Finally, my thoughts on Haiti

Finally, after being back for a month, I have time and brain power enough to relay my thoughts about the trip. I always have a hard time with it. Many things come to mind. I will lay them all out here.

First, a boy's life was save that may not have been if we weren't there. So thank you to all who contributed to the trip. Your contributions may have seemed small to you, but to this boy, it meant his life, to his mother it meant not having to endure more hardship without her son.

He was brought to us walking, the first time. I was pulled over to look at him due to my peds training as a nurse. He was able to walk, jump, all the things someone with an acute appendicitis should not be able to do. Also, his pain was not located to the right lower quadrant. After my assessment, and that of my new friend, Dr Dave, he was sent on his way with instructions that if the pain got worse or it was located over the right lower quadrant of his abdomen, that he was to be brought back to us. He was brought back. only about two hours later. Without a CT scan like we do here, we had the OR doctor come over. He did and agreed it was appendicitis.

This child would have, like most Haitian children with appendicitis, died at home. The appendix, when inflamed, causes the pain. Once burst, the pain subsides for a little while as the infection starts. Once the infection starts, it is very difficult to treat. Usually the patient gets septic and dies if not treated.

My thought is this: from a spiritual stand point, Jesus said that we will always have the poor amongst us. He also healed the sick, many times before they could hear what he had to say. Physical healing is just as important as spiritual in many ways. It shows compassion, it extends life, it gives hope. Even people who are not "spiritual" can touch another's life. When that happens, many doors of a heart can be opened. God could even use that person to give them hope, that they can trust others again. All I have to say is this: go out, listen to your heart, help others.
There is a reward in doing this. That reward is not physical. It cannot be held or seen. You cannot put it on an award shelf in your library. But it is in your heart, it WILL change you...for the better!

Others that were changed were many young boys with hernias, a young boy with an eye infection. He actually came through my line and I consulted with Jennifer, an ophthalmology assistant. He had an eye injury a little while before, maybe a month or so. Jen called her MD boss in Connecticut and barely caught him. He told her what to use. The atropine part, she paid for on her own in Cap Hatien from an ophthalmologist there. Pastor Withny made some calls and picked it up in town the next day. She had brought the antibiotics on her own, just in case. By the next day he could already see fingers while, the day before, he could only see hands waved in front of his face!

There were many things we just didn't have the time or ability to do. Luckily, where we were set up as a hospital, we met many people that were also there to help. The grounds/ buildings we used were owned/operated by the Baptist General Conference of Haiti. Supporting them, and with their own respite care compound, was Hospital Haiti Appeal. They are a group out of the UK. They had originally come to have a respite care, taking in children with disabilities, working with them and their families. We ended up using their outbuildings as post-op recovery rooms and they used the Surgical Building for spinal injury rehab, taking many patients from a hospital in Milot.

The hospital in Milot, Sacred Heart, operated by a group called CRUDEM, was quickly and by default, the best hospital in all of Haiti. They had a smallish hospital already there and quickly turned one of their buildings into a pediatrics ward. An open space was turned into a field hospital, full of Army tents. Before we left, a new helicopter was donated to them with a couple German pilots on loan as well. We ended up staying about 10 feet from that hospital. I went over a few times to the peds ward and spent time with the kids with amputations, broken bones, etc. All were from the earthquake area. I will always remember the "Mayor", a girl of five or six years, walking around like she owned the place with her tiny walker, soliciting smiles and laughs from all her constituents. Or the nurse from St Luis that was going around to all the kids at night, playing lullabies on her flute, being followed like the Pied Piper.

The Haitian people are beautiful. Their spirits are tough and giving. They deserve better than what lot they have been given. They need to grow from the inside. They need the ability to grow their own food, not being undercut by free or cheap rice, etc.. If you believe in Human Rights, Haiti cannot be ignored. Your neighbor that lost their job cannot be ignored either, don't get me wrong. The difference between your neighbor and the Haitian people is that your neighbor has a much better chance here in America then the people of Haiti do in Haiti. $100 to your neighbor is groceries for a week. $100 to a Haitian family is food for a few months. Which is the better investment?

I will always have great memories of the group I went with. I knew no one when I went. I was the only one from Idaho. There were people from Ohio, New York, Florida, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, and Nigeria.

Please e-mail or comment if you have questions. I am working on a presentation that I can give in various churches and organizations. Haiti must not slip out of the international spotlight or out of our hearts!

Thanks for reading,
Steve