Tent Cities

There are over 800,000 Haitians living in tent cities in the city of POP. Scabies and fungal infections are very common as well as bacterial infections. The kids are beautiful and very friendly.

Miami Dade Hospital

These are pictures from the hospital that was set up after the quake. There are lots of military officers from all over the world and relief organizations posts. Helicopters and crates of food and supplies. This is where we took both of the baby girls.

Clinic on Tuesday

Tuesday I was back at the clinic. I don't know if I will go to the camps or not. The people that come to the clinic are so sweet and beautiful. The people at the camps are from closer to the city. When you work at the camps, if you have to use the restroom, you have to just squat at the side of the bus and ask someone to hold up a sheet. It is hard to imagine living like that day after day.
What impressed me today was how generous the people are to each other. I gave one of our translators a small tangerine in the pickup truck on the way home and he peeled it, saved the peeling in his backpack and began to eat it slowly. Then (this happens frequently) he saw a few women he knows walking and yelled at our driver to stop. He helped them get in to the truck and then shared his tangerine with them. I see that over and over. They share food a lot.

Another fun thing. Since the clinic is right next to the church and school, the children hang out there most of the day. After we get in to the back of the pickup, the children start piling on. The translators help them on and tell them where to sit and make sure they are all in. Then they hop on to the truck. Yesterday I counted and there were about 20 kids in the truck. They sit on your lap and smile and laugh. Then, when we get to the village we help them out of the truck. It is so different from the states. The children are so affectionate and happy.

Clinic at Chambrun

This morning we arrived at the clinic and many poeple were lined up waiting. There were only 2 medical people (me and a doctor) and two people to run the pharmacy. We each had a translator. The boy that helped me today was wonderful. His name is Mo. He was a University student and loves God! He is living in a tent and says he is not sleeping. He lays in bed thinking about how his life has changed and worries about his family. I would love to take him home and send him to school. He knows French, Spanish, Croele and English. He helped ask the women questions all day about very personal problems and was so gentle and sweet.
After we were there for only 15 minutes all of the sudden everyone was screaming and running out. The translators said it was an aftershock. The kids were crying and scared to death. I couldn't help but cry with them. I have never seen such fear.
So...we were busy all day and had to turn people away at the end of the day. The hardest part is that many children have stomach aches and when you ask them when they ate last they say yesterday sometime. Because the school is closed right now, the kids do not get a meal every day. And there is nothing we can do about that. We cannot give out food because there would be a riot. We can only give worm medicine and Zantac for stomach aches. They really need food.
The school cannot open until the government says they can. The pastor thinks they can open March 15th. Then the kids will get one meal a day.
Then a woman came in with a baby. They had been waiting for 4 hours and when she unwrapped the baby I gasped. This baby was skin and bones. She was a month old and I didn't think she was alive. Her mom died at birth and her dad's girlfriend was caring for the baby. We think she was neglecting her on purpose. They rushed her to Miami Dade and they did not want to keep her. I cannot imagine that she wil live.
So we saw 120 people between the 2 of us.
I have been riding in the back of a pickup truck every day. The roads are very bumpy, but the breeze is great.
One day down. 3 to go.
Don't have the energy to post a picture tonight.

Dashka

We took Dashka to the Miami Dade Hospital in POP today. She was at church and is not nursing well. Her mom finally agreed to stay but is reluctant to because she has a 4 year old at home and a sick mom. Seeing the hospital was interesting. Looks like a Mash episode. All of the people are in one big tent.
We also toured the city today. The pastor said there is 800,000 people living in the camps living under sheets. There are some portable toilets but not enough. The smell there is terrible!! There were people with tubs and water and soap just washing in street.
I will be at the clinic in Chambrun tomorrow. I may go to the camps on Tuesday but will wait and see. I like the environment in the clinic. You have more time to spend with people and hear their stories. The kids are so affectionate. They just walk up and hold your hand.
Dashka's mom asked if one of us would adopt her. If she goes home tomorrow like her mom wants her to, I will see her at the clinic tomorrow. I will be the only nurse at the clinic because they need a lot more people at the camps. The doctor wants me to teach mom how to insert an NG tube if she is not nursing well. I know how to do that!

Beautiful Flamande

We went to church in Chambrun today at Pastor Pierre's church. After about 10 minutes, I decided to stand in the back since the church was getting very crowded. When I got to the back of the church, I saw this baby and her mom come in. I saw her mom in the clinic yesterday but she didn't have the baby with her. I saw the baby on a blog before the trip. I asked her mom if I could hold her and she said yes. I sat and cried like a baby holding and rocking her for 3 hours. (yes, church lasts that long here and everyone sits on wood benches) I felt like Joey was there with us and told her that she would be seeing him soon. Her mom told me after church-through an interpreter- that nothing can be done for her. She carries the baby everywhere and she is so heavy. Her head must be 10 pounds. She is one year old and cannot move her legs. She did not seem to track with her eyes, so I don't think she can see. I asked her mom if she had a buggy or a seat to put her in. She said she does not and carries her to church. She lives approx. 2 miles away. At home she lays on a bed but sometimes rolls off on to the floor. I would like to send a stroller with a big wheel on the front that can roll easily on the rocks. I think I can send the stroller with the second team. The pastor told me that this stroller would improve she and her mom's life in a huge way. It was so great for me to see her mom able to worship and raise her hands while I held the baby. Mom said that she does not have help with her and has another child at home. The people in her village are kind, but do not help with her.

A DPC (displaced persons camp)

There are many of these camps all over Haiti. My translator, Marcus, is a 22year old university student. Now the university is not functioning and his family is living in a camp. He described the camp to me and told me about his dreams for the future. He is from a poor family but they did have a house before the earthquake. The people in the camp put their money together and buy food and share it. They meet to pray each morning. They shower by dumping water on their heads.