York to Cap Haitien... While comparisons with the regularity of a commuter run are hard to find, there is a familiarity about today's train journey to Manchester Airport. In 2010 I first went to Haiti, and as today, was carrying bags that not only held clothes and personal effects but also the unusable, and so unwanted, hospital equipment from England that miraculously becomes both usable and highly prized as soon as it is presented to the theatre personnel in Haiti. And the travel anxiety (that is so frequently my travel companion) is ameliorated a little by remembering this is a path already trodden, and eased a lot by sharing it with Lorraine - who at time of writing is sleepily resting her feet on the seat opposite. (I am hoping the guard will be equally too sleepy to notice!) My first trip to Haiti came in the first few months after the earthquake that claimed the lives of 250,000 Haitians. "Hearts and Hands for Haiti" was born from this tragedy, and the God-inspired idea of New Zealander Robyn Couper a long term resident of Cap Haitien, and desperate to see help coming to the people and country she has served for many years. Working with her local church, Robyn arranged for a medical team to accompany her back to Haiti to work alongside some of the established medical services. And so official invitations were issued to three physiotherapists, two surgeon and me - the one anaesthetist - to come and work in the Justinien University Hospital. That was for an intended 6 Week period, and from that initial team effort, great things have developed with the funding, building and staffing of a Physiotherapy Assistant School thanks to the generosity of many, the assistance of agencies including the United Nations (it does help having a New Zealander as the current Number Three in that organisation) and the determination of Robyn and others to see it come off. And continued medical links with New Zealand see Prof Jean-Claude Theiss (Orthopaedic Surgeon) make trips to Haiti and enable Haitian doctors gain experience in Dunedin. I am going to be very interested to see what has changed over the four years, and to introduce Lorraine to some wonderful people, and a fascinating culture that is so different to what we are used to in the UK. Also having first come with an expectation of helping, and then finding myself being helped because of contracting Dengue Fever, I am again keen to show I can go more than 30 minutes without either being sick or having to lie down. (I should mention that 100% DEET has been added to the packing!) So from York to Cap Haitien, via Manchester, Amsterdam, New York, Santiago and the long coach trip across the border lies ahead, and we go excited, nervous and honoured to be able to try and help.