Day 10: February 22, 2010

This morning while having one of the best night's of sleep since I arrived in Haiti, we were all suddenly awakened by an earthquake that shook our home and shook us up. Some of us had experienced some minor aftershocks during the week, which could best be described as minor vibrations. I am not sure how long the earthquake lasted, probably only seconds, but it was enough to get most of us out of bed and moving. I remember thinking as I lay in bed feeling the quake, trying to rouse myself from sleep that if it didn't stop soon we were going to be in trouble. But then I realized that this building had survived the intial quake and we were going to be okay. It was still scary to be honest. Imagine getting safely through a week in Haiti to be in an earthquake on the day you are scheduled to leave! Although we had the luxury of leaving Haiti, the poor Haitians did not. You could hear their screams of terror outside, further reinforcing to them that being indoors is not safe.



A few of us were too shook up to stay indoors and went outside until dawn. The rest of us tried to catch a few more hours of sleep, though it was not as sound as before. Most of us were dressed and ready in case something else happened, but fortunately nothing did. Around 7am we began cleaning our home and packing our final things. We gathered on the rooftop to wait for our vans, all eager to leave Haiti. Most of the people living in the compound were awake. Nikah, my first friend in Haiti, was there to greet me with sad brown eyes. She knew we were leaving. She tried to give me the last remains of the candy we had given out the night before, but I couldn't let her give up that treasure. When the vans arrived some tears were shed as we said our last goodbyes. I held Nikah close, prayed God would give her a happy and full life, and gave her my pink watch to remember me by. A small gift, but it put a smile on her face.



We arrived at the Haitian airport without complication and waited for our flight. We were all relieved to know that everything was going as planned. The plane we boarded thankfully was huge and "normal sized" and each of us had a row to ourselves for the flight to Miami with a surprise lunch included. Some of us caught a quick nap on the way home.

As we touched down in Miami I couldn't help but get a little misty-eyed. Compared to the devastation in Haiti it was a beautiful sight. In Miami we said goodbye to Dr. Lee, Chad and Vanessa Carpenter as they headed to Ft. Lauderdale, Charlotte, and Roanoke. The rest of us loaded into another passenger van and caught our flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta. By this time most of us were fantasizing about the wonderful meal we would eat in Atlanta. But in our terminal our options were Wendy's, a Samuel Adams restaurant, or a Popeyes. Most of us ended up with a burger, fries, and a Frosty..heaven on earth! I am sure the people around us thought were were a little crazy swooning over some french fries.

Once we boarded the plane to Greensboro at 8:55pm we had another complication....the Delta flight had too much weight on board. We waited over an hour for a truck to come siphon off over 700 lbs of fuel so we could fly safely. By this time we were all exhausted and ready to just get to our loved ones waiting for us in Greensboro. I don't even remember the plane taking off because I was asleep by the time we left the airport.

When we finally arrived in Greensboro Janet, Rachel, and I couldn't wait for the others....we hurried down the hall where Jon and Scott were waiting for us. I ran to Jon and flung my arms around him....finally!! Tears were shed as couples were reunited. It was a bittersweet moment as we said goodbye to our friends. We finally arrived home shortly after 2am....and the first place I headed was my shower! It was a wonderful end to a long day.

Day 9: February 21, 2010

This morning there was no clinic so 10 of us went to Vanessa's local church. It was a warm Sunday morning and we sat outdoors under a tarp. The service was in Kreol, but we had a couple of wonderful interpreters who volunteered for us. Some of the hymns we recognized and sang when we could. There were a few sermons interwoven throughout the service, and the first one we could understand hit home for some of us. The preacher referenced the story in the New Testament about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man never had to worry about food, shelter, or paying his bills but he lacked a relationship with God. The poor man had many worries, but knew the Lord. Personally I felt guilty listening because compared to those people we are very rich. Most of us don't have to worry about basic human needs. The pastor stressed there was nothing wrong with being rich, as even Abraham was blessed with much, but many rich people spend their whole life trying to make more money and miss out on a relationship with God. He told a personal story about how he had overheard a wife saying to her husband she was glad they lived in a tent on a hill instead of down below the hill. The pastor pointed out to her that they all lived in tents! He said that it is amazing how humans try to make themselves feel better than others, when they are no better off. The people of the church were friendly and welcoming. We were treated to songs sung by the children and a baby dedication...not unlike our own services back home.

