Medical Mercy - Cap-Haitien Haiti

LOCATION: Cap-Haitien Haiti
via the Dominican Republic

DATES: October 30 - November 8 (9th), 2009

Map of Haiti

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Emergency Contact Info Cost Cancellation Policy Trip Itinerary Target Community Facts and Figures Departure Luggage Hotel Time Zone Voltage Climate	Attire Currency Safety Packing List Medical Equipment Packing List Medical Vaccines Sunburn Dehydration Food Borne Illness Illness

Click here for Haiti trip information in PDF format.

DEADLINE: April 30, 2009. If you missed the deadline, and would like to request an exception, please email info@medicalmercy.org

If you are a New Team Member, click here for a trip application.
If you are a Returning Team Member, click here for a trip application

Co-Team Leaders:	David H. Beyda, MD and Kelly Ramsland, RN
Team Medical Officer:	David H. Beyda, MD
Crisis Response Director:	David H. Beyda, MD
Communication Officers:	Field Team: David H. Beyda, MD / USA Office: Jack Eans
Field Contact:	Dimas Santos

Emergency Contact Information

Families should try to contact team members in the evening at the hotels listed below (subject to hotel change).
For extreme emergencies, your family may try to reach Dr. Beyda via the following:
1. Dr. Beyda’s World Wide Cellular: 602-228-8983
2. Email: dbeyda@mindspring.com (email will be checked periodically.)
Please register your travel with the state department before your departure, the link for Arizona is as follows: https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/

Cost

Single Occupancy: $2725
Double Occupancy: $2400

* If you have not traveled with us before please add $75.00 for your uniform scrubs and polo.

This total includes all flights, hotel, taxes, food, transportation, laundry, all in country hires and expenses. Travel Insurance will also be provided for emergency medical care and luggage loss.
All incidentals such as long distance calls, etc. will be the team member’s responsibility.

Note: Price subject to increases until airfare is booked and confirmed and deposit received.
Note: Airport meals on travel days and desserts are generally not included, unless otherwise informed by team leaders while on the field.

Cancellation Policy

If you cancel after airfare has been secured then the $300 non-refundable deposit will go toward what loss is acquired in refunding the ticket. If the loss exceeds the $300 deposit, you are responsible for the difference. If at the point of cancellation you have sent in your trip funds, they will be returned to you minus anything you may owe for the canceling of your ticket above the $300. If a paper ticket has been obtained for you, your ticket will be mailed to you and it is up to you to contact the airline and preserve any potential value of your airline ticket for future travel. The same applies for an electronic ticket. It is the traveler’s responsibility to preserve any future value of the e-ticket. We generally secure low cost restrictive airfare so you do risk loss of part or all of this value.

If you cancel less than 2 weeks prior to departure, then a $250.00 donation will be recorded for Medical Mercy and a tax receipt mailed to you. Then the balance of your funds will be returned to you.

minus the $250 donation
minus the $300 non refundable deposit
minus any added difference lost in airfare cancellation

Keep in mind that after departure your entire trip is tax deductible and a tax receipt will be issued, therefore no refunds are possible after departure.

Trip Itinerary

October 30, Friday: Depart Phoenix – arrive Santiago DR and spend the night
October 31, Saturday: Depart Santiago DR with Caribe tours to Cap-Haitien; departs at noon (4.5hr trip)
November 1, Sunday: Clinic day; Travel to Trou-De-Nord to see HT 6 (45 min to project)
November 2, Monday: Clinic day; Travel to Limbe: HT 2,3,11 (about an 1 hr to get to the area)
November 3, Tuesday: Clinic day; Travel to Juana Mendez: HT 7, 8,9,10 (about 1.5 hr to get to projects)
November 4, Wednesday: Clinic day; Cap Haitien: HT 4, 5 (in town)
November 5, Thursday: Justinian Hospital and free afternoon
November 6, Friday: Depart Cap-Haitien with Caribe tours to Santiago DR: departs at 9am (4.5 hr trip)
November 7, Saturday: Baseball clinic for CDC kids; medical clinic at Mission Valiente CDC and sports complex.
*November 8, Sunday: Some will leave for Phoenix, others can choose to stay for the Mission Valiente Ribbon cutting and dedication in the morning and BBQ/meal in the afternoon. This will be the dedication of the new Child Development Center and Community Center.
*November 9, Monday: The remainder of the team will depart for Phoenix in the morning.

*The schedule for the weekend is a work in progress and is subject to change.

Medical Clinics: Roughly 8am-5pm

6:15am: Breakfast in hotel
7:15am: Depart for clinic
7:45am: Arrive at clinic, set up, prayer
8:00am–Noon: clinic
Noon: lunch and devotionals
1pm – 4pm: clinic
4pm - 5pm: clinic clean up
5pm: Depart for hotel
6:30pm or so: dinner
Debrief the day

Target Community

Our goal will be to see all of the 100 children in each of the ten projects. Due to the number of projects, the time it takes to get to them, the comprehensive exams that the children will need and the time available in Haiti, we may or may not be able to see siblings and families.

