Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday

Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday

Monday was graduation day for our patients from last week. We did the group walk, exercises, and rugged terrain ambulation. Then the bon bon lady came and we bought bon bons for everyone to celebrate being done and the graduation of many of our patients. Certificates and gold medals were issued. Photos were taken and it was a festive day. Our new group of patients arrived on Tuesday and we did evaluations and education sessions and then our therapy sessions began. After some collaborative work tweaking things to get the sockets and legs fit, we were off traversing the rugged terrain which represents the rugged terrain that Haitians must traverse in their everyday lives. I also called the materials man at Hopital Albert Schweitzer to see if I could get a few planks to build a small bridge to better simulate conditions that Haitians must navigate in their daily activities. After our trip on Sunday to Le Petite Riviere, it was clear we need to do more challenging gait training with our patients! We do challenge them by asking them to navigate obstacle courses, ramps, stairs, and the rugged terrain around the clinic. Yet we need to do much more!

On Wednesday, the Israeli team from General Hospital in Port Au Prince came with 8 – 10 patients. It was great fun to share ideas across nationalities. The Israeli team comes here with their patients when they have no prosthetists. We have been invited to bring our patients to General Hospital in Port Au Prince when we have no prosthetists at Hanger in late November and December. It is pure reciprocity. The therapist and physician have invited me to come to Israel for 3 weeks in the future to learn about their system. I wonder how I can work that into scholarly activities!? The Israeli team needed some crutches and canes which we happily provided. The Israeli physician spoke about what wonderful collaboration we have and the wonderful character of people who come to Haiti to serve the people. He said it is a true life of virtuous reciprocity where we all provide for each others’ needs. The physician also shared his story of growing up in the Holy Land. He shared how much progress has been made in Israel in the last 50 years and how lucky he was to witness that as he grew up. He shared that Mark Twain wrote about what a desolate place Israel was back about 150 years ago. Twain described the land as desolate and barren and felt nothing productive would ever come from this part of the world. The Israeli physician said that it was incredible to see Israel now with its beauty and lush plants. It is truly a Holy Land. Seeing the change in his own country gives him hope for Haiti and its possibilities. Yesterday was an amazing and fun day.

Wednesday afternoon, Clair and I learned from our patients that there was no water in L’Escale. The patients were looking for buckets to bring back water with them. Apparently, someone had come by and stolen the buckets to the water filter systems in each house. The filters (which were more valuable in some minds were left behind.) It took a long time for us to get the problem resolved. We did get it resolved! Earlier one of our patients asked to bring a broom back to L’Escale so he could sweep the shower area. He felt it was unsafe and dirty. What a productive and take-action man!

We again spent time in the pool with the new team members to debrief. Then it was dinner and off to do an interview for the Physicians for Peace photographer. Finally, I made it to the library in time for a storm to blow in knocking out our internet. I then ran out of minutes on my new Haitian cell phone – as calling the US is quite expensive! It is much better to get calls from the US! Life in Haiti is beautifully hard with nothing easily done.

Shaun, our director is always so busy coordinating many things. I hope we can relieve some of his worries. He jokingly asked me when St. Kate’s will open their Haitian campus here! My mind is racing with possibilities! He has planted the seeds so we will see what happens!