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The day in Haiti at the Immaculate Conception Hospital took a very interesting turn for the team. 

It is expected that the care needed in Haiti right now is critical care, emergency room type services.  In fact the population in Les Cayes has grown from 47k to nearly double that in a few weeks time.  Many of the patients at the hospital have come from PAP and are past the critical stages.  The transition to maintenance and primary care is beginning.  While there are still tales of difficult things to see the situation is normalizing.  This is a team of primary physicians and so they could sit back and appreciate the long term needs and the assessment of the local physicians.

The OB ward was well under control by the staff and so Dr. Bowers and her buddy left and moved to the wound care ward.  Most of the morning was spent tending to dressings and debreeding.  The risk of infection is still high but the team has found that they brought ample supply to address the needs at hand.  In fact by their departure they expect to be able to turn over some meds to Dr. Don who is one of the Haitian physicians whom they have befriended.  They are confident that these life saving drugs will be available for quite a few individuals.

The twist was that they found an interesting need developing.  They realized that their tenure in Les Cayes is short and the help that they have provided has definitely saved lives but the lives that they now felt compelled to speak into were different.  The Haitian doctors will be left day in and day out to care for the patients who had been saved.  The longer term effects of the situation will be their responsibility. 

This calling struck the team to a degree that they found the need to step aside and spend time breaking bread in fellowship with these physicians. While this tale could be one of a few docs going out to lunch it was much deeper.  Jesus stopped at the most critical hour of His life to break bread.  It was this fellowship that provided encouragement for his disciples after His departure.  It was definately not the last supper but in the same way they took time out of the events at hand to support one another.   The team had the opportunity to encourage this group and gained a sense of peace that the people they had encountered were in good hands.

A few stories of the day…

The overall devastation of the earthquake is still being felt and the death toll has officially reached the same level as the Tsunami of 2004.  But today the stories that broke their hearts were a bit off this path.  It reminded the team that life will continue and the challenges that are faced by a devastated society are very real.

Women survived one of the deadliest earthquakes to date in PAP only to fall victim of a motorcycle accident in Les Cayes.  This accident resulted in amputation of a foot.  In a culture that is based on manual labor an injury of this nature is very devastating.  The husband spoke enough English for Jeff to sit down and pray with the couple.  The hope of the Lord is the same for this injury as it is for those of the quake, and the devastation of a life is the same.

A child in need can break the heart of the most hardened individuals.  This is the story of a 3 month old baby that is skin and bones with a severe case of scabies and only weighs 5 lbs.  His mother is mentally ill and the grandmother lacks the resources to provide but is strong in her faith.  This child is now receiving the critical care needed but the team is reminded of the longer term need.  How do we continue to help the people of Haiti beyond today’s visit?  The team will struggle with these questions for a very long time to come.

On a bit of a lighter side… orphanage visit number two this week took an interesting twist as well.  “Mama” was there to greet the team with a smile and a glad you are here, we have a few children, 5 or 6 that could really use a checking on.  Well okay thought the team, bring them in and we’ll take a look.  30 kids later… The team was able to see quite a few of the children and provide some medications. 

There is one young man that stood out for them.  He is “not growing well”, they treated for worms but are concerned that HIV may be the culprit; they recommended that he be tested.  They do not have the resources to provide the proper drugs for care of an HIV positive patient in a third world setting.  The stark reality of the relative hopelessness is ever present.

The team spent quite a bit of time playing with the children and can’t wait to share their pictures.

So today they did not face the crushed bodies and blunt force trauma of the immediate aftermath, but rather the reality that this situation will continue for a very long time and they only have a few short days to make a difference.

Tonight at the team meeting they will discuss the day and encourage one another to make a difference tomorrow.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 9:30 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Haiti. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.