Team Sinai Has Landed!

Team Sinai has reached their destination safely.  Not only highly skilled, they are well prepared and eager to serve.  The following is a brief excerpt from their first post on the ground in Haiti. 

We land, we deplane, we make our way across the tarmac into the terminal.  Unapologetically Haiti greets us in the only way she can.  We are blasted by heat, assaulted by humidity, overcome by noise, and intimidated by a culture that remains a mystery to most of us.  We rally, we steady our nerves, we collect our baggage.  We feel good with the knowledge that all of our bags and our entire team has made it, at least, to the airport.  Only one problem remains… does anyone know how we are going to get to the hospital?  I’ll spare the details, but if you have ever traveled in a third world country, much less after a disaster, you understand how difficult it can be to get to your destination from the airport.  After another hour in the sun, we wade our way through the airport loiterers and solicitors and fill three vans with our crew and bags.  We are moving again.  

I’ve had the honor of volunteering in the wake of several disasters; the atmosphere here in Haiti is no different.  Filthy streets, undulating crowds of people, outstretched hands reaching into your vehicle looking for a donation, animals rooting out a meal, piles of trash clogging the streets, rivers of plastic damming up the gutters, the sweet stench of rotting organic matter, that dry feeling you get in your nose from swirling dust and diesel fumes, crippled buildings, roads, and infrastructure, numerous tent cities, and traffic, my god the traffic!  Ladies and Gentlemen of Team Sinai, you have arrived; this is what you asked for.  

Co-leader Merrill Chaus, RN is a skilled writer and you are encouraged to follow Team Sinai's progress on their blog.