Reflections

So, did my going to Haiti make a difference?  The medications and clothing brought a little short term relief.  As for as helping anyone long term, not so much but possibilities do exist.

Do I see opportunities to help create a job or make someone’s life better?  Maybe.  Lynn’s Orphanage School will need more teachers as it grows to serve more children.  The tricky part is what will these children do for jobs after they are educated.

The little import-export thing with Herberle and Patrick could work but will not be easy.

Perhaps the best thing I can do is just tell as many people as I can about what I saw and ask smart people like those that need this to help me figure some of this out.  I welcome your comments.

Did it change me?  Well, I’m pretty sure it did but I’ll let my friends, employees and family be the final judge of that.

-Jerry Shelly

New Friends

I will miss my new Haitian friends as well as those that I worked with side by side in the medical clinics.

Sister Mary I

Matthew 25 is run by this wonderful and wise lady who keeps everything on track.  She is responsible for housing as many as 25 to 30 people at once.  She sees that everyone gets fed breakfast and dinner, has a clean place to sleep and get a bath, and get from and to the airport on time.  In addition, she along with help from husband and wife team Patrick and Vivian, coordinates translators for the medical teams, does the accounting and provides whatever assistance they can to the many needs in the community.  On top of all that, she provides some of the coldest beer on the island.  If I needed a place or business run, I would look to Sister Mary I.

Sister Mary II

She is called II because Sister Mary I was at the Matthew House first.  Originally from Canada, she has been in Haiti for quite a long time.  She stands about 5’ tall and won’t tell her age but 75 may be the new 35.  Sister Mary II sings and plays the guitar and her favorite song is “House of the Rising Sun”.  I had never heard a nun sing that song before coming to Haiti.  Just another little surprise, I don’t know why but she seemed to especially enjoy the line – “Mother tell baby sister not to do what I have done”.  I really like Sister Mary II – the Singing Nun.

Heberle – pronounced Airbell (Hairball if you’re Southern)

Heberle is one of the most interesting and impressive young men I met.  We spent almost every day with him as he served as our driver, medical interpreter and friend.  He is one of the reasons that there is hope for Haiti.  Born, raised and educated in his own county, he speaks French, Creole, English and Arabic.  He works for the U.N. when he is not assisting medical teams and is attached to the Jordanian Embassy in Haiti.  He has a wife and two small children and just built a new home.  He makes a good living by Haitian standards by supplementing his U.N. salary with income that he earns by interpreting for medical teams that come through Port-Au-Prince.  He uses his vacation days in order to be able to do both.

Heberle is smart, honest, conscientious, and dependable, qualities in demand anywhere, but especially in Haiti.  I am looking into the possibility of developing a small import-export venture with him that might benefit him and his family as well as a Haitian Orphanage I have learned about.

Patrick

Patrick and Herberle are childhood friends and godfathers to each other’s children.  It is hard to talk about one without talking about the other.  They are both leaders and young men like these are important to Haiti’s future.

Patrick spends about half his time in the states working on his nursing degree and the other half in Port-Au-Prince supporting his family.  He, like Herberle, is a community leader and organizer.  He was the “go to guy” in his community after the earthquake.  Because his home was uninhabitable, he and his family had to live in a tent like everyone else in his community.  They are now back in their home but his tent is still up and he invited us for a tour.  It did not take very long.  The main problems he said were the stifling heat and the mud floor when it rained, which during the rainy season was frequent.

Patrick is Mr. Personality, never meeting a stranger, and funny.  While visiting his home, we noticed two very fat chickens in his courtyard and asked if they were pets.  He said “yes, and they have names, lunch and dinner”.

Patrick supports himself with interpreting jobs that he gets through the Matthew House, a personal sponsor that inspired him to become a nurse, and whatever else he can find to make ends meet.  It will probably take him several more years to complete his nursing degree due to his family responsibility and the way the Visa system works.

Both Patrick and Herberle are sustained and made better by their Catholic faith.  They speak of it and act it out.  They attribute much of their success to the help and support from the Matthew House and the Twinning Organization that supports it.

