An introduction to Haiti

My walk to catch my ride home after a day at MamaBaby Haiti

What a week it's been... leaving California was a whirlwind... but in comparison Haiti has been a hurricane. We flew into the Dominican Republic and spent a night there before crossing the border, and shortly after Jen (one of the founders of Second Mile Haiti) picked us up at the border, we made our way to a nearby farm where we got an adorable baby goat... since then we have spent lots of time in the sun, on the farm, a morning on a beautiful Haitian beach, and lots of time figuring out our new job duties. Lots of time at the market too (there is no grocery store here!!) getting food, phones, and a fan. Busy to say the least.

Bee box!

So Armen is in full swing at Second Mile Haiti working with Jen, learning to take care of goats and chickens (and trying to figure out vaccines and parasite meds), planning for a bread oven, helping with the work/planning of the (HUGE) veggie garden/farm, and learning to work with the newly acquired bees (pic to left). We have LOVED getting to see the incredible work that Second Mile is doing with mom's and babies, and learning about the day to day operations. See some pics of whats been is going on lately here.

  

I (Leah) just started at MamaBaby Haiti, and saw a beautiful birth yesterday that made me so glad to be here. Birth in a different culture is really fun to see and participate in, as this young mama sang through her labor pains for hours... and since this is a birth center in its true form, she was walking, eating, and drinking as much as she liked. She even sat and rocked on a birthing ball for a while... and soon after, when she felt she needed to push, she had the caring hands of a midwife to catch her baby. All went well and it was so fun to do what I love (provide labor support!) in a place where women rarely get respectful and compassionate care in labor. Did you know that only 37% of women in Haiti have a skilled attendant at their birth, and that Haiti is ranked 34th highest in maternal mortality rankings worldwide? At MamaBaby Haiti they received free prenatal, labor, and postpartum care, helping identify those who need to be referred to the hospital for high-risk conditions, and allowing low-risk mothers to receive low-intervention, compassionate care at the birth center.

MamaBaby Birth Center- one of the birthing rooms

Anyway, since we will be here several months just wanted y'all to get a glimpse into our lives... but more important than that, a chance to see the amazing grassroots work that is taking place here in the Cap Haitian area, with efforts to serve and empower Haitian women and their families. We are happy here and loving it!

Leah & Armen