We drove in the back of a large flatbed truck about 45 minutes through the streets of Port-au-Prince to the clinic site at Bel Air church. All the streets were 2 lanes with vary narrow medians, but that did not keep vehicles from attempting to pass on either side or motorcycles from driving down the middle of the street. The street conditions are poor; lots of potholes and sudden stops. The flatbed truck bed has sides that flip up and lock into place. If not we would have been in real danger of being thrown from the back of the truck.
Along the way everywhere there were people on the streets. Many were waiting in lines for banks to open, some were walking, and others were in makeshift tent homes and shops or just among the rubble. There were many folks selling produce, bottled beverages, clothing and other items. Many people were hauling large loads, often on their heads, much of which appeared to be scrap, I presume to be sold, or to be incorporated into many of the makeshift tent homes seen all along the route.
There are many small shops, some occupied and some not, but all damaged by the earthquake. Almost all construction other than the tents is cinder brick or cement. There are piles of rubble everywhere, and most of the gutters are filled with trash. There is some security present, some looked local, and some marked UN. The UN folks were the only white people I saw all day except for HHI volunteers and staff.
I learned from Calixt, the pastor, that Bel Air church is one of the largest in Haiti. The denomination is Nazarene. Calixt said prior to the quake there were often 1,000 in attendance over 2 sessions every Sunday. Those numbers are down considerably. In a semi-circle about 2 stories above the main chapel is a large hall open to the rest of the church. Along one wall is the pharmacy, along another are the clinic "rooms" and triage, and along a third is the waiting area.
I worked side by side next to Tom, a retired orthopedic surgeon from Allentown, PA. This is his third week in Haiti. Next to us is Louis, a young Haitian family practice doc.
Between the two of us we saw about 140 patients. It was busy, but everyone was seen. Patients line up at 8am, and those seen at the end of the day just wait. The younger and sicker patients are seen first. I had a child with hydrocephalus, and another with likely retinoblastoma, and a third infant, just 6 days old who was jaundiced, I suppose with ABO incompatibility. There are no confirmatory tests available, and only basic medicines. We refer complicated problems, such as the patients mentioned above to local hospitals, but usually they are no provisions to take care of them there either.
More posts to follow.
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| This child was my first patient in Haiti. This patient is 7 years old and according to her mother has had hydrocephalus for only a few months and stopped walking a few months ago as well. I'm no pediatrician, but I did not think this was supposed to happen. Could severe malnutrition had caused the sutures not to close when they should have? Could she have acquired a problem with her CSF circulation because of a CNS infection? I was unable to get this history from the mother. We sent them to a hospital. I hope they had some way of helping |
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| Loading up the flat-bed for our first day of clinic. From the left, Linda from Oklahoma, a former oncology nurse who now spends most of her time on medical missions, me, Taylord, one of our intrepretures, Nancy, an ER nurse who I work with at Overland Park, KS Regional Medical Center, Daine, a home health nurse from Allentown, PA, and Diane, who works cardiology at KU Med in Kansas City, KS. She got very car sick, and after this ride rode in the cab. |
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| HHI sign on the side of Bel Air church |
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| Two young friends were there to greet us outside the clinic every morning. They live in a tent across the street. |
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| Rubble where there once was a structure next to Bel Air church |
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