Hi to everyone. It is dry season here and the dust has been getting deep and the cisterns empty. However, the last week or so has been cloudy with some rain. This has allowed people to start planting gardens for May and June harvest. This is a faith venture as the road to Port is still closed and there is no promise they will be able to sell to the markets in Croix de Bouquets and Port. The road being closed also makes it so we can’t send patients to Port by ambulance. Thursday the 27th we had a man brought into the clinic. He was a forest ranger and had been checking out a place where someone had cut down a tree. A branch had stayed stuck up in another tree and fell on his head. He was not responding appropriately and clearly needed a head CT and an evaluation by a neurosurgeon. But, there is nowhere I can send him. Haiti Air is still out of the country and even if he could get to Port the hospital there that had neurosurgery was burned by the gangs last year. I could only keep him quiet and watch his BP and hope he would wake up. After a bit a pastor came in to see him and told me if we could help him get to the border, he could get him to the hospital in Jimani, DR. I doubt Jimani has any neurosurgery capabilities, but sending him at least felt like we were doing something. Jean Fritho took him in the ambulance. Unfortunately, he died before being able to cross the border.
The ambulance did manage to make it up the mountain under its own power. But Jean Fritho said he had to go slow because it was shaking so much. Also it is developing some cracks in the body. It is very much showing its age. Jenel took it to a mechanic in Thoitte. He said he needs it for 2 days and isn’t able to weld the body now because he doesn’t have any oxygen. The ambulance will need to be replaced soon. It is one of the biggest services we offer and is very important as too often people can’t afford transport to hospitals down the mountain. The other 2 ambulance transfers were OB emergencies. One was a teacher at a school beside our house. The presentation wasn’t right. The doctors in Fond Parisien weren’t hopeful, but they were able to deliver 2 healthy twins by C section and the babies and mom are doing well.
Other news from the clinic. The surge in patients with swelling to their throats seems to have slowed a little. But we are now seeing more patients with viral respiratory infections. I had a 4 year old girl who died from a severe case. No doubt she would have been intubated and admitted to a Pediatric ICU in the US. We don’t have those here. She had stridor with limited air movement in her lungs. Nothing I did seemed to have much effect. Most of the time they are not too sick and respond well to treatment.
In January we were able to go across the mountain above Port au Prince to get medications and vaccines from our agent. I was hoping to be able to do this again in March or April. But, the gangs came up the mountain and are currently blocking that road and the road to Jacmel. The good news is that we are still able to buy medications from the Dominican Republic.
Ok, so we have several projects we need to work on. We need a new generator for the clinic. During rainy season often our solar panels can’t keep up and we need to use a generator. Especially if we have emergencies over night. Next, as you can tell our ambulance is getting to the end of its life and needs to be replaced soon. Also, we still want to build a cistern at the clinic to be able to provide water during rainy season. And finally, at some point we might need build a house for our nurses that come from out of the area and need a place to live. We did find a rental house for now, but this still might need to happen at some point. All this takes money and our funds are not sufficient at this time. Please consider donating if you can. Know your money is going to help the poor people of the mountains here in southern Haiti. Thank you and God bless you.