Nurse Lynn

Not to be confused with Nurse Ratchet in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (well maybe a little).  Lynn is one of my favorite characters of the trip.  Moving from Ohio to Nashville at the age of six, she has become mostly southernized.  She is charming, bright, witty and sweet, not to mention gracious, generous, and all the other things that S.B.’s (Southern Belles) are good at, except for one thing.  You know after meeting her in two minutes, she don’t take no _____ from nobody and you’re not going to fool her with no _____.  But, she has a very nice S.B. way of letting you know that.

Lynn is the one who inspired Patrick to become a nurse.  From what I could pull out of her, she personally funds his tuition.  She had come to Haiti for years working with Dr. Don and others providing medical assistance to thousands of Haitians while she and her husband have raised three sons.  She would not need to do anything else to be a hero to most of us.  But then she goes and does this orphanage thing.  She has established an orphanage in a small placed called Jérémie, about 150 miles from Port-Au-Prince.  She somehow feeds, clothes, and schools 50 kids on $25,000.00 per year.  Most of us in the U.S. spend more than that on one kid in a year.  She also pays for this out of her own pocket.

I call her Saint Lynn.  Her orphanage has no name, no website, it does not have 501 C status (I will be talking to my lawyer friends about that) and obviously some financial help is needed.  In order to set up the orphanage as a 501C it will have to have a name.  Lynn and I are kind of liking, Melissa and Dylan’s Gift.

The Lafonts

Joyce (Dr. Don’s wife)

Joyce and I dispensed over 1500 medications during the time we worked together at the clinics in Port-Au-Prince.  It was hot, humid, cramped quarters, and we stood for most of the entire time.  The work and living conditions are even more demanding when she goes with Don to their clinic at the other end of the island.  Having been married to a successful doctor for almost 50 years, Joyce has known the finer things in life.  Yet, in the five days working together side by side, she never once complained about the heat, the working conditions or the sparse living quarters.  Her frequent laughter kept the moral high in our on little make shift clinics.

Although she does not have a formal degree in pharmacy, she probably knows as much or more as most degreed pharmacists, especially about medicines needed to treat tropical illnesses.  She loves working along side Dr. Don and she loves the people of Haiti.  I call her Saint Joyce.

Dr. Don

He is as passionate as one can be about this work.  Although his parish back in Jackson, Tennessee helps fund these medical trips, Don spends much of his own money for medicine and other costs associated with these trips.  He was one of the few that was able to figure out a way to get into the country to administer medical help the week after the earthquake.

He has been the inspiration for those like Nurse Lynn and many others in the medical field to come to Haiti to help.  He was the inspiration for my coming.  Don is very modest about what he does so I won’t make any reference to Sainthood.  He would not like that.  He is not even that comfortable with Dr. Lafont or Dr. Don.  He just likes to be called Don.

Cholera and Clinics

The cholera problem has spawned a lot of interest in finding a solution as to how to provide clean water to the Haitians.  It will take years to build the proper infrastructure needed to provide bacteria free water through a central system.  Therefore, the emphasis is to provide individual self contained systems that will keep the cost of treatment low.  Most of the ones being developed and installed use sodium chloride instead of chlorine.

 

Two cases in yesterday and today’s clinics were the hardest on everyone.  One was a 40 year old mother of three with terminal breast cancer.  All that could be done was to give her a supply of the strongest pain pills that we had and tell her to get her affairs in order which meant arranging for someone to care for her children.  There are no hospices in Haiti that we know of.
(pictured is Dr. Don aiding patients in clinic)

In the second case, a six year old female had been raped in the Tent City next to where we are staying.  There are no pills for this.

-Jerry Shelly

Bits and Pieces

Haiti declared its freedom in 1804 from the French when the slaves revolted against their slave owners.  The French punished them by demanding restitution until the 1950’s.  No wonder the French are not liked very well.

Based on those who pay taxes, the unemployment rate in Haiti is said to be 80%.  That is not exactly an accurate figure since there are a lot of small entrepreneurs that sell things along every street but don’t pay taxes.

Leogane was the epicenter of the earthquake, population 10,000.  Ninety percent of the homes there were destroyed.

