Haiti

On January 26th, 2009 I boarded a plane to Africa, not knowing that exactly one year later to the day, I would be headed to Haiti.  It was almost surreal to be at the airport facing a new set of unknowns, and yet having this past year of experiences to reassure me that even in the unknown,  the Lord knows.

The adventure began almost immediately when I met up with the rest of our team, and we had a ratio of about 1 person to 5 oversized bags each.  We all breathed a sigh of relief as 3 amazing American Airlines employees came to our aid to help us repack and check all of our bags at no charge.  Everyone seemed to want to do whatever they could to help Haiti, and it was a refreshing start of the trip.  We then flew on a succession of planes and that ended up in to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic at about 11pm.  We were about 15 bags short (seems like a lot, but not too shabby considering the amount we checked), but thankfully we found all our team members, including my friend Jana from the ship, and headed to the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) base to get a couple hours sleep before leaving for Haiti at 4am.

The next day was spent driving from the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  We were all eager to get there and start working, but by the time we arrived at the orphanage where we were staying, it was too late for all of us to get out to the city.  So a group of about 6 headed out to  check things out, and I stayed behind with the rest of the team to set up camp.  Over the next week and a half I was continually grateful to have this orphanage to come back to in the evenings.  It was situated on the outskirts of the city, and was not damaged too badly in the earthquake, and was a great place to come to after working in disaster areas during the day.
That afternoon I had time to sit and think and pray before beginning the relief work.  As I sat there, my thoughts were continually interrupted by constant taking off and landing of military airplanes at the Port-au-Prince airport, which was very close by.  It was a strange feeling to be sitting in an untouched area, and yet hear the reminders of the relief that was going on all around me.  What I found out shortly thereafter was that I was only about 100 meters from some of the youngest victims of the earthquake.  The orphanage where we stayed had opened their chapel area to house and nurse post-operative children from the Navy hospital ship that was docked in the port.  I walked in that evening to see over 20 kids who had been crushed, trapped, or severely injured in the earthquake, who were now smiling and greeting me in the warm way that seems to embody the Haitian people.
Many of those kids had injuries that will heal by the time the casts come off, but there are some who don’t have that luxury, and those kids are the ones that I think I’ll always remember.  Christelle was one in particular.  She’s an outgoing teenager who immediately starts trying to teach you Creole when you walk in.  She lost a leg in the earthquake, but also lost both of her parents.  Most of the kids had at least one relative with them, but she had no one.  I don’t know what will happen to her, but my heart breaks for her and all the other kids who have lost so much in this tragedy.
After spending some time with the kids, we headed off for an early bedtime.  The next morning a few of our team members, including Jana who is a physical therapist, headed off to a field hospital where they could use their specialty best.  The rest of us drove across town, past the rubble, tent cities, and long lines of Haitians at the Western Unions, to a clinic that the prior team had established across from the President’s palace.

The clinic was set up at the national police headquarters a couple of days after the earthquake by volunteers from YWAM’s Dominican Republic base.  The first weeks they were overrun with patients,  but by the time we arrived, things were a little more under control.  We jumped right in seeing patients, many of whom had wounds that needed daily dressings from the earthquake.  The clinic even had an area used as a minor operating room.  The table was actually the national police chief’s desk.  I spent the next few days seeing patients all day, and we usually saw about 600 patients in any given day.  The first few days it was mostly earthquake related problems, and a large amount of post traumatic stress symptoms.

The amount of people affected by the earthquake was just overwhelming.  Every person I talked to had lost their homes, and were living on the street with no clean water, no privacy, and no idea what might be next.  The look on many of their faces was one of shock and just a numb sadness.  They would come in with a headache, but once you asked, they would tell you that they lost a sister or brother, or mother, not to mention countless friends during the earthquake.  Many people just needed someone to share with, and someone to pray with them, and I’m glad I could be there for that.

It became apparent after a few days though, that the minor acute health issues associated with the earthquake were improving, as we noticed a decrease in the amount of wound care, and an increase in the amount of primary care issues.  Our clinic was not set up for long term primary care, so we decided to take some mobile clinics out in to the harder hit areas and care for people there as well.  Unfortunately we found that mobile clinics could be very hit and miss as far as their effectiveness.  So those days became frustrating for much of our team, because we could see need all around us, but were unable to meet the need.  I have found out since from talking to others in disaster areas that organization and distribution are always the most difficult tasks in disaster situations, and that was also the case in Haiti.

As we continued to try new things, and continued to have more teams arrive for help, we decided that a couple of us would go help at the field hospital where a part of our team had been since the first day.  Another PA named Patti and I headed over there, and spent the next couple days doing a large amount of wound care, and even running one of the ward’s pharmacies at certain times.  It was good to see another aspect of the relief effort, but also difficult, because some of the severely injured patients had ended up there.  I had one patient who was in his 20′s and was trapped under the rubble for three days only to be discovered alive on the way to the morgue.  He had a spinal cord injury and was now a quadriplegic.  He was getting the best care possible at this hospital, but at some point he will have to leave the hospital, but where could he go?  There are so many patients like this young man, who’s lives have been completely altered, and at this point there is no good solution to how they will be taken care of.  If you stop to think about it, the situation becomes quickly overwhelming, but I think I’ve learned a little from the Haitian’s attitude, that you have to start by taking one step at a time.

We ended our time there with another bus ride back to the Dominican Republic, and then said our goodbyes as people parted ways.  I am very thankful that I was able to go and give at least some physical and emotional support to a people that have been through so much.  It was difficult to be surrounded by such loss, and at times not feel like I was able to do enough.  But I think that part of that feeling is just that the Lord is not finished with me and Haiti.  So until the next time, I will continue to remember and pray for the people that I was able to serve.

Here are some pictures of my time..

View of the palace from the clinic

Massive tent city to the left of the palace

National police chief’s desk turned in to an OR table

A 2 week old that had been left at the orphanage by his mother the day that we arrived. They named him Kevin, and one of the volunteers is hoping to adopt him.

Triage area of the clinic- each sun chair on the right was a space for a patient.

Another truck bringing more supplies

One of the many tent cities around the city. No electricity, no running water, and thousands of people in each one.

Mobile clinic. The table was our pharmacy and supplies area.

Loaded on the truck to go back to the orphanage!

Picture of University of Miami field hospital where I was the last couple of days. You can see a Nightline special on it here. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/er-haiti-9743136

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