Thursday, May 28, 2009
My trip so far
Well let me begin by apologizing for the extremely poor job I've done keep everyone up to date.... and for the novel you are about to receive! So grab a cup of coffee and settle in! :)
Well I'll start by saying things have been very interesting here. I am daily reminded of how blessed I am to have been born into the world I was.
Well my trip here was an adventure in it self. I had to get to the airport the night before my flight due to the extremely early departure time on Sunday morning. So I set up camp in the Atlanta airport with many other crazy people like me. I usually have no trouble sleeping anywhere and anytime but not so this night. I watched a movie on my laptop (a surefire way to put me to sleep) with no luck. I counted backwards, forward and in multiples to I dont know how many hundreds and still no luck. The man next to me then began singing with his Ipod and when i say singing... well thats very generous. The girl next to me and I made eye contact and without words very clearly we both felt exactly the same page... 'really... is he really doing this at 1 am, does he not realize there are people trying to sleep?' So i put my Ipod on and tried my best to drown it out along with the cleaning staff polishing the floors. Hours went by and somehow I finally dosed off to (what felt like seconds later) be woken up by a tapping on my shoulder. It was a cop asking if I had a ticket.... The tired smart aleck in me wanted to say "no, i just heard this was a popular place for homeless people with luggage to hang out" but i resisted and kindly showed him my ticket. Well i never fell back asleep and finally just gave up trying. I headed to check in and fortunately this all went pretty smoothly. I got to Miami and had a short layover and suddenly had the realization that i was headed to a foreign country in which i spoke practically none of the language. So i pulled my Ipod out with the hopes of magically learning everything I would need to in the next two hours.... in reality i dont think i learned anything new but it made me feel as though i was accomplishing something. Soon later i landed in Port-au-Prince and the heat wave hit me... nice initially but once i had to drag my 3 bags around and ward off the multitudes of people trying to "help" me, all on no sleep in the past 36 hours, I was exhausted! On top of this, today was election day in Haiti. Everyone(locals too) was encouraged to stay inside and no one was allowed to drive except the UN. So I was a bit nervous but all went well. In retrospect it made for a relatively quiet entry into Haiti. Now that I have been here and experienced 'normal' traffic, I now know we made guinness book of world record time from the airport to Le Clos (where I am staying). Matt was at the airport to greet me and help as much as possible but I was on my own until I could get out of the airport to him. I made it to the door and immediately saw him (the only white, tall person in the crowd). We headed out and i was so ready to take a nap, but apparently there was a party we were headed to! Yippee....
Well we got to the party (a shrimp boil) and somehow I felt like I was still in Alabama! We had a good time but i was definitely ready to sleep.
And sleep I did! Despite the heat and all the noise, there was nothing that was going to keep me awake. The guys (Matt and Karl- our apartment mate) headed to work the next morning and I continued to sleep like a champ. I finally awoke and spent the day unpacking and relaxing. Tuesday and Wednesday were more of the same. Thursday I went to work with the guys and was even put to work a little bit. The location they are working at is also connecting to a college, so this is where we eat lunch. The "plate of the day" goes for about $1.50 and is a huge plate of rice, bean sauce, and an oily mixture of who knows what. Its enough to feed you for the day! Everyone there had heard about me and wanted to meet me so the rest of the day consisted of me making the rounds, smiling and nodding (since I didn't understand most of them) and attempting to use my 5 creole words! It was so nice to finally meet all the people I had been hearing stories about for the past 3 months.
Friday I spent on the phone trying to arrange my first day at the orphanage (Monday).
A little more on where we stay (to help paint a better picture of my life here), we are in a gated 'apartment' area. Its like entering a little garden of eden from the streets of Haiti, but theres not much to do once in the garden. :) I'm not really allowed to go out alone (especially as a female who doesn't speak creole) and theres really nothing to do inside the gates. SOOOO this makes for pretty long and boring days if I'm here alone. It was nice and relaxing for the first couple days but it very quickly turns into a jail, which i dont do well with as I sure you all can imagine!
The weekend was pretty uneventful, consisting of an outing to go grocery shopping and a Hash. A little about this, as I was unfamiliar with this term until this day. Apparently this goes on all over the world (from what i hear). The hash here is put on by some marines and embassy workers. Basically it is an adventure 'race' with chalk markings you have to find, interpret and follow. At the end we all celebrate with food and beer or soda (for your favorite lightweight). Our adventure took us through the country side into an area that I don't think typically sees many "blan" (white people). You could hear all the kids across the banks yelling BLAN!!! and many more would come running just to see us from afar. They would just stand there waving and smiling as long as you would return the favor. There were several kids that made their way across the stream bed to get close to us. We (Matt and I) held back and tried our best to communicate with them. Matt ended up juggling for them with some rocks which they seemed to love and they showered us with many big white smiles and giggles.
So Monday arrives and the people coming to pick me up (who i had already talked to and provided directions) cant seem to find where I live. This goes on for about two hours or so. I end up walking down the street about 1/2 mile to meet them at the Digicel building which they finally "found and where waiting for me". Well i get there and no one is there... apparently they are at a different one.... It was a mess. So they abort the mission and said they'll try again tomorrow.
The next day we had better luck. They picked me up in a dilapidated old baby blue minivan which i wasn't quite sure was going to make it to wherever we were headed. The lady in charge (American) fit the description of what we would call a redneck in the states to a "t". She was missing all of her teeth except for the front right tooth. She had bleach "blond" (orange) hair that had grown out about two inches. I wasn't quite sure what i had signed myself up for but i was in... Well we arrived at the orphanage after a little over an hour journey and my first real trip out into Haiti. We passed through all sort of shanty town and people bathing in the gutters in the street. The kids at the orphanages were so excited to see me. I have no idea what or if they were told about me but their beautiful smiles were greeting me as i walked through the door. The lady in charge invited me to eat lunch with her, which i thought was a nice gesture but had no idea that it wouldn't be with everyone. Unfortunately it was just us (the only Blan), upstairs, and very separate from everyone else. We had our own separate food and eating area and it made me feel terrible. If i hoped to make any progress and have any carryover and assistance from the "moms" (this is what the caretakers are called there), then I needed to show them that I am "one of them" as much as I can be. I cant change where i was born or the color of my skin but i can eliminate these "lunches" that separate me even more. Later, I discovered the lady in charge who has been living in Haiti for over 8 years speaks no creole and the staff doesn't speak English... a very disturbing tidbit for me.
I begin with the children after lunch, seeing each one individually for 15-30 minutes to get a feel for what they were capable of and where to begin with them. Every child had at least 1 contracture (shortening of a muscle/muscle group) that has to be addressed before most functional activities will be successfully attempted. The sad thing is this is something that could have easily been prevented in most of these children through just positioning them properly. So I began to try to educate the "moms" about stretching techniques. They all nodded yes and said ok, but their eyes said that to them I was just some "blan" who was coming into their world and giving them more work to do. I had to tell myself... One day at a time! The day was over before I knew it and we headed back out on my journey home.
The guy who drives me is the "Director" and serves as a liaison between the lady in charge and the staff. He was born in Haiti, lived in NY for 18 years and returned to Haiti 3 years ago and fortunately speaks creole and English! He has been stretching some of the kids and working on rolling with one boy with hydrocephalus. He wants to learn how to help the kids and give him ideas on activities to do with them!
My next day at the orphanage (Friday) went even better. I was able to spend most of the day working with the kids. I made a point to eat lunch with the staff and the kids. I sat at the table with the kids and I'm surprised any of them finished their food. They all just sat and stared and smiled at me the whole meal. Unfortunately I know about 5 words in creole so my conversation with them was pretty short, but they seemed happy none the less! I felt so much better about eating with them and I could tell that it did not go unnoticed by the staff. I ate their food (rice, bean sauce and salted herring) and cleaned my plate which I think surprised them all.
Oh, these children are in such rough shape. Only one of the 12 (age 6 months- about 12 years)with disabilities can sit without falling over. I don't even know where to begin sometimes. There are three that I dont think there is much I can do for beyond stretching and positioning. One little boy has seizures about 5 times (or more) a day and pretty much doesn't respond to anything stimuli (and is not on any meds for this). All of the children look so much younger than they are.. the only thing that gives them away is their mouth full of teeth!
