Day 2 Haiti training

Photo 1: Dr. Barry demonstrates a surgical ligature on Dr. Kelly.

Photo 2: One of the vet trainees practices suturing.

Photo 3: Vet trainees listen to a lecture on placing a catheter. Later they practiced with fake dog legs made of pvc pipe, iv line (as a vein) and fuzzy material. We hold the training in the breezeway instead of a meeting room because there is a wonderful, comfortable breeze. It is definitely warm here!

We have had 2 days of lecture and practicals to prepare for surgery. Tomorrow will be the first day that we do some dog spays. Pray that it goes well. We have 4 vets and we will have 3 or 4 surgeries going at once and 2 translators. It very well could be a 3 ring circus! Pray also that Kelly’s contacts come through for providing dogs for the surgeries. We have to go pick them up in the morning. I’m hoping that we won’t have any dog rodeos just to catch them!

I’ve also gotten to learn more about the big picture for our trainings. The veterinary infrastructure is lacking here, and there is a need for skilled & equipped veterinarians. CVM (Kelly Crowdis & Keith Flanagan) has had a series of training for this group of veterinarians to equip them in veterinary skills. (They are from different surrounding areas.) These trainings help them to be more effective vets in order to serve the communities better.

 

 

Day 1 of Haiti Vet Training

Today was the first day of the Haiti training. It went well. Here are some photos.

1.       Dr. Kelly, Me & Dr. Crystal

2.       HSI (Humane Soc Intl) teachers Kelly (vet tech) & Dr. Barry demonstrating dog restraint with little Poppy.

3.       Haitian trainees practicing surgical gloving (the trainees are Haitian vets who were trained in Haiti).

The Haitians are eager to learn and I am enjoying learning a few words of Creole.

 

It is hot here, and I miss the Ethiopian coolness! It reminds me a lot of Ethiopia! The big exception is that Haiti is still recovering from the January earthquake. After our surgery training finished today. Kelly took us out to a tent camp. There are large settlements of people living in tents spaced from 0-3 feet apart. These people were all displaced as a result of the earthquake. (Many people’s homes are destroyed, and even some still standing are not very stable.)

 

 

Haiti bound

I have my plane ticket! And I am in the midst of packing. I will leave tonight (Saturday) at 10:30 PM, sleep on the plane, get up in Miami and then fly into Port au Prince at 10:50 AM Sunday morning. It is quite unbelievable to me that you can get to a third world country overnight! Another vet, Crystal (a September new graduate from Ross Univ.) will be the second vet that I will meet up with. Crystal has been on a couple of CVM trips before. Once we arrive, Kelly Crowdis will be picking us up and getting us settled.

On Monday the surgery training with the Humane Society International will begin (in Port au Prince). We will be teaching 15 Haitian vets. An HSI tech and vet will also be there. During the training Crystal & I will be staying at the training center so that we can connect better with the trainees. Crystal and I will be helping to demonstrate and show the surgeries and we will each have a translator. Crystal will be returning on Saturday and I'll get to stay until Tuesday (Nov 2) to stay with Kelly and see more of her life and hopefully be an encouragement to her. 

Pray for Crystal and I that we have safe travel. Neither of us are quite sure what to expect once we get there. I have heard that the impact of the January earthquake is still very evident in Port au Prince.  Pray that we would be effective in our teaching and have good relations with the other trainers and with the trainees, and that we would be a good witness to them through our actions and words. Lastly pray that we would be an encouragement to Kelly. Also lift up the cholera epidemic that is hitting part of Haiti. It is not in the area where I will visit, but I am hoping that it won't spread to the capital city.  

I should be able to have some internet access, so I hope to be able to post to my blog while I am there.

Have Passport will Travel (to Haiti)



I'm going to Haiti! I should go next Sunday and be there for 1-1.5 weeks.



Can I come too? I can help!



On Thursday my friend Kelly, who works with CVM in Haiti, requested a vet to come to help with a surgical training. A group of Haitian veterinarians will be trained in spay and neuter surgeries. It is a training put on by a partner organization, and the vet scheduled to come fell through. Kelly requested one or two vets to come and help with the training. After praying about it and getting a go-ahead from my office I offered to go. I'm excited! Kelly came and visited me in Ethiopia for 6 weeks in 2009 and so now I am thrilled to get to go and visit her home. And an extra bonus is that my expenses are paid for this trip by the partner organization.



Kelly & I in Ethiopia last year





I and another girl will be going together to help with the training. Pray as I pack and prepare this week. More details to come later.



You can see Kelly's blog at http://vetmissions.blogspot.com/





Finally an update from my Seattle life

Finally, I am getting settled enough for a blog update! Here is my life:

Travel out to Seattle: Iowa to Washington state was a long drive, I enjoyed driving through the vastness of South Dakota and Montana. Along the way, I stopped to share at Union Center’s church in SD, visited the Devil’s tower in Wyoming, took quick lunch stops at a buffalo jump and a prairie dog town. (Mia was so frustrated that the prairie dogs wouldn’t run, but instead just jumped into their holes.)

