Strategic Direction

Last night dancing was fun....to watch. None of us were bold enough to get shown up by the Haitians. We also don't know how to salsa. We did, however, meet the students from Duke. They are working on some interesting projects in Leogane. One student is mapping the healthcare facilities in the area using a GPS. Some of us also tried the local beer: Prestige, a typical pilsner.

We awoke this morning bright and early. The roosters here are extremely unintelligent, and therefore begin crowing at approx. 3am. After breakfast, we made our way over to the local church for their weekly service. We had no idea what was being said, as the service was in Creole. It was interesting to see that Haitians don't discriminate against animals in the church-a dog was perusing the aisles during the sermon. As the only "blancs" at the service, the pastor invited a member of our group to speak prior to the sermon. Jon went before the congregation to explain our purpose and the pastor translated for him. We still feel like celebrities everywhere we go, especially to children.

After church, we got right to work. We discussed the strategic direction of Hopital Ste. Croix with the chairman of the board, John Talbird. He answered many of our questions, but we're sure we'll have more. We believe that we have great ideas to offer, but need to put more time into thought and observation. The hospital is in a tight situation and will soon be experiencing the first competition in its history. Currently, the most obvious obstacle is an overall lack of resources. Our top priority is hiring qualified, experienced staff (which is much easier said than done). If you know of any expatriate hospital administrators interested in returning to Haiti, please let us know.

After several hours of discussion regarding strategy, we attended a party, at which they were celebrating the 15th anniversary of a local school. Several of the students performed songs and dances. In the late afternoon, we travelled to the beach, which was just outside of the Presbyterian mission we mentioned in yesterdays blog. It was great to relax and do some snorkeling. There was a coral reef just off the shore, so we saw quite a few small fish. Overall, it was a productive day.

Stay tuned for our next blog...