We came back "home" and tried to nap but it was hard to sleep in the heat with so much noise outside. What I wouldn't give for a decent night's rest! When we all arose we were surprised to see our driver. Kez sent him to take us to her neighborhood. We were excited to leave and when we had almost loaded into the van Adam got a call saying we needed to pack ASAP so we could leave on a military flight in three hours. We scrambled around packing and discarding items we wanted to leave behind for the Haitians. Just when we were ready to leave a call came five minutes later...nevermind, we will be leaving Monday as planned. You can imagine how we felt. In Haiti (and in other foreign countries I am told) you have to learn to be flexible and go with the flow. We put our things away and loaded into the van to go to see Kez and Vanessa's apartment and St. Joseph's home for street boys.

We walked around the neighborhood hand in hand with some children who came to greet us. The people lived in makeshift tents, much like the rest of what we had seen. Some of us had the chance to buy some Haitian gifts from a local peddler. Not wanting to miss our date with the children we drove back home before dark.

Our last night of play was bittersweet, but we learned some new dancing games (featured on youtube.com). Dr. Lee thanked all the children through an interpreter and said how much we would miss them. Some of us crept away without saying too many goodbyes..it was too hard. We came home and played cards for a few hours before turning in. We leave early in the AM for the airport. Thank God we are going home.

Day 8: February 20, 2010

This morning we had clinic for a few hours and I saw a lot of male patients so that Dr. Lee could see some women finally. I think I may have had a man with either lung cancer or TB, but there is no way to tell definitively, and it makes you feel pretty helpless sometimes. In total we saw around 175 patients. We said our goodbyes to Christopher, Christine and Ois...a sad moment with many tears shed. Christine will go home with Christopher to care for her other four children while awaiting a medical visa for Christopher. Ois is off to a special care facility where he will get the attention he deserves...not that we didn't try to do our best for him. It's hard to believe our work here is done, although we are all anxious to get home to our loved ones (and a hot shower!).

After clinic we all had some downtime before we were able to all go out together. We loaded into two vans and had quite the experience driving through Haiti with the choking exhaust and scenes of devastation..not to mention they drive like crazy people! We arrived at the Visa Lodge in one piece..and discovered it was truly heaven in Haiti! An actual sit down restaurant with a pool and TV! We all sat down at a table under a ceiling fan which felt fabulous after sweating all day. They had flushing toilets and running water and we acted as if we had never seen that before. Some of us took advantage and ordered rum punch or beer and sat with our feet in the pool. Only Chad actually had on swim trunks and he was the first to jump in. But it didn't stop me, Rachel, Lauren, Adam, and Jenny Ma from jumping in clothes and all. It was the best swim ever (not to mention our first bath in a week)! Who cared if we were a little soggy sitting down to dinner that night? The food was excellent and Janet and I shared Haitian spaghetti and shrimp creole. To top it all off we had dessert and coffee....it felt almost like home, and a wonderful oasis after a long week. Thank you Vanessa and Kez for the treat!

When we returned home and the children were upset. At first we thought it was because we were pretty late for our date with them, but we soon discovered that one of their brothers was in the hospital. We still played as usual, although it was more subdued. There is a little toddler they call TeeTee who usually runs away when we call to him. But tonight he let me hold him in my arms and he soon fell asleep. What a sweet way to end the night...but not after our usual round of card games, stories and laughter back at "home". Tomorrow some of us plan to go to church with Vanessa.

Day 7: February 19, 2010

Last night during our rounds on the ward Jenny and Lauren taught Christine how to play Crazy 8's...and she ended up beating us many times! Tomorrow night the Haitian nurses will be covering the ward and we will say goodbye to Ois and Christopher.

For those of us who worked night shift last night we didn't get very much sleep before clinic started. I saw around 30 patients today and I am getting a lot of practice with prescribing medications. Today I treated mostly PID, pneumonia, and lots of UTIs. It is so rewarding to help them, even if you are just giving them Tylenol for a simple headache. Overall the clinic saw about 200 patients today.

