The Goter Group – Virginia
March 22 (Saturday)
We got up at 2:30 this morning and left to pick up Philip and Bethany at their house. Loaded all their suitcases and the medical supplies and drove to Murfreesboro. Picked up Caleb and Elliot and arrived at the airport by 4:50a.m. Checked in with no trouble, found our gate and soon boarded. Papa and Elliot were in first class; Caleb, Philip and Bethany, and I were in the last row of seats on the plane. It was a small plane, three seats on each side. Arrived in Miami and bought some food for breakfast. Papa and Elliot had had some food on the plane. Boarded the plane for Port-au-Prince, which was bigger than the one to Miami. It had two seats, four seats, two seats. Our tickets were for seats scattered through-out the plane, but since the plane wasn’t full, we got to sit together some.
We arrived in Haiti around noon and went through immigration. Gathered up all our luggage with the help of an airport worker who knows Philip, and walked through customs. That was an answer to prayer, since we could have had a lot of problems with the meds. The customs officials didn’t even look at our declaration papers! Outside the airport we were mobbed by Haitian guys wanting to carry our luggage. We told them no, because if they help you, you have to pay them. Managed to keep hold of our luggage and Jeriah met us and took us to the truck. The truck was small and our luggage nearly filled the back. It had two bench seats in the front, so Papa and Caleb were the only ones in the back. Jeriah has a Haitian boy with him; his name is Junior. Junior’s dad is dead and his mom is a “bad story”, so Jeriah takes care of him.
We drove to Life Ministries where we are to stay in their guesthouse. Then unloaded all our things and we unpacked and sorted all the meds. Jeriah had gathered up a bunch of supplies plus the stuff we took. Caleb and Elliot made a list of everything, and then we reduced the bulk quantities to dispensable amounts. That took the whole afternoon. Philip and Jeriah went out and bought supper while the rest of us finished up. It was a good supper of chicken, fried plantain, salad something for with the plantain, and French fries. And Coca-Cola. That is the stuff to drink if you don’t want water. It’s the best!
We have this joke about being The Goter Group. Philip made a typo when typing up the patient assessment forms. He left the “I” out of “goiter”. We said people will ask, “What’s a goter?” Papa said, “A goter is a blind goiter looking for its ‘I’!” Incidentally, “I” is the abbreviation for iodine.
There was a lovely cool breeze the whole evening that kept the mosquitoes away, and a beautiful sunset and full moon. The mountains are gorgeous! The view from the balcony at night is so neat. The mountain blends with the sky, so it looks as though the lights of the city rise into the air!
March 23 (Sunday)
I woke up this morning at 6:00 because my room was so light. At 7:00, Bethany and I made eggs and toast for those of us up, and then made some at 8:00 for the rest. We had a short Bible reading and prayer, then left at 9:15 for CAM where they had a meeting. Wonderful singing, and Caleb had a lovely children’s lesson. Papa preached on Isaiah’s vision of God, from Is.6. They had a meal afterwards, and the “three” sat and discussed the possible problems and cures for an eleven month old girl. She weighs 8 ½ lbs. and has some sort of skin problem. When we were ready to go, we traded the small truck for a bigger one. It only has one seat in the front, but the back is much bigger. It’s sort of rattlely, but we need the room. Then we gathered up a few things we needed and headed back to Life.
When we got back, we divided our supplies into two groups. Some for Patmos (the goiter village) and the rest to leave in a depot in T-Goave for Fon Doux (the other place we will have a clinic). The packing went well and Jeriah did some laundry. Caleb, Elliot, Philip and Papa mixed some medicine for the little girl; Bethany and I helped with whatever. We made Mac & Cheese and baked beans and bread & peanut butter for supper. After the dishes were done Bethany washed her hair and I took down the laundry. There was a good breeze, so it had dried quickly. We folded the laundry and I washed my hair. The guys sat around the kitchen table and talked all evening.
