Sad Day

March 5, 2010

Today is a sad day. We said goodbye to our trio as Lisa left us to fly back home to Philly today. We've been working, sleeping, and eating every meal together for the past four weeks, and so having it all change in one day is a little surreal. We somehow made it from Miami through the Domincan Republic into the disaster area that is Port-au-Prince four weeks ago ready to take on the world together. We've pulled four weeks of shifts at multiple hospitals, clinics, and tent cities around the capital, survived a few benign aftershocks that sent us running (and giggling a lot), survived being hit on by every self-appointed Haitian translator without throwing any punches, braved eating multiple slices of Haitian pizza without becoming deathly ill with diarrhea, discovered evenings on the roof are a sanctuary, came to think of our tarp showers under the stars as heavenly, and shared more meals of rice and beans than most will in a lifetime! The past four weeks have been so golden, mostly attributed to the companionship of these two friends and the experiences and work we have shared together.

This past week has been more laid back than most. We went to four different clinics around the city and finished up by about 4 pm everyday. This was such a nice change from our previous week; actually having some down time in the early evening before dinner and our nightly meetings is somewhat of a novel concept! It was a welcomed change. The settings at which we worked at this week were pretty interesting. Monday, we ended up at a large tent city that was formed at "The Petionville Club", previously one of the most prestigious country clubs in the city, now turned into thousands of tents and people living in close quarters. We worked with an independent missionary (who was pulling teeth all day) and some of his Haitian staff to set up an outdoor, semi-chaotic clinic. Most of the cases we have seen at the clinics are pretty benign. So many headaches and vague stomachaches that medical professionals say are most likely resulting from post-trauma, and so I've been trying to focus on health education more than just handing them a bag of tylenol. We have, though, seen some serious cases, like malaria, respiratory infections, significant wounds, and some questionable typhoid. Thursday we worked at a clinic that has sprung up at "Bojeux", the grounds of the only amusement park in all of Haiti (yes you heard me). The setting was so odd, but a semi-permanent clinic has evolved here that is very functional. The day, however, was extremely slow since USAID decided to do a distribution of tarps, water, and toiletry supplies at the gates! It was a sight to see and nothing like the chaos that the news so much loves to show. It was a very patient line of Haitians, waiting one by one to receive these much wanted necessities. We were able to duck through the gate to see supplies being unloaded out of several semi trucks, a large group of UN soldiers (with very large guns) guarding the perimeters (as well as some barbwire coils), and a lot of joyous Haitians. The dang USAID took away all our patients for the day as I guess the Haitians forgot about their head and stomachaches when they saw supplies being handed out. Needlesstosay, it was the first slow day we've had, and I'm not complaining.