Friday - Our Final Full Day in Haiti

On Friday we left our guest house Hopital Saint Croix in Leogane and split into two groups. Joan Liverpool,  Gwen Dean, Wendy Schwartz, and Steve Steinberg chose to  spend the night in Port au Prince to be ready for early boarding at the airport. The rest of the group went on to a beachside location at Montrouis for their final night. Traveling in Port au Prince was difficult and time consuming.  Along with the seemingly endless tent cities the goods for sale in the open markets did not seem very tempting.  At one point we passed fruit sellers standing almost knee deep in muddy water.  They actually used the dirty water to wash off their fruit.


Was the trip worth it?  It is my hope that each and every one of our participants will post their own comments, detailing their personal experience and impressions.  From this bloggers' point of view, it was a bit tougher to deal with than I had anticipated, but truly rewarding in many ways, most especially through meeting a really wonderful group of people, ready and willing to offer their time and efforts and professionalism to help people who are clearly in desperate need. If the occasion presents itself, I would be honored to join all of you for a similar effort at another time.

Pictures From Our Last Full Day - Just Before The Outbreak Of Cholera in Haiti

Among those to whom we bid farewell this day, Pete Ferris, manager of the guest house where we stayed.

Jeannine and the rest of the guest house's wonderful kitchen staff.

One of the many tent villages we passed on our way to Port au Prince.

The Haitian capital after a night of rainfall.  The cholera epidemic now plaguing the country could hardly have been a surprise.

Another street scene in Port au Prince.

What had been the Episcopal Cathedral.

Working conditions in the capital.

No easy work day for this fellow.

View from the bus taking part of the staff to the village of  Montrouis for their final night.

This is the last of our photos in the blog.  We all owe Vicki Madsen a vote of thanks for the marvelous job that she did.

Editors Note. Frequently asked questions:

Why aren't there more pictures of me?  There very well may be, and if you contact Vicki at vickimadsen@comcast.net she just may find and send you whatever she has.  This is the only frequently asked questton I can think of right now.

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Pictures From St. Joseph's Clinic - Day 2

The view from the hillside on our way up to the church.

Joan with interpreter interviewing a patient.

Our staff of interpreters.

Pere Delicat with shoes.

Patients outside the lean-to portion of our work space.

I'm hungry!

Twins!

Wendy with interpreter interviewing a patient.

This lucky girl got both a doll and a Teddy!

(this photo came from Terry Franzen)

One of two creeks that had to be crossed to reach St. Joseph's from below.

Time to click on "Older Posts" again.

St. Joseph's Clinic - Day 2

Our second day of  running a clinic at St. Joseph's was generally much like the first, except that Dr. Rudi Richime was replaced by his brother, Dr. Rolf Richime.  We started running out of a few medications today, but Steve Franzen, who did a superb job of organizing and running the pharmacy, said he finally felt like he had everything quite precisely in place.  On this final day of work, we saw the largest number of patients to date, a total of 200.  This made a grand total of  510 patients treated during our entire Haiti mission.

The Clinic At St. Joseph's

On Wednesday we returned to St. Joseph's of Arimethea at Jasmin, the church where the group worshipped on Sunday, for our second mobile clinic day.  While one never sees a buiding in the part of Haiti we visited without some evidence of earthquake damage, it seemed clear that St. Joseph's had undergone a great deal more structural damage than the Episcopal Mission at Gressier where we worked the previous day.  We had to put up a leanto shelter over some of the area where we worked to guard against rainfall. We were a bit better organized following our experience the day before.  Dr. Pezey decided we would be available to everyone who appeared for examination, regardless of the hour. We saw a total of 185 patients before shutting down. There was also a welcome conclusion to our day's work.  Our transportation today got us down the precarious hill that served as the first leg of our journey back to our guest quarters!  At last report, Pere Delicat was still searching for a spare tire for his Land Rover. 

Pictures From The Clinic At St. Joseph's

                                                  Part of the waiting line.

                                Haitian student nurse checks blood pressure.

                          Dr. Dianne at work outside the rear of the building.

                                                      Another Patient.

                                        Daphne with her interpreter, Peter.

Karen at the pharmacy.

                                                                     

                                                   More patients waiting.

                                                 She likes her new doll.

                                        With her bag of gifts and medications.

                                     Terry receives a gift from one of the patients.

                                                       Walking home.

Our First Clinic

On Tuesday the l2th of October, we packed all our boxes into a flat bed truck and set out with Pere Delicat for Saint Philippe and Saint Jacques Episcopal Mission in Gressier. There were a number of people already waiting as we arrived and the waiting list grew as the day proceeded. After setting out the medications in the part of the church we were using as a pharmacy, we were ready to begin.  The general procedure was that patients would see Dr. Pizey, Dr. Dean, or Dr. Richime who would prescribe medication or send the person to Leslie Freeman for urinalysis, glucose or pregnancy testing, or send them for an eyeglass fitting if appropriate.  After filling their prescription in the pharmacy, the patient would be released.  Many of our patients had never been examined by a doctor before in their lives.  None of the eye glass recipients had ever owned a pair of glasses.  It was heartwarming to hear one women say "Now I will be able to read my bible again."  On this first day of our clinic, we saw a total of 125 patients. The family that lived in the house across the street from the church was kind enough to feed all of us at the end of our working day.

Pictures Of Our First Mobile Clinic Day

Our whole team, Vicki is in there too, on the far left, just before setting out for Gressier.

