Hello from the beautiful, green mountains of Southeast Haiti! We are doing well here, for the most part enjoying good health, pleasant weather and peaceful surroundings. In the current world environment, where nothing is certain and fear seems to be taking hold of many people, life moves on almost unchanging here in Oriani. We feel somewhat insulated from the drama of the developed world, and we have to say that it’s a good time to be “stuck in a former time” in a developing country. We have been spared much of the turmoil of America these past few months and have been enjoying our time here in the quiet instead.
-Current Clinic Affairs-
Our Canadian nurse Larissa returned home in June, her commitment here finished. Our new nurse, Carmina, had some big shoes to fill but hit the ground running. She already has a good hold on the Haitian Creole language and has a big personality with plenty of energy and enthusiasm to do a great job in the clinic, which is not always easy.
Our other two consult rooms are still staffed with Haitian-trained nurses, girls who have grown to be almost family to us and become very close to our hearts. Chancela is bold and forthright, yet excellent with children and a very capable manager of our vaccination program. Roseline is gentle and soft-spoken with a great relationship with her patients, and one patient told our secretary recently, “I feel healed just going into her room, before she ever gives me medicine!”
-Recent Clinic Cases-
We noticed a sharp decrease in the number of childbirths here at the clinic over the summer. In fact, the month of August was delivery-free! This can be construed as a good thing or a bad thing, depending on which nurse you ask. Some of us enjoy assisting in deliveries but others would rather stay away! However, in September the pregnant moms returned and we have already assisted in 3 deliveries in the first two weeks of the month.
The very first delivery of the month turned crazy on us, but ended up with a good result. The mother had some physical deformities that appeared to interfere with normal delivery, so after several hours of unproductive labor we had to step in with the manual suction delivery assist device. Only several minutes later we had one healthy little boy and one very relieved mother on our hands!
Another morning recently, the clinic day was starting on a normal note when suddenly the nurses began running here and there, collecting supplies for an imminent delivery. The mother had presented at opening time to the clinic and it became very apparent that the baby was only a few minutes from arriving! Fortunately, we were able to get everything in place and caught the little guy, who was covered in meconium and not breathing very effectively. With some quick airway clearing and brisk stimulation, he pinked up well and was soon wrapped up to be sent home with mom. Cases like these make us wonder what the outcome would have been had the mothers decided to try to deliver at home, like most do here. Very likely a dead baby and/or injured mom, or a neurologically impaired child at best. The first few minutes of life are vitally important, and if baby doesn’t breathe well at first, quick action is needed to get things headed in the right direction. In times like these we are glad we were in the right place at the right time and able to avoid a disaster.
We often encounter conflicts when faced with the strong belief in the traditional medicine system of Haiti. Many times patients will tell us that they have been to the medsin fèy (leaf doctor) or ounga (a traditional healer who often dabbles in dark arts) before coming to us, or that they plan to go there rather than heed our Western advice. Back in the summer of this year, we saw a young man with badly displaced hip fracture from a motorcycle accident that chose to go to the leaf doctor rather than be transferred to orthopedic care in Port-au-Prince. Well, a few weeks ago that man came back to us. The bone had miraculously healed in the intervening months, but the leg was crooked and the muscles badly withered as a result of not using them. He said it didn’t really hurt at rest, but he was not able to walk or bear weight. Moreover, the place where the fracture had been now showed signs of having been cut or torn open, and the wound was infected. We told him there was really nothing we could do to help him in the short term since the fracture was long healed, but we gave him something for the infection and pain and once more recommended he see an actual orthopedic surgeon to see if anything could be done to get him back on his feet.
-COVID in Haiti-
COVID-19 seems to still have a hold on the developed world, but it has almost dropped off the radar here in Haiti. The common belief among the people here is that Haiti simply doesn’t have COVID anymore. We doubt that is true, but it does seem like we have been able to move on from the fear and uncertainty that gripped the country when COVID was first identified here back on March 19. While the country’s testing and treatment capabilities were always limited and the reported numbers were likely inaccurate, it appears that Haiti as a whole has been spared the high case rate and death rate that some other countries have experienced. Here at Confidence Health Center, we have seen only a handful of patients that we even suspected could have been positive, and we have had no major outbreak in the community.
Down in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, the basic isolation precautions are still in place. Many businesses are still requiring masks and handwashing to enter, and a few places scan customers’ foreheads for fever at the door. However, in the remote areas such as Oriani, life continues as normal and we feel very blessed to be able to continue church and school with no apparent public health consequences.
Keep us in your prayers, and if you feel inspired to help, we always appreciate donations! We can’t do what we do without your help, and we appreciate each and every one who has pitched in to make this endeavor possible. It is worth it!
-Jay Giesel, RN, CEN, Administrator
September 2020