A few weeks ago it was cold enough to wrap up in a blanket. the past few days its been so hot my hair sweats...well its always wet and very curly. We've got fans going everywhere and of course no city power so the fan in my room doesn't work. Driving in the van with windows open is the best thing to cool off...
Yesterday a man walked in, said his name was Lauren from Vancouver and the Canadian army sent him down to help us out. They told him we did good work here...so we put him to work. I haven't got his full story but he is living in Petionville, was a former politician and came down to do whatever he can. Today he drained the water out of the pool and took some of the debris out to control some of the mosquitos. He dug out all of the fans, made sure they worked and put them in all of the rooms. Think he put some shelves in the Mushroom...our pharmacy / depot house. He stayed for supper tonight and then walked back home.
Critters in the house:
I asked Jean to take a bucket of water to my room for washing...I don't have running water either. As he sat the bucket in the shower, he made a funny noise then said madam gail wait for me...he came back with a stick and a large leaf and took a large horny green worm like thing out of my shower. He said its very bad and his father told him watch out Jean, these are very bad and we then proceeded to cover it with sticks, a splash of gasoline and created a fire.
Occasionally we see a rat- he has tried to come into the house a couple of times- luckily some one has come in and been able to chase him out. Al is very scared of him and plans to return to Haiti next month promising rat traps. He also suggested we name him Rubble.
Piti poul (little chickens) : when I first arrived 2 little chickens ran around following their mother. One is black and white and the other more brown. The little black on had a little limp and was always falling behind. On one occasion, the brown one was laying prostate on the ground. Susan gently picked it up thinking it wounded but couldn't find a reason for its listlessness. She took it to the cooks, asking for water- instead they set it on the ground, covered it with a metal bowl and began pounding on the bowl. Susan couldn't believe her eyes and quickly took it away and got some water and fed it drip by drip, then left it in a corner thinking it was a goner. By supper time it was up and running around again. As these little chicks became a bit bigger, the hen left them (and in fact, I haven't seen the mom for about 3 weeks now). The were still pretty little and wanted to be up in the tree to roost safely. WE were helping them up but always it was to Mercia or Syltane they went to as sundown came and darkness beginning to set in. They practically jump in our hands to get a lift into the tree. The are getting big enough now they can almost get themselves up.
Flat Stanley: Years ago when my son Dan was in about 2nd grade he made a flat Stanley doll and we mailed it to someone who kept him for a week, taking him different places and then writing about his experiences and then sending it to some one else etc. Well this story reminded me of that memory. The last Utah team was all booked on Delta for their flight in then Delta cancelled all flights to Port au Prince. They spent a crazy few days - a week before their scheduled arrival date scrambling to find flights. Teresa, one of the nurses flew from Salt lake to LA to New York to PaP...she arrived but not her luggage. Nor did 5 other bags arrive. So everyday I went to airport to check for the missing luggage. On Tuesday a team from Canada arrived - 14 of them with 28 bags plus Teresa's 2 suitcases. Some of the Canadian team were loading into a van to go directly to Jacmel. Luggage had to be sorted and distributed between our two vans. When we got back to the guesthouse, lo and behold Teresa's suitcases were not on the correct van and had gone to Jacmel. On Thursday several of us made the trip to Jacmel and while there I got the suitases, returning home with them on Friday. Teresa was so excited but opened one to find clothes that did not belong to her. As it turned out, the bag had been tagged with her ticket number but actually belonged to a girl named Lindsey from California who was going to New York for the weekend...unfortunately for her, her luggage never arrived.
We managed to get the suitcase back to Salt lake and the owner will pick it up there.
Colleen, a doctor from Canada, another neurosurgeon named Jim and I flew up to Cap Haitian last Sunday. We visited a new hospital called Haiti Hospital Appeals. The people that run the hospital came from the UK 4 or 5 years ago and ended up returning to open a respite home for families of children with disability. After the earthquake, they found themselves in a unique position to help by doing an about face. Their new building for maternity care and baby care was nearly completed for business and they heard the call for a place to care to care for patients with spinal cord injuries. They currently are caring for 19 at different levels of injury and ability. They like another hospital in Haiti have had no experience in this very special needs type of patient but have stepped up to the plate to provide care. They have done a fabulous job and HHH is supporting their education and care by sending them support of spinal cord experts.
Last week as a going away party for the team we had a troubadou band- a local Haitian combo band. The have drummer, banjo, another instrument and maracas - this guy barely moves his wrist or hand and 1oo beads sound like 1 bead. We a mixture of teams and a total of 35 people plus some of our translators and friends came to dance a little kompa. A little lighthearted fun for everyone. Tonight they are going to play for us again.
Haiti has never been in a 'normal' state of affairs and since the earthquake it is only now seeming to come back to that normal. Schools are not up and running, so many of them collapsed but we occasionally see a gathering of children in an area having 'school'. They want that sense of normal. Today as we were driving down one of the hardest hit street we saw a gathering of people and heard the National Anthem being played. The voices rang loud and clear. Workers in yellow USAID shirts work clearing rubble from streets and building sites.
Drive down another street and you'll see a tarp over a group of people holding a church service.
The streets are bustling market places but when you see long lines of people they are queing to get bags of rice. They turn around and sell some of it so that they can supplement their meals with fresh vegetables and fruit or other necessary items.
Tonight it rained so hard I could stand out and take my shower (fully clothed) and when it hits the tin roof it sounds as loud as a train and you can not talk over it. Its fortunate for many that it didn't last long.
Well I will try to figure out how to upload some photos....this is from my new computer and haven't learned how to do some things...yet.
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