        Patients waiting. That's Wendy in the center. collecting information.

                                          Dr. Dianne with a patient.

                                        Leslie finding the proper eyeglasses.

                This prospective patient has already received a teddy bear.

Dr. Gwen examines a patient with her gift doll in hand.

                                                                                 

Dr. Rudi on the job.

                                                      
      

Steve and Daphne.

Two Steves and Two Student Nurses

                                                                                    
                                                                              
                                                                                 

                                      Being a patient requires patience.

     Also posing for our camera today, a teacher with some of his students.

Pictures Of Prep Day

           Vicki shoots some pictures of our staff at work.

                                                 Wendy sorting eyeglasses.

          Leslie working with medicines. That's Dianne, of course, on the right.

                        Steve using a pill cutter to create some half doses.

                        That's Dr. Rudi Richeme (Ree-sheh-may') on the right.

Terry teaching rug making in the Hopital's Chapel. Valery is her translator. Twenty Two people showed up to take the course.

                                          Working on a design for a rug.

And while we are all at work, here is what is going on outside. Notice the ever prevalent "tent city" in the background.

Editor's Note: Click on "Older Posts" below to continue in chronological order.  Don't ask me why it works that way.  It just does!

A Prayer

The following is a prayer that many of the group requested be included in the blog.

This is the prayer that Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Chair of the United Nations Commission that drafted the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, recited at bedtime every night of her adult life.

Our Father, who has set a restlessness in our hearts
And made us all seekers after that which we can never fully find,
Forbid us to be satisfied with what we make of life.
Draw us from base content to set our eyes on far-off goals.
Keep us at tasks too hard for us
That we may be driven to Thee for strength.
Deliver us from fretfulness and self-pitying;
Make us sure of the good we cannot see
And of the hidden good in the world.
Open our eyes to simple beauty all around us
And our hearts to the loveliness men hide from us
Because we do not try to understand them.
Save us from ourselves and show us a vision of a world made new.
Amen.

Getting Ready --- Preparations For Our Mobile Clinic

Monday was a very busy day. After an initial meeting in which we discussed just who would be doing what, we all gathered in our guest quarters' dining room for the task of dividing up the medications we had with us into prescription-sized doses, then boxing them along with other items we had on hand, including vitamins, eyeglasses, carrying bags, and dolls for the children. The bulk of our medicine was purchased in Minnesota and Haiti.  From Georgia came vitamins, an antibiotic, tums, soap, tooth brushes and tooth paste, clothes, bags, shoes and dolls. Everyone participated in the arduous task of sorting and dividing all this up, including Dr. Richime. There was also a box of rug supplies.  Terry Franzen gave a one day course in rug-making during the course of the day. 

Minneapolitans Arrive!

Delayed one day by airline problems, our Minneapolis contingent is now with us!
Members, all from St. John's Episcopal Chuch,  are Dr. Dianne Pizey, Pediatrician, organizer, on her 9th trip to Haiti, Kate MacKinnon, also of St. John's, attorney, helper in Pharmacy, and Victoria Madsen, photographer and pharmacy helper.

Also joining us on Sunday, a distinguished member of the Native Haitian medical community. Dr. Rudolph Richime is quite young and quite modest but a major figure in Haiti's recovery in the field of orthopedic surgery. Although his  official status at the time of the earthquake was resident in orthopedics, he basciallly took over orthopedic surgery at the Hopital Lumier in the town of Bonne Finne in the Cayes region of Southwest Haiti, one of the areas spared by the quake where masses of victims went for treatment. Dr. Rudi has been extremely active in helping American physicians get involved in assisting the recovery. His new title is Orthopedic Surgeon For Various Surgical Teams Coming To Haiti From The United States.

The main event for those of us already on the scene was attendance at Sunday services at St. Joseph of Arimathea Episcopal Church in Jasmin,  close to the site of the eartquake's epicenter. A spirited congregation of  young and old prayed and sang for well over three hours, and the sermon delivered by our Pere Delicat proved remarkably appropos. Pere Delicat's topic was the story of Jesus and the lepers taken from Luke.  The point, as Pere Delicat told us, is a message of special relevance to Haitians, that one should be grateful to God for what he does provide to us and not worry too much about what we might have wanted but did not receive.

This turned out also to be particularly relevant for our Haitian Companions group. We arrived at the church in a Toyota Land Rover after a 30 minute or so trip from Hopital St. Croix, the last part of the journey on a tortuous road up to the heights where the church is located.   When we emerged from the church we found our Land Rover had a flat tire.  It would have been nice if Our Lord had provided a spare tire and a jack, both of which we needed but didn't have.  That didn't happen, but what the Good Lord did provide was a level of communication and some friends of Pere Delicat through which we eventually got back to the Hopital St. Croix on the back of a flat bed truck!

Minneapolitans Get Their First View Of Port Au Prince Nine Months After The Earthquake

Here is the first group in a series of pictures provided to us by our Master Photojournalist Vicki Madsen.  This is what the Minnesota group saw as they were driven through Port au Prince on Sunday, October 10th, on their way to our living quarters in the Hopital Saint Croix in Leogane.

Note: You will get an enlarged view of each of these photos by simply clicking on the picture.

                       The Presidential Palace looked much as it did in January.

                                           More grim wreckage.

                                                    A view of the harbor.

                        A sample of the street scenes we saw as we drove by.

                        Day to day life for the less fortunate in Port au Prince.

                                          More wreckage.