Bags packed

Where am i?:
So i'm sat at my desk at home in Dunedin about to head to the airport. It's 12 Deg Celsius outside and it's mid summer. It's 31 Deg Celsius in Cap Haitien and mid winter! I'm currently wearing all the warm clothes i'm supposed to be packing and i'm still cold.

What am i doing?: I am going to Cap Haitien, 2nd biggest city in Haiti to do 6 weeks of voluntary work as a Physiotherapist. I am headed out with HHH a charitable trust from Oamaru, New Zealand. They have already sent out one team of health professionals including surgeons, an anaesthetist and physiotherapists and are currently sending out their second wave of health professionals of three physiotherapists of which i'm one. All of this project would not be possible without the experience, contacts and guidance of Robyn Couper who has spent 33 yrs working in Cap Haitien as a missionary. She has already arrived in Cap Haitien and will collect us from the Bus Station apparently! A rehabilitation centre has been built in Cap Haitien with support from Dr Andre Vulcain a Haitian Doctor now residing between Haiti and Miami. As i understand it, physiotherapy is not a currently recognised profession in Haiti. Three trained nurses have specifically interviewed for posts to work in the rehabilitation centre and learn rehabilitation skills. The first team of physiotherapists began this training and this has been continued by some American and Canadian rehabilitation professionals. Myself and Claire (both Physiotherapists in Dunedin) and Fiona (a Physiotherapist from Wellington who headed out in the first team also) will continue this training of rehabilitation skills. The language is either French or Creole, one of which i know a little of the other none at all. The plan is we will work one on one with these nurses and a translator in the rehabilitation centre. Quite how many patients there will be to treat and what conditions they will be presenting with i currently really have no idea!


How do i feel?: Two nights ago i was sick and weak as a kitten. I blamed the anti-malarials, the travel nurse i liaised with blamed my nerves and my fiance said i had a pathetic dose on man flu! Could have been a bit of them all to be honest but i currently feel much stronger and now take the pills in the evening and not in the morning! I feel nervous, excited, unprepared (how do you prepare for this?) and hope my 'good ability to adapt to new and challenging environments' exists (I put this on my CV, but do i have it?!). I also hope my knowledge and hands on skills of my profession will be up to standard and my workable french will be half workable! I miss my fiance Anna already and thank her for her unwavering support for me to do this. I'll report back in the Northern Hemisphere.