I slept the best I have so far in Haiti last night despite the roosters..yes! This morning I was able to be a provider at the clinic seeing my own patients with Janet's help and I LOVED IT! I think we saw about 30 patients together. Mostly we feel like we are guessing when it comes to their symptoms because diagnostic tests are not available. We give out a lot of Tylenol and Pepcid and antibiotics if we think the symptoms warrant it. Most people complain of headache, burning eyes, sleeplessness, poor appetite, and acid reflux. It's no wonder after all they have been through. We had four pregnant women, which Dr. Lee, our OB/GYN, gave us a hard time about because he saw a lot of men today..heehee. Two of the pregnant women really latched onto Janet and I and wanted us to be the godmothers of their babies..wow. I absolutely loved what I did today, and I had a break from the peds ward. Still, we could hear Ois moaning many times today during clinic. He had to get an nasogastric tube and a digital disimpaction...ouch.
After clinic we ate lunch and then organized the supplies we received from 5 more bags today. Mona, our housekeeper/cook, made us Haitian spaghetti tonight for dinner with some kind of meat that was like salami. I can't believe how good Haitian food is!
After dinner we went up to the roof to play with the children. They LOVE having their picture taken and exclaim "photo. photo" as soon as you whip out the camera. Already they know how to pose like pros. Robert made a jump rope for them, which was an instant hit.
We met a young man named Degan who taught himself to speak English by watching TV and loved talking to us so he could practice his English. He explained how he was sad he lived in poverty and wanted to go to the U.S. but had no money. He wanted all of our contact information. I suppose he thinks we might be able to help him achieve his dream. It seems a shame that he may never get that opportunity. At least we can give him a small job this week as our interpreter.
Tomorrow I am in the peds ward again and tonight Robert and Andy are working night shift. There was some talk about getting some Haitian nurses to cover the ward so that we can all work in the clinic and not have to try to sleep during the day but it doesn't look like that will happen soon.
Today there was talk we might leave on Saturday, drive 11 hours through the Dominican Republic, spend the night there and take a flight to the U.S. the next day. Another option is to leave on a military flight or leave on Monday as originally planned. At this point, it doesn't matter to me how we get home, as long as we get home :)
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