Haiti, January 28,
2012
We saw some improvements
in Port Au Prince (PAP). There is reconstruction going on at the airport
building, which was badly damaged during the earthquake. There are more refugee
camps with new prefab houses and fewer with tents. We also noticed fewer
clusters of tents from the air. And, definitely, there is a cleaning up
campaign going on.
The airport was
flocked with foreigners. A trend that has accelerated since the earthquake.
While we were in line to clear immigration, an airport employee handed us out a
glossy brochure on Tourism in Haiti. A well done and expensive piece put
together by the Ministry of Tourism.
We find things going
well in Ile A Vache. On Sunday we have lunch at Lambert's house and we review
with him the administration of the school.
Some of the women who
already participate in the competition had huge piles of garbage stored and
guarded in their yards. Garbage has become valuable if collected! We
established 10 areas under the leadership of 10 neighbors that would cover most
of the village.
Sunday afternoon we
also visited the three-bedroom hut shared by six of the school teachers.
They all come from Les Cayes, on the main land, so they have to stay over
in Ile A Vache during the week. Last September we paid for repairs and painting
of the house. Still, I'm shocked to see the living conditions of these
teachers.
Dispanse
Kakok – The Clinic
Surzie is running the
clinic well. Since last November there have been THREE teams of healthcare
professional visiting the clinic. One team from Spain and two from the USA. One
of the teams with Dr. Link comes with a Dentist and a generator! They can do
dental care, but mostly it is extractions of carious pieces… They saw close to
1000 cases during their stay in Ile a Vache.
For one of the US
groups this has been their fourth stay at the Dispanse!
Besides the hundreds
of patients that they treated at the Clinic, they also travelled to other areas
of the island guided by the Clinic staff. This January one of the groups went
to run a one day clinic at Grand Barrier, the farthest point of Ile A Vache
from Kakok.
Xavier visited fewer
patients than usual since a lot of cases had been seen by the Medical Teams…
over 100 patients were seen in the days we worked at the clinic. The most
common complaints had to do with a small flu epidemic in Ile a Vache. This
triggered asthma attacks. Thanks to our electrical power we were able to give
inhalation treatment for shortness of breath. What a relief for the
patients…and what a gratifying experience!
We also treated our
regular hypertension patients and the many aches and pains and skin conditions
and rashes. We were able to provide relief of pain and cures for infections.
There were, many, many just born babies; we had diagnosed multiple cases of
malaria (thanks to our Microscope from Valencia) and one abdominal aneurism.
There were treated various lacerations and a couple of schizophrenic patients
that had continuity in their treatment, no longer hallucinating and able to
function.
On the building front,
the clinic has a new roof and a new coat of paint. With the help of Lambert we
were able to get finally the wind power tower moved to a better location and to
a higher level. It was working by the time we left the island.
Also we got all the
batteries we were missing from the new power system delivered before we left!
Etoile du Matin – The
School
We had a meeting with
Alexy and Mari-Anne, the Administrative Team. The school is getting help for
the food program from CRS for a multiyear plan (2008-2012). We pay for all the
salaries (teachers, director, cooks, and cleaning staff) and the books and
materials are financed by the Fundacion Jose Palau Francas foundation
from Barcelona. The money parents pay for the year inscription ($400 Gourds
-$10 US) is kept by the administrators to cover other expenses including paying
themselves.
The situation is
stable and the school keeps on graduating few kids every year to access higher
education.
Konkou Kakok Pwop -
Garbage Competition –
We spent Friday
afternoon running the garbage competition. A total of 17 teams participated. We
visited each pile, measured it and burned it down. We checked the
cleanliness of the surrounding areas to add to the winning parameters.
The pot to distribute
among the participants was $10,000 Gourds ($250 US). We split the cost 50/50
with Lambert.
On Saturday we travel
back to Miami. On Monday we already had the competition rank for each
participant and Lambert has paid everyone according to that. The winner got
$1650 Gourds ($41 US) and the last of the rank got $300 Gourds ($7.5 US)
February 13, 2012
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