Day 6

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

The ride back to the compound was significantly different from the one that left a couple of days ago. Half of the group volunteered to take public transit to relieve our beloved bus of the extra load so it could function on mere full capacity, a specification that normally accounts for standard leg room. It was sheer luxury.

Only two people per seat this time

And it's funny, when you're not distracted by people becoming sick, nauseated & vomiting, you notice the what's out the window.

Where there may be destruction, there also exists beauty.

The countryside is lush, green, & fertile. Crops of rice & other grains are seen with hardworking farmers dispersed among the fields.

Along the country roads there are markets with people selling fresh fruits & vegetables. It's encouraging to witness a sense of adamant determination from the people to forge ahead in spite of hardships their country has encountered.

Along the way, we stop at a beach. And this time, since it's far from sewage run off, we're not so afraid to get our feet wet ;)

John Thomas

With Chastity

Local fishermen

Selling lobster

Interpreters hitching a ride

Jason & Jonathan

Alan in the water

We arrived back at camp. While we were away, there had been people busy at work building beds for relief work volunteers in the long term.

We met Jeanne LeBlanc & Kaitlyn McLachlan, mental health professionals & fellow Canadians. We also learned that an entire group of medical professionals, including surgeons, general practitioners, a mix of resident doctors, & pharmacists had arrived from various parts of the U.S. while we were away. Excellent additions to the team.

Me, Heather, Jeanne, Carissa, Kaitlyn

We also met Dr. Martin Thornton, a general practitioner from Texas. He was the physician who took care of the child we brought back with us from the mobile clinic. And he even treated Heather with her allergic reaction to mosquito bites.

Her poor swollen arm! No scratching Heather!

Just before dinner, an emergency case came to the clinic. Carissa, Heather, & I helped Dr. Thornton with a child that had been having serious issues with her lower GI for the last 3 days (something our unit specializes in!). For about two hours we helped with giving IV fluids, IV meds, comfort, & also transport to the hospital across the street, Hospitale Adventiste d'Haiti, where she was eventually treated with surgery.

Dr. Martin Thornton

We returned for a late dinner & then helped prepare for the next day's mobile clinic.

Beth, Alan, John, & Amy organizing the mobile pharmacy

Ryan Pharr among donated meds & supplies

Tomorrow the Union group, some medical residents from the UCLA Health System, & the three of us visit & set up a clinic at an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince.