(Here are a few stories from Aaron and his team in Haiti from Monday. -Curtis)

Pastor Pierre helping set up at the IDP camp

Out in Chambrun

Two things were striking.  First, as the team was just arriving and getting set-up, a post-earthquake tremor took place.  People were sitting in the waiting area at the clinic on benches, and a few down the halls waiting to be seen in the rooms.  As soon as the earth start to shook, which it only did for a few seconds, the people ran!  Some people were almost trampled, purses were left behind, some children were dropped.  They actually saw three new patients as a result of the panic that ensued, mostly cuts and bruises.  One of the translators for the team had run out, and was found under a tree, just shaking.  He kept apologizing saying he was sorry, he was sorry.  One of our team members commented in our debrief time tonight that they never understood what trauma was until today.  Today…she saw trauma close-up.  So many of the Haitians have been traumatized through this whole experience.  Once everyone got back in the building and were there about 20 minutes, a second smaller tremor came.  This time it lasted such a short time that no one really had a chance to react.  We were thankful that they didn’t have much chance.

Deanna working hard at the IDP camp

The second story from Chambrun was the second young baby that came into the clinic.  This one was worse than Dashka from yesterday.  She was young, and apparently the mother and its twin died recently (unsure if it was in the quake or not), so a grandmother or the baby’s new mother (new wife to the husband) was taking care of it.  We got the sense that they were possibly neglecting the child.  It looked a bit like a skeleton with skin on.  It was not looking good.  Chip was the runner for the day and just happened to show up right at this moment and said he needed to go the hospital to pick up the baby (Dashka) and her mom at the hospital.  Well, they started to walk out to the car and the mom was not going to get in the truck to go to the hospital.  There was a rather large group of the community standing nearby on a fence, and when they saw what was happening, began to speak boldly (putting it nicely) to the lady about how shameful she should feel and that she better go to the hospital.  Needless to say, the baby made it to the hospital, and the baby we took in yesterday was looking much, much better.  We were so pleased to see another baby being saved from near starvation.

Brooke Smalley holding a baby at the IDP camp

A Bike Accident

A little boy was riding his bike.  Maybe 7 or 8 years old.  He fell and cracked his head on a rock.  Back in the states, he probably would have gotten a stitch right in the middle of his forehead.  Instead, we cleaned it up and sealed it up.  He was very brave, but very scared as we took him up on the bus, held him still as Dr. Deanna put the Durabond on his head and kept his eyes covered in gauze so as not to get it in his eyes.  Talk about a scary experience.  He was very brave and was rewarded with a sucker.  Just one of the 338 patients that we saw today.

Cleaning a large cut that was infected at the IDP Camp (full of puss, very nasty infection)

Running a Mobile Clinic

No one on the team has run a mobile clinic before.  There were a couple of things that we had in our favor. First, Tanya is one of our team members that is here for her second week from Canada.  She was here last week and had an excellent feel for how things could work.  She ran the pharmacy today and was a major reason things went well.  Secondly, we had translators that have been working mobile clinics for quite a few weeks now.  They were awesome in controlling the crowd, identifying the cutter of line quickly before an actual fight breaks out, talking with patients, setting up and tearing down.  If you ever run a mobile clinic, I highly recommend experienced translators (if you don’t speak the language).

Aaron Elliott and Nick Pease holding twin babies while Mom and siblings were being examined by the doctor

A mobile clinic has to be one of the most intense experiences I can imagine.  Word spread quickly through the IDP camp that we were here, that there was a child doctor, and that we were free.  The examen room is under a tent, about a 10 by 10 area, where we would have as many as 7 patients being examined at one time by nurses.  People were standing immediately up to the roped off area because clearly we were the best show in town.  Our doctor would work her way around, checking up on the nurses work, making sure she saw any patient that was more than basic over the counter medicine needs.  We saw a couple of things that we couldn’t do much for…a large thyroid (maybe cancer), a child with a heart murmur, another boy in a wheelchair.  But we also did all we could…giving out hugs, dispensing medicine, holding babies…it was sacred space…and was so for the six hours we ran the mobile clinic today.

Nick Pease holding a baby

Okay…that’s all I’ve got for today.  I can’t write much else.  Oh, please mention again how much the prayers mean.  They make such a difference!

Aaron

(Aaron shared with me that there are a few specific things you can be praying for: Pray for the group’s emotional well-being. Pray for their spiritual well-being. Pray for continued health. Pray for good sleep. Pray for continued capacity and everyone, today was very intense.)

A few more photos from the day…

Krista Davis doing triage with patients

Jon Reinoso after a 6 hour day working the mobile medical clinic

Looking in at our medical clinic