Catching babies in Haiti
Dear Friends and Family,
Hello, and greetings from the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I'm sure many of you have been wondering if I have dropped off the face of the earth. Not true! I am very much present and alive, here in southern Oregon. I realize I have been almost completely out of touch recently. Please accept my humble apologies for my silence over this last year or so... life has a way of speeding past you when you are intently chasing down your dreams!
As most of you probably know, I have been completely consumed by my studies and work at our birth center. I moved to the Medford/Grants Pass area in southern Oregon about a year and a half ago, to attend births with Wise Women Care Associates, at the beautiful Trillium Waterbirth Center. It has been an amazing, wonderful, and exhausting journey so far... and I am finally nearing the end! After nearly 10 years pursuing this crazy dream of becoming a midwife, I will be sitting my national certification exam this coming February. This is the final crunch time for me, as I race to complete the last births I need to qualify for my credential as a Certified Professional Midwife. I am thrilled to be in the home stretch, and excited about the potential of becoming a staff midwife here at Trillium. I have found a great home here in southern Oregon, and look forward to putting my roots down in this gorgeous and fertile valley.
To that end, I really need to get my numbers in! This is what I'm facing at the moment: many of the courses I took at midwifery college in Portland will be expiring this spring. This means that I need to be done with everything and ready to graduate this coming year. Yahoo! The end is finally in sight! However, while we are very busy here at our birth center, we simply don't have the volume of clients ready to deliver in these next few months for me to get my final "catches" in before the big deadline which is looming over me. It is time to quickly formulate "Plan B."
In January of 2010, an earthquake of epic proportions broadsided to tiny island of Haiti. The devastation was immense, and one of the demographics that was hardest hit were mamas and babies. Women were giving birth anywhere they could, often in truly horrible and unsafe conditions, as lack of infrastructure, communication breakdowns and government bureaucracy impeded humanitarian aid workers from getting much needed supplies to their intended recipients. Soon after the earthquake, a group of midwives travelled to the site of the worst damage, offering up their expertise and serving women and families as best they could. Over the next year, an improbable dream was formulated: to open a birth center in Haiti. Mama Baby Haiti opened its doors in 2011. Here is a link to their website: http://www.mamababyhaiti.org/
So this is "Plan B." I have an opportunity to travel to Haiti next month, and spend 4-6 weeks serving mothers and babies in this high-volume maternity clinic. It is something I've wanted to do for a long time, and now the urgency to get there is two fold: 1.) There continues to be an enormous need for skilled midwives in this earthquake ravished land. My previous experience in West Africa and fluency in French make me uniquely valuable to the ongoing relief efforts there. 2.) I will be able to complete my final required births, while at the same time gaining vital competence in handling health care situations we don't get to see very often in the US.
Most of you will understand, on a deep soul level, the incredible calling I feel to go and do this important work. I need your help to make it happen. I expect the entire trip to cost about $5000. And so here I am, asking for your assistance. If you are at all able to contribute to this effort, I will be so grateful. Anything you can offer, even $10, will help tremendously. Together, we can make this project a success!
Best wishes to all of you, and your families. Please feel free to forward this along to anyone who you think might be able to help out.
With gratitude and friendship
Love,
--jacqueline
