A Life Less Ordinary: March 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011

Change of Profession

For the past two weeks we have been loaning our SanteBus to J/P HRO while we still are trying to repair one of theirs. Greg has been driving and going on hospital transfers and helping out with the relocation process by bringing families to their new homes. At first I wasn’t sure what help I would be since I am not a doctor and I don’t drive. I eventually started helping at the pharmacy. At first I was just writing labels all day. I did about 400 or 500 one day. Slowly I started to help the ladies who where working in the pharmacy fill the prescriptions and by the 4^th day I was taking the prescriptions and filling them all on my own. I couldn’t explain to the patients how often to take the medication but I could write it on the bags we would hand out, so after I would fill them I would hand them over to one of the ladies who would then explain it to the patients. Finally though the head lady told me if I could write it in French I could also explain it in French. I wasn’t so confident doing it on my own so I always had one of the ladies tell it to me before I told the patients. I’m sure after a few more days I will be able to explain it to the patients on my own.

One of the first days we started to loan our SanteBus to J/P HRO they had an emergency transfer at 8pm. The truck they usually take for the transfers had an expired registration and one of the other cars had no gas in it so they called us. Greg and I went up and as we were waiting to leave there was a woman giving birth and before we left she had delivered the baby. We took 2 women down to a maternity hospital near the airport. One woman was 3 months pregnant and was bleeding and the other woman was clearly about to give birth. When we walked into the hospital with the women you could hear screams and grunts from other women giving birth. There were cries from newborns and some women were sitting outside of the delivery room waiting for an open table to give birth on. The hospital conditions are no where near ideal but they are better than giving birth on the floor of a tent with no help.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Peter

One of the nicest, funniest and most caring people I have ever met is a 13-year-old boy who lives in Nairobi. I met Peter back in 2007 when he first came to live at Cheryl’s Children’s Home. When he first arrived he couldn’t speak a word of English let alone any Swahili. When I returned in 2008 he was the comedian of the home. Everyone wanted to be around him and when you would spend time with him you knew there was something special about him. When I went back in December of 2009 I couldn’t have been more excited to see “my” kids again. As soon as I saw Peter I knew there was something wrong. He had a tumor that was getting bigger each week on his forehead. At first no one seemed to know what it was or what to do about it but when the final diagnosis came back it was non-Hodgkin lymphoma and he started chemo treatment right away. I had the privilege of living with him for 8 weeks and becoming very close to him and one of the older buys from Cheryl’s, James, who was also helping to take care of him. The two of them became like brothers to me. If they needed anything, I would have done it for them.

Two weeks ago I received devastating news. Peter’s cancer had come back and the doctors said that if they were to do another surgery there was only a 2 in 10 chance he would survive longer than 2 years. The doctors and the caregivers at Cheryl’s have decided to try to have him enjoy the time he has left with his friends and “family” from the home. I could not remember a time where I have been more upset to receive news than when I read about this. I just started crying and I was not myself throughout the day. Whenever I start to think about it I get upset and angry and start to question everything. Besides being so close to Peter and caring about him so deeply, I have never known someone young to die. I can’t imagine what he is going through. I wish so badly to go back to see him before he gets much worse but I don’t know if that will be possible because it is so expensive and I wouldn’t have nearly as much time as I would want to have with him. But seeing him before it is too late-that is what I would love more than anything. He will always have a special place in my heart long after al of this has passed. If you could meet him, you would understand why I feel this way.

To read about the time I spent with James and Peter, you can read some of my posts from last year.

Friday, March 4, 2011

More Visitors

There were only a few days between when the RWB left and when the first of the Sisters was to arrive. On the 14^th we brought one of the women, Grace, who cooks for the children up in Kenscoff for Pou Soley Leve, to the J/P HRO hospital because he thyroid was enlarged and she was having trouble breathing and could not eat. The doctors at J/P HRO did an assessment of her and realized they were not equipped to handle her case so she was referred to Medishare downtown. The hospital, along with all the other hospitals in the city and I’m sure in the country, was packed. There were people in beds next to each other with barley enough room for a doctor to squeeze in and talk to the patients. After an hour or s of waiting we finally found an ear-nose-throat doctor from NY who was down just for a few days. She was able to operate on Grace and relieve the pressure and we brought her back home a few days later. During these few days the mechanics were also working on the suburban and the mini bus. On the 18^th we got the mini bus working. We are still working on the suburban though. Every time I went to get mad at our mechanic, Pierre, for not having the cars running he would look at me and say “yes, madam?” How was I supposed to be mad after that? He is doing an amazing job and continues to use his own time to try to get the car running again.