All clinics will be held at a project site, and for those areas where we will be isolated, the clinic will be held in one project and the children from the surrounding projects will be bused to us using our chartered bus.

Facts and Figures

Haiti: “Eldest Daughter of France and Africa”

Location: Lying approximately 560 miles to the southeast of Florida, Haiti is a nation of over eight million people in a mountainous country that is approximately the size of Maryland.
Haiti is said to be 80 percent Catholic, 20 percent Protestant, and 100 percent Voudou. Patrick Arthur Polk, in his book Haitian Voudou Flags, describes Voudou as “an inherently practical religion, with its essence being the unending task of healing the sick, providing food for the hungry, securing work for the unemployed, finding love for the unloved.”
Climate: Tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds
Terrain: Mostly rough and mountainous
Natural Hazards: Lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; periodic droughts
Geography - Note: Shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic (western one-third is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic)
Population: 8,924,553 Note: Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
         0-14 years: 41.8% (male 1,881,509/female 1,851,591)
         15-64 years: 54.7% (male 2,386,761/female 2,495,233)
         65 years and over: 3.5% (male 135,695/female 173,764)
Median Age: Total: 18.5 years; Male: 18.1 years; Female: 19 years (2008 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 2.493% (2008 est.)
Ethnic groups: Black 95%; Mulatto and White 5%
Religions: Roman Catholic 80%; Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%); none 1%; other 3%. Note: Roughly half of the population practices voodoo
Languages: French (official); Creole (official)
Literacy: Definition: age 15 and over can read and write; Total Population: 52.9%; Male: 54.8%; Female: 51.2% (2003 est.)
Capital: Port-au-Prince
Population below poverty line: 80% (2003 est.)
Weather: Haiti is tropical, with a mean daily high of 90 degrees Fahrenheit and a mean nightly low of 71 degrees. The hottest months are July and August, when daytime temperatures average 93 degrees, and the “coldest” are December to March, with average daily highs hovering around 87. In the north, where Cap-Haitien is located, most of the rain falls between November and March. August through October is hurricane season, with storms likeliest during September and October.

Departure

Medical Mercy will be securing all flight arrangements and your specific itinerary will be sent to you once arrangements are made. You are responsible for your seat selection. You can do this by contacting the airline on your itinerary.

We will depart on October 30, 2009. You must arrive at the airport at least two hours before scheduled departure Please meet at the international departure counter at Sky Harbor Airport, at the airline specified, once tickets are purchased. Please do not check in until all members have arrived and you have received your luggage tags. For those leaving outside of Phoenix your luggage tags will be mailed to you along with your uniforms.

Please wear your Medical Mercy Polo shirt for travel.

Luggage

You may bring two bags to check in and one carry-on bag plus a purse or briefcase. One of your checked bags will be filled with supplies for the team. You will receive more information on this as time gets closer. If you are not departing from Phoenix and are bringing extra supplies for the team you may bring two bags, if you are not bringing extra supplies for the team, please bring only one checked bag.

Hotels

Dominican Republic - Santiago:
Hodelpa Garden Court
http://www.hodelpa.com/hotel_hgc.php
Address: Autopista Duarte Km 9, Santiago DR
Phone: 809-612-7000

Haiti - Cap-Haitian:
Mont Joli Hotel
Video of Hotel: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=7227196
Address: Not available

Please note that phone calls from Haiti will be expensive and you should plan to buy a phone card to use. Quad band and international phones should work. Internet is available in the DR and Haiti. Specifics on this will be announced before departure.

Time Zone

Standard time zone: UTC/GMT -5 hours
No daylight saving time in 2009
Haiti is 2 hours ahead of Phoenix

Voltage

Electricity in Haiti is 110 Volts, alternating at 60 cycles per second. If you travel to Haiti with a device that does not accept 110 Volts at 60 Hertz, you will need a voltage converter.

There are three main types of voltage converter. Resistor-network converters will usually be advertised as supporting something like 50-1600 Watts. They are light-weight and support high-wattage electrical appliances like hair dryers and irons. However, they can only be used for short periods of time and are not ideal for digital devices.

Transformers will have a much lower maximum Watt rating, usually 50 or 100. Transformers can often be used continuously and provide better electricity for low wattage appliances like battery chargers, radios, laptop computers, cameras, mp3 players and camcorders. However, they are heavy because they contain large iron rods and lots of copper wire.

Some companies sell combination converters that include both a resistor network and a transformer in the same package. This kind of converter will usually come with a switch that switches between the two modes. If you absolutely need both types of converter, then this is the type to buy.

