Patient Tsunami - the team

There was a time change in Haiti yesterday but few people seemed to know about it. Our team is “Haitian” enough that we slept in a bit and had to wait for the men even longer  to join us on the roof.  We had no air conditioning last night so our sleeps weren’t the best but we were happy to open the clinic for what proved to be the “tsunami” of patients.

Shuttle service to Petit Goave for lab and xrays.

Last patients - tired staff !

      
 


We didn’t mention that we got to tour the BlikeBrit orphanage on Saturday. It is a new orphanage that opened last October and was built in memory of a 19 year old girl that was killed in the earthquake. 





                           


                     Monique lovin' on the kids!

Dave also gets smiles!

Elva was delighted to get to visit her little sponsor girl in her home. 
She took some clothes, shoes and toys. Stephanie was receptive and full of smiles.

  

Thanks to 

JB Printing, Trenton, ON, 

Haiti ARISE now has new signs that are being assembled on site with the oversight of Teresa.

On the edge of town is the fishing village, a picturesque spot.

Taking a breather at days end.

Ceiligh can't get enough of the kids.

This ones for you Mom.... we love you.

Just relaxing - with Austin Honorat.  

Dakota giving out clothes.

Lynnise with her student nurse interpreter. Now this is clinical experience!

Nothing like fresh lobster cooked on hot coals on the beach.

Called to fix a glitch in the dental room.

This is the Day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice in it!

This truly has been a special Sunday in Haiti – we went to church today and when I was returning to my seat after giving offering – here steps my little David out of the pew! Elva,Teresa and I visited my sponsor childs home Saturday afternoon – we took and interpreter with us and away into the village we went to find his home. We soon found his home where he and his gramma live – a brand new house built by a “blanc woman”. Gramma had moved in a year ago – the home was immaculate – lace drapery everywhere, clean floors and full set of bedding including a pillow .

 

We came unannounced but that didn`t stop her from the showing full hospitality by providing seating for all of us. David is nearing 4 years old. He spent the entire visit sitting in my lap with the biggest smile on his face! He definitely knew who I was and called me by name – that was so special. I had brought new church clothes for him along with a new Roughrider shirt and 2 new John Deere tractors and a picture of my family . We asked them to come to church on Sunday but we had no guarantee. So this morning when David came bounding out of the pew I was never so pleased – he sat on my knee for the entire 2 hours – at times cuddling, playing with my necklace or just looking at me – how could you not love a child like this.

David is very healthy and attending school now at Haiti Arise – my sponsorship of $35 per month is so worth it when you   can see the changes and how much better a life he has now from the time I received him as a baby. David will be coming to clinic in the morning for a checkup also.

We went to the beach after lunch – a 15 minute walk no longer through a goat pasture – houses now dot the landscape – “roads”have been named ,cinderblock walls have been erected – the path has changed  over the past year…but the day at the beach was a special one for five of us. 

Today we were baptized in the Haitian waters by our pastors! My life changed  4 years ago here in Haiti when I accepted the Lord under the mango tree with Pastor Marc – I have since continued to return annually to this special country ffor a medical mission and felt  I was now ready for this next step….what a blessed time standing in the caribbean waters! 

We celebrated our special Sunday with a lobster roast and plantain.

A great day was spent by all – lots of rest, visiting and soaking up the sun because next Sunday we will be back in the snowbank! 

Lynnise

Rooftop

One of our fondest memories of HAITI is the “rooftop”. In the early morning quiet, sound carries and one can clearly hear the many roosters all around HAITI also waking up and announcing the start of day, a cow or 2 mooing close by, and the chirping sounds of many species of birds living in the many green, tall, overflowing mango trees. In the evening, as the sun sets behind the mountain and dusk arrives, all quiets down, chatting groups of people slowly disperse, then one gradually becomes aware of crickets starting up in a harmonious choir. Worship songs from the church close by fill the air and the lamenting melodies leave us breathless.