March 24 (Monday)
We got up at 4:30 this morning and packed our clothes. Bethany and I made eggs and toast for breakfast while Jeriah, Papa, Caleb and Elliot loaded the truck. Philip couldn’t help because he had broken his toe kicking a football around with Junior. We washed the dishes and then we read a passage of Scripture and prayed together, made sure we had everything and left by 6:25a.m.
Philip and I rode in the front of the truck with Jeriah who was driving. Papa, Caleb, Elliot, Bethany and Junior rode in the back. We stopped to get a tarp, a jack, water and bread. Then we went to T-Goave where we dropped off the things for Fon Doux and picked up Pastor Bruce. We also picked up Frankie, and then went to meet Pastor Ulrich. He was to meet us and go with us in his own vehicle; but right before we met, his vehicle broke down. So we had six extra people and a lot more stuff in the back of an already full truck! We were really loaded down. Jeriah was a little worried about the springs, but we were so thankful we had a bigger truck than the one we had started with! We drove to Jacmil with Caleb and Bethany sitting on top of the luggage, half on the roof. It was curvy road over the mountain from the northern coast to the southern coast of the peninsula. As we came over the top of the mountain, the bay lay spread out before us. Beautiful turquoise water with hazy blue mountains around it. We reached Jacmil and started on the road to Patmos. Soon we were driving in the riverbed. We drove a long way and were able to go farther than we thought we could. At the end, the road left the riverbed and followed the side of the mountain. There were a few pretty rough spots, but we have an excellent driver. When we ran out of road, we parked the truck, loaded the mules and set off. Pastor Ulrich told the local children that if they didn’t leave the truck alone they would get a beating!
So we started walking. Philip rode a mule because Doctor Caleb told him to. Philip was expecting to cross one mountain; it was two. We followed a steep winding path down, a good length of riverbed, and a switchback trail to the top of the mountain where we stopped to find out exactly where we were going. Guess where? At the top of the next mountain! So down we went, crossed the river and started up the last side. A long steep climb and finally we arrived. There were a lot of people gathered in front of the chapel where we are to have the clinic. They gave us chairs and then stood and looked at us. We are the first white people ever to be in their village. Caleb started tossing a small mango around with some little boys and that helped to break the ice. [We were all so warm I don’t know how there was any ice to begin with!☺]
Once everyone in our train had arrived, they brought water, soap and a towel for us to wash with. Then they served us coffee and bread followed by goat meat, rice, two sauces for the rice, carrot and red beet salad, fried plantain, French fries and yams. It was really good. The chapel was full of people sitting, watching us eat. When we were done most of them left, and we stood around and talked for awhile and had prayer together. They showed us to the place where we were to sleep, a little building behind the chapel. It was divided into four rooms, two big ones and two small ones. Philip and Bethany had one of the big ones and Papa, Caleb, Elliot and Jeriah had the other. I had one of the little ones and the other was part kitchen and some Haitian girls slept there. Anyway, we put our bags in our rooms and returned to the chapel for the evening service. They had a generator for lights that they ran in the evenings from about 6:30 to 10:30. There weren’t many people there at first, but they kept coming. Pastor Ulrich explained what we would do tomorrow, and then we had to introduce ourselves. We sang (English if we knew the words to the tune) and Philip preached. We are all tired from climbing the mountains. They had made a bath house out of sheets, so we washed up and went to bed.
March 25 (Tuesday)
We woke at 4:00 this morning with the roosters crowing all over the mountains, and a man chopping firewood outside our cabin. It was a gorgeous morning once the sun rose! We had coffee and peanut butter bread for breakfast, and then someone read a Scripture and we prayed.
After that we set things up, three consultation rooms and two benches facing each other for meds. Pastor Ulrich wrote down the patient’s names and kept things in order, along with his local sidekicks. Papa took vitals and did triage. Caleb had Pastor Bruce for a translator, Elliot had Frankie, and Philip had Jeriah. Bethany and I ran the pharmacy. Bethany also took urine samples and I took photos. Junior was the general “Johnny-on-the-spot”. Things moved kind of slow till noon; afterwards it flowed pretty quickly. We finished up around 5:00p.m., and they gave us a delicious supper of spaghetti.