Clinic started to slow down mid-morning so Kez decided to take some of us to her neighborhood and a restaurant, while a few providers stayed behind. But by the time we got our things together to leave the clinic had filled up again, so we went back to help Janet and Dr. Lee handle the flood. After clinic was over, we were all able to rest during the afternoon.

This evening we played with the children on the roof again. It's so humbling how they just flock to you and hug you. They love to play with your hair and teach you their language and their games. They liked to sing songs from America to see if we knew them..mostly Beyonce, Michael Jackson, and Hannah Montana. Already they tell us they love us and that they will miss us when we go. They are beautiful children and I will miss them greatly. But I am ready to see my husband and my dog :) It's hard to believe that this journey started a week ago today.

Day 6: February 18, 2010

Last night it poured in Haiti and was an unrestful sleep for most of the team. Partly because our "home" was flooded on the first floor because a piece of our roof is missing and partly because we know the poor Haitians living outside were probably soaked and miserable. Dr. Sarbin spent most of the night trying to mop up the water and save our medical supplies. Before we were off to work this morning the Haitians were already tackling the mess in the basement. Boxes of supplies are soaked and there is dirt all over the beautiful floor.

This morning Rachel R. and I had peds ward duty. We were able to practice dressing some nasty wounds, which was fun for both of us because it is a change from our normal duties back home. The clinic had a slow day with maybe about 35 patients total. The Haitians are probably all cleaning up their "homes" after the rain. At least some of the dust has settled down and it is a little bit cooler.

In the afternoon Kez decided to take us outside the compound to hand out vitamins and worm medication to the children. Thanks to Vanessa and Sondra who covered for us at the ward, both Rachel R. and I were able to go since we hadn't had the chance to leave our compound since we had arrived. I had no idea the kind of living conditions these poor people had to endure. There is trash piled everywhere along the road and people are living in tents, makeshift shelters, or partially demolished buildings. It's filthy and reeks of the constant smoke from burning trash. The children ran to us, took the medicine gleefully, and pleaded for more. We had a system where we would mark their pinky with a Sharpee to know who had received medication or not. A lot of them would try to wipe off the mark so they could get more and it was hard to tell who you had seen before or not. At times they would make a crowd so thick around you that you couldn't move. We never felt threatened though, and we even caught a glimpse of some American soldiers patrolling the streets. I don't have many pictures from our walk. It seemed almost wrong to take pictures of the people sitting under their tarps, surrounded by trash, skinny stray dogs, and barefoot children. I know that if it were me I would probably be ashamed. I did manage to snap one good picture of the children who were more than willing to pose for us.

In the afternoon we played with the children in our compound..monkey in the middle, cards, and jump rope. It's amazing how much you can learn from them despite the language barrier. I never did get the hang of their card game they were trying to teach me. We brought Ois outside in his wheelchair so he could watch, but he seemed to not be that interested. Maybe because the children would stare at him, or maybe because he couldn't play with us.

Some people in our group were able to go to a restaurant, while the rest of us stayed behind to chill. We played cards and tried to clean up the soot in our home from the burning trash next door. We all put on masks after we started blowing nasty black snot out of our noses.

After dinner we went to the roof to play with the children. We played hand games and taught each other how to say the parts of the body in our native languages. When the generator comes on we all go back inside to take advantage of the electricity.

We were treated with cold beer and wine when we got back home from a friend named Reggie who wanted to show us his hospitality and gratitude for helping his people.

It is the last night we have to do night shift...yes! We decided to break up the night in three hour shifts to be fair. Lauren and Jenny will have 11p-1am. Rachel and I will do 1am-4am, and Rachel and Sondra will do 4am-7am. Then we will all work in the clinic as a group tomorrow for the first time.

Day 5: February 17, 2010

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 :)

Day 4: February 16, 2010

Last night Rachel R. and I worked 11p-7a by candelight. Thankfully Ois slept most of the night except for a midnight bed change after he wet himself. Christopher was a little more restless, so we cared for him so Christine could sleep. Around 2am Christine woke up and started hunting mosquitos by flashlight...hilarious! The dogs helped keep us awake through the night. We played cards and took turns sleeping on a mattress on the floor (not something you normally do while working night shift...awesome!). It was so nice to see the day shift come at 7am. We tried to sleep but they shoveled rubble outside our window all day. I was tempted to pay them to quit for a couple of hours, but we can't ask them to stop their day just so we can get some shut eye.