There is another child (about 3 y.o. and looks about 9 months old) who has hydrocephalus and failed shunt placement. He has a feeding tube through his nose that has formed permanent slits in his nose on both sides. He has cataracts in both eyes and both of his hands are tied to the crib because he pulls the feeding tube out otherwise. Yet when you talk to him or hold his hand he just smiles and coos as though life is grand. He is precious and it is amazing that he is still alive. Im not working with him other than positioning but I am drawn to him and cant make it by his crib without stopping to say hi and rub his back. Well another day flew by and I am headed back home.
This weekend was pretty quite. Matt and I walked to a famous hotel in Haiti and had lunch there. It was a beautiful view overlooking Port-au-Prince (PAP). On our way back we stopped by the grocery store and then began the long the steep uphill walk home. We both were drenched by the time we made it home... quite a funny site!
Monday I returned to the orphanage and had the help of about 5 OT's from the states and Canada who where there for the day reassessing the children for a non-profit called Healing Hands. Today was the last day of their week in Haiti. They spent each day at a different orphanage reassessing the children. Healing Hands is the clinic the children at the orphanage are "registered" at, which Im still not really sure what that means. I do know that Healing Hands works with the children with hydrocephalus and hospitals in the states to arrange shunt placement. They also have an orthotic and prosthetic lab they are able to make items for people as needed.
Wednesday I was told we were taking a new 3 month old girl with hydrocephalus to Healing Hands to be registered. I was excited to go visit as I had been in contact with them to see if I could volunteer on Tuesdays and Thursdays and to deliver the prosthetics I brought with me. We made our way over among the extreme heat and some protesting (non-violent.. dont worry!). I was able to drop off the prosthetics and talk to a few people in charge there. They seemed very excited to have me and said they'd be in contact about transportation. Once we left there I thought we would head to the orphanage but i was dropped off back at home instead. I was also informed that the lady in charge was going to be out of town for the next 2 weeks so they wouldnt be able to pick me up... I didnt really follow the logic since she has nothing to do with picking me up, but i was going with it. The only thing i can figure is that 1) The guy who picks me up is the director so if hes picking me up theres no one left in charge or 2) Ive does something to irritate the lady in charge. Im hoping for #1 but ever since I started eating downstairs with the staff I felt as though she was being challenged by that or that it made her look bad or something.... I dont really know!!!
Well I guess well see in 2 weeks.
So i continue on my quest to get in over at Healing Hands .... all i'll say is that was 2.5 weeks ago and Im still waiting! So I spent the next week at home working 8+ hours a day on my research project, which was good and bad. Good because it was due the next week, bad because I was going crazy. I needed to get out. I was getting bummed out too! I felt as though I was wasting time here and being of no help whatsoever and that is really hard for me to handle. The next week I told Matt and Karl I have to do something, I am goin crazy! I'll sharpen pencils for 8 hours, I dont care just give me something useful to do and get me out of these 4 walls. So I became a data entry specialist for the next 6 work days. I enter data for a new friend (and neighbor) and enjoyed it thoroughly. Under any other circumstances I would have been miserable but I was out of the gates and doing something to help someone!
This weekend was spend finishing my paper and Matt working on his presentation for a conference in Seattle. We also made the weekly trip to the grocery store and attended another Hash. This one led us through the busy section of PAP called Petionville. The good and bad thing was that it was at 9 am on sunday morning! Good because it wasnt so hot, bad because thats way to early to be running around! Well we finished the run (a little earlier than expected- we lost the trail but ended up at the finish anyway!) and enjoyed a brunch at someones apartment. The rest of the day was shot though, we came back and took a long nap, ate dinner and then went to bed.
The week began with Monday as a holiday and a lazy day of fixing a huge brunch and sharing food and conversation with some neighbors. Tuesday consisted of another day of data entry. Tuesday night we went out to eat at a Chinese (yes, chinese in haiti!) restaurant for one the neighbors/co-workers last day. The food was amazingly delicious! Im not sure if its because I hadnt eaten out in over a month or if it was because the food was that good... either way it was great!
Wednesday was the big d-day for my research project. I was a bit nervous I wasnt going to get it turned in, not because it wasnt finished but because the internet is so inconsistent and sketchy here! We'll go days without it working. Fortunately i was able to turn it in! Matt and I went to lunch to celebrate with the "plate of the day" but they were all out so we celebrated with fried plantains and a coke instead! The rest of the week was pretty quiet, with me helping out a little here and a little there.