During the quake, parts of the earth looked like ocean waves, as high as three feet, according to the locals.  Our interpreters were on their way to a birthday party at a popular restaurant when the quake hit.  It hit just minutes before they arrived killing over 50 people inside, many of them were their friends.

If someone has a toothache, it is pulled, not repaired, provided he has money to go to a dentist at all.  Lynn is the head nurse on the medical team.  During our second clinic she pulled an adult tooth with her bare hands.  I try to be very nice to Lynn at all times.

Haitian time usually runs anywhere from one to two hours behind American time, and I don’t mean central vs. eastern time zones.

Most Haitians are smart, warm, optimistic, and suspicious.

Thank God I know a little something about business.  I would make a terrible doctor.  I’m not sure they want me back even to dispense vitamins and Tums.  As yet, I have produced no casualties but I do wish the Amoxicillin and children’s chewable vitamins were not the same color.

There was a lot of commotion in the streets last night.  Policemen were very visible.  It was rumored that Aristide was back in the country.  Just rumor, we think.  However, it is no rumor that Clinton will be in town today.  Wouldn’t be surprised if he put his name in the run-off election for president.

There are some 9 million people in Haiti and Port Au Prince has almost 4 million.

Our clinic Monday was held in the Citè Soliel slum.  I am told the UN considers this to be one of the most dangerous communities in the world.  We never had a moment’s trouble.  The people waited patiently to be treated, some as long as 5 hours.  They were courteous and appreciative to receive the treatment.

I am staying in what is supposed to be one of the better and safe neighborhoods of Port Au Prince.  The Internet Café across the street from our house was robbed at gunpoint on Sunday.  All the customers were robbed and no one was hurt.  It is now closed until they can hire an armed guard.  This is one example of the many dichotomies prevalent in Haiti.  Since the Café is my internet source, there will be a slight delay in posting this.

Everything runs on diesel in Haiti.  Gas is $8 (US) per gallon!

A 45# bag of charcoal costs 300 gourdes or about $12 (US).  The charcoal will last an average of 3 weeks.  Ninety percent of the population uses charcoal for cooking.  There are not many trees left in Port Au Prince.

Kenskoff is where the wealthy Haitians live.  That is where Sean Penn stays when he is in town.  One of our interpreters has seen Sean on several occasions.  He said he barely recognized him because he was dressed like a construction worker.  The locals say he has done some good work here.

More from Haiti...

Jerry Shelly

Medical Help for the Haitian People

Part of the deal for coming to Haiti was to help Dr. Don's team

administer medical help while in Port-au-Prince. Since I don't like

the sight of blood and have absolutely no medical skills, I have been

assigned to dispense medications as they are being prescribed.

Our first clinic was held today in a small church on the outskirts of

town. The church holds about one hundred people and it was packed. We

started at 11:00am and worked non-stop until 4:00pm. Dr. Don and

Nurse Lynn consulted and prescribed. Dr. Don's wife, Joyce, and I

filled the prescriptions.

The medicines were purchased by the medical team with some help with donations. Some of the medical supplies were contributed by D.L.I's friends at PharmPac and 

American Family Health Care. They were brought over on the flight with the medical team. 

Haeberle, a local Haitian who also works for the U.N., helped

translate the proper doses of the prescribed medications to each

patient. The smiles of the children and the gratitude of the parents

and the church pastor were pretty special.

-Jerry Shelly

Upon the First Tour of the City

I am still trying to digest what I saw during my first tour of the

city. The organized chaos of the traffic system is complicated by the

recent introduction of the occasional red light. They are just few and

new enough that drivers cannot remember if they are supposed to go or

stop on red or green.


Tap-taps are the primary mode of public transportation in Haiti.  They are small trucks individually owned, with a covered back and bench seating.  They are called tap-taps because you tap on the side of the vehicle when you need to get off.  It costs an average of 12 gourdes for a ride.


One sees buildings flatted by the earthquake,

rubble still partially blocking some streets and potholes as big as my

first house. Garbage piles are everywhere, waiting to be picked up by

the city's collectors. Collections are dependent on whether or not the

city has paid their employees.

