Surprises in the Night
One evening as it was getting dark we noticed some activity outside our gate at the house. I could see the blue flickering of a phone light and murmuring of voices. I didn’t think much of it because the road past our house is a main route to the next zone, Oplimèt, and people pass at all hours. However, around 10 pm I went out to lock up the gates and noticed that there seemed to be some people milling around in the road, not going anywhere, so I shone my light through the bars of the gate to see what was up. In the dimness I could make out the forms of one or two people shuffling about, wrapped in jackets and scarves against the night chill. But what caught my attention was a large angular shape on the ground at their feet. I squinted through the bars to try to figure out what it was. It seemed to be a large object covered in some sort of a plastic sheet, and parts of it glittered bright gold in the light of my flashlight.
Slowly the thing came into focus and I realized, with no small amount of surprise, that it was a coffin. The shiny gold parts were the decorative molding around the handle. It was just sitting innocently in our driveway as though there was nothing at all strange about a coffin on the ground at 10 pm. I immediately thought of several questions I needed answered, so I caught the attention of one of the ladies standing beside it and asked what was going on? She explained that someone in Oplimèt had died and this was their coffin. It had just been brought up from a coffin shop in Port-au-Prince and our driveway was as far as the delivery vehicle could go. Therefore they had unloaded it and were waiting on someone to come from the house of the dead to pick it up and take it the rest of the way. My next question, of course, was whether or not anything or anyone was inside? She was quick to assure me that no, no! It’s empty! Somewhat placated, I left the ladies and their coffin where they were and made sure everything was closed up for the night.
A while later we heard raucous singing and chanting coming up the road. It sounded like quite a crowd of people had left the house of the dead and were coming to fetch the coffin. Side note: the night before a funeral in the Oriani area involves a veye, or a “watch”, wherein the body of the deceased remains in the presence of the family and assembled friends for the whole night. The only way to keep your sanity and stay awake while sitting around a coffin all night is, apparently, to drink alcohol, so the booze flows freely and by the morning of the funeral there are usually several people fairly soused.
By the sound of the crowd coming up the road in the pitch darkness, there had already been no small amount of alcohol consumed, and it was rather unnerving to hear their boisterous chanting and singing shattering the night stillness as they clustered around our gate, arranging the coffin. Presently they assembled themselves and headed off, their funereal marching song fading away into the night as they disappeared back down into the Oplimèt ravine.
The Vow
Recently we had a lady show up to our gate after hours in labor. She was accompanied, as usual, by a crowd of ministering friends and family, none of whom happened to be her husband. In this culture, the father of the baby is usually not present for the birth, or if he is around, he is skulking in the shadows outside, unable to handle the sight of his wife in discomfort. So the fact that this dad was not around was not surprising.
Our initial assessment of the mom gave us hope that it wouldn’t be long before the baby made his appearance. Therefore we assembled the necessary supplies and got ready to deliver a baby. But then things got a little weird.
Contrary to our initial prognosis, the baby stubbornly refused to be born. After quite some time of letting mom labor on her own, we got her up and encouraged her to walk around for a bit, hoping that would speed things up. Nothing happened. The baby’s head remained in the exact same position as when she had arrived. In addition, mom seemed to not be handling things very well and was in discomfort somewhat greater than normal. We did everything we could but there is not much that can be done to encourage a baby to come down, and finally the mom started to ask if she could just go home and have it at home. Usually with a lady in labor this far advanced, we don’t let them go, but she kept insisting and it was obvious that we weren’t doing much to help her anyways, so we packed her up and sent her out the gate.
And that’s where she stopped. She sat on the ground immediately outside and leaned against our fence, making an undue amount of noise and attracting a huge crowd. Neighbors of all age and size stopped to watch the spectacle of a lady apparently near delivery, sitting on the gravel outside the house of the “doctor” with no nurses helping her. Her family huddled around her and everyone involved gave lots of advice about what to do. Finally the whole scenario was getting a little out of control and it was apparent that they were not going home like they said, so I went out to see what I could do.
When my neighbors saw me coming out, they met me at the fence and wanted to talk. I explained that we had not just thrown this woman out on the street, but she had actually requested to go home. This was apparently news to everyone, and they were all amazed and shocked to hear that she had done such an unwise thing. Quickly the news spread around the crowd: “She ASKED to go home! They didn’t send her away! She WANTED to leave!” Judgement was quick and final: it was unanimously agreed that this woman had lost her mind and in fact, the wise thing to do would be to take her right back inside and deliver the baby appropriately. Meanwhile, everyone continued to encourage her to “Push!” and one man even tore off a tall stalk of grass and commenced to act like he was going to beat her with it, apparently in an effort to encourage her to stop being so dramatic and just get the baby born.
I decided we needed to take this into our hands and cut down on some drama. I explained that we would take her back in and continue to monitor her, but we would only let a select few of her family inside and everyone else needed to go home and not stand around the fence staring. Everyone heartily agreed with this plan, and they helped the lady to her feet and she staggered back inside. Slowly the crowd dispersed and silence reigned outside once more.
However, things didn’t move any faster than before. The baby was stubbornly in the same position. Even though dad had finally shown up and was giving his support, it didn’t seem to make any difference. Finally things started becoming more clear and the pieces of this mystery started falling into place. It seems as though the family was involved with the dark magic world, an all-too-familiar system in this culture given the blanket term “mystic.” They had apparently made a sèman, or a binding vow, that this woman must have the baby at her house, surrounded by her own people. The details were hard for me to grasp, but this vow was made in dark circumstances and it was preventing her from delivering the baby with us. The idea that this power exists and actually has control over someone like this is hard for an American to wrap his mind around. But in this country and with someone who believes in it and puts their faith into that world, things like this are very real. My Haitian nurses accepted it without question. The family has made a sèman and therefore this matter is out of our hands. We will not be able to deliver this baby here. She has to go home, according to the conditions of the vow.
It wasn’t long before the family again made the decision that it was time to go. We again cleaned up our supplies and sent the lady packing. She disappeared down the road, surrounded by her family. We never heard from her again. Just another example of just how sheltered and clean our life is in America, and how many other beliefs and powers there are in this world.
Changes, and an Open Door
Our American nurse Kay went home the middle of July. We would have gladly kept her on, but her new job at Mayo Clinic in Rochester was calling her name and she didn’t seem to want to stay! To replace her here in Oriani, Angela Toews from North Carolina came. She is an RN with years of experience as a pediatric nurse, and also has previous experience with this clinic; she spent a year working here in 2014. A lot has changed since then, but much has stayed the same and she was able to hit the ground running and fill the position well.
However, Ang is only committed to staying through October, and as of now we have nobody to fill her shoes. We are actively searching for a North American nurse, preferably an RN with experience, to come replace her. Surely there is someone out there who is looking for a change of scenery! We can promise you, this job will be unlike any you have ever had before. It is never dull and occasionally terrifying, but always fulfilling. You will stretch your horizons farther than you ever imagined. You will learn to eat new food, talk a new language, and make new lifelong friends. You will see things that make you laugh and things that want to make you cry, sometimes both in the same day. Open your heart and mind, and if you or someone you know is interested in becoming a part of the team here at Confidence Health Center, please get in touch with one of the board of directors. You can find contact information by going to our “Contact” page at:
www.confidencehealthcenter.com/contact
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