Haitian Adventure

Today was a day of everything. My first patient was totally ortho so I got to manipulate a few things , massage a few things and needle a few  things. I have not done a whole lot of that since I got here since there have been so many wounds to see so it was a nice change of pace. I saw a ton of wounds ( of course!!), many infections, heartburn, crazy high blood pressures and a poor kiddo that had a prolapsed rectum that we referred to an American surgeon that’s is visiting this week. After clinic we had market day and then lots of ortho skills practice . 

The Gomez family lives at our clinic and takes care of the House year round. When we are here they make sure we have what we need, help run the clinic and makes sure the house is running smoothly. When STAND is not in session thhe family runs a clothing shop out of their home. Hi here are two Super cute kids, Cowens and Matsayda. They go to school during the day and hang out with us at night. Both kids love to hang out and play with us, but Cowens is much more outgoing and speaks better English. matsayda’s ebglish is getting much better , but she is still shy around the new volunteers. The kids love helping us in any way they can, especially when we are setting up the clinic. Matsayda also LOVES to play with my hair. She always tells me I have the loveliest hair she has ever seen😜 They have exams today, but then are on vacation for a bit so we will be seeing them a bit more than usual .

Another busy day for us in the clinic! I saw a few wound returnees as well as some new ones. I had a student with me today who was totally into the wounds which was great and she did several of the treatments herself. I also started to do a few basic screens for the gen med team. Mostly body itching and vaginal infections/ UTIs. I am getting very good at testing pee strips for UTIs!  At night we had our salsa lesson. Our usual teacher was there but he brought his friend. His friend is such a good dancer! Hopefully he comes out with us in Thursday 😜 WARNING.... WOUND PICTURE AHEAd!!!!!!

Haiti has the legit best sunsets I have every seen. Even on rainy days the sunsets are postcard worthy . Below are a few sunset pictures .

So many wounds today! Usually the first day is slow and it slowly picks up over the next few days, but today was nuts! I think I only saw 5 or 6 patients who were assigned to me. Everyone else I saw had ortho issues and a wound or rash people wanted me to take a look at. I also got to take a mosquito out of an ear ( legit the coolest thing) take out sutures, clean all kinds of gnarly wounds and manipulate and needle a few backs. Not bad for a days work! After clinic hours we went on a walk through town and to the beach. The beach is super fun. There is a CrossFit type gym with guys lifting with he worst forms , there is a bikini bar and a dance floor. This time there were some local kids hanging out and we got to watch a dance off. Pretty good start to the week! The pictures are of my interpreter , me being super excited I got a bug out of an ear, the bug and our fearless leaders on the beach.

Today was a nice relaxing day. We woke up leisurely ate breakfast( I took my morning nap!) and then hopped on a boat to head to Tortuga.now if you have followed my blog before you know how much I love this island and the beaches here. We had some engine tourblw with our boat so we stopped at a different beach this time. This beach was great! There were both shady and sunny spots and the water was just as clear as the usual beach. There were also cool rock formations and cave looking things ( pretty sure prirate treasure is buried there!) we swam, ate, sunned ourselves and had a good time! The best part was , at the end, we still did not have a working engine , so in true Haiti fashion, a random fisherman loaned as his engine and joined along for the ride ( we towed his boat behind ours) talk about teamwork! When we returns back we unpacked the rest of our supplies , had our welcome meeting and then off to bed! Great start to the week!

My aunt writes books on marketplaces in France and I promised I would post some pictures of the markets of Haiti! The markets are all very crowded and bustling with all kinds of people. From my vantage point in the bus I see a lot of bartering andgoods being exchanged. People sell everything from food to car parts and everything in between. Here are the pictures.

We have arrived safe and sound at the clinic! There are 25 volunteers . This time about 10 of us slept in baggage claim. I actually slept which is odd considering how loud the airport is . Th  flights were easy and we breezes through customs. Our bus was on time and we made great time... we got in before dark! I have never seen the city in the day before so it was a nice treat. The clinic looks great with a few new additions including an overhang in the porch. This means we can treat our there all day without baking in the sun or getting drenched by rain. More clinic space is always ideal!  Since we got in so early we had a nice leisurely dinner and unpacked most of the wound care supplies . My closet is full to the brim!

I can't believe that it is almost time to go back to Haiti and that this will be my fourth trip! I am so excited.... literally bouncing off the walls excited!! I have a guest room full of donations and the suitcases are out. There are a few more donations coming in so I have not packed yet (waiting until the last minute to pack..... yikes!), but I have started laying things out in order to organize that will go in what suitcase (there is an art to packing and I have not yet mastered it). Today I laid out all of my mosquito netting, sheets and clothes and sprayed them with Permethrin (no Zika or Malaria for me!) and are waiting for them to dry so I can load them into my backpack. I plan on packing all of my personal goods  (other than food and fluid toiletries)  in my backpacking backpack and all of the donations in a suitcase and 2 duffle bags. This is ideal so I can shove the duffle bags in the suitcase when I come home (makes things MUCH cheaper).  Have a mentioned that I am bey