We have had an extremely busy few days. After our morning at Bobs, we were again being sent out on " strike " team clinics. This means we all pile into the transport and go out into a camp where they may have had a doctor recently or they may not. In these clinics Toni has been doing outreach community medicine for STD, yeast infections and general family issues. Scabies and fungal infections are also a huge problem. We see many people with full body pain since the earthquake and these patients Toni refers over to me to give them a general reflex biofeedback treatment. The results have been 100% successful within a 10 - 15 minute treatment using simple protocols.
The day before yesterday was our busiest so far because we were assigned to the ER at Pentionville Country Club run by the JPHRO organization......
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(change to the voice of Toni)
I walked into an actual emergency room setting with several beds and medications sites, as well as a larger pharmacy. There were highly competent PA's and nurse practitioners running the place. There was no physician overseeing patients that day, so my presence was extremely welcome. It was doubly welcomed when I arrived with my own crew and a few thousand condoms to pass out.
During the course of the day, I diagnosed cardiac angina, tuberculosis, sexual abuse, and six cases of carbon monoxide poisoning as five family members were brought in all unconscious. There was a delivery of a healthy baby and I had to run an a toddler down by "ambulance" to the University of Miami hospital for suspected aspiration.
There were several cases in between, infections, heat collapse etc.
The most remarkable issue was the family that suffered carbon monoxide poisoning as a nurse ran and reported to me while I was sitting in the mess hall, that all family members suffered from seizures and were unconscious or delirious but had decent oxygen levels on simple pulse oximetry machines.
Upon hearing that the family had been cooking and realizing we were having a torrential down pour, I assessed all as having carbon monoxide poisoning, they all came to with oxygen masks.
We eventually found a ride back to our camp around 9 pm, after working an 11 hour day and exhausted.
Another day awaits...
Friday, April 16, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The Internet cafe without coffee or internet
The access to internet on our compound has been limited at best, non existent often.
Helen and I have been frustrated that we could not work on our blog and check our emails. To make up for our frustration, we we've reciting lines from our favorite Australian television show; Kath and Kim.
As I complained about the internet issue along with waiting yet again to get out to our clinic for the day, I was told there was an internet cafe just next door to our compound called Bob's internet cafe.
Helen and I were ecstatic with our anticipation of sipping skinny lattes and chinos while writing in an air conditioned cafe.
We couldn't believe that there was an internet cafe in the midst of the rubble and mayhem we were living around.
We approached the cafe to find it a small front hallway of a house, crammed with six stations, filled with old computers.
Where was the barrista? where was the cappucino machine? where was the air conditioning?
We realized the word "cafe" was used very loosely.
Just as I managed to get my mac hooked up, the internet went down. I notified Bob.
He pointed to a woman sitting on a cement block who was talking on a portable phone.
He explained that there is no internet when someone rents phone time.
I payed Bob quadruple the asking price of 60 cents per half hour in order to not rent the phone until Helen and I finished our work.
Bob gladly agreed.
Helen and I have been frustrated that we could not work on our blog and check our emails. To make up for our frustration, we we've reciting lines from our favorite Australian television show; Kath and Kim.
As I complained about the internet issue along with waiting yet again to get out to our clinic for the day, I was told there was an internet cafe just next door to our compound called Bob's internet cafe.
Helen and I were ecstatic with our anticipation of sipping skinny lattes and chinos while writing in an air conditioned cafe.
We couldn't believe that there was an internet cafe in the midst of the rubble and mayhem we were living around.
We approached the cafe to find it a small front hallway of a house, crammed with six stations, filled with old computers.
Where was the barrista? where was the cappucino machine? where was the air conditioning?
We realized the word "cafe" was used very loosely.
Just as I managed to get my mac hooked up, the internet went down. I notified Bob.
He pointed to a woman sitting on a cement block who was talking on a portable phone.
He explained that there is no internet when someone rents phone time.
I payed Bob quadruple the asking price of 60 cents per half hour in order to not rent the phone until Helen and I finished our work.