Saturday I went out with one of our neighbors and some of her friends. We got a pedicure (gasp- I know... who have I become here in Haiti!!!!) and then went for lunch. It was a really nice. I am constantly amazed at the little alcoves of beauty in Haiti. Most everywhere you look its trash, filth, poverty and dirt, but there are a few areas that open your eyes to what Haiti could be if things were different here.
Saturday evening we headed to some friends house for a cookout and Rock Band. We were then going to head to a outdoor concert but FINALLY decided not to go because it was storming. Later we found out it had been cancelled anyway. Sunday was the highlight of my trip so far. Matt and I headed out to conquer the "mountain" that backs up to where we live. We had been told that it was a beautiful view and we would enjoy it. So out we went... the hike began with us heading up a very steep mixture of a cobblestone, gravel and rock street (alternating between these three sporadically). We headed through what seemed like peoples property and alley ways and we're did pretty well until we made one wrong turn. We start getting heckled by a group of guys and felt a little uncomfortable, so we turned around and backtracked our way out of there. Another guys then asks if we are headed up to the top and begins to guide us the right way. The hike was steep and very scenic. There were many kids along the way yelling, pointing, smiling... and of course asking for money (a very common occurrence here in Haiti by all ages). We stopped many times to enjoy the view. Its amazing how beautiful such a dirty place can look from up high. We continued on our journey after our "guide" departed, with a combination of bushwhacking and guessing which way to go. We made it most of the way with just spitting and sprinkling here and there but then the rain began (see photo of rain wall approaching us)! We turned around and just started "running" as best as possible down the steep, slippery rocks and narrow gravely path. Once we got back down to a more populated area this turned into a comedic relief for all those watching as matt and i slipped and slided all around soaking wet in the downpour!!! This just encouraged Matt and he took to purposely sliding down on his bottom. Everyone thought this was hilarious! The locals were either all inside or under a covered area just giggling at us and pointing or they were outside showering in the streets. It made sense... there was no way i would want to hike up to where these people lived up with gallons of water to bathe!!! Surprising we made it back down alive with little more that some scrapes and bruises and weighing about 10 extra pounds from all the water we had taken on!
Monday, one of the ladies I had met at lunch Saturday is an infectious disease doctor working at a TB sanitarium/hospital right outside of PAP. When she heard I was a physical therapist her eyes lit up and she began to explain that she had a patient with Hemiplegia that could really use my help. I jumped at the opportunity. So today i was headed out to meet her (Linda). I was going to work with her while the doctors made their rounds. I felt back at "home" work wise. She presented like many of my stroke patients back home, with severe weakness, muscle wasting, poor balance and poor attention. I was told she had had seizure 6 weeks ago and was completely unresponsive for a few days afterwards. She had no movement on her left side until about 2 weeks ago. She is 31 and has a little boy.
They had to change some of her TB meds due to the seizure which in turn made her depressed and she had tried to commit suicide. She was all smiles today. She just wanted to hold my hand, touch my hair and my face and smile. I worked with her on and off for about 3 hours until she was exhausted and her smiles started to fade. She is there like the rest because she has TB. The patients there with TB stay 9 months and those with multi-drug resistance are there for 2 years. There is no electricity, no tv, nothing to do but sit, take your medicine and wait... 2 years of waiting. The doctors have quite a task convincing the patients to stay ... the patients all want to go home and who would blame them. Would any of us willingly sign up for prison? Thats what this is like but they dont understand that even though they feel better and arent coughing anymore it doesnt mean they can stop taking the medicine and go home. Its a constant battle there. In the 5 hours I was there (3 working with Linda) I heard the same explanation and pleading 4 times! I understood both sides... what a tough situation. Im headed back there Wednesday (tomorrow) to work with her again!
Well on a more positive note.... Despite what you read and hear about Haiti, currently it is relatively safe here besides the occasional pickpocket. The biggest risk for me here is probably TB! :) While I dont venture out by myself, with another person I am able to explore most areas until my heart's content! The problem is the lack of transportation, which limits most activities for us. I promise to update this more regularly so you dont have to have a marathon session each time... Enjoy the photos too! Love you all and miss you all!
