We connected halfway with a team of four nurses/doctors, who were joining us at Sarthe to conduct a medical clinic. They had been staying at a very large hotel near the airport and we picked them up there. We were also joined by two armed Haitian police officers on four-wheelers who were escorting us.
The guy in charge of the clinic came to Haiti a week or so after the earthquake and started his relief work providing medical aid and prosthetics for families of police officers. So basically he had it in with the local police and was able to call in an armed escort favor.
It was crazy watching the officers weave in and out of traffic on those four-wheelers motioning for cars to stop so we could get by. Personally, I felt it was ridiculous to have an armed escort. I understand that Cite Soliel is the roughest part of town, but it didn't sit right in me that we would make ourselves look more important and stand out like that. And they have been sending people to the Sarthe church and orphanage all the time and there's never been an issue. My heart is more to blend in and be one with the people.
Sarthe itself is an area with the worst conditions I've seen. Not only the orphans living arrangement that I mentioned in a previous post, but there is a small 6ft wide canal running in front of the church property that is filled with gross sewage water, dark green, smelly, with garbage and unknown floating in it. This canal overflows every rainy season on to the church property with all kinds of stench and bacteria.
It was great to be with a team of people with the means to address health issues in the kids but some of the news broke my heart. I sat behind two of the nurses as they did exams and talked with them.
They checked out all 15 orphan girls and then since school was going on in the church at the same time, they examined a couple of the school kids that the pastor knew were sick. So two boys came to the lined and the first one brought me to tears. His name is Ceant, he's 7 years old and right now has a perforated ear drum, and sinuses issues that are keeping him from talking very clear or a lot. He mostly spoke very quietly. He also has impetigo (I think is how you spell it) and had two good sized open sores on his arm. He didn't even flinch when they rubbed alcohol swabs on his open sores and put Neosporin on them. They gave him some kids ibuprofen for the sinus and ear pain, and some decongestant.
The picture below was taken with him right after his exam. I promise you the kid smiles a lot. He actually laughed and smiled before and after the picture were taken but I think he just wanted to look stoic and cool for the photo cause his friends were around him.
But I was so glad to have that experience today. I know we do a lot of good things like teach classes, build orphanages, and the like, but I really want to be more involved with meeting the health needs of these adults and kids who have nothing.
I also wanted to include this photo. This is one of the Sarthe orphanage girls. She kept making different funny faces at me so I asked her if she'd do one in a photo with me. I think it's pretty funny.
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