Top 10 Medical Concerns

There are many hospitals around Port-au-Prince, but none have been as pretty as the one we visited this morning. We went to St. Damien Hospital, where they had an international staff of doctors/nurses/social workers. They usually had a 6 months rotation and the new team will be leaving sometime in September. We went to do a small distribution for all the sick children there and also the street children that they have taken in. It was a really small distribution, but it was super sweet. We couldn't find a translator, so I did the ceremony in French and had Jacques (one of our driver/body guards) translate into Creole. It was super cool. We brought with us toys, tents, mobile toilets, and candy for all the children. The main reason why we were there was because they really needed tents. They were not using them for living situation, rather they needed tents for the recovering process. The children would have operations, but no where for them recover at. I thought it was a really good distribution find. We sang, we laughed, and we loved.

After the hospital visit, we all went directly to the Free Clinic to help out. Today was the first day that the Free Clinic moved to the outer region of the soccer stadium to cater to a larger community population. The dental department joined in today, as well. Overall, it was a success and people really seemed to appreciate the medical team. They work so hard from 8am to 5pm everyday. We have a make-shift pharmacy, where boxes are labeled with Antibiotics, Peds, Allergy, and Suture. I do whatever I can to help. It definitely helps to have 3 years of Emergency Room volunteer experience under my belt. We see many babies on a daily basis. The top ten complains that Haitians have are : 1. Chest pain (which means congestion), 2. Irregular Breathing (which means Asthma), 3. Headache, 4. Fever, 5. Diarrhea, 6. Back pain, 7. Neck pain, 8. Private areas burning and itching (which means UTI or need a good shower), 9. Sleep problems (PTSD from earthquake), 10. Eating problems (Gas and Heart burn). These are the top problems and of course there are the physical complaints of broken limbs and trauma from the earthquake itself. There are also emergency cases, mostly of heat strokes or HIV/AIDS. We see the gament here, nothing is a surprise anymore.

Another day....another feeling...another kind of hope...