Haiti part #3

Haiti part 3   March 7^th, 2015

We left the CAM base about 9:30 Sat morning.  We heard it was a ruff ride to LaSource, but I wasn’t prepared. 

Homes

A typical site to see someone walking with a 5 gallon bucket on their head

First it was about 2 hours on crazy Haitian roads.  Like through markets and traffic, with giant trucks getting so close to you that they bump your mirror (literally), where at times I had to close my eyes because it was so scary!  Then when you finally get to an area that you’re not creeping along, they have these giant speed bumps in the middle in the hwy.  They are actually called “sleeping policeman”  (translated)

So after about 2 hours on those crazy roads we got to the dirt road.  Again I would describe it as a dried up river bed, but the funny thing is we crossed 2 dried up river beds while we drove and they seemed a lot smoother then what we were driving on, LOL! The rocks jutting out, the dips and constant bumping up and down.  Monica was next to the door and was getting so bruised up by bumping the door that she finally curled up on my lap.  Besides being so horribly bumpy, it was windy and up hill, so it was easy to get nauseated too.  So you can handle a road like this for 30 min or so, but 3 and half hours of it!  We were comparing it to labor!  LOL

There were some beautiful views too, as we were driving by the ocean.  As we climbed higher their were still huts every so often, but not constant.  Children outside waiving.  When you finally got to LaSource (pronounced La Susz) you couldn’t tell it was a village except for a covered shelter for a market. The government started to build this shelter for the community and never finished it.  When there was a Cholera epidemic a few yrs ago, CAM needed a shelter to make into a Cholera clinic.  So they offered to finish the roof and cement work if they could use it.  They put blue tarps on the side and used it until the epidemic was under control.  Now the community has a nice place for a market.

There is also a church, school and clinic here ran by CAM. Monica and I will be working in the clinic this week. 

We had a nice dinner with the missionary families.  They made homemade pizza for us and after dinner the kids all went on a tarantula hunt.  Sure enough they came back with one and all the kids were passing it around, letting it walk all over their hands.

 

One of the families is trying to adopt.  They have 2 beautiful little girls.  One they were given in December.  Her Dad came to the clinic and wanted to give her away.  The mom had been gone for a long time.  They tried to fix the problems, but in the end this couple is going to adopt her.  The only problem is the Haitian government makes it very hard to adopt here.  They have strange rules and they change all the time.  Like you have to be 30 yrs old and married for 5 yrs.  Then they changed it to having to be married for 10 yrs.  I hear it ‘s very common for people to ask you to take their babies.  They probably want a better life for the children then they have. This little girl, the dad had no idea how old she was.  He said,” I remember she was born on a Wed in Sept”.  Because of malnutrition it’s very difficult to guess.  So she could be anywhere from 5 yrs old to 10 yrs old.  She did just loose a tooth, so that gives a little bit of an idea.

This morning we went to the church meeting.  There were about 100 people there and Haitians sing nice and loud. Someone translated for us as the Haitian preacher spoke a great sermon on love.

The church building has no screens or glass windows, just open holes.  No fans, just wooden benches.  One 75 yr old man had come on a donkey.  If he had walked it would have been 2.5 hours, but today he had a ride on the donkey. 

Monday:

Went to sleep last night knowing there was a Gecko in my bedroom.  They seem to be afraid of people too, but it’s not very consoling when you hear something moving around in the bedroom with you!

This is the house we stayed at in LaSorce.  The cabinets are made from a fiber board that the termites can't eat.

They hang this to keep food from ants

Got our tour of the clinic this morning.  It is a very well organized clinic.  I like how they spend so much time with each patient.

This is the "pharmacy"  After we see the patient we send them to the pharmacy to get their vitamins, protein powder or medicines.

Monica dividing pills into little bags for distribution

This little girl had a common skin issue.  It destroys the hair too.

They grind the beans and rice together before they give it out.  This way they get complete nutrition.  Otherwise they will cook the beans and throw away the skins where there is a lot of nutrition.

Thankfully it's treatable.

 One little girl today was brought in by her father.  The mother died of HIV when the baby was 18 mos old.  She did contract HIV from the mother before she died.  So the little girl has been on the HIV program getting medication and food.  She looked very healthy and happy.  They have a 12.5 mile walk to come to the clinic, so they start early in the morning to get there.  The nurse said they might have a donkey to help them get there. 

The world health organization used to recomend for the HIV positive moms not to nurse their babies because they can rarely get HIV from the breast milk.  But now they realized more babies died without breast milk, as they would be fed unclean water and end up with cholera or malnutrition.  So being it’s a small percentage that actually get HIV from breast milk, chances are better for the babies if they continue to get breast milk.

Another typical Haitian lunch