Day 6

Omenes drove Wade, Nick and me to Leoganes to deliver supplies and make some contacts for IMAT. CMAT (Canadian Medical Assistance Team) has been there since the first week. They did 47 amputations and numerous other procedures in that little tent. They are a group of ER doctors out of Vancouver Island and elsewhere across Canada. IMAT had a team with them earlier. They are in a compound with UNICEF, OCHA, and the UN. Leoganes is one of the hardest hit areas, both economically pre-quake and from the quake. Almost every concrete structure we saw was down or severely damaged. The quake was a great equalizer…everybody in a stick and tin house still has a stick and tin house, and now they have food and water and a job. All of the large aid organizations have hired teams of people to clean the streets, improve drainage, haul off garbage, and start to clean up the rubble. Each organization has different color shirt, like sports teams. Everybody is busy.

We stopped at the National Palace and took pictures from the 2004 Tower…built by President Aristede to celebrate 200 years of independence. It remains unfinished, as does the work of independence. Lots of traffic.

Delivered another baby today. Saw a kid with typical Kwashiorkor: thin limbs, big belly, large eyes and developmental delay from nutritional deficiency. Old grandma and blind grandpa are trying to raise him and his 2 older siblings after their parent and most of the extended family were killed. Wonder why grandpa’s BP was up a little and his heart skipped beats. Treated a lady tonight who spilled tea on her leg.

The strike team today went to City Solei, the poorest slum in this hemisphere. Lots of very bad gang influence there in past, but very polite people, many who had never seen a doctor. 6 Tylenol cost 3 days’ wages, so that is why many come to see us. Many “merci’s” later, they left a place worse than any Dante described.

Scott’s turn for an IV today. Patient confidentiality would prevent me from telling you he had bad diarrhea. Everyone else seems to be doing well.

It rained really hard last night. The big tent has a leak right over my face so I had to put the rain fly back on. I can’t imagine what the camps must be like. Some people have full tents, but some just have tarps and sheets over poles. And the water must flow right on through. Ox-Fam and others are working on drainage issues. (Ox-Fam, originally Oxford Famine Relief out of England. Now many branches in many nations providing many types of relief in many areas.)

Howard

http://picasaweb.google.com/howardleibrand/HaitiDay6#

(Update 05-Mar-2010) Dad's in a few of these pics as well:
http://picasaweb.google.com/DANLHENRY56/Feb25#