Bob gladly agreed.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Another album from Haiti from Toni and Helen
This was actually the first to come through, so I've uploaded them out of order.
Dr Toni Bark uploads pictures from Haiti
Toni and Helen have had only limited connectivity in Haiti, but Toni did manage to upload some pictures to her Facebook page. (First of 3 albums.)
Haiti Nights
The first two nights were completely sleepless.
There were ongoing cacauphonies of dogs barking.
I heard voices singing throughout the night carried on the wind.
They were ghost-like as they appeared out of nowhere, even at four in the morning.
I imagined them to be the voices of the lost ones in the rubble.
I shared this with the other doctor whose term I overlapped with, he had said that others had made the same remark.
The third morning here, I told the head dada, about the voices. He stated there were all night churches and the singing was group song and prayer. I haven't heard the voices since.
The next three nights, there were torrential downpours. THe first night of the downpours, I was on my way back from seeing patients in the mountains. My tent was open, oops! I slept on the only dry area on my air mattress with a borrowed dry woolen blanket.
The next two nights were dry in my tent in spite of the torrential pours.
There were ongoing cacauphonies of dogs barking.
I heard voices singing throughout the night carried on the wind.
They were ghost-like as they appeared out of nowhere, even at four in the morning.
I imagined them to be the voices of the lost ones in the rubble.
I shared this with the other doctor whose term I overlapped with, he had said that others had made the same remark.
The third morning here, I told the head dada, about the voices. He stated there were all night churches and the singing was group song and prayer. I haven't heard the voices since.
The next three nights, there were torrential downpours. THe first night of the downpours, I was on my way back from seeing patients in the mountains. My tent was open, oops! I slept on the only dry area on my air mattress with a borrowed dry woolen blanket.
The next two nights were dry in my tent in spite of the torrential pours.
Sunday in Port Au Prince
Early Sunday morning we awoke to the souns of Haitian singing, barking dogs, crowing roosters and the slow sounds of the only day of the week that the team rests. A lazy morning with delicious breakfast of sweet grapefruit and freshly baked bread was a lovely way to start my stay here after such a long journey. There are no children at the school today, and SUnday is the only day where the medical team does not go out to conduct clinics so the Monks invited us to attend a prayer meeting/ Kirtan at the nuns or Didi's place. 8 of us in a the Toyota Prado ( this was a light load apparently!) negotiated the streets of Port Au Prince, avoiding streets that are stil blocked by rubble of by US Army soldiers conducting road clearing and demolition removal exercises.
Once we arrived at the Didi's we were welcomed by the nuns and met some of the orphans they look after. ONe little girl; Malika captured my heart. She is almost 3 years old, appears to be only 18 months and she was being walked around with one of the volunteers supporting her arms so she could practice walking. Malika had been found, close to death by an amazing Haitian woman called Jane who had brought her to the Didi's.THrough careful nurturing and daily attention and nutrition, Malika is now recovering well and regaining her ability to move her body. When she was found she could not even lift her head. I ahve some footage of Malika to post when I get to somewhere I can upload it - you will see what wonderful work the women have done for her.
AMURT and AMURTEL run Child Friendly Space programs throughout the city. These centers are tented areas where children can come to participate in dance, art and music and the program is designed to facilitate a transition from trauma to readiness to learn. They plan to reopen the schools in August. At the moment - there is no point in reinstating an educational program - the kids need to feel secure and accept routine again before academic programs are introduced. I am very impressed with their work and believe that the 10 emergency spaces they have set up which provide services for 4000 children 6 days a week will be an important part of rebuilding this community.
After we left the Nuns, we were given a car tour of th devastated downtown area. The footage we have of this is unbelievable. The town is starting to come back to life, however it is hard to see how the chaos of the rubble and precariously warped half collapsed buildings can be rectified any time soon.
