Hello again from Oriani! The month of June did not go according to plan for us. Heidi, my niece, who has been here for 6 months to teach Sebastian, was to go home for the summer. The plan was for us to go to Santo Domingo to pick up her family and bring them here for a week before they went home. We made it across the border without trouble and enjoyed a couple of days shopping and spending time with friends , before picking them up at the airport. When we got back to the border, the Dominican officials refused to let us across. They said since the American missionary couple was killed in Port au Prince we need a letter of permission from the head of immigrations in Santo Domingo before they would let us enter Haiti. Why this is up to them baffles me. I called the American embassy in Santo Domingo and Port au Prince. Neither had heard of this requirement and assured us that we had the right to enter Haiti. Well, we decided to spend the week in the Dominican with our visitors instead, then after they went home, we would try to get back to Oriani. It was disappointing not to be able to show them Haiti, but we enjoyed our time with them exploring different beaches. Carlos and I went to the immigration office to see about getting the letter of permission. They said we would have to submit a request then would get a reply in 45 days. We submitted the request, but we weren’t going to wait 45 days to see if we might get this letter. So Carlos called his contact at the border and we were able to cross, but they didn’t stamp our passports. I guess we’ll see if this causes us trouble in the future.
In the meantime, the Haitian staff did a fine job of keeping the clinic open in our absence. They even sent a woman with an OB emergency to Fond Parisien with the ambulance. However the ambulance didn’t quite make it back to Oriani. It had to be towed the last few miles. We found a crack in the fuel line and I hope it’s finally operational again. But the woman did get the help she needed. I was very concerned for the older gentleman who I did a thoracentesis on the day before I left. I didn’t know if he would be alive when I came back. Thankfully he was, but I have had to repeat the procedure twice. Every time we drained off 1.5 liters of fluid. Despite our best care he is failing and I fear he may not have long left. I told them we were doing everything we could here, but if they thought they could make it to a hospital in Port or Mirebalias they should consider it. It is very hard to know what to tell these people. I don’t know what the state of other hospitals is or if they can provide the help people need. Considering the expenses, difficulties, and dangers of travel here, I hate the idea of sending them on a wild goose chase looking for something they might not find. But, I felt I needed to let them make that decision.
Friday, June 28 we had a 4 year old girl brought in with 2nd degree burns to her torso. They said her clothes had caught fire. I didn’t understand what they said about how it happened. The burns covered exactly what a T-shirt would have covered. It had happened 5 days before. They said they were from a long way away. I don’t know why it took so long for them to get here. I could tell she needed more than we could give her. I messaged the surgeon in Fond Parisien and he said to send her to the Doctors without border hospital in Port that has a burn center. We covered the burns with a dressing and gave her IM antibiotics. I couldn’t find a spot for a peripheral IV because of the old infected burns. She was awake enough to drink so we gave her oral fluids. I tried to contact Haiti Air but they were out of service. Mom and dad were with her and I told them they needed to go to Port immediately. They didn’t have money and I didn’t want them to spend time looking for some, so I gave them enough to get them to Port plus a little. The dad exchanged phone numbers with Fre Willy and they headed off. Unfortunately, the next day the father messaged Fre Willy that she had died on the road. It was one of those situations that makes me feel like I should have done more, but I don’t know what else we could do.
I have to remember we are not the level 1 trauma and burn center I am used to but a clinic. I feel we do as good a job as we can within that role. Basic primary care such as wound care, prenatal care, antibiotics, and some level of control for hypertension and diabetes. Thursday I sutured a man’s finger that was almost severed at the middle knuckle. I placed a finger splint and told him to go to a bigger hospital that could fix the bone. Then I had a woman come in that had been bit on the leg by a pig. I cleaned it up, gave her a tetanus booster and antibiotics, and sutured the wounds. This is what we can do that is something they don’t have without us and can stop little problems turning into big problems. Thank you again for your support! It allows us to keep helping in whatever way we can.
