Wednesday April 1, 2009

I was sitting at the hospital yesterday and just realizing how much I love the people here. I walked up to the hospital and spotted Jacque sitting outside with a group of Haitians as he was trying to conduct a bible study. He had a pretty big crowd yesterday. More than his usual meager few. So I sat down and listened for a while. Except I couldn’t listen well because as soon as I sat down Yolta and Robina, the guards girls, sat on me and started asking me when my dad was coming to visit (they get a kick out of the name Rick and laugh every time I say it because creole is not so good with the ‘r‘ pronounciations). They know he’s coming on Saturday but kept demanding: make him come tomorrow! All the while a couple of the patients were making faces at me and laughing; ok maybe I was making faces back, but oh, it’s like we have some inside jokes, but I’m not sure what the joke it. Nevertheless, the nonverbal communication was flying. All the while Jacque trying to continue reading from the bible. Oh man, sorry Jacque. I make such a nuisance of everything.

Naderge, a patient in the hospital somehow makes me crack up every time I look at her. Oh the faces she makes! I swear she could be a mime or maybe a stand up comedian. The other night I walked in her room for evening rounds and she was standing, walking around, narrating and acting out some outrageous story. She had everyone in the room rolling on the ground laughing. The best part is, the fact that she is still alive is a miracle. She has TB in her abdomen causing her to have ascites, which makes her look pregnant. She has HIV too. She came to us already on treatment from a different hospital who had put her on milligramage way above therapeutic range. And they didn’t tell her she had HIV. It was a nightmare. Maybe she is lying, but anyway, we started her on the correct treatment. Shortly after that, she became so sick, with what we think was a peritonitis. However, without imaging we didn’t know why or where. We all thought she would die since she appeared to be going septic, but the doctors with the dental team said he only chance was to put her on Moxifloxacin, an antibiotic that we have never used here. We thought there is no way we have it, but I opened up the medicine cabinet and there is was. We put her on it for 10 days and she is alive. I will try to capture her making one of her faces.

Our third team in three weeks arrived yesterday. The guesthouse has been hopping. This week we have more Russians and a few others from California, who are going to be doing construction on the church in Vion. Today they are finishing up welding various projects at the hospital and are on a mission to transform one of Rob‘s containers into an extra room we can put patients in the future. The previous team worked like nobody’s business and made some beautiful gates, doors, and shelves for the hospital. And Cliff, an old army mechanic, decided to extend his stay a few days because he has met his mother challenge. He’s been working on Rob’s old army truck that hasn’t run in a few year. He got it running! He still needs to finish up a few things. We are trying not to tell him about Rob’s other vehicles that aren’t working or he may stay a month!

I’m missing my friend. Dustin left yesterday for the Netherlands, which is probably a good thing because he was spending crazy amounts of money (I don’t really know, you’ll have to ask him) on phone cards and climbing to the tallest mountains to get service to call Annelies. Yes…they are made for each other. Nevertheless it was priceless having someone around to talk to who knows this place, this work, and this life. And not to mention someone I’ve been to hell and back with.