Weekend in Haiti

Saturday night- Sunday morning

Sorry, I have been a bit negligent on the blog. When I get done with all my duties, I read my emails, check up on Facebook, and head for bed. No, I am still not sleeping well. I fall asleep, wake up when the power switches, wake up later with leg cramps, fall back asleep, and wake up at 5 or 5:30 AM when the lights come on in the kitchen. It is hinted that I avail myself of the I-Stat machine to see if there is an imbalance in my blood chemistry. Hmmm, do I really want Reg to stick me??
We saw over 350 patients on Friday and over 150 on our short day today. The last 24 patients may have not needed to be seen but the 25’th one really needed help. And our dentist, Kate, is pulling teeth and is as busy as we are in the pharmacy.
We walked to the beach at Cyvadier Plaz on Friday night. My legs were barking but we took a new route past the voodoo temple. It was quite interesting. I will try to post pictures when I can get the card reader to work once again. I had never been there before. I stopped at the hotel to see Christophe but he was busy. I did meet some of the Canadian rehab team and hope to talk with them Sunday. Next we walked to Son-son’s bar and ended up walking home in the dark. All of our shoes got muddy and Stephanie even managed to fall into the mud. I hope you are following the PNN blog through FOTCOH.org. Several team members are blogging and we are trying to post some pictures.
Good morning. It is now Sunday and the forecast for Peoria is freezing rain while here in Cyvadier it is clear, sunny, humid and only 80 degrees. The EDH power went off around 8 PM and we sat in the dark for several minutes while we scrambled for flashlights to be able to turn on the generator. On the second floor, some of the team played a noisy card game. On the third floor, the outside balcony was lined with chairs and all of the problems of the world were solved. Also on the third floor, the computers were going full blast and the library was filled with readers. It was nice to relax a bit. We were expecting a voodoo parade last night by the locals as Easter is approaching but we did not get to see and hear that special treat.
At Ti Moulage, Bill tried his hand at body surfing, thanks to an errant wave. He managed to meet the rocks with his chest, nose, and forehead. Here again, I hope to post some pictures. The FOTCOH band showed up at the beach and played for a short while. They seem to know when we are there each time.
I had to get in the middle of a loud argument in the pharmacy lobby yesterday. Belony was shouting at some one and that some one was shouting back. The argument moved outside and seemed about to escalate into a fight. Several people restrained Belony and the other angry man. I approached the man (first “Blanc” on the scene) and told him we would have to seek out Papa Dick. I walked him around the building, out to the gate, and back to the building looking for Dick. We avoided the pharmacy and I started upstairs to seek out Dick. Andreta, on of our kitchen girls, signaled with hand gestures that I should not bother Dick with this matter. After a few minutes of stalling, I came back out and sat him down on a bench. It turns out that he is now living in Seattle, Washington and is an artisan there. About three years ago he stayed at Belony’s home with his wife and wanted a refund of $ 250.00 Haitian Dollars. After I felt he had calmed down, I escorted him out of the grounds. Leave it to me to get in the middle if things.

Okay.o it is now late Monday afternoon. Where did the time go? I have been trying t get photos uploaded to the FOTCOH blog and the internet has not been the most cooperative. I just love Hughes net-not. I finally rebooted the entire system and it worked this morning but did not work last night.
Sunday we had a great breakfast of bacon and pancakes thanks to Bill and Kent. The prayer service wet well, I think. Man of the team headed for Jacmel to survey the damage. I managed a short nap the back to computer clean up.. I have Papa Dick’s done and Boyer’s done but still have Gerald Jeans and Nelson’s to work on. Nelson came to work today and promised to show me pictures of his new baby and then forgot me. Poor me!
There are a lot of sun burned team members from the weekend and many of them are presently on a hike u the mountain. Kevin, our physical therapist, came in to help in the pharmacy today. Pretty soon, I will have the whole team “doing drugs in Haiti”. Kev in and I did meet with the Canadian Rehab team at the hotel on Sunday night at dinner. They were supposed to stop by when they got done today at 2 PM. They start work at 9 AM. That would be nice. Christophe was very busy at the hotel during dinner but the food was excellent. The damage to his hotel breaks my heart.
My last patients today were very small babies whose mother and father were killed in the earthquake. Very sad.
My sponsor child showed up today and I loaded him down with some toys. I just realized that I failed to give him the cards from my grandchildren. He always manages to show up when I am the busiest.
Think I’ll close and post this. I am missing home quite a bit today.