In the afternoon 5 bags of supplies arrived and we were like kids on Christmas morning. The rest of our food was in the bags and it was a huge morale booster. In Haiti the little things make you so happy.

Rachel R. and I worked 3p-7p in the ward while the rest of the group ate a wonderful Haitian meal and played with the children on the rooftop. We had the pleasure of watching a reunion between Ois and his two sisters, which brought tears to our eyes and lifted his spirits. After the group returned to the house we played Crazy 8's and BS, was entertained by Dr. Lee's card tricks.

The clinic saw about 12o patients today and finished around noon. Tomorrow I finally get a turn in the clinic and Janet has encouraged me to be the provider and she will be my nurse. I look forward to the experience!

The people of Haiti are beautiful and friendly. The children love to play and pose for pictures! They also don't hesitate to come right up and hug you. I have yet to play with them on the rooftop but they have already taught the rest of the group a game where they get in a circle and dance...which I can't wait to see.

Day 3: February 15, 2010

Today Sondra and I took care of Ois and Christopher in the peds ward from 7a-3p. Christine, Christopher's mother, pretty much takes care of him, but Ois can be a challenge. Today he wanted to be held all day long, so Sondra and I took turns pacifying him. He really wanted to stand up, but we couldn't let him do that. I got him to write his name and color a little today and they found him a wheelchair tonight so he could roll around outside. It is so frustrating not knowing what he needs. You almost feel like he is trapped in his own body and it's heartbreaking.

Next door they had clinic, which proved to be an interesting day. They saw around 250 patients! Sondra dressed some wounds of the clinic patients while helping out with Ois and Christopher and did an excellent job. Below is the wound station in the peds ward. In the clinic a patient actually had maggots in his wound!

Today we received more supplies, but poor Robert still does not have any clean clothes as his bags have not arrived yet.

Last night's sleep was broken and not restful. There are some backwards roosters who crow ALL NIGHT LONG! When they take a rest, the dogs start barking. And when the dogs stop the people wake up and start praising God..at 4am. I dread working the night shift tonight because even during the day it's impossible to get sleep. They were clearing rubble outside of our "house" today and Jenny and Lauren, who took the first night shift, were not able to sleep this morning. I tried to take a nap today but no luck. I hope Ois will sleep most of the night. He really needs his rest and when he moans you can hear him back at the "house". Today Lee and Chad arrived safely and without any trouble and now we are finally all together in Haiti.

Day 2: February 14, 2010

This morning I was grateful to feel so rested before heading to Haiti. We had a decent hotel breakfast before splitting up once more into two cargo vans. One van held Jenny, Rachel, and two mechanics who joined our group. The other van held me, Janet, Lauren, and Sondra. We each went to two different airports. I have to pause and make a comment about our van driver. I am not sure he spoke English very well, but he thanked us for helping the people of Haiti and then gave us a bag of girls shoes to take with us. It was very touching.

Okay, the airport experience. This is going to be a slighly embarassing story. We arrived, unloaded all 12 bags of supplies plus our own carry ons.

Here was the plane..

Yes, the thing had a total of 5 seats. That is the pilot standing there who was so happy to be taking us because apparently he received a nice sum of money in his account that morning. That was a little reassuring because I took one look at that thing and burst into tears. Surely we were going to die on the way to Haiti. I asked the obvious question...where are all of our bags going? to which the pilot replied..you can take 6, including your personal bags. Okay..you mean to tell me we drug 12 bags of heavy supplies all the way from Roanoke, to Greensboro, to Raleigh, to Miami, to Ft. Lauderdale just to leave them at this airport? Yup..more tears from me who number 1 is not cool with enclosed spaces and number 2 is not cool with flying to Haiti without our needed medical supplies. Here is where I place a frantic phone call to Jenny Ma to see if they could take some of our bags in their plane. She tells the story best but I guess my voice was 8 octaves higher than usual (is that even possible) and the men with her overheard me and said "what is wrong with that child?". Even Janet was not happy about leaving all our stuff behind and flying on this ricketly old puddle jumper. Lauren was my voice of reason, and we all got on the plane with our carry ons and 1 bag of medical supplies. I didn't stop crying until we were in the air and I realized this wasn't so bad after all. I was calm and it must have been a God thing. The view was gorgeous... This was leaving Florida.