As I got into the pines and mountains of Washington I began wishing that I was Paul Bunyan and that Mia was the big blue ox so that I could cut some trees down to get some sun! I always loved trees in Iowa and Ethiopia but something in the Washington air (or lack of sun) that made me want a chainsaw! (I am slowly learning to accept Washington evergreens even though they do compete with me for the coveted rays of sun.)

(Seattle skyline at sunset)

Home: I live on Martha Lake, and have a wonderful little place to call home. I fenced the yard so that Mia can enjoy being outside and I can enjoy her having some freedom.

(my fenced yard--farm background still comes in handy here!)

My brother, Steve surprised me on Labor Day weekend. I went downtown and picked him up on Friday night and we enjoyed a meal down by the sound at The Crab Pot. He treated to a meal where we got to eat all sorts of things from the sea including crablegs (Yum!). They dump it all in front of you on a piece of butcher paper, give you a wood cutting board for a plate and a mallet and little fork for utensils and a bib and you go at it. The work of getting the crab was definitely worth it!

Since it was a weekend and Steve had just finished his rotation, he stayed for the weekend and so our weekend filled up with hiking, biking and picking blackberries. He even stayed long enough to go into work with me and meet all of my co-workers. I think that they were on their best behavior that day so he didn’t get to see all of their true colors! It was fun to be able to share my life with me and I enjoyed having him around to get my bikes tuned up.

I am attending a church called Mars Hill they put a big emphasis on reaching out to the local communities and also on small groups. I was invited to a small group hosted by my co-worker, Diana. I absolutely love it. A really fun thing is that they are going through the Bible in a story-telling fashion. Since I had experience with this in Ethiopia I am enjoying seeing how it works and looks different, yet still very effective way of teaching in this American culture. Most of all I enjoy the atmosphere of discussing the Word with other like-minded (and like-language!) believers. I have missed having this the past few years in Ethiopia and so it is such a huge treat for me!

Work: I work at the best office in the world! The Christian Veterinary Mission office in Seattle is pretty cool. The staff is about ½ vets and about ½ non-vets. As you can imagine sometimes the conversation gets a little difficult for those with a queasy stomach. So the non-vet people have to be pretty tolerant of us. Seriously we work a lot but also play a lot. At least half of us have spent significant parts of our lives living in the developing world. There is rarely a boring story that gets told. On a regular basis fieldworkers come through for orientation or debrief and so I get to hear what CVM is doing world-wide.

(Dr. Val Shean & I with a souvenir gun I brought from Ethiopia for her)

At the end of August we held our annual “short-course” in Kansas City. I was able to go and share my experiences and help train those who are preparing for short-term and long-term missions. In my free-time I got to hang out with my friends and supporters and even speak in an African American church. That was cool!

(Co-workers Diana & Tiffany at a birthday lunch)

But office work is office work and my time is spent doing things to allow individuals to go overseas and impact a small part of the world with their veterinary skills. Part of my time is spent in accounting and database programs—looking at names and information and keeping it all straight and putting the right info in the right boxes. Whew—mundane! I am amazed at the amount of support work that is needed to keep info about opportunities going out to 1000 potential volunteers, equipping 250 people to go out each year, and keeping the accounts active for 100 volunteers so that they can raise support for their trips. My job overlaps with at least 6 others in the office, and so I’m learning a lot about teamwork and communication. I must say that my favorite part is hearing the feedback from someone who just came back from a trip and interacting with them…it is neat to see how God has used them and grown them—often in ways that they didn’t expect. I get to encourage them along their journey, and be a part of what God is doing in their lives.

Fun: Most of my free time is spent learning my neighborhood, fixing up my place and keeping my dog exercised. I’ve enjoyed hanging out with friends from work. I’ve gotten to experience a little bit of Ethiopian life and have enjoyed finding a couple Ethiopian restaurants to eat at.

(view from a Patti's (co-worker) house on Whidby Island)

Seattle visit

I just had a good week in Seattle. I had four full days of training and 2 days of apartment hunting. I am really encouraged by the training. I even like being able to work with our special data program, Raisers Edge. After seeing ChristianVeterinary Mission at work for 10 years it is neat to learn more of their inner workings. I am amazed at how often the leadership evaluates what they do, ensuring that they are effective in challenging veterinarians to live their lives for an eternal purpose and efficient with their funds.

So what will I be doing in Seattle? I will be coordinating CVM's short term mission program. (My job title is the Short Term Missions Coordinator.) Last year over 300 individuals went on short term missions trips. It takes a lot of time to match the individual with the trip, maintain the data base of people interested in going, and make sure they have the right information to get there and come back healthy. Just as important is communicating with each of them and helping them to understand where God is leading them both overseas and in their lives. For the short term trips to be most effective they should be pointing people towards missions outreach and be a help to the long term development and church planting in an area. The task sounds easy, but actually requires a lot of purposeful effort to make it happen. (photo above shows me pointing to my new office.)

