...what doesn't kill you

I first have to apologize for my delay...Friday night I got some sort of unlovely GI disaster which pretty much knocked me out.  Thank goodness for my fabulous friends who came to my rescue with IV fluids and drugs. 

My last full day in Haiti (Friday) was very bittersweet.  One of my favorite people in Haiti is a four year old boy named Roni.  He came to the hospital with a large hematoma (blood collection) on his knee.  He was diagnosed with Hemophilia.  Here in the states it is pretty manageable, scary still, but not too out of reach.  In Haiti, getting $2000 a vial Factor 8 is nearly impossible.  Roni received an amazing gift, someone donated 4 vials of Factor 8 for him to get and he is being enrolled in a program to be sponsored for life, and how I hope that it works out for him.

I see alot of children, some make me laugh, some make me crazy, and a select few just have a way of sneaking in close and grabbing a special place in my heart.  Roni was definitely one of the select few. He also made me crazy and made me laugh, dancing in his bed and playing games.  We spent Friday afternoon sitting outside together, I got lucky and somehow he was my only patient.  We played with my camera and and I carried him around in the lovely Carribean weather.  Its funny to spend that much time with someone who doesn't speak the same language, but I think we had a good understanding.  I will probably never forget him or his dancing and his smiles.  My hope for him is that he gets enrolled in the program, I hope somehow I'll be able to find out.

After a rough battle with Haiti waging war against my GI tract and a day of travel, I'm pretty sure its only starting to sink in.  I'm fairly certain I left Haiti with a far greater gift than I could give, but I'm sure i'll try again.  I'm grateful for the warm welcome and openness to what we had to offer.  I'm trying not to be sad for them, that doesn't really accomplish much.  I wish for them the parts of my life that I could not survive without and cannot be measured in monetary worth...a family who I never have to doubt, makes me laugh and feel uncondionally supported and loved.  Knowing that I am safe and that I will always have people on my side. 

Sometimes, in moments of absolute sadness and despair, whether at work, in Haiti, etc...I see things that restore my faith in the goodness of people, and I am grateful.  Thanks for coming with me to Haiti and reading my sleep deprived, possibly corny blog, it has been a great outlet for me.

Please keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers in whatever way works for you.  I've seen people care for eachother this week in away I didn't expect, I hope to keep that with me always.

T

PS...I got to meet Alonso Mourning, of the Miami Heat.  I can't say that I really knew who he was, pre-Haiti, but now I can say I met someone famous ;)

2 years later...

...today is the 2 year anniversary of the earthquake that shook Haiti.  It was quite a day and quite a gift to be here.  The previous mornings in the peds unit, at about 0630, there is a church service in the alley right beside the window.  Its so close that you can hear the songs and all of the moms in the unit sing along and say all of the prayers...I thought THAT was moving.  Today there was a "memorial celebration" in honor of the anniversary.  People gathered in the alley to sing and dance and pray.  I was lucky to be a part of it. 

...2 years later there are still people living in tents, somehow, they are still moving forward.

...2 years later buildings have not been rebuilt, but it is clearly home.

...2 years later people are still people, and they will continue to take care of each other in a way that I will never forget.

...2 years later Haiti is still beautiful, mountains and ocean and sweet children who think that seeing their faces on my camera is the MOST fun thing to do. 

I could only be so lucky to remember the way this place has affected me, 2 years from now.

Hope everyone is well.
T
Happy birthday MOM!!!

Haitians are tough...

...turns out, much tougher than we are.  Maybe its because they have to be.  We got a little girl last night who fell off a roof, we thought for sure she was pretty much screwed.  Turns out, she woke up this morning, came off the vent and I just left her eating some dinner.  There are also these itty bitty 3 LB babies, it seems like they just decide they're going to make it and eat like little champs.  The line between life and death here is much less gray then at home.  The death process here is a whole lot different, i'll have to touch on that later, i'm figuring it out myself.

Hopefully tonight i'll be able to go to the UN again.  Last night things got crazy and we stayed to help.  Driving to the UN is beautiful, you can see the whole mountain side lit up.  Its really crazy because there are these beautiful mountains on one side and a beautiful ocean, and this little bit of crazy down in the middle.  Its been sunny and HOT every day, I run between the buildings to avoid any bad tan lines :-/ 

Alright, one more hour, then i'm off for Haitiain beers, its quite good. 

