Medical Team

The team finally arrives close to midnight. The bus backs over Ruguen's motorcycle. It's pouring rain and we have half a dozen huge heavy suitcases that have to be carried to the top of the mountain. It's slippery but the team is ready for a challenge after being stuck in Port au Prince for two days. We get everything to the top and set up camp in the rain. Finally to bed at 3am after chatting for hours.

6am comes early. It's cool to see people in so close with in the states here in the country I love so much.

I'll admit it is hard for me to open my eyes this morning. The horrible smell of this mattress though is enough to encourage my to get out of bed. It's been raining hard all night and it doesn't seem to be letting up. I have my little line of boys with scrapes and cuts as usual this morning waiting patiently for me. I bandage them up and Uncle Jay teases one by saying he'll have to cut off his leg. The little boy's eyes get wide for a moment and then he laughs.

Judelin, Jacques and Delice are here and ready to translate for the team. We all get decked out in rain coats and Jen and I can't figure out if it's better to sweat under this plastic or be soaked by rain.

Everyone is packed and ready and we head out in the rain. Down the mountain to check on the little boy who has the ear infection.

It looks so much better right now but Jen gives him antibiotics to finish it off and we bandage a few wounds. The boys come around to pick us up on bikes and we head to the hospital. We pray and sing and tell them we'll be back with medicine for Cholera. Still pouring rain we drive through mud and trash. So much rain. We arrive at a courtyard surrounded by large cement rooms. People without anywhere to sleep come here to stay out of the rain. I'm guessing between two and three hundred people. We set up our clinic in one of the rooms and are immediately mobbed with so many people. Yelling. Anger. Disappointment. Hope. So many different emotions running through so many different faces. The crowd the team. It's so dark in here due to the dark sky and lack of windows.

Sweat. Dirt. Infection. The crowding and yelling is out of control so the boys start kicking people out. Jay, Jen, Poppyseed, Jill and I clean and bandage everything we can. There are some nasty wounds and some not so bad.

All need care and cleaning. I often forget that crowding and yelling and pushing isn't normal for the states and I hope the group isn't overwhelmed. Everyone's physical injuries have been taken care of and we go to a local restaurant to get some drinks and take a little rest. Jay is wiped out so he and dad go back to the house. 

Jen and Jill are up for more so I take them with me. Go to the orphanage. Jill loves on kids and Jen busies herself checking on kids and the caretakers. The baby with prolapsed rectum is crying but everything looks fine. Jill snuggles her. We visit Manel and his family in their house in the side of the cliff. It's good to see how far they have come. More wounds to bandage. Hike up to Dieudonne's.