 



morning meeting

evening meeting

The rooftop is the hurricane resistant concrete roof of the main building and popular gathering place for the many visiting NGO groups. It allows a narrow view of the lawn in front of the main building, stretching to the technical school building. Otherwise one is facing the beautiful mango trees, all around the main building, with the branches heavy with ripening mangoes, and foliage full, large and content, and large banana trees on the other side.

This is where we share highs and lows of the day, painful journeys and discuss business. It is also here where we crack jokes, play pranks and have our serious moments, quietly experiencing His grace and wonder.

Lynnise, Dr. Braam & Makenson, an interpreter 

The medical problems of the people we came to serve did not change much when compared to our experience in 2013. They still have fairly “standard” issues, for example poorly - or uncontrolled high blood pressure and diabetes, itchy, dry and/or tearing eyes, eyesight problems and abdominal pain or “acid”.  With all the eye problems facing this community, especially the elderly but also some young patients, we sincerely and sadly regret having had to call off the already sponsored eye surgery venture planned for this month due to technical difficulties.

We have seen a few interesting conditions, for example a gangrenous infection of a diabetic patient, which Lynnise expertly treated until it was clear he needed to be transferred for an amputation.

Diabetic patient with infected toe.

She was also involved with a 26 year old lady with a 4 year history of 8 cm open, weeping and offensive smelling ulcerations (sores) on both ankles and resistant to many treatments. Dr Alex Wong is an Infectious Disease specialist in Regina, and he kindly responded to texted photos of the ulcers, his impression was she likely has Buruli ulcers, from a bug called mycobacterium ulcerans, which may respond to TB treatment. We will follow her closely over the next few days and leave her with a definite treatment plan

Leg ulcers, being wrapped.

A Bartholin gland cyst which needed marsupialization, a parotid gland cyst and knee effusion required aspiration, a couple patients with lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) required cortisone infiltration. Elma washed and massaged the feet and legs of a crying, praying and hurting elderly woman who touched all of us.




Surprisingly we did not see any patients with depression, or elderly with dementia. Dakota Burkowski, daughter of Elva`s neighbour and future medical doctor, shadowed me and responded very well to the medical environment. We see a great future for this young lady.

I was honoured to teach Drs Fritz and Jacob to do ECG`s, as well as an introduction to do basic ECG interpretation. They are eager learners and I promised further assistance via email or fax.

We love each of our Haiti team members, whom we know so well. Each member contributes generously and unselfishly their gifts to help these impoverished people to the best of their ability and in honour of God. Technical team members Martin and Rick fooled around with ¼ inch steel plates and produced a very fine looking and efficacious incinerator.

We were blessed to have Teresa again with us, and were once again humbled by her challenging journey, always smiling despite unstable physical health. Mike, we missed you.

We were also blessed to meet Dennis Dodds, our dentist, who answered the call and under challenging circumstances dealt with a tsunami of dental issues. Ceiligh, his daughter, always dancing and singing, gravitated towards the children and babies, comforting them.

It was also great to see Roy Ralph, engineer, again. He is a humble soul with much wisdom and many stories from all his experiences.

 

The coordinator of agriculture of Haiti Arise, Laurens and Louisa van Vliet, a Dutch-Canadian couple, was introduced to us. We became good friends, sharing Dutch coffee after supper, and many stories of interest to both of us. We hope, God willing, that we will be able to continue our friendship.



Clinic days always start with a song and prayer

We realize the assistance we offer is a droplet compared to what is needed for change, but we are comforted and optimistic seeing a real change in the clinic since Leah became administrator / pharmacist. She does an excellent job, and with Drs Jacob and Fritz attending currently 3 days per week. We are encouraged that the medical service will go on and grow, and donors` funds will be appropriately applied.  Written by Dr. Braam and Elma.

