first week musings
(The above photo has nothing to do directly with this post, I just like it.)
I’ve been here a week now – time passes differently here, going from very busy, to inactive, to having lots to do but not the resources to do them, to time consuming activities that we don’t even think about in the US. But things are going well.
First, though, a few photos to illustrate what I said about garbage in the previous post. The following photos are from outside the market, showing huge piles of trash and rotting vegetables. In one photo, you can see a pile of clothes being sold right next to the start of this garbage heap. Even the beach in Les Cayes is grossly “trashed” – I could hardly believe that it was possible to have such a beautiful scene with such a horrible foreground.
But back to this post….
My clinic time will really get going on Monday, and so far I’ve mainly been doing consults on rehab or PT patients. Dr. June Hanks runs Advantage Haiti, which works with physically challenged patients. The earthquake has obviously created a much larger base of people with physical challenges, and now there are a lot more of the upper class and educated parts of society with significant disabilities and the need for access. While Les Cayes is not that close to the epicenter and did not suffer much damage, many people from the Port au Prince area came here after the quake to seek treatment and to be away from the danger of aftershocks, etc… So many of the stories are heartbreaking…I saw a 6 year old girl with an above the knee amputation and a poorly healed ankle fracture on the other foot who was there with her father, having lost her mother and 2 sisters in the quake. Unfortunately the ankle was not adequately repaired, and she will need surgery, not readily available, to have a functional foot. Others come with injury/loss to 3 or 4 limbs. They are working hard and are amazingly resilient.
There are also people in the rehab center who aren’t victims of the earthquake, but who have disabilities that can be helped with prostheses and/or therapy. The women are connected into a training project (started by German missionaries, but with Haitian teachers) that helps them learn to sew or do needlework. They then can submit their crafts for quality control, and if they are deemed acceptable, are sold, creating a source of income for the women. One of the women is totally crippled and deformed with what I suspect is osteogenesis imperfecta, leaving her with misshapen bones and contractures of her joints, so that she is essentially always in a sitting position. None the less, she crochets things so that she can earn money to help support herself and is smiling and encouraging others when I see her.
Mobility issues are huge here, given the state of the “roads”, the number of hills and steps, and the lack of a concept of “accessibility”. Marvin and Carmen, from Nicaragua, make prostheses and orthotics, giving amputees the ability to walk, and the patients I have seen are amazing in their determination and success. In fact, I learned the danger of believing a woman with an above the knee amputation who has yet to get her prosthesis who told us of a good short cut from the rehab center up to the clinic! Another program gives “PET” cars…I don’t know what PET stands for, but it is a small tricycle powered with arm pedals. Using these is hard upper body work, but makes some patients able to be mobile where they otherwise wouldn’t be. This woman, a high double amputee, is learning to use a PET car.
More than the physical recovery I have seen, what amazes me is the emotional resilience of the people receiving care through Advantage Haiti. They aren’t moping because they have lost limbs, lost family, or lost function from other health situations. They are embracing life and working hard to be involved.
Of course, work isn’t the only thing going on. We all went to a beach about an hour away from here Friday afternoon/evening. The sand is nice, the water is warm, and the area is nearly deserted! We enjoyed a nice swim and a dinner of spiny lobster. I will admit, however, that seeing at least 6 cows being walked up and down the tide line did cause me a bit of concern about the actual cleanness of the beach.
Tomorrow is Sunday and I’ll get to experience church in Creole and in Haitian style – should be interesting.
August 25, 2010 at 11:51 am
I love your photography Cindy…the only bad thing about it is that we can’t feel the heat, bugs or smell the stink. But I know that it’s there. Thank you for being willing to go into a place of such desperate need.