I will be the tenth full time person of an administration team and a couple part-time people. Brad Frye (who was instrumental in sending me to Ethiopia the first time in 2003) will be my direct supervisor. I am looking forward to working with him. We first met when I visited Uganda as a veterinary student. Most in the CVM office are veterinarians who have served overseas and all have a genuine heart for growing in and serving the Lord. They are a fun group and I am looking forward to joining the Seattle team in July. (Photo is staff from last year. Brad is bottom left and I share an office with Wonda, bottom right.)

House hunting was productive. I looked at lots of places over two days. Finding an affordable place in a nice neighborhood that would accept Mia was a challenge. I ended up putting a hold on a little one bedroom lake cottage on Martha Lake in Lynnwood. It is a very peaceful spot in a nice neighborhood with space for my dog and with a price similar to that of an apartment.

I heard some great news this week from Project MedSend. They have supporting me by paying my student loan payments for the past six years while I have been in Ethiopia. They have decided to continue supporting me for at least another year since I will still be in a ministry position and still have a heart for overseas work. I am very excited to hear this! God sure is faithful to continue to raise up those who support me. I am greatly encouraged by those who are continuing to support me. It is another confirmation that coming back to serve in the States for a season is the right thing for me.


I am in Iowa this week. I look forward to being at my parent’s church in Yarmouth, Iowa this weekend. For those of you interested I will share my main presentation on Sunday, May 9 at First Baptist church in Yarmouth at the 9 AM service.

Back in Good ole' USA

I have been back in the States exactly 6 weeks. It was perfect timing! I arrived for the first week of spring weather in Iowa when everyone seemed to be emerging from their houses after a long winter hibernation! I did bring my dog, Miaa Dha back with me. She got to experience her first snow and a whole range of new smells. (She was much more excited about new smells like squirrels & rabbits than the snow.)

My weeks have been busy. It took 5 1/2 weeks to get my computer up and running, and it is wonderful to have my own computer that can connect to the internet and has all of my contacts and old emails on it. (My computer needed two trips to the Toshiba depot (5 weeks) and an hour of Bill's TLC for the internet to connect.) In my weeks back I have visited family and churches in Texas, Arkansas and Iowa (NW & SE corners of the state). (Sorry that I missed some of you along the journey...I left before catching my breath and didn't get any extra visiting done.)

I am getting to stay with my brother Bill's family in Huxley. So for the next two months this is where I get to call home. When I am at home I work on physical therapy for my back, presentation materials, odds and ends left from Ethiopia, and getting ready to take a new position in Seattle.

I am thrilled when I am "home" in the weekend so I can attend Cornerstone's celebration services and my small group. (The church I attended during vet school.) It is sure fun to be here and experience family life and have a daily dose of  Audrey, Ben & Luke's (niece & nephews) love. Bill and Mindy are a little concerned that I may blog about the real adventures behind the Ward walls. Perhaps I'll save that for another post. If you want to hear Mindy's perspective of my life check out her blog here.

For traveling I bought a new (used) little Ranger--so my savings account is nearly depleted, but at least Mia approves of my vehicle choice especially since it has automatic windows and I can roll them down for her at will.

This week I will be going to Seattle to Christian Veterinary Mission's home office. I will be there for a week of job orientation and housing search. Starting July 1st I will be starting a new position, the Short Term Missions Coordinator. I have been communicating with them about this change for several months and so I am happy to see it come about. Even though I will still be in the States and closer to home I will still be on support.

Oh yeah, culture shock...each time coming home there is always something that hits me a little funny. This time I was overwhelmed by...dog food. Yep, the day after coming in from the airport Mia was totally out of food so I went to the small little Dollar General store in Huxley. They had so many choices of dog food--a whole aisle full of them. In Ethiopia Bambi's is the only store that carries dog food. It is overpriced but you still stock up because they may not have it the next time.

Oh, and I am thrilled with the washing machine! My last month in Ethiopia I had to use a washing machine that required you to physically fill and drain the tub each time and then move the laundry to the spin tub and hang it on the line. And since the water and electricity were randomly going off, you hoped for a day with both electricity and water when you had time for laundry. I am not complaining because dealing with the odd hours was better than doing it by hand. I remember one day literally thanking God because the sun was shining and both the electricity and water were working. What a perfect laundry day! Now in the states everyday is a perfect laundry day and I can wash and dry at will with little more than the touch of a button!

For those of you who want to know Where in the World is Denise, here is my presentation schedule so far:
April 26-May 3ish--Seattle. CVM job orientation and housing search.
May 9--Presentation at Yarmouth, IA (First Baptist Church)
May 30--Presentation at Tecumseh, NE (First Baptist Church)
June 6--Presentation at Danville, IA (Harmony Bible Church)
June 13--Presentation at LeMars, IA (LeMars Bible Church)
July 1--Start new role at CVM office in Seattle