Recorded:  Hung Pham for Care2Share

Monday, Apr.5, 2010 (our 1st day): we came, delivered “goods”, ate, and sorted medicines, and give-aways. We surveyed tent cities in Port Au Prince and Croix de Bouquet.

Haiti population is 9 million with 90% black, 5% white (“Blanc”); the balance is mixed.  Twenty years ago Haiti was 95% Catholic with the French ruling.  Now it is 60% Catholic, 30% Protestant, and 10% Voodoo.  Although mostly Christian in faith, a large number of Haitians still believe in the power of voodoo and so some also practice outside of the Christian faith. Voodoo is a religion, a culture and a tradition which was brought over from parts of Africa where the people originated back in the slave-trading days.

Our place of service was the “Tent city” that is set up on the church ground although there were many throughout the country.  People set up tents together wherever there is a flat piece of land.  One of these places is the bottom of the river bed where water will flood soon due to the coming rain season in Haiti.  Here, 2000 people signed up for medical help, most live here locally, some came from “outside” and waiting around (without tents).

Among the team members were Michele (nurse), Dr. Bill, Liem (pharmacist) & Phi (Liem’s fiancée), Rev. Tri, Vy (nurse), Jasmine (pharmacist) and self.  Each of us brought 2-3 boxes full of medical supplies.

We rested 30min. after the truck ride to the church, straight from the makeshift airport, a converted warehouse.  We had not eaten all day, the group sat down and munched on some dried beef jerky I made the night before.  Then, we came together to sort out medical supplies, antibiotics in one corner, pain-reliever in another, and so on….  Among them were also wound-dressing, ointments, lots of Amodium AD, children Motrin, vitamins, etc.

We walked around to survey how people live inside their tents; it was hot inside the tents which explained why some people were sleeping outside. Children love the cameras and seeing themselves in the picture afterward.  Some adults refused the photo-opp, saying “no photo” gesturing with a waiving finger. Kids ran around us asking for anything, all spoke Creole mixed with French. Some people were cooking outside their tents with woods burning slowly in a brick or stone pile. We settled to rest in the make-shift church that the people fashioned from canvas and 2x4 wood shipped from the US.  There was a nice breeze that came through, carrying with it the dust from nearby piles of concrete that used to be houses. Later we went to Fr. Ives’ house to settle for the night.

Tuesday: begin medical examination and treating open wounds for about 175 children and adults.  We devised new process to speed up examination and medicine distribution so that more people can be examined.  Afterward, we toured the Port Au Prince and saw the collapsed Presidential Palace and the Cathedral, two most prominent and well-built buildings in PAP.

Wednesday: 2nd day in our Medical Mission which we were able to move people through faster, about 350 children and adults were examined and treated.  We remembered to pray before starting our work and also join the villagers in their morning mass celebration.  Afterward, we toured other part of the country, especially the mountain side where there were many UN personnel living and note that they live in better area, a class above.

Thursday: Our 3rd day into the Medical Mission where we examined and gave medicine to 350 more adults and children.  There were a dozen or so who came back the 3rd time (on our request) for wound dressing and their wounds showed remarkable healing. New skins started to form across their wounds.  We gave these folks ointment and dressing with instruction to continue their daily wound cleansing and treatment.  We also gave away personal hygiene products like soap, shampoo, skin lotion (many suffer dry skin), toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.  After the day’s work, we toured another mountain side where we saw residents living in tents near their toppled houses; all are now pile of concrete rubble.  We visited an unmarked area where thousands of unidentified bodies were buried.  There, a skull lay on the ground which no one dared to bury on their own, fearing something unknown.  We also transported the rest of our medical supply to a free medical clinic ran by the nuns.

Friday: Our last day and homeward bound.  We woke up at 5am, weary and tired but because of the needs of the whole, we went to the airport early at 7:00am and waited until it opens at 8:00am.  We met a group of volunteers who were there for 3 weeks.  Their job was demolishing and rebuilding building for beachside communities in the south, 4 hrs drive from PAP.

Some obervations about the Haitians:

• Haitians are mostly “true” Black; almost none were mixed or lighter color skin.
• People are mostly religious with some Christian percentage continues to practice Voodoo beside their Christian faith.
• People are resilient, and already most are back on the street selling their goods to make their living. Haitians are hard working vs. the image of “lazy” due to being dependent on the age-old hand-out situation in their history.
• We saw far fewer school structures than in the US and so not certain on how well established their school system is, even to prior to the earthquake.
• Many children showed signs of malnutrition and they played scatter throughout the village without much supervision.
• Most Haitians look at the UN as a bothersome organization whose lives are richer and better and whose works are minimal. UN workers were only seen in their compounds or in their vehicles driving in the city; none were seen patrolling on foot. There are distinct UN compounds for Chinese UN, Brazilian UN, etc., as if they themselves could not work together. The Haitians have a running joke that “all the UN is good for is making Haitian teenage girls pregnant”.
• On construction materials, one 2X4X10 board cost $17 where in the US, it only costs $2.50. So due to the demand, construction materials have sky-rocketed, a few non-profit organizations are shipping their own materials in overseas containers.
• The weather was constantly 95F plus in April where the day is dry and the night wet with rain. Mango trees thrive here and 90% plus of Haiti mango export go directly to Florida. There are surplus of mangoes here every year, much of which are wasted every year.
• The staple foods for Haitians are white rice, red bean, and plantain which they eat every meal, doesn’t matter if one is rich or poor. Rice and beans are being supplied by UNICEF and other organizations.
• The most common problems among Haitians are dried-skin, scabies, coughing, and itchy eyes. We believe that these are the direct results of living in tents, and from the concrete dust settling from the wreckages surrounding them.
• Haitians are sexually active due to joblessness and few entertainment options. The country is 1/5th the size of Ohio yet there are 9 million people.

What to bring on the next medical mission:

• There were quite a few cases with HIVs so we need to bring condoms (better that they don’t spread it) and HIV cocktail if we could.
• Many suffered from itchy red eyes due to the dust and the unclean living situation so bring eye droppers, dust mask, and plastic safety glasses.
• Many complained of heart burn and looked frail so bring peptol bismo tablets, multi-vitamins.
• People skins are dried and so more susceptible to infection so bring skin lotion and antibiotic ointments.
• There were a few cases of goiter so bring consumable iodine tablets since their salt do not contain iodine.
• Small zip lock bags for medicine give away with pre-printed labels for easier distribution.
• Since there is no refrigeration possible, we need to give people a way to make their amoxilin antibiotic prep for daily use. Perhaps a small vial and measuring cup so that they can prep daily doses to use each of the seven days that they’re on it.
• Many people suffer from skin irritation (dryness, dirty living, etc) so ointment like hydrocortisone, vitamin E skin lotion, would be helpful.
• More soap, shampoo, and concentrated detergent for washing and hygienic living.
• Administering liquid medicine for kids is a challenge, we need to use disposable plastic pipettes (push medicines directly to their throat), and for older kids, disposable medicine cups.
• People waiting in line suffer heat, dehydration, and hunger (2-4 hrs wait), so we need to bring more disposable cups (paper cones) and big water bottle (mixed with cool-aid, sugar, etc), snacks, candies, etc. We saw that most were so tired and exhausted from the heat and dryness by the time they sat in front of us for examination.