Today's medical clinic was such a success!!! We had a constant stream of Haitians with varying complaints but it was much more controlled & organized than on Monday. Alison did a steady stream of teeth polishing & oral hygiene education, she was the one everyone wanted to see. Amanda, Kim, and I sat on a bench with translators between us to evaluate & treat whatever we could. Being an orthopedic RN, I was so frustrated when a man came in complaining of wrist pain following a moto accident. He was unable to pronate his wrist & arrived with a scrap of cloth wrapped around his wrist. We convinced him to go to the hospital but didn't even have an ace wrap to splint him for the travel there. I can only pray he actually went - he was more interested in seeing Alison to have his teeth cleaned than in having his wrist treated. We saw a few sick infants that we also sent to the hospital, many headaches & muscle aches, many people with stomach aches, nausea, and vomiting, and I also did wound care on a young man who had also been in a moto accident & had severe road rash.
Everyone seems to be in good spirits today. After Monday's clinic we all sat quietly