My First Visitor at COTP

I had my first visitor at COTP last week.  It was so fun to have Jess down here visiting me.  The two of us first met in Haiti when we were both volunteering at Bernard Mevs, in Port Au Prince.  We traveled together when I visited COTP for the first time and she was with me on my trip last November when I decided to move here.  So it seemed only fitting that she'd be my first visitor in my new home.  It's so fun to have someone from home who has had a glimpse of my life here in Haiti.  Someone who has seen where I live.  Someone who also knows these kids' names and has held them in her arms.  Someone who knows what it's like to ride a moto through Cap Haitien.  Someone who has experienced the beauty of Haiti's mountains and beaches with me.  Someone who considers a week spent visiting an orphanage in Haiti to be the perfect "vacation" from life in the States. 

Jess has a gift with photography.  She blessed us last week by snapping a ton of candid pictures of the kids and even doing a few family photos.  Here is a peek at Jess' week at COTP...

From me, B, and all the kids at Children of the Promise, thanks for visiting Jess!  Hurry back! 

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site.  Photos taken of  the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Nurses' Week

In light of Nurses’ Week I was reflecting a bit on my nursing career. I realized yesterday that I’ve been a nurse for ten years now...how the heck did that happen? I’ve also been a nurse practitioner for four years, which hardly seems possible either. There have been so many memorable moments in ten years of nursing, many laughs, and many tears. 

I worked in pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant for ten years in the States. Though it could be unbelievably challenging at times, I loved my job. I loved the kids that I took care of. I loved the way I got to build relationships with them and their families. I loved celebrating the big milestones with end of chemo parties or singing to kids as they rang the end of treatment bell. I loved that even on the toughest days, when the medicine and treatments weren’t enough, I could at least love these kids and their families through those dark times. Yes, working in pediatric oncology is tough, but I loved it as well as the challenge of taking care of such medically complex patients. 

Taking care of those patients was certainly a challenge. Those kids would sometimes come with years of past medical history. We’d order countless diagnostic tests, give them dozens of medications in a single day, and place them on ventilators and dialysis. Every resource of modern medicine was available.  

Now I'm at the absolute opposite end of the spectrum. I’ve seen kids die from malnutrition and diarrhea in hospitals in Haiti. Resources are scarce. Conditions that could easily be managed in the States, are often a challenge here. I’m not ordering CT scans, administering stem cell transplants, or performing procedures in the operating room. My work days are so very different here, and yet I love it just as much.

Thank you to all of the nurses and nurse practitioners that have taught me along the way. After ten years of working in pediatric oncology and serving on many short term medical mission trips, I've worked alongside some of the most compassionate, empathetic, and incredible individuals you could ever hope to meet. Happy Nurses' Week to all of you!

Yes, there have certainly been many memorable moments in my ten years of nursing. There have been so very many kids, in both the States and in Haiti, that have left their mark on my heart. I look forward to seeing what the next chapter brings.

One Month In Haiti

It's been just over a month since I moved to Haiti, though sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago that I was in Florida. I have no idea how to sum up the first month here.  I didn't expect the transition to be easy, but it has been much harder than I anticipated. There have been good days. There have been bad days. But there hasn't been a single day that I've doubted that I'm right where God wants me to be.

Sometimes I find myself just stopping to think how incredibly lucky I am to live the life that I do. Don’t get me wrong, life in Haiti comes with its fair share of challenges, but it’s full of a lot of beauty and grace too. Feeding a baby, dancing with a room full of toddlers, playing with kids beneath the mango tree, these are the little moments that fill up my days. I am so glad that God called me to Haiti, to Children of the Promise. This calling isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it. These kids are so very worth it. I live a blessed life indeed.

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” -1 Corinthians 15:58

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site.  Photos taken of  the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.