It had started to rain and there weren’t many people when the meeting started. Someone had carried a loudspeaker in and they had it turned up so loud it was almost deafening! There was a lot of singing and eventually the chapel was almost full. Many people got up and “greeted” the church and some would share a song. A lot of people got thanked for different things. Then we each had to get up and “greet” the church. Mostly thanked them for their hospitality and said we are happy to be here. Then Papa preached. Wonderful message! I think God was speaking to some hearts.
March 26 (Wednesday)
I woke up this morning around 5:00, packed my clothes and went to the clinic. We ate breakfast and Pastor Ulrich read some Scripture and prayed. Started the clinic and saw about 60 people till noon. We had wanted to be done by 11:00, but there were so many people and one very sick lady. We finally passed out multi-vitamins and told the people sorry, but we have to leave. We quickly packed up all the medical stuff, the rest of our things, and practically inhaled our dinner, but it was 1:00p.m. before we were ready to go. And it had started to pour rain. We thought about waiting to see if the rain would let up, but the Haitians said it would only get worse.
So we set off. Rain and mud and running water. Everywhere! We were soon soaked and trying not to slip in the mud. Down the first steep mountainside and through the river, then up the next side we went, stepping on everything but the path. Coming down the mountain was worse than going up! Philip had the hardest time because there was no mule for him to ride. It wouldn’t have been safe though for him to ride even if he’d had one! We were all strung out in groups of 3 to 8. Eventually we reached the top of the first mountain, and started down the other side. Some places it was easier to go straight down the side than to follow the switchback! The rain let up, but the water still ran everywhere. Once we reached the riverbed the going was much easier, and we finally reached the last climb. I knew we were getting close to the truck, but I was surprised when I looked up to see it about 20 yards away! We stood around and waited for everyone to get there, and finally we had the truck loaded and were ready to go. We were so thankful everyone had made it safely out and our prayers for getting the truck out safely were answered too!
Everyone was wet and after we reached Jacmil and started back over the mountain, the ones in the back of the truck nearly froze! There were clouds covering the mountain, and clouds tend to be damp cold things. It was after dark when we dropped off Pastor Ulrich and those with him. Then we went to the depot and picked up our supplies. Everyone was glad to reach Pastor Bruce’s place in Fon Doux. They helped us unload our things and gave us supper. We have a lovely room with a corner curtained off for Philip and Bethany, and another sheet hung between my bed and Papa’s, Elliot’s and Caleb’s. Jeriah, Junior and Frankie are in the room where we will have the clinic. Everyone in our room has a mosquito net over their bed. It’s really nice. Took showers in a pan and went to bed.
March 27 (Thursday)
I was almost asleep last night when I heard the rain coming down the hill. Papa was in the shower (it has no roof), and he said he was all soapy when it started to pour! He quickly rinsed off and dashed under the roof, but he had damp clothes to sleep in. After Papa was in bed, Elliot suddenly sat up and hollered,” I’m getting wet!” The rain was seriously leaking through the roof. His bed was half soaked! So Papa helped him move his bed, then found his own bed was getting dripped on! We checked the rest of the roof and found that Caleb was getting wet too. He was still asleep though! Elliot said, “Caleb, you’re getting wet!” and he sat up and said,” What?!” and then realized it! He jumped up and pulled his bed away from the wall. By then Jeriah had come over and said that in their room practically the whole roof was leaking and there was water all over the floor! So they were soaking wet because their beds were just a thin mattress on the floor. Elliot went to move his suitcase that was beside his bed and groaned. His Bible and notebook had gotten wet on the way down the mountain, so he had laid them out to dry. Now they were wetter than they had been before! Since his bed was no longer under a mosquito net, Papa said he would sleep on it. He’s already had malaria. I took Papa’s bed because it was partly wet and I could sleep on the dry part. Elliot had my bed which had no leaks over it. We finally went to sleep- after 11:00p.m. Around 4:30a.m. I woke up to find my bed getting dripped on again. I woke up Papa and he helped me move it. The roof also leaked over Philip! He said around 4:00 he woke up with water dripping on him. So Bethany emptied a small cooler we have along, and he held it between his knees to catch the drips!
