
To spend a day at Port-au-Prince’s Bernard Mevs hospital is to see people suffering the worst of the worst – things like enormous tumors, horrible strokes, malnourishment to the extreme. But a day in the northern village of Bord de Mer Limbe is to see where the worst takes root. It’s a place without running […]
I’ve left Port-au-Prince and arrived in a small village in the Bas Limbé region of northern Haiti. I’m with a Newfoundland-based TBE team that will provide basic medical care in remote villages over the next week. It’s about an eight-hour bus ride, or a 30-minute flight plus 90-minute bumpy beautiful drive to get here from […]

“Help me! My baby fell off a tap-tap and his leg is broken!” The story – a common one in Haiti – is, this time, not real. The “baby” is a plastic mannequin of a toddler wearing navy blue sweatpants three sizes too big and missing an arm; his “mother,” a tall blond Canadian pediatric […]

This is a place where the unfathomable is often the everyday. This morning, we woke to news that a five-day-old baby died in the pediatric ICU during the night. He was a tiny thing who was supposed to be one of the first surgical patients of the day. One of our docs put his head […]

In Haiti, you learn to work with what you have. Often, that isn’t much. Things that Team Broken Earth has had learned to work without today: running water (for a brief time); an x-ray machine and, now, the intraoperative x-ray, as well (indefinitely); some blood tests (recurring); sufficient beds for patients and volunteers (recurring); Internet […]

First, do not harm. A saying I’ve heard countless times. Today, I saw firsthand how difficult that can be. I arrived in Port-au-Prince yesterday, travelling with two Calgary-based plastic surgeons, Christiaan Schrag and Duncan Nickerson. They’ve taken the week off from their busy practices to join Team Broken Earth. They’ve left young families to come […]

I’ve been lucky to meet some truly talented people. Outliers. Originals. The kind of people that inspire you by how they’ve made a difference simply by being themselves. Alan Doyle and Brendan Paddick spring to mind. And Andrew James O’Brien is one as well. Andrew is an award-winning musician with a big heart. He’s always […]

It was 3 degrees early this morning when I made the trip to the airport. I won’t lie, I’m looking forward to the balmy climate in Haiti! More so, I’m looking forward to picking up where our Calgary team left off. Those guys did an exceptional job on their 2nd mission. Got a special guest […]