T

Publishing in Haiti...

...doesn't always work.  This is my second attempt on this specific post and I failed the night before last.  Hopefully...

I think I'm settled into a groove.  Sleeping has been good, i'm so exhausted that even my lack of a pillow is not a problem.  I have finally braved the showers and the leeches are just about gone.  The food is hit or miss.  The other morning was 2 peeled hard boiled eggs, a piece of bread and an open banana, not quite my style.  Good news, they give extra food to the people around the clinic.

The patients are super interesting.  There is a ton of hydrocephalus due to untreated meningitis, its very sad.  There are also tons of super teeny growing babies who are very sweet.  I've been caring for two little boys who are tons of fun.  THey are both waiting for medications before they can have surgery.  They don't speak English but today during our dance party the older one busted out Justin Bieber, in English, thank god he had no idea what he was saying.  They also LOVE our cameras, they think its hilarious to look at themselves on the camera.

The familes are totally incredible.  They take care of eachother.  When one mother has to leave, the other ones step in to feed, bathe and comfort her child.  THey also all chip in and care for the orphaned ones.  Today when housekeeping brought up all of the clean sheets they all got up to fold.  I think we have alot to learn from them. 

I think I can finally say i'm happy I came.  My feet hurt, it sure is work, but i'm glad.

Hope all is well
T

PS...i promise to post photos when I get home.  It is absolute chaos surrounded in beauty. 

2nd wind

Ok, after a little Velveeta Shells n Cheese Easy Mac I can tell you about our day.  We got to Haiti this morning after a pretty interesting travel experience.  Our plane was broken, of course, we sat on the runway for over an hour, very sad.  The man next to me was a native Haitian and was making jokes about coming to America because he thought that meant things would work, it was pretty funny.  He was telling me about how he saw snow for the first time, how weird.

The Port au Prince airport was pretty much a giant cluster.  Making it out without being accosted by a little man trying to take my bags was as much as I can really say for myself.  The hospital was about a ten minute ride from the airport.  We did get to see some "tap taps" which are basically van/truck contraptions that cram approximately 20 more people then their capacity and then just slow down for people to jump off...just whenever they're done riding, pretty crazy. 

The hospital is sort of a campus situation, several buildings all gated in.  There hadn't been any volunteers for a few weeks so their weren't many patients, only about 8.  I guess word got out because in they came.  After a very brief orientation and tour we jumped right on in and began trying to figure out what the he** we were supposed to be doing.  There are Haitian nurses who are super friendly and teaching me some creole words.  The kids are all super cute, I understand just about zero words, but we figure it out. 

The accomodations...interesting.  Its 3 big dorm rooms basically, bunk beds.  We did get the super awesome surprise of a little farm of baby leeches in our shower...so, needless to say, i'm still dirty.  I'm going to need a serious pep talk for that one.  Lunch today was pretty good, i'm not sure I can say what the meat in it was but I was super hungry and I ate it happily.  The bus to the UN where there is a restaurant is currently out of commision so i'm super glad I brought an array of snacks. 

All in all, things went really well.  I'm super tired and looking forward to my bed.  Can't wait to see what the week will bring.

Have a great weekend!

We made it!

Hey everyone.  Just wanted to let you know we made it safe and sound to Haiti and promptly began working.  I'm pretty beat so I'll tell all my stories later...lets just say, leeches in the shower...

T-Minus 1 Week!

That's right!  In one week i'll be about to board a plane to Miami and then Port au Prince, Haiti the following morning.  I'll be working in a hospital called St. Bernard Mevs-http://haiti.ngoaidmap.org/projects/105-Check it out!  Anyway, I thought this might be a good way to keep everyone updated about my trip.  They tell me I can get on the internet there.  I guess we'll see if I can keep my eyes open long enough to do that after what sounds like will be 7 very busy 12 hour shifts! 

Thanks everyone in advance for all of your support-all of you who donated supplies and all of the encouragement! 

Here's just some of the supplies we've collected so far.  Amazing!