Still on the 18^th Yvon brought be to a manifestation march for the return of former President Aristide. The middle of the day marching with a few thousand other supports dancing, singing and chanting. It was an experience. There were news crews filming the whole thing and press within the crowd taking pictures and interviewing people. When I looked online that day and the few days following, I could not find anything about it within the international press. It was relatively short and peaceful so that may be why. If and when he comes back I can’t imagine the celebrations that are going to happen. I hope I will be here to witness it. The next day we went to pick up Sister Johnice and Michael. Sister J and Sister Judi had spent some time with Yvon last summer and were coming back to see how things were progressing. We all went to church on Sunday and in the afternoon we took a drive to Sodo which is about 2 hours again. There is a waterfall there and it was just a nice relaxing afternoon. We left around 5:30 to have enough time to get back home and eat and then go out for pre-carnival celebrations at 8. Sounded like a great plan. That was until we got a flat tire coming down the mountain. Now to get to Sodo it is very easy and the road for the most part is smooth until you turn onto the road that takes you up and over the mountain. That road- not so smooth. In fact it is just rock. It was a good thing we got a flat when we were almost down the mountain and not just starting to make the climb back over. After much help from the locals we were able to finally find a tire that fit. Just as they were struggling to get off that last luge nut (which they worked on for a good 45 minutes) the power went out so all of the men were holding up their cell phones to shed light on the tire. They were also changing the tire by hand with no tools whatsoever. By the time we finally go back on the road it was 10:30. Needless to say there was no pre-carnival celebration for us that day. The next few days were filled with showing the Sisters the different things that were now happening to the programs they were working with during their last visit, which included the deaf camp, Pou Soley Leve in Kenscoff, and talking with Catholic Relief Services on what they are doing. On Tuesday the 24^th the sisters left and Alex, Dr Bonnet’s son and one of my best friends, came down for a few days. On Friday at 8am we were supposed to hike up to Sarazin where Pou Soley Leve has another school program going. Eight in the morning was Haitian time of course and we didn’t end up starting the hike until 11am which by that time was much much hotter than it was at 8am. At least I got to work on my tan some more. The hike takes about 25 minutes, but it is not just a strolling walk. The beginning is the hardest climbing just up rocks while trying not to slip and fall. We can only take the car to the base of the mountain so when we dropped of the rice we got donated from J/P HRO the week before, the children had to make the hike while carrying the boxes. They are also building a school up there since no schools exist up there and because of this, children do not start going to school until they are around 10. Since there are no bricks at the top of the mountain the children have been bringing them up brick by brick. There are a few different drop-off points for the bricks so the children don’t have to carry them up the whole way each time. The school is nothing more than a long tent you would use for parties divided into 6 sections for the different classes. By the time we got up there the children were finishing school since they only go for half a day and then return home and help their families in the fields or with whatever work they need help with. That day for lunch they were eating the rice that J/P HRO donated. Sometimes that is the only real meal a day these children get.

The next day we headed to Jacmel which is about 2 and a half hours away because that is where the big Carnival celebration was last weekend. By the time we got there is was dark so we ate on the beach went out to see one of the oldest bands in Haiti perform. Sunday morning we headed straight to the beach in the morning and it was already packed. We stayed there most of the day and ate since we knew we would not be eating anything once Carnival began. We headed out a bit before four and we were already late. There were people everywhere and the parade was already going on. The Carnival in Jacmel is more of a traditional one whereas the one in Port-Au-Prince (this coming weekend) is more like an ongoing party and dancing. In Jacmel they make paper mâché animals and all sorts of other things. They made one of the collapsed Presidential Palace and homes that were collapsed by the earth quake. There were some people carrying a young boy on a stretcher with posters saying things along the lines of cholera kills. There were also many groups playing music, singing and dancing up the streets. I didn’t think the party would ever stop. Eventually it did and we headed back to Port-Au-Prince around 1030 pm. Alex left Monday afternoon and it was back to normal life again here until Friday when Dr Bonnet (JP), John (a guy who works with us back in Jersey) and Robert (a friend of John’s and pilot who is flying them all on a 4 passenger flight from Fort Lauderdale) arrive.