the UN. Pressime told me how in the last 2 weeks the road got much worse. Safety became a major issue where as in the past it was only an issue. We passed the areas of the last mudslides where we had to carry the supplies last month. We saw a rock on the edge of the mountain that is ready to come down in the next major rain. We finally arrived in labadee at the Royal Caribbean dock. We were there to pick up some supplies that weren't unloaded last month from the ship. After calling NJ to speak with jordana to gain access we found out our supplies were no longer there. They orignally forgot to unload them off the ship and they off loaded them in ST Thomas. From there they were supposed to be brought back to Haiti. They did end up coming back but couldn't be offloaded due to new customs regulations and security concerns at the dock. They are being shipped back to florida and will be back in Haiti on May 4th. We waited to meet with the site manager at the gates for about an hour. Finally we could not stay any longer as we had other things to do. After speaking to various people we learned there are 2 basic problems Royal Caribbean is dealing with. The first is the Haitian government wants to charge duty on all donations coming into the country. The second is security on the road back to Cap Hatian.
Mayor-Govenor
Next I wanted to meet the guy who was running these 3 villages to find out what the deal was. Pressime took me to his office. We went in and met with him and a few of his associate in a small cramped room. He related the security issues and how they need help. Pressime told me not to ask of his involvement. he knew of all that was going on on the road. He also said we would pass safely with supplies if we shared a piece with them. Anyway I think we solved the security problem for us. I would not want to be with another group that hadn't addressed this problem with the locals because they will definitely take their supplies. We saw the rock enclaves where they throw the rocks down on the trucks from.
Pressime also told me he had broken down on the road about a week ago. He said he only had a problem with one guy. They all knew him and For Haiti With Love. They knew he feeds and provides medical attention to the locals there. One guy was getting a little out of hand with him so he pepper sprayed the guy in the face. He said the guy fell down but he helped the guy clean his eyes with lemon water. He claims he then fed the guy. Eventually he got his truck running and they moved on. Again they all know what he does so they have a fear respect thing for him. He is a great ally to have. They all wave to him in these dangerous towns and yell out his name when he comes thru. Anyway I think security shouldn't be an issue but it is like the wild west up in the mountain towns

Next we went down to check on Karen. She was still teaching so we moved on. We went back to his clinic with a strecher we had donated and picked up some of his volunteers. We took the road thru the most horrible slums to the orphanage. The people on the street looked terrible. It was hot and lots of people all over along with goats, pigs chickens and any other animal you could imagine roaming the streets. We arrived at the orphange and played with the kids. After about an hour sam and tom got there and 30 minutes later Karen came over. Karen gave out bracelets and earrings made by Kristy (her sister) and her schoolchildren. Kristy is a teacher and had her class make beaded bracelets and earrings for the kids. The orphans went crazy for them. They loved them and all were wearing them. It was really great to see how happy this made them. Sam brought some instruments with him and put together a little band of kids whicj also included Karen Pressime and Roselyn. It was funny to see Pressime with the gun in the back of his pants and playing a musical instrument and singing. The kids seemed to really enjoy it. At this point between our team and the volunteers the kids were having a lot of fun. We then gave out the Ralph Lauren clothing to all the kids. Karen distributed the clothing and they were excited. I don't think they knew what Ralph Lauren was but they liked the idea of new clothing. They are normally wearing used or hand me downs. They were glowing. It was really heartwarming. From here we all hopped in the back of the truck and drove 30 minutes back to town. We went to the clinic and Hotel again and met with Dr Vulcain for dinner.

I am sure I missed a lot that I can tell anyone in person. I can say it was one of those days I will always remeber as I met with hijackers in the morning and orphans in the afternoon. I felt a wide array of emotions from nervousness to excitement today.

Also for those of you who know Karen she had a mouse in her room. We had to try and chase it out. I think that should be the least of our concerns and she sEemed to take it in stride. I told her to talk nice to it and maybe it will leave her alone

Tomarrow we are starting our day seeing and helping burn victims at the clinic and then we have the PT dedication at noon.

Remember to follow us on twitter. Follow Medicalangels and our pics will be on facebook fan page next week.

Til tomarrow slept tight and we will see what adventures we have.
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