Tuesday, March 14...Travel Recovery Day!
I'm back in the states, as of 1am this morning, and I'm dragging tail. As expected, I was unable to post anything while in Haiti, but that didn't stop me from writing. I will catch you up this week, by posting a few days at a time, along with photos. In the mean time, I have accepted my next travel contract in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so I've got to get sorted and packed! Here ya go...

I think it’s Thursday??

Day 2 of travel. We have arrived safely in Terre Blanche and we are a ragged bunch of sleep deprived, joyful, exhausted travelers. After a long, crowded ride from the Port Au Prince airport, we claimed our bunk and settled our gear. We will have all day tomorrow to set up for Saturday’s Medical Conference, so we had an early dinner, a group chat on the rooftop, and most of the team is turning in early. After some fantastic star gazing on the roof, I am turning in for the night. I’m so happy to be back in Haiti. (Mom Linda gave us all a list of Haitian Proverbs, so I’ll be sharing them throughout the week!)

Sak vid pa kanpe. An empty sack cannot stand up.

Friday, March 3.

I’m not even sure how to put into words what it was like to wake up this morning. Pure Joy. The light was just starting to come in through the windows at around 4am. Most of us sleep with eye masks because there are no curtains to block the light, but after waking up multiple times throughout the night (my usual routine), I had taken mine off and removed my earplugs. We all sleep with ear plugs, because at least one person in the dorm room snores, and Haiti can be a very noisy place. I was tempted to head to the rooftop, but instead I just lay on my bed, and listened to the village wake up. Through the open windows, I could hear the local birds chirping away, followed by the chickens, donkeys, then soft voices of the villagers starting their day, and eventually the sound of the lovely women who cook for us during our stay here. I can’t think of a better way to wake up on my first morning back. Most of today’s activities revolved around tomorrow’s conference, preparing lecture booklets, and checking the presentation equipment. After breakfast, a young boy was brought to the clinic as an emergency patient, and I was called down to scan his abdomen. Dieunelson is a 6-year-old boy who presented with 9 days of extreme and increasing symptoms, most likely due to Typhoid. After the ultrasound, it was determined he needed emergency surgery. Delamy, the Pastor and CEO (for lack of a better term) of Terre Blanche, started to work his magic to help him. In the meantime, I held him in my lap, while the nurses started an IV with fluids and medication. Once arrangements were made for transport, the boy and his family were taken to the nearest hospital in Gonaives for surgery, which is about an hour away. We have since found out that the first hospital repeated the ultrasound and agreed with our diagnosis, however, they did not have the materials for the surgery. Dieunelson was then taken to a second hospital, where supplies were available, but no surgeon. Delamy then managed to convince the Gonaives Hospital ambulance to take him in to Port Au Prince, another more hours of driving on partially unpaved road, in hopes that the main hospital would be able to perform the surgery. It is 10pm as I write this, and we have no idea if he made it, but we are all hopeful. A sweeping pendulum of emotions, all surrounding one very sick little boy. The enthusiasm and excitement we all felt, at being able to work together as a team to make a rapid and potentially lifesaving diagnosis, and the helplessness and anxiety of not knowing if our patient will get the care he so desperately needs. In the US, this little boy would’ve been in surgery by the time he arrived at the first hospital in Gonaives. He has been on everyone’s mind all day, and he and Delamy both were the focus of prayers and conversation during our after-dinner meeting. I am going up to the rooftop now, in hopes of seeing the Southern Cross constellation. *It’s now 11:30pm, and I have just spent the last hour looking at the Milky Way, Orion’s nebula, the moons of Jupiter, and a myriad of other constellations that I rarely see in the US. Our cooking staff, who are preparing our coffee and breakfast at 5am, are still up cooking food for the conference attendees. They are exhausted, but they smile at me, and just keep working away. They are an inspiration. I’m off to bed now, thinking of these amazing women and Dieunelson. Bonswa.

Men anpil chay pa lou. Many hands make light work.

Saturday, March 4, Conference Day

The wind here has been nothing like I’ve experienced on previous trips. It kept me up most of the night, rattling the corrugated metal roof, and slamming doors. On a positive note, thanks to the wind, it’s around 20 degrees cooler than usual. Everyone was up early, moving tables, setting up benches and projectors, and greeting close to 130 medical workers from as far away as Port Au Prince (PAP). Our little patient from yesterday was on everyone’s mind, but there was no word on where he ended up or how he was doing. I had the third lecture of the day, so I helped check people in until my number came up. My presentation was part of a Break Out Session, which divides the conference into two smaller groups, and allows the attendees to decide which lecture they would like to attend. My presentation was on the use of Ultrasound for the assessment of HIV/TB patients, and I was concerned that I would not have a big crowd. I really wanted to explain how useful ultrasound can be for diagnosis, and I was afraid that if people had never had exposure to it, they would not think it pertained to them. I was very happily mistaken and ended up presenting to a packed room. I was not aware that Haiti Foundation of Hope had been discussing the possibility of offering a specific Ultrasound training course, and had included a survey question in the Conference packet, asking for feedback. 85 people, out of 130, said they would be willing to pay a small fee to attend Ultrasound training. I was flabbergasted! And absolutely thrilled. It’s not just that I love what I do, but I see so much potential for its use in developing countries. Once the conference was complete, all the attendees were invited over to the new cafeteria, where they were fed and given certificates of completion for the conference, before heading home on buses or moto taxis. By the time the team sat down for lunch it was 3pm, so we ate and had a small break before we started setting up the clinic. During our evening meeting, we all shared in the success of the conference, and the incredible feedback we received from the medical community. Tomorrow, we will go to church in a nearby community, and open the clinic at 2pm. A half day of clinics will allow us to work the kinks out before Monday morning. No word on our sick little boy, but we are all hopeful.

Degaje pa peche. Coping (improvisation) is not a sin.