Thank God for small miracles though. The paperwork from Patmos was dry! The box it was in was on the floor in the water, but Bethany had put the boxes of exam gloves on the bottom under the papers. So they stayed dry!
Everyone was tired when we got up this morning. Someone strung a couple of lines where we could hang our clothes to dry. We set up the clinic, one room divided into four. A Haitian named Joseph wrote down the patient’s names, and again Papa took vitals. Philip had Madame Harold for a translator, Caleb had Pastor Bruce, and Elliot had Frankie. Bethany and I ran the pharmacy along with Jeriah who explained to the patients how and when to take their meds. Jeriah also did a little fill-in translating. We had a very busy day and saw 111 patients. I enjoyed it very much; I think everyone did. Madame Joseph is an angel on earth! She cleaned and dried our sheets and mattresses and fixed our room back up again. And we really had it wrecked!
There was a meeting in the evening and Philip preached. I really enjoyed it even though I’d heard it before. During the day, Pastor Bruce had his workers rig a roof of tarp over the roof. So if it rains tonight we shouldn’t get wet. But I don’t think it’s even going to rain. The stars are very bright.
March 28 (Friday)
That goes to show you never know! Twelve o’clock rolls around and with it the rain. Guess what- the roof leaked! Big time! Instead of just dripping on Philip and Bethany, it poured! The tarp on the roof didn’t quite reach the back edge, so the water was being dumped right over them. It also ran back under the tarp and came in the other places. Elliot, Caleb and Papa got wet again, though not quite as badly. We moved Philip and Bethany’s mattress to the middle of the floor and moved the other beds enough so they wouldn’t be dripped on. Papa checked the clinic roof, but it wasn’t leaking. Yet. A little while later Jeriah, Junior and Frankie were getting wet, along with the meds and books we had left out. Their roof leaked as bad as the night before! And there was an inch of water on the floor in the morning.
While we ate breakfast, Madame Joseph and some other ladies dried up the floor for us. We dried off the meds as good as we could and got started. Even though everyone was really tired, we saw 112 patients – in two hours shorter than yesterday. We finished at 4:00p.m. and packed up, basically threw things in boxes and totes. We loaded the truck, said goodbye, and headed back to Life around 5:00p.m. We dropped off Frankie and Madame Harold on the way back. It started to rain, and the guys in the back of the truck had to hold the tarp over them to stay dry. Of course, they got damp, but everything stayed fairly dry. They also were sort of cold by the time we reached Life. We arrived around 8:00p.m. and unloaded. We flopped on the couches and talked and laughed for awhile, then got much needed showers and went to bed.
March 29 (Saturday)
It was lovely to sleep without getting rained on! I woke up at 6:30 and read on the couch with Papa and Philip. Then at 7:00 I unpacked and sorted all the clinic things we had brought back. After the guys got up, they divided and repacked everything. Some for Jeriah to give to other clinics and some to be stored till the next time we come. While they did that I packed up Papa’s and my things, and Bethany packed hers and Philip’s.
We left at 9:00a.m. for Hotel Montana where we got breakfast. It is a really nice place with good food. It’s partway up a mountain, so you look out over Port-au-Prince. It’s a lovely view with the ocean, mountains and the city; but like Caleb said, the view from Patmos was much lovelier. (You could see the runway from the hotel and when we were in the plane on the runway, I’m sure I saw the hotel.) After a leisurely breakfast of good omelets, we left and went to a shop where we bought souvenirs. Then we tried to find the market, but it had been moved, and we were running out of time, so we just went back to Life. There we finished our packing and loaded the truck.