Well I'll start by saying things have been very interesting here. I am daily reminded of how blessed I am to have been born into the world I was.
Well my trip here was an adventure in it self. I had to get to the airport the night before my flight due to the extremely early departure time on Sunday morning. So I set up camp in the Atlanta airport with many other crazy people like me. I usually have no trouble sleeping anywhere and anytime but not so this night. I watched a movie on my laptop (a surefire way to put me to sleep) with no luck. I counted backwards, forward and in multiples to I dont know how many hundreds and still no luck. The man next to me then began singing with his Ipod and when i say singing... well thats very generous. The girl next to me and I made eye contact and without words very clearly we both felt exactly the same page... 'really... is he really doing this at 1 am, does he not realize there are people trying to sleep?' So i put my Ipod on and tried my best to drown it out along with the cleaning staff polishing the floors. Hours went by and somehow I finally dosed off to (what felt like seconds later) be woken up by a tapping on my shoulder. It was a cop asking if I had a ticket.... The tired smart aleck in me wanted to say "no, i just heard this was a popular place for homeless people with luggage to hang out" but i resisted and kindly showed him my ticket. Well i never fell back asleep and finally just gave up trying. I headed to check in and fortunately this all went pretty smoothly. I got to Miami and had a short layover and suddenly had the realization that i was headed to a foreign country in which i spoke practically none of the language. So i pulled my Ipod out with the hopes of magically learning everything I would need to in the next two hours.... in reality i dont think i learned anything new but it made me feel as though i was accomplishing something. Soon later i landed in Port-au-Prince and the heat wave hit me... nice initially but once i had to drag my 3 bags around and ward off the multitudes of people trying to "help" me, all on no sleep in the past 36 hours, I was exhausted! On top of this, today was election day in Haiti. Everyone(locals too) was encouraged to stay inside and no one was allowed to drive except the UN. So I was a bit nervous but all went well. In retrospect it made for a relatively quiet entry into Haiti. Now that I have been here and experienced 'normal' traffic, I now know we made guinness book of world record time from the airport to Le Clos (where I am staying). Matt was at the airport to greet me and help as much as possible but I was on my own until I could get out of the airport to him. I made it to the door and immediately saw him (the only white, tall person in the crowd). We headed out and i was so ready to take a nap, but apparently there was a party we were headed to! Yippee....
Well we got to the party (a shrimp boil) and somehow I felt like I was still in Alabama! We had a good time but i was definitely ready to sleep.
And sleep I did! Despite the heat and all the noise, there was nothing that was going to keep me awake. The guys (Matt and Karl- our apartment mate) headed to work the next morning and I continued to sleep like a champ. I finally awoke and spent the day unpacking and relaxing. Tuesday and Wednesday were more of the same. Thursday I went to work with the guys and was even put to work a little bit. The location they are working at is also connecting to a college, so this is where we eat lunch. The "plate of the day" goes for about $1.50 and is a huge plate of rice, bean sauce, and an oily mixture of who knows what. Its enough to feed you for the day! Everyone there had heard about me and wanted to meet me so the rest of the day consisted of me making the rounds, smiling and nodding (since I didn't understand most of them) and attempting to use my 5 creole words! It was so nice to finally meet all the people I had been hearing stories about for the past 3 months.
Friday I spent on the phone trying to arrange my first day at the orphanage (Monday).
A little more on where we stay (to help paint a better picture of my life here), we are in a gated 'apartment' area. Its like entering a little garden of eden from the streets of Haiti, but theres not much to do once in the garden. :) I'm not really allowed to go out alone (especially as a female who doesn't speak creole) and theres really nothing to do inside the gates. SOOOO this makes for pretty long and boring days if I'm here alone. It was nice and relaxing for the first couple days but it very quickly turns into a jail, which i dont do well with as I sure you all can imagine!