Haiti Plug Adapters and Outlet Shapes
Outlets in Haiti generally accept one type of plug and that is a flat blade plug:

Flat blade plug

Climate

Haiti is in the tropics and is very warm all year long. The average temperature only varies by five degrees (Fahrenheit) from winter to summer. There are two rainy seasons (spring and late fall) when it often rains in the afternoons. A long-sleeved shirt or light sweater may be appreciated. The average temperature will be 70-90F.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT003200

Attire

In the clinic, scrubs should be worn. These will be sent to you, they have our logo and names on them. We try to look as professional as possible. Outside of the clinic casual attire is acceptable. Women may also wear slacks, long shorts, modest jewelry and make-up (do not take valuable jewelry or watches with you; ladies may choose not to bring valuable wedding rings but opt for a simple band instead). Dress or skirt is suggested for women for church service on Sunday. A nice button up shirt for men, short sleeves are fine.

Currency

Haiti
The exchange rate floats. As of March 1, 2009, there were 39.34 gourdes (pronounced “gouds”) to US$1. There are five gourdes to a Haitian dollar.

Dominican Republic: Dominican Peso

Check out these sites for rates and a conversion calculator:
http://www.xe.com
http://www.exchange-rates.org/currentRates/A/USD

Cash in USD is recommended to be brought and then exchanged in country. Hundreds work well. Smaller denominations are also fine for exchange. Be sure bills are clean and not torn. USD is not accepted for any type of payment, not even for tips. Banks and Hotels will exchange money for us. Travelers Checks are not recommended. You only need extra money for shopping and personal use; all food and travel expenses are covered in team fees.

Safety

Team members should not travel without a buddy and should not travel apart from the group without special arrangements with the team leaders. All currency, credit cards and the like should be carried in safe fashion such as in an over-the-neck/under-the-shirt travel wallet. Pickpockets are quite good at getting to pockets, belt-packs and over-the-shoulder purses or cameras.

Packing List

Please pack all items into one carry on and one piece of luggage to be checked. This allows all team members to check a second Medical Mercy bag with medications and supplies. Extra baggage is very expensive and not included in our budget. Plan to pack at least one change of under clothes in your carry on as sometimes luggage arrives late.

Standard List

Medical Mercy Polo Shirt - to be worn for travel
One set of church clothes
Casual clothes that are neat in appearance
Medical Mercy Scrubs 2 sets
A light jacket suitable for rain and a travel size umbrella
A warm sweatshirt or pullover, most likely needed only on plane.
Toiletries
Personal medications for chronic medical problems
Bible and Notebook
Camera, film and batteries etc.
Passport and two color copies of the photo page
Airline Tickets or e- ticket itinerary
Wallet and cash (usually $100-200 U.S. is adequate for souvenirs)
Credit card for emergencies
Secure carrier for cash/credit card, etc.
Alcohol Gel Hand Cleanser 1 bottle to share at clinic, one small purse size for personal use
Set of earplugs in case your roommate snores!
Travel alarm clock
Reading material for flights
Sunglasses
Small bottle of mosquito/bug repellant
Sunscreen
Kleenex (pocket variety) –TP is a luxury!
Safety pin or two
Plastic kitchen trash bag for wet/dirty clothing/shoes and general purpose
Snacks-protein bars, nuts and crystal light mixes to add to a H2O bottle, it is up to you
1 large bag of dum dums for the kids we see

Medical Equipment (if you are an Examiner)

Stethoscope
Sphygmomanometer (B.P. Cuff)
Oto/Ophthalmoscope with tips (battery powered are best but not mandatory)
Scissor
Reflex Hammer
Anything else packable that you use often in your practice

MEDICAL

Vaccines

All travelers should be up-to-date on routine immunizations. Consult with your doctor about recommended vaccines and precautions.

Sunburn

We will at times be exposed to some fairly intense sun particularly on our free day outings so wearing a hat and sunscreen is highly advisable.

Dehydration

Working in hot, tropical climates makes it easy to get dehydrated. Bottled water will be provided for the team and you should make a conscious effort to stay hydrated during the week even when things get busy in the clinic. Signs of dehydration include nausea, loss of appetite, muscle cramps, lethargy, decreased urine output and dark/concentrated urine that may burn. Later more ominous signs include decreased sweating and hot dry skin. Please report any ill feelings to a team leader immediately. You may want to bring powder electrolyte replacement packets for your water.

Food Borne Illness

We take all precautions to select “safe” restaurants and if local churches are cooking meals to follow our strict guidelines on hygiene and appropriate food preparation. Please follow team leaders advise while on the trip. Keep hands washed and use the alcohol gel cleansers frequently and particularly before meals. At times illness does occur despite the best efforts of prevention so be sure to report any fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or diarrhea to the medical director.

Illness

Please inform the team physician if you are feeling ill during the trip. The team medical officer will be well equipped to deal with any acute illness among team members. Insurance will be provided for accident, illness and/or emergency evacuation.

If after arriving home you experience any illness, but particularly fever, chills, nausea and vomiting, excessive diarrhea, please seek immediate medical attention from your physician and inform them that you have been overseas and to which country. This will greatly aid in rapid diagnosis and treatment.

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