Toward the end of the tour, we dropped by another tent city to locate

a Haitian nurse who had worked with Dr. Don's medical team in the

past. She had been displaced by the earthquake and was living in a

tent with her children and grand-children. She invited us into her

home. A daughter was preparing the main meal of the day. Although

there was a propane stove in the tent, the meal was being cooked on a

charcoal grill because there was no money for propane gas. The floor

was made of dirt and there were five people living in an area that

measures less than 250 sq. feet.

The anxiety of being in a third world country is nothing compared to

that of being out of the country on Valentine's Day without your wife.

For some reason, a trip to Haiti was not what she had in mind when I

asked if she wanted to spend Valentine's in the Caribbean. So with

that in mind, our next stop was the downtown open air market to find

the perfect Valentine's gift. With few tourists to buy their handmade

crafts, it is pretty easy to spot a mark. I was lucky to escape with

only three items, knowing that she probably will not like any of them.

I will still find great pleasure in reminding her that she could have

spent Valentine's Day with me in the Caribbean.

-Jerry Shelly

The Presidential Election

The Presidential election runoff will be held in March. It is between

Ms. Manigat and Mr. Martelly, better known as Sweet Mickey. There is

tremendous interest and hope for this election. The young people are

mostly behind Sweet Mickey. That's understandable. That he is a

successful musician who has helped sustain Haiti's own style of music

- Kompa - plays well with the young people. But he also has a much

broader appeal to the general public due to his history as a community

organizer who possesses charisma (sounds familiar).

Ms. Manigat is considered to be part of the establishment. The wife of a

short-term past president, she had the second most votes, placing her

in the run-off with Sweet Mickey. The feeling is that Sweet Mickey is

odds on favorite to win.

Melissa's Hope

I met Pascal, who runs an orphanage for mentally and disabled children. Born in Haiti, he grew up in Brooklyn. When he came back to Haiti he met the priest who founded the orphanage and was hired as an assistant. One day the priest and his wife decided to visit the Dominican Republic and then never came back. Since then, Pascal and his wife have run the orphanage.

Pascal is smart and enterprising. Sister Mary says that he has done an amazing job keeping the kids healthy and well cared for. He gets some assistance from several sponsors but is unsure of the orphanage’s future because he does not control the property.

I am drawn to this enterprise for various reasons, not the least of which is that he is working on a possible affiliation with another orphanage group called Melissa’s Hope.

-More from Haiti,

Jerry Shelly

Shelter in Port-au-Prince

My stay in Haiti will be spent at a place called Mathew 25. The best way to describe Matthew 25 is that it is a haven for those who come to Haiti with a desire to help, no matter the background.

Mathew 25 is part of a national organization called the Parish Twining Program of America (P.T.P.A.) which was established by a Catholic priest and his wife in 1978 when the couple got off a cruise ship and were shocked by this country’s poverty. They developed a program that pairs parishes in the US with parishes in Haiti that then work together to address specific needs in agriculture, education, construction and mission work.

The accommodations are pretty basic but made more than comfortable by the warm hospitality of Sisters Mary 1 and 2. The place comes with open air sleeping quarters (with screens), indoor plumbing (with cold running water which feels good in the heat), bottled or filtered water only (had to toss my toothbrush when I forgot and rinsed it in the tap water) and some of the most interesting people from all walks of life. As would be expected, there are plenty of doctors and nurses staying here. There are also electrical engineers, restaurant owners, T.V. producers and college professors and a freelance writer recording her experiences in hopes of educating the world to Haiti’s plight regarding human rights. Most of those who are here come to observe, learn and try to make a difference; one does not have to look very hard for opportunities.

My bedroom overlooks one of the tent cities in Port-au-Prince. It is situated adjacent to the property on what was a soccer field. In comparison to the tents, my quarters are quite palatial. Dr. Don took me on a tour of the tents. As tents go, they are fine. They would be great for an overnight stay or maybe two at some nice shaded campground with a view of a lake, but to live in one for a year or two or three – not so good. Most of the inhabitants stay outside due to the heat on the inside. Cooking is primarily done outside using charcoal from what wood can be scavenged. There is not much vegetation around the city because it is burned to make charcoal – causing erosion and poor soil conditions. During the rainy season the campgrounds become a quagmire – perfect cholera conditions.