The weekend was pretty uneventful, consisting of an outing to go grocery shopping and a Hash. A little about this, as I was unfamiliar with this term until this day. Apparently this goes on all over the world (from what i hear). The hash here is put on by some marines and embassy workers. Basically it is an adventure 'race' with chalk markings you have to find, interpret and follow. At the end we all celebrate with food and beer or soda (for your favorite lightweight). Our adventure took us through the country side into an area that I don't think typically sees many "blan" (white people). You could hear all the kids across the banks yelling BLAN!!! and many more would come running just to see us from afar. They would just stand there waving and smiling as long as you would return the favor. There were several kids that made their way across the stream bed to get close to us. We (Matt and I) held back and tried our best to communicate with them. Matt ended up juggling for them with some rocks which they seemed to love and they showered us with many big white smiles and giggles.
So Monday arrives and the people coming to pick me up (who i had already talked to and provided directions) cant seem to find where I live. This goes on for about two hours or so. I end up walking down the street about 1/2 mile to meet them at the Digicel building which they finally "found and where waiting for me". Well i get there and no one is there... apparently they are at a different one.... It was a mess. So they abort the mission and said they'll try again tomorrow.
The next day we had better luck. They picked me up in a dilapidated old baby blue minivan which i wasn't quite sure was going to make it to wherever we were headed. The lady in charge (American) fit the description of what we would call a redneck in the states to a "t". She was missing all of her teeth except for the front right tooth. She had bleach "blond" (orange) hair that had grown out about two inches. I wasn't quite sure what i had signed myself up for but i was in... Well we arrived at the orphanage after a little over an hour journey and my first real trip out into Haiti. We passed through all sort of shanty town and people bathing in the gutters in the street. The kids at the orphanages were so excited to see me. I have no idea what or if they were told about me but their beautiful smiles were greeting me as i walked through the door. The lady in charge invited me to eat lunch with her, which i thought was a nice gesture but had no idea that it wouldn't be with everyone. Unfortunately it was just us (the only Blan), upstairs, and very separate from everyone else. We had our own separate food and eating area and it made me feel terrible. If i hoped to make any progress and have any carryover and assistance from the "moms" (this is what the caretakers are called there), then I needed to show them that I am "one of them" as much as I can be. I cant change where i was born or the color of my skin but i can eliminate these "lunches" that separate me even more. Later, I discovered the lady in charge who has been living in Haiti for over 8 years speaks no creole and the staff doesn't speak English... a very disturbing tidbit for me.
I begin with the children after lunch, seeing each one individually for 15-30 minutes to get a feel for what they were capable of and where to begin with them. Every child had at least 1 contracture (shortening of a muscle/muscle group) that has to be addressed before most functional activities will be successfully attempted. The sad thing is this is something that could have easily been prevented in most of these children through just positioning them properly. So I began to try to educate the "moms" about stretching techniques. They all nodded yes and said ok, but their eyes said that to them I was just some "blan" who was coming into their world and giving them more work to do. I had to tell myself... One day at a time! The day was over before I knew it and we headed back out on my journey home.
The guy who drives me is the "Director" and serves as a liaison between the lady in charge and the staff. He was born in Haiti, lived in NY for 18 years and returned to Haiti 3 years ago and fortunately speaks creole and English! He has been stretching some of the kids and working on rolling with one boy with hydrocephalus. He wants to learn how to help the kids and give him ideas on activities to do with them!
My next day at the orphanage (Friday) went even better. I was able to spend most of the day working with the kids. I made a point to eat lunch with the staff and the kids. I sat at the table with the kids and I'm surprised any of them finished their food. They all just sat and stared and smiled at me the whole meal. Unfortunately I know about 5 words in creole so my conversation with them was pretty short, but they seemed happy none the less! I felt so much better about eating with them and I could tell that it did not go unnoticed by the staff. I ate their food (rice, bean sauce and salted herring) and cleaned my plate which I think surprised them all.
Oh, these children are in such rough shape. Only one of the 12 (age 6 months- about 12 years)with disabilities can sit without falling over. I don't even know where to begin sometimes. There are three that I dont think there is much I can do for beyond stretching and positioning. One little boy has seizures about 5 times (or more) a day and pretty much doesn't respond to anything stimuli (and is not on any meds for this). All of the children look so much younger than they are.. the only thing that gives them away is their mouth full of teeth!
