Tarantula Escapade Frété

So for the most part living in Haiti is pretty great! The most beautiful people, warm weather, beautiful mountains, vast oceans, yummy fruit and veggies, and a colourful culture….but then there’s the not so beautiful things…..big, hairy, scary, tarantulas.

One night not too long ago Amanda came sauntering into the main dining area and was in a state of panic, she was trying to hide how scared she was but you could see the fear in her eyes. She then proceeded to tell us that she had been stuck in the room for the last half hour because a tarantula was right outside our bedroom door. She was tempted to even facebook me to come and help her out but after spitting on the spider and shining her light on it, it moved far enough away from the door that she could run as fast as she could away from this hairy creature. She then told us she had been texting people at home to ask them if tarantulas existed in Haiti. Then it was time to show us the picture she took of it…and I was thinking oh it doesn’t look that big until we all decided to go and have show and tell time. 

Honestly I never really realized spiders that big existed and yes I have been here 5 times and this was my first time seeing a tarantula. Let’s just say I ended up on a chair!

Knowledge is Power

One of our goals of this trip was to plan a women's group where people could come and talk about issues in the community, about their health, lifestyle, and daily difficulties. We had discussed
our group for 8 months prior to this trip and had some worries about the success and the sustainability of the group. Prior to arriving, we had Dr.Dieula tell people in the community Bois De Lance
about the group we would be having on Tuesdays at 4 pm. Dr. Dieula warned us that only 10 women may show up due to lack of knowledge about what the program may entail.

At 4 pm 6 women were sitting in the courtyard area where the group was to be held. We were happy to see those 6 people because we had prepared to talk about breast self exams and the anatomy of a woman. Typical of Haitian time, people started arriving in groups of 2-3 and eventually over 40 women were present for our discussion (this might be because they heard we were handing out cookies and cold beverages haha).

Hope opened the discussion with a beautiful guitar song 'How great thou art' and soon enough the women were all singing along in perfect time (with the help of our
translator and beautiful musical director, Sandra). We discussed breast self exams and had women demonstrate how to do them and answer questions about why to do them and what to do if
they notice changes in their breast. We went on to discuss human anatomy, urinary tract infections and intestinal problems that we had been seeing frequently in our clinics. Women showed interest
 and asked great questions about the body and their health and even described experiences they had with health care and abnormal breast exams. Lastly we discussed that women have a urethra and a vagina as some of the women in Haitians are not taught this basic anatomy (they thought it was only one hole)! We were amazed by the enthusiasm and participation of the group and felt blessed to be a part of the session.

The women told us some subjects they would like to talk about in the coming weeks including mental health and violence. We closed the session with Amazing Grace and when Haitian women sing boy is it a beautiful sound.

The success of our first week was rewarding because not only did we have a group of women motivated to learn more about their health, but we also found a lovely nurse willing to take over the group!

In the coming weeks we hope to share healthy snacks and teach about  nutrition to the women and continue to sing and learn together.

Pictures to follow tomorrow:)

Thankful

On Monday Oct 13 we went to two different locations on site visits. Our morning visit was to a place called Meds Food Kids or more commonly known here as MFK. It was started in 2003 by a Dr. Patricia Wolff. They employ 40 local Haitians. They test peanuts from all over the world that will grow the best in Haiti’s dry climate. So far it sounds like India’s peanuts grow the best here. They try as hard as they can to use the Haitian peanuts but they grow a lot of the bacteria called aflatoxin which is detrimental to children’s health. So the peanuts all have to be tested very well before it is ready to be used. They test it in labs at the factory and also in the states. We were led by two awesome tour guides Martina and Racha who gave us a tour of the factory. The factory makes a lifesaving supplement here called Medika Mamba or Plumpy Nut! You may be wondering what is this life saving stuff you speak of? It’s literally peanut butter full of calories, vitamins and minerals! Peanuts save lives here in Haiti and all over the world. There are three different products they create plumpy nut, plumpy supp and vita mamba which are all used a little differently.

Plumpy nut is used for severely malnourished children according to their height and weight and can only be used for those greater than 6 months of age. It contains 500 calories! That’s right 500 calories!

Plumpy supp is for moderately malnourished children and also contains 500 calories.

Vita mamba is for children 3 years and up and is a supplement and has many vitamins and mineral also. It costs 23 cents per snack.

In the afternoon we visited one of our translator’s Guindy’s church community called Caracol. This community is near one of the industrial parks that employs Haitians. I understood it as a sweat shop but it does provide electricity to the community for a cheap rate. The community is lacking health care and only has a doctor visit the community 1-2 times a year. There is NO clinic in this community of  6000 people. The closest clinic is an hour and a half away by public transport. We met Guindy’s pastor who gave us a tour of an orphanage, school and two churches. The churches would be where we would run our clinics. We would be able to educate in the schools about sexual health, puberty, menstruation and domestic violence.  The Pastor told us that the Haitian government has pulled out funding for feeding the kids while they are school and that 400 children attend the school. The orphanage has 10 girls and they are hoping to expand in the near future.  We are hoping to run a clinic in this community in the near future and bring healthcare which is a basic need that is lacking!

 

 

 

Today was my first full day in Haiti. Hope spent a lot of time preparing me for this trip with stories and photos of her experiences but I’m not sure any of it really sunk in. Our job today was to connect with part of the Hands up for Haiti team (2 doctors, 2 nurses and 2 translators and a pharmacist) and run a clinic in Shada which is a very poor area in Haiti. As we begun driving towards the town I smelt garbage burning, I saw people carrying huge heavy things on their head (I didn’t know people still did that!),I saw groups of people bathing in basins outside their home and hand washing their clothing, there were people everywhere! When we pulled into Shada I saw garbage covering a stream of water and even some naked children eliminating their feces in the garbage. I looked around to try and find some sort of building that ACTUALLY seemed like liveable accommodations. I could not find a bed inside a single home, no houses with windows to protect them from the deadly mosquitos, no running water or even clean water. In Haiti there are no stop signs, or lane limits, the traffic is terrifying! 

On the drive to Shada I looked out my window and saw a dead dog which a man was literally pulling off the side of the road with a long piece of metal ( for those of you who know me you understand how truly traumatizing this was ). I instantly started crying and had Hope pep talk me to keep it together for our first clinic. My heart was broken. I held my ground and walked into the Shada clinic where we immediately got to work triaging and having the doctors see the patients who wait up to 4 hours in the heat to see a doctor. The people waiting were patient and kind. I did not hear one complaint about the wait time, or how they have a meeting to be at, or a reason why someone should be seen before someone else. The patients were respectful, appreciative and kind. 

One boy, aged 17, no money to go to school, sat patiently waiting with his notebook which had some English words written on it. When finally seeing the physician we were shocked to realize his age, as he looked no more than 11 and was severely malnourished. He told us he has no parents and no one to look after him. He has no way of getting food or water and no money to pay for school. There are no resources or housing for him, nowhere we can refer this poor boy. I mention his notebook because despite him having nothing, he was driven and studying English independently. He was independently driven to learn and do well. 

The clinic experience turned out amazing, we saw many more people with the same stories of no family, no money for food, and a few which we referred to the hospital for a higher level of care. We managed to help about 50 patients. I think we can all learn a lesson from the Haitian patients (I like to call them Hatients... haha Amanda joke). We are so lucky to have health care! To have food, water, doctors, homes. We do not need to complain and whine about waiting to see our doctors, and being rude or disrespectful even when we see them! We are so lucky to have what we have.