The National palace is a monument to the disaster. A stately beautiful buidling - ruined. All around it appears like a war zone after heavy artillery fire. Through all this though - we see people starting to do business on the streets, selling food and clothing and we see a glimpse of the recovery process.
So much more help is going to be needed. When a country loses this much infrastructure - it is difficult to make headway quickly.
When we arrived back at the school we were pleased to see that Jane and Georgina had arrived to start training in the refelx biofeedback device; SCENAR. After seeing Toni use it at the clinic earlier in the week, they are keen to be trained so that they can continue the work after we leave. Both are Haitian and speak excellent English and have computer and internet access so we are confident that the training will go well.
We started the training by treating both Jane and Georgina themselves and they both immediatley responded with a change in their pain. This was a great start to the first training session. At the conclusion; Jane ( the lady who had found Malika) hugged me and told me she loved me. The love in her embrace was so profound that I immediately felt love for her too and pledged to help her to look after her community. Jane is situated in Kenscoff; in the mountains about 2 hours from Port Au Prince. The medical team report that the people in Jane's community are the poorest they have seen, they have also had an influx of refugees from Port Au Prince so the strain on local services which were almost non existent to begin with cannot possibly cope with the medical problems locally.
Supporting Jane to implement a longer term solution is something I am very motivated to do.
This morning we are heading out to a camp to conduct a medical clinic.......more later.
Helen
Once we arrived at the Didi's we were welcomed by the nuns and met some of the orphans they look after. ONe little girl; Malika captured my heart. She is almost 3 years old, appears to be only 18 months and she was being walked around with one of the volunteers supporting her arms so she could practice walking. Malika had been found, close to death by an amazing Haitian woman called Jane who had brought her to the Didi's.THrough careful nurturing and daily attention and nutrition, Malika is now recovering well and regaining her ability to move her body. When she was found she could not even lift her head. I ahve some footage of Malika to post when I get to somewhere I can upload it - you will see what wonderful work the women have done for her.
AMURT and AMURTEL run Child Friendly Space programs throughout the city. These centers are tented areas where children can come to participate in dance, art and music and the program is designed to facilitate a transition from trauma to readiness to learn. They plan to reopen the schools in August. At the moment - there is no point in reinstating an educational program - the kids need to feel secure and accept routine again before academic programs are introduced. I am very impressed with their work and believe that the 10 emergency spaces they have set up which provide services for 4000 children 6 days a week will be an important part of rebuilding this community.
After we left the Nuns, we were given a car tour of th devastated downtown area. The footage we have of this is unbelievable. The town is starting to come back to life, however it is hard to see how the chaos of the rubble and precariously warped half collapsed buildings can be rectified any time soon.
The National palace is a monument to the disaster. A stately beautiful buidling - ruined. All around it appears like a war zone after heavy artillery fire. Through all this though - we see people starting to do business on the streets, selling food and clothing and we see a glimpse of the recovery process.
So much more help is going to be needed. When a country loses this much infrastructure - it is difficult to make headway quickly.
When we arrived back at the school we were pleased to see that Jane and Georgina had arrived to start training in the refelx biofeedback device; SCENAR. After seeing Toni use it at the clinic earlier in the week, they are keen to be trained so that they can continue the work after we leave. Both are Haitian and speak excellent English and have computer and internet access so we are confident that the training will go well.
We started the training by treating both Jane and Georgina themselves and they both immediatley responded with a change in their pain. This was a great start to the first training session. At the conclusion; Jane ( the lady who had found Malika) hugged me and told me she loved me. The love in her embrace was so profound that I immediately felt love for her too and pledged to help her to look after her community. Jane is situated in Kenscoff; in the mountains about 2 hours from Port Au Prince. The medical team report that the people in Jane's community are the poorest they have seen, they have also had an influx of refugees from Port Au Prince so the strain on local services which were almost non existent to begin with cannot possibly cope with the medical problems locally.
Supporting Jane to implement a longer term solution is something I am very motivated to do.
This morning we are heading out to a camp to conduct a medical clinic.......more later.
Helen
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