This was flying over the Bahamas. Yes, the highlight of the trip was actually landing in the Bahamas for fuel. I have never been there so I was so excited! To leave snowy NC and touch down in the balmy Bahamas was the lift I needed that day. This is a picture of the little airport.

Behind me in the immigration office the locals were giving me weird looks. Come on, I couldn't have been the first one to play on the bongo!

After this brief stop in heaven, we flew an hour and a half until we were finally over Haiti. I can't say that from the air there was anything particularly beautiful about it. There were jagged, dry mountains that didn't look hospitable to life, crumbling concrete buildings, and glimpses of tent cities. We landed in the hot and humid airport and were greeted by our leader, Dr. Sarbin, and Vanessa Carpenter, the founder of Angel Missions Haiti.

Customs was no problem and we made it through the airport and loaded into two vans. One van was going to the U.S. Comfort to get three patients for us and the other was taking us to our new "home". I wish I had taken some picture of the drive through the streets of Haiti. Imagine the worst road conditions, dusty, trash and rubble lined each side of the road, bunches of people walking around. By the way, Haitians drive worse than any New Yorker. You think surely the driver is going to crash into another vehicle or run over a stray dog or pedestrian, but no. Somehow it flows without accident, although still scary for someone who lives in Roanoke,VA. The driver laughed at my reaction to almost getting creamed a few times.

We rolled through the streets of Haiti, having no idea where we were going. We pulled up to a gate and the driver honked. The gate rolled away and we backed into this little compound where we would soon learn is where our new friends lived. We must have looked like deer in headlights, but Dr. Sarbin was there to guide us so we followed him down the steps, and down more steps and finally reached the outside of our home. Right through that green door was where we were staying. It's a soon to be medical facility with a surgical center on the second floor and a clinic on the first floor. One of the few buildings that survived the earthquake.

Thankfully, there were mattresses there for us to sleep on because our air mattresses were left in Florida. We secured our mosquito nets to the wall with duct tape and it was actually pretty comfy and clean. This is our bathroom which seems like a normal bathroom but actually has special "rules".

First, no flushing the toilet. Second, no TP goes in the toilet. And after years of doing this it was a hard habit to break. I think all of us had to go "fishing" for our TP at least once. Third, if it's yellow let it mellow. Ew. At times the water started turning green. You could flush manually with dirty water from your "shower". Showering involved standing in a bucket and pouring clean water over yourself with a cup. Not so easy, but at least we had the option. Just having a place to go to the bathroom that was not a hole in the ground was a blessing. Oh yeah, no door on the bathroom. Everyone knew everyone else's "bathroom schedule". Fun times.

Almost as soon as we arrived and tried to adjust to our new surroundings our first patients arrived. An 8 year old boy named Ois who had a head injury and broken femur from the earthquake. He had spent the last month on the U.S. Comfort and had not seen his family since. He couldn't talk and spent most of his time just staring. His method of communication was moaning, so it was a guessing game to figure out if he is hungry, bored, has to pee, or what. He loves hugs and seems to be content sitting on your lap with his arms around your neck.

We also had two babies. A boy named Christopher with hydrocephalus and another infant who had a congenital neurological disorder and was not expected to live a long or normal life.

These pateints would be our responsibility around the clock...something we didn't expect for those of us who don't work night shift. But we divided ourselves into shifts to take care of them the best we could, although it was new for most of us who take care of babies and not children with neurological problems. But we got to refresh ourselves on how to do basic nursing skills like pin care and taking care of a dependent patient.

That night we went up on the roof of our medical facility which is the "playground" for the children. Janet and I were sitting and talking, taking pictures and enjoying the air when a little girl named Nikah came up to us and gave us hugs. She quickly became one of my personal favorites.