There is another child (about 3 y.o. and looks about 9 months old) who has hydrocephalus and failed shunt placement. He has a feeding tube through his nose that has formed permanent slits in his nose on both sides. He has cataracts in both eyes and both of his hands are tied to the crib because he pulls the feeding tube out otherwise. Yet when you talk to him or hold his hand he just smiles and coos as though life is grand. He is precious and it is amazing that he is still alive. Im not working with him other than positioning but I am drawn to him and cant make it by his crib without stopping to say hi and rub his back. Well another day flew by and I am headed back home.
This weekend was pretty quite. Matt and I walked to a famous hotel in Haiti and had lunch there. It was a beautiful view overlooking Port-au-Prince (PAP). On our way back we stopped by the grocery store and then began the long the steep uphill walk home. We both were drenched by the time we made it home... quite a funny site!
Monday I returned to the orphanage and had the help of about 5 OT's from the states and Canada who where there for the day reassessing the children for a non-profit called Healing Hands. Today was the last day of their week in Haiti. They spent each day at a different orphanage reassessing the children. Healing Hands is the clinic the children at the orphanage are "registered" at, which Im still not really sure what that means. I do know that Healing Hands works with the children with hydrocephalus and hospitals in the states to arrange shunt placement. They also have an orthotic and prosthetic lab they are able to make items for people as needed.
Wednesday I was told we were taking a new 3 month old girl with hydrocephalus to Healing Hands to be registered. I was excited to go visit as I had been in contact with them to see if I could volunteer on Tuesdays and Thursdays and to deliver the prosthetics I brought with me. We made our way over among the extreme heat and some protesting (non-violent.. dont worry!). I was able to drop off the prosthetics and talk to a few people in charge there. They seemed very excited to have me and said they'd be in contact about transportation. Once we left there I thought we would head to the orphanage but i was dropped off back at home instead. I was also informed that the lady in charge was going to be out of town for the next 2 weeks so they wouldnt be able to pick me up... I didnt really follow the logic since she has nothing to do with picking me up, but i was going with it. The only thing i can figure is that 1) The guy who picks me up is the director so if hes picking me up theres no one left in charge or 2) Ive does something to irritate the lady in charge. Im hoping for #1 but ever since I started eating downstairs with the staff I felt as though she was being challenged by that or that it made her look bad or something.... I dont really know!!!
Well I guess well see in 2 weeks.
So i continue on my quest to get in over at Healing Hands .... all i'll say is that was 2.5 weeks ago and Im still waiting! So I spent the next week at home working 8+ hours a day on my research project, which was good and bad. Good because it was due the next week, bad because I was going crazy. I needed to get out. I was getting bummed out too! I felt as though I was wasting time here and being of no help whatsoever and that is really hard for me to handle. The next week I told Matt and Karl I have to do something, I am goin crazy! I'll sharpen pencils for 8 hours, I dont care just give me something useful to do and get me out of these 4 walls. So I became a data entry specialist for the next 6 work days. I enter data for a new friend (and neighbor) and enjoyed it thoroughly. Under any other circumstances I would have been miserable but I was out of the gates and doing something to help someone!
This weekend was spend finishing my paper and Matt working on his presentation for a conference in Seattle. We also made the weekly trip to the grocery store and attended another Hash. This one led us through the busy section of PAP called Petionville. The good and bad thing was that it was at 9 am on sunday morning! Good because it wasnt so hot, bad because thats way to early to be running around! Well we finished the run (a little earlier than expected- we lost the trail but ended up at the finish anyway!) and enjoyed a brunch at someones apartment. The rest of the day was shot though, we came back and took a long nap, ate dinner and then went to bed.
The week began with Monday as a holiday and a lazy day of fixing a huge brunch and sharing food and conversation with some neighbors. Tuesday consisted of another day of data entry. Tuesday night we went out to eat at a Chinese (yes, chinese in haiti!) restaurant for one the neighbors/co-workers last day. The food was amazingly delicious! Im not sure if its because I hadnt eaten out in over a month or if it was because the food was that good... either way it was great!
Wednesday was the big d-day for my research project. I was a bit nervous I wasnt going to get it turned in, not because it wasnt finished but because the internet is so inconsistent and sketchy here! We'll go days without it working. Fortunately i was able to turn it in! Matt and I went to lunch to celebrate with the "plate of the day" but they were all out so we celebrated with fried plantains and a coke instead! The rest of the week was pretty quiet, with me helping out a little here and a little there.