It is predicted that many people will be living in these not-so-temporary homes for some time to come – not unlike those that lived in FEMA trailers after Katrina. Which begs the question – is it better to be in a tent or a trailer with formaldehyde fumes? There are now only 70 tents housing some 500 people at this site, down from 170 tents that housed upwards of 500 after the earthquake.

-Jerry Shelly February 2011

Haiti-One Person's Journey

We at DLI are proud to announce that the President of our company, Jerry Shelly, will be traveling to Haiti in efforts to aid in any way that he can, the people of Haiti who still suffer from the effects of last year's earthquake, a Cholera epidemic and a host of other problems.


Here is his story.

I am told that by going to Haiti, the chances of my changing anyone’s life there is minimal.  In the same breath, those who have been tell me there is a good chance that by just going, it will change mine.  I will find out soon.  A week from today I will be there.

I am going with a small medical team led by my friend Dr. Don Lafont of Jackson, Tennessee.  Dr. Don has been providing free medical assistance in Haiti for over twenty five years.  He was there a week after last year’s earthquake and said that he witnessed carnage that could only be compared to that of war’s aftermath.  He feels that he occasionally makes a small difference when he goes but knows that his medical help provides no long term solutions to the people he treats.  He says what they need are jobs.  Because I have had some success in business, Dr. Don wants me to go to see if I can see any opportunities that might result in creating some jobs there.

I am not sure if I will be able to do any good, but I am inspired by a business associate, Ann Piper of the Joe Piper Company in Birmingham, Alabama, who has made multiple trips to Haiti since the earthquake.  She just returned from a trip where she leased some land that will be used to grow habanero peppers which in turn will be sold to a local processor resulting in four new jobs initially.

While getting my shots for the trip, I was informed by Birmingham’s Kirklin Clinic that Haiti has gone from last to first as the most frequently traveled foreign country by the people of Birmingham.  It is amazing how many feel the need to help a country that in its history has never been able to demonstrate the ability to help itself.

It is reported that $1.4 billion has been donated by Americans alone but only $53 million has actually been spent on Haiti’s recovery and rebuilding efforts.  The reports say the money is being held up due to the bureaucracy, red tape and corruption that are well known to exist in Haiti.  It is not surprising to learn that most of Haiti’s past dictators are back in town with that much money left in the balance.

Just getting donated supplies into the country is arduous.  Dr. Don has been taking medicines in his luggage for years to insure that it gets to the right place.  Having something shipped in and being assured that it gets to the intended destination is almost impossible unless there is someone there to work the system which I’m told usually involves money.  I have a large quantity of medicines and clothing that have been generously donated by my customers, employees and friends but I am being advised to wait until I get there and find someone that I can trust (?) to help get these donations through customs and then on to the final destination.  I am in contact with a gentleman who runs an orphanage for disabled children as one possibility.

More from Haiti.

-Jerry Shelly

The Benefits of Point of Sale Materials in Beverage Promotions

Point of Sale materials can benefit the beverage industry in major ways. Effective POS should be eye catching in order to attract the consumers' attention. By making a product easy to see, it will also be easier to buy and can lead to an increase in sales.

By using POS, a product instantly has an advantage over their competitor. Most of us buy Dr Pepper rather than a knock-off brand. Taste is not the only factor that contributes to this. Point of Sale materials promoting Dr Pepper are easy to find. It is a rare occasion to see a competitor cling or pole sign. If a product is hard to find, it is also hard to purchase.

Point of Sale materials make introducing a new product into the market significantly easier. This can mostly be contributed to effective POS such as cling, pole signs, and ceiling signs rather than a flashy advertising campaign.
POS is also designed to communicate the price point. The price of a product is of great importance to a consumer and may determine if the product is purchased and if so, how much will be bought.

Point of Sale materials can also make a product seem more aesthetically pleasing. Bright colors, bold print, and vibrant designs may cause the consumer to believe that because something looks better it will taste better too.

Ultimately, using effective Point of Sale materials make the product easier to see and therefore easier to buy!