Germain in Haiti: The start of a journey

[Anthony Germain is on a week-long assignment covering Team Broken Earth, a group of Newfoundland and Labradornurses and doctors, in Haiti. Each day, Anthony will file observations of what he sees; you can hear his reports on the St. John's Morning Show.]

Day 1

Saturday, March 29, 18:30. Arrived in Port-au-Prince an hour ago. Tense excitement is building as nurses andsurgeons get ready to get this clinic rolling for the next week. A day of relaxed people travelling from St. John's, chilling in airport lounges. Lots of blunt jokes the candour that comes from being on the road.

Journalistic process starting to unfurl in my mind the way it does on all big "shoots." Saw a few injured people on the way in,but we've yet to unpack our gear and test it.

Some challenging questions arise:How do I cover what these people are going to do over the next week without exploiting the Haitian patients?Or, without deifying what this team of Newfoundland health-care professionals does?

Don't want to sensationalize, but this is a life-and-death place.

Take a deep breath. Adjust to the heat, the smells. Keep the coverage real.

Let's see how I do.