We left at 2:00p.m. for the airport where we said goodbye to Jeriah and Junior. Checked in, and then got a drink while we were waiting to board. Took off at 4:10, and landed in Miami at 6:00. Then it took us an hour and 45 minutes to go through immigration, customs, and find our gate. While we were waiting, they asked over the loudspeakers if there was anyone who would be willing to stay at the airport due to an over booked flight. If you would stay, they would pay your expenses for the night, plus give you a three hundred dollar travel voucher. Philip and Bethany decided to stay, and Caleb and Elliot said they would also if they needed too. The plane was full because a flight had been cancelled earlier. Papa and I boarded soon after 10:00p.m. Caleb and Elliot stayed. I had a first class ticket and so did Caleb. Caleb kindly traded his ticket for Papa’s so we could both be in first class. We arrived in Nashville at 12:15a.m., gathered up all the luggage, and were on our way home by 1:00. Those who stayed in Miami ended up having to stay in the airport all night Saturday because the hotels were all full. They each got an extra hundred dollars worth of travel vouchers and money for food. Caleb and Elliot flew out of Miami at noon on Sunday, but Philip and Bethany had to wait till the late evening flight. Michael and I took Caleb’s and Elliot’s luggage to Murfreesboro Sunday noon. Caleb’s mother was taking Caleb’s truck to the airport for them. That evening at 10:30 Michael and I went to the airport to pick up Philip and Bethany.
In conclusion, I think I can say that everyone enjoyed the trip, and that it was a blessing to all. I don’t know about the rest, but I want to go back if it is God’s will. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute, and was sorry to leave. I’m really glad I got to spend a week with you all, and hope that we can do it again.
If I have made any mistakes in the details, please forgive me. I have written as I remember it.
God bless you and keep you in His love, Virginia Rudolph
The average life expectancy in Haiti is 57 years compared to 77 years in the US. Approximately 2/3 of the people lack formal jobs and the majority of the population is unskilled labor. In Port Au Prince (see photo below), 3 million people reside in a small costal town. The favorite mode of public transport is a tap-tap (a converted Datsun or Mitsubishi truck that people, sometimes up to 14, tap on twice for a ride…hence the name). 
Thankfully, we didn’t have to ride in the tap-taps, but had a vehicle with a driver instead. At our fullest point of the trip, we had 14 people in the back of this Toyota Hilux…I ended up on the roof of the cab at one point. Riding through the mountains like that will certainly increase your faith…
Catholicism is prevalent in Port au Prince, but over half of the island’s people, regardless of formal religion, practice voodoo. In fact, we got to Haiti one day before the biggest voodoo celebration day of the calendar. Spiritual darkness is evident from many accounts, but so also is poverty. Over 80% of the population is considered below the poverty line and about half are considered to live in abject poverty. This is more evident in the city where crowding and cleanliness are major issues. 
But if you only saw PAP you would have a skewed view of this island nation. Much of Haiti is rugged mountains, and the land in the rain shadow of some mountains, can be very dry. Because the land is so rugged and the nation so poor, well-maintained roads are few; this makes travel time-consuming. 
At one point up the infamous riverbed, Elliott and I had to take a photo just to break up the monotony of the bumps. I was on the cab roof at this point. Thankfully, the river bed was mostly dry on the way in, but it was noticeably more wet on the way out. 
This is how our luggage and supplies for clinic got over the two mountains we had to climb. We were thankful for the lowly burros and their sure feet.
Unfortunately, we had a limited number of animals, so the believers and some villagers volunteered to carry our equipment for us. As it was, us Americans were busy enough trying to hike this “hills”, but the Haitians just took it all in stride as they waited for us to struggle our way through to the village. 
This the first village (see below) that we stayed at for two days. The believers there went far above our expectations in their hospitality, warmth, generosity and appreciation for our visit. It was so encouraging to worship the same Lord with other believers. Though cultural, language and customs barriers existed (and still do), we have fellowship with God and each other because of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wish I could let you hear the songs we enjoyed while we were there. I wonder if I’ve ever heard such enthusiasm for singing a body of believers. 
This is one of the patients with goiter who we photographed and sampled. Hopefully, we’ll be able to finish this stage of our research soon, identify the culprit and implement treatment for these patients.