First Week in the Books

We've had a great first half of our trip.  Many memorable experiences and renewed friendships.  Pharmacy work is going very smoothly.  Our team has all pitched in to help pre-package various prescriptions.  Teresa's time saving "icing" ointment bag was very helpful in filling the triple cream vials.

 

 

The air conditioner in the pharmacy (a new feature to us) has been a real blessing though not 100% reliable.  Our interpreter, Scherlie, is a real gem.  A second-year pharmacy student, she is a quick study and one of the friendliest people we have ever met.  Leah, the Pharmacist and clinic administrator, has not been working with us the whole time, but has been a great help clarifying challenging prescriptions when we are stuck.  She seems to appreciate the work we are doing.

 

 

 

The pace this year has been very steady, but with the two Haitian pharmacy staff sharing the work, it allows us to circulate a bit more than last year and see what our co-workers are doing.  However, our dental team wasn't terribly fond of our attempt to bring relief from the heat with Haitian ice-cubes (water in a tray). 

 

The other mission team, from California, has been working on a variety of tasks including painting the school, playground equipment and fence.  The transformation has been remarkable.

 

Panoramic of the newly painted school

 

Saturday brought a tour of the community in the van.  With Pastor Wade driving we experienced a much more relaxing journey - except on the steep hill leading to an orphanage!  We look forward to a visit next Wed to the Petit Goave hospital.  We've heard it's a real eye opener.

 

View from Be Like Brit Orphanage

 

Some of the interesting Haiti-isms we've encountered thus far include...

• Cold showers, but not quite as intolerable as we remember them.
• Spicy peanut butter (the cooks add habanero peppers to it!)  Sure glad we brought our own!
• Yes, biohazard buns are back (delivered in biohazard bags), and they are still delicious.
• Chickens eating mangos.  Thankfully, mangos are also starting to be part of our menu!
• Interesting English T-shirt logos worn by unsuspecting Haitians.
• Tires don’t seem to need tread.
• Buying drugs from a street vendor (mobile pharmacy).  The Amoxicillin seemed to be good quality, but a bit pricy.  We just chalked it up to the dispensing fee!
• Oh, and this time we have been on a Caribbean island for 8 days before spending a single day at the beach.

Check out the spare tire

Dave's "dealer"

 

Please continue to comment on the blog.  Rest assured, as we gather for our evening debriefings we review each and every one with eager anticipation and interest.  Thanks!
Dave & Monique

 

Meanwhile at the Clinic....

Dr Dennis, our dentist, is being appreciated by many patients. He has a gentle and compassion manner. We were surprised to learn that the Haitians believe that sucking on sugarcane makes their teeth strong. They were shocked to learn that sugarcane contributed to tooth decay!

Many hands caring for the patients.

Lack of good dental care is evident in many mouths. The black spots
 are roots that needed digging out as the tooth had rotted off. Despite
 freezing it was enough to make grown men groan.

Dr Dennis doing triage to see who gets the next seat in his chair.
The rest have to come back on Monday.

The Canadian component of the Medical Team. We have become a tight knit team!



Dr Fritz successfully completes his first ECG under the watchful eye of Dr Braam.

Thanks to Gramma Collins in Canada, this Gramma in Haiti
 is pleased with a new bag that has so many uses!

Great interdepartmental relationships! This gift came to the Dental team from the Pharmacy

Our teens are being stretched with new adventure

Our first referral for a CXR. Olrich, one of our translators took her to Petit Goave.

This young lady  has been battling leg ulcers for a number of years. \

She will be coming back for IV treatment and dressing changes every 8 hrs until we leave

She will need many months of ongoing treatment.





 

This is one of 3 ulcers that are similar in size and appearance on her lower legs.



We are ready for a couple days of new adventure as the team wont be working in the clinic until Monday. We have had a great week that has stretched us. The Haiti ARISE clinic already has a great reputation and we are seeing pts from as far away as Port au Prince. That may only be about 20 miles, but it is a a 2 - 3 hour drive on a good day!

 

Good night for now...Elva and Sharon