Saturday I went out with one of our neighbors and some of her friends. We got a pedicure (gasp- I know... who have I become here in Haiti!!!!) and then went for lunch. It was a really nice. I am constantly amazed at the little alcoves of beauty in Haiti. Most everywhere you look its trash, filth, poverty and dirt, but there are a few areas that open your eyes to what Haiti could be if things were different here.
Saturday evening we headed to some friends house for a cookout and Rock Band. We were then going to head to a outdoor concert but FINALLY decided not to go because it was storming. Later we found out it had been cancelled anyway. Sunday was the highlight of my trip so far. Matt and I headed out to conquer the "mountain" that backs up to where we live. We had been told that it was a beautiful view and we would enjoy it. So out we went... the hike began with us heading up a very steep mixture of a cobblestone, gravel and rock street (alternating between these three sporadically). We headed through what seemed like peoples property and alley ways and we're did pretty well until we made one wrong turn. We start getting heckled by a group of guys and felt a little uncomfortable, so we turned around and backtracked our way out of there. Another guys then asks if we are headed up to the top and begins to guide us the right way. The hike was steep and very scenic. There were many kids along the way yelling, pointing, smiling... and of course asking for money (a very common occurrence here in Haiti by all ages). We stopped many times to enjoy the view. Its amazing how beautiful such a dirty place can look from up high. We continued on our journey after our "guide" departed, with a combination of bushwhacking and guessing which way to go. We made it most of the way with just spitting and sprinkling here and there but then the rain began (see photo of rain wall approaching us)! We turned around and just started "running" as best as possible down the steep, slippery rocks and narrow gravely path. Once we got back down to a more populated area this turned into a comedic relief for all those watching as matt and i slipped and slided all around soaking wet in the downpour!!! This just encouraged Matt and he took to purposely sliding down on his bottom. Everyone thought this was hilarious! The locals were either all inside or under a covered area just giggling at us and pointing or they were outside showering in the streets. It made sense... there was no way i would want to hike up to where these people lived up with gallons of water to bathe!!! Surprising we made it back down alive with little more that some scrapes and bruises and weighing about 10 extra pounds from all the water we had taken on!
Monday, one of the ladies I had met at lunch Saturday is an infectious disease doctor working at a TB sanitarium/hospital right outside of PAP. When she heard I was a physical therapist her eyes lit up and she began to explain that she had a patient with Hemiplegia that could really use my help. I jumped at the opportunity. So today i was headed out to meet her (Linda). I was going to work with her while the doctors made their rounds. I felt back at "home" work wise. She presented like many of my stroke patients back home, with severe weakness, muscle wasting, poor balance and poor attention. I was told she had had seizure 6 weeks ago and was completely unresponsive for a few days afterwards. She had no movement on her left side until about 2 weeks ago. She is 31 and has a little boy.
They had to change some of her TB meds due to the seizure which in turn made her depressed and she had tried to commit suicide. She was all smiles today. She just wanted to hold my hand, touch my hair and my face and smile. I worked with her on and off for about 3 hours until she was exhausted and her smiles started to fade. She is there like the rest because she has TB. The patients there with TB stay 9 months and those with multi-drug resistance are there for 2 years. There is no electricity, no tv, nothing to do but sit, take your medicine and wait... 2 years of waiting. The doctors have quite a task convincing the patients to stay ... the patients all want to go home and who would blame them. Would any of us willingly sign up for prison? Thats what this is like but they dont understand that even though they feel better and arent coughing anymore it doesnt mean they can stop taking the medicine and go home. Its a constant battle there. In the 5 hours I was there (3 working with Linda) I heard the same explanation and pleading 4 times! I understood both sides... what a tough situation. Im headed back there Wednesday (tomorrow) to work with her again!
Well on a more positive note.... Despite what you read and hear about Haiti, currently it is relatively safe here besides the occasional pickpocket. The biggest risk for me here is probably TB! :) While I dont venture out by myself, with another person I am able to explore most areas until my heart's content! The problem is the lack of transportation, which limits most activities for us. I promise to update this more regularly so you dont have to have a marathon session each time... Enjoy the photos too! Love you all and miss you all!
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