Haiti: Reflections of my journey: August 2011

Belo poster from my friends. Love this band.

Building progress...looking more like a clinic each week. Pictures from 19 August

Gracie, nick-named 'Protocol' by Haitian construction boss.

Beginnings of stairway to basement level

Villa Taino restaurant, near Grand Goave

Taino Beach (before crowd arrived)

Matchbox van, our new Ti Chou (mini me van) arrived 26 August

While its easy to get through traffic, one must remain alert to holes in the street lest we get lost in one.

me with Al Ingersoll

Change happens...eventually. We can see progress on the building site each week. Some weeks it may seem more subtle but none the less it is exciting to see. Hopefully, this week they will pour some more cement. This particular job is a week behind due to difficulty in getting cement delivered apparently.

Driving through the city, we often see new building in progress whether it is clearing a site of rubble, rebar spiking the air or walls in place where last week was rebar. Its exciting to see as well, giving hope that this is true progress but we know differently when just down the road lies a tent community. The tents are worn, torn, or in a few houses adorned with wooden doors, tin roofs or walls scavenged from some source by appearance of rust and what you would expect to see after nearly 20 months of living here (IF you can imagine yourself living in such conditions). As with any home, everyday you try to make improvements with what you have. If your home is near trees or water source (rarely) you might even feel middle class. What Haitians feel I can only suggest; I know I would feel bitterness that the government is slow to form; fearful for my family and home with each report of tropical storm pending; terrified in the dark that our home may be invaded; my heart breaking that I can not give my children enough to eat...these are just some of my fears that I would have on a daily basis. I am also sure that it is the same in all parts of the world -whether ravaged by storms, war or drought.

I also know how fortunate I am, my family is, my friends are. I know things can change in a moment, an unexpected instance - its an everyday thought and everyday I'm thankful that yesterday wasn't one of those moments for me, or my family or my friends. We deal with the bumps along the way, but how we deal with the big changes remain to be seen.

Haiti needs change- its a big picture thing. I believe it has to start with those in charge, the government. One might say the people are the government but in Haiti it doesn't not seem so easily identified by the people in the street. Its more likely the top 5% of the population that wants to be in control. I think its true that you can't change another person, only your own reactions to that person. Typical Haitians may react with manifestations or negative ambiguity and they don't truly feel that anything will ever change. It comes with a 200+ history.

We can only hope that the small changes will lead to big changes that Haiti needs. Unfortunately, these kind of changes don't happen in an instant.

I don't cry often but occasionally I will hear a story that causes the flood gates to open. Although my back ground is nursing, and for years worked in rehab, since being in Haiti, I've done just about everything but nursing most of the past 18 months that I have lived in Haiti. On this day, Fiona came home from work to tell me that she had been in the community to see a few of the spinal cord injured patients that can not make it out of their homes to visit the clinic. The young man she told me about was not injured in the earthquake but shot by a person who stole his motorcycle. The bullet passed through his chest, missing his heart but severing his spinal cord. He has been unable to leave his home since leaving the hospital due to the lack of accessibility. He lives on a steep hillside, many narrow stairways and rubble filled passages that are difficult for strong healthy people to navigate. Imagine living in a small room, minimal if any electricity and no running water. Its not hard to understand why he is very distressed and depressed, completely dependent on his wife for his most basic needs. Before the earthquake, few people with spinal cord injuries survived their initial injuries, most received from motor vehicle accidents, gunshots or falling from trees. Those that did were taken home, confined and dependent on families to meet their care needs. With little knowledge of what this involved, they did not live long. Since the earthquake, specialized care for spinal cord injuries has been available from surgeons who stabilize the spine to nurses and therapists who train the caregivers how to deal with the individual needs of each person. This care has decreased the mortality and morbidity rates like never before. There are over 200 spinal cord injured patients in our data base surviving and living in the county and Healing Hands for Haiti clinic is providing follow up care to over 50 of these. Healing Hands for Haiti has one of only a handful of Physical Rehabilitation doctors in the country seeing these patients. We have hired a nurse who is in a wheelchair. Having survived her spinal cord injury, she is an excellent peer support and trainer. We have peer support meetings for patients and their families each month. We are searching for funding to help provide transportation to the clinic for medical care and therapy (we have received a grant through the generosity of Haiti Hospital Appeal). We are searching for ways to help them earn a new living. we are fighting the battle for inclusion and accessibility. For this young man, it may be a battle to late and for this reason, I feel incredibly sad.

But Healing Hands for Haiti (Klinik Kay Kapab) staff, with tremendous effort and much credit to Fiona, Dr. Moise, Nadege, Nadia, the therapists, nurses and volunteers, has provided care and education to the injured and their families and care givers, including nurses, techs, and physicians in the community. We have to feel proud of the success of what we have accomplished to date and secure in the knowledge that more people will survive their injuries due to this dedication to provide excellent standard of care and continuing education for the most vulnerable in Haiti.

Our hope is that the new clinic will be opened by early spring (see pictures below- we are about halfway to completion). While I don't know how long I will be in Haiti, its really why we are there. To fight the battle for those that can't. I think it is why Fiona and Al are there too. We deal with day to day frustrations and stress, to do what we can to see that all men, women and children have a better chance for a life beyond mere existence.

A couple of weeks ago, Fiona and I had the opportunity to attend a home exhibition show. Last year a contest was opened to provide and opportunity to design homes for Haitians. It was supposed to open last fall but like a lot of things, it didn't. We walked through dozens of houses of different designs- of course, we were looking at each in terms of accessibility and asking the important questions. We didn't bother looking at the houses that had more than 2 steps to enter the house. There were several that were elevated, no doubt to appeal to those living in flood prone areas but obviously not suited to wheelchair users and even difficult for people who have suffered a stroke. Hopefully, our inquiries spurred some thought for those architects, engineers and builders that were hoping to win the design contest. But it was more than that as a couple of presidents were in attendance as well- Former US president, Bill Clinton and current Haiti President Michel Martelly. Despite the obvious and not so obvious security, we trailed along and even worked our way through the crowds to get up close to be part of the paparazzi! All in all, it was a pretty fun day to skip work! We learned that plans have been made to begin building 3600 new homes in the weeks following the home show.

We are always surprised to learn that we can find just about anything a person needs in Haiti. I'm hoping we can make some renovations to the guest house and one of the things that has interested me is to have a water filter to protect the pipes coming into the house. After talking to someone at the home show, I actually found out that there is something available and suitable in Haiti that will do the job and for a very reasonable cost. This could potentially save us from replacing shower heads and decrease a lot of other plumbing problems we have because of the heavily sedimented water running through our pipes.

All of this is to say that there is much hope for building back Haiti better. The are still a lot of difficulties ahead- Martelly's second candidate for prime minister has been rejected; thousands of people remain living in tents in the worst conditions; hurricane season is headed into full speed ahead and most of the promised aid money has yet to be distributed but we have to see that hope is there, we have to believe that the promises made will be kept to have the strength to keep taking the steps to the future.

a new business- building TapTaps to rent, the Haitian version of an RV. These small buses are very colorfully painted and are even set up to have a TV and a toilet for those longer trips or heavy traffic days!

They look like a decent alternative but the seats are made for little people.

Progress is being made on the HHH physical rehabilitation clinic.

Gracie left her footprint(s) in the cement. No one really cared since it will be covered but as she is a daily visitor to the site checking on progress and joining the workers at lunchtime it seems appropriate.