After a long hiatus, I am back to writing my blog. Please excuse the long absence. It was due in part to summer vacation and in part to not having much to report since my last trip to Haiti in July. Now I am back at Reagan National Airport (DCA) waiting to board my US Airways flight to Fort Lauderdale and then on down to Port-au-Prince (PAP). It was a little over a year ago that I sat in this same airport waiting for my American Airlines flight to Miami and then to PAP. It was the start of my sabbatical leave and the beginning of the long journey to set up a sexually transmitted diseases surveillance project in Haiti. A year has passed since that pre-dawn October morning when Pierre drove me down the GW Parkway to DCA. For probably the sixth or seventh time he has done so since last year, Pierre drove me to DCA again this morning. Pierre is now in graduate school at American University. Cecile and Odile are one year further along in their college education.
Last year, the Federal Government was shut down. Congress could not agree on a budget. Today it is closed for the Columbus Day holiday and operating on a continuing resolution. Nothing has changed in the Congress. Nothing gets done.
Last year they were two separate companies. Now American Airlines has merged with US Airways.
Last year the Washington NFL team was bad. This year they are maybe worse but now more people are refusing to call them the Redskins.
Last year I had a plan but I had no idea how long it would take to implement. Today, I have all of the approvals to start my study. My equipment and supplies all are in place at the UF lab in Gressier. The people whom I plan to hire have been trained. This week I will hire my staff and visit the clinics to set up the space and work schedule to start the project. Now a year after boarding the plane for PAP, naively thinking that I would have the study up and going in three months, I am finally returning to Haiti to start enrolling participants in my study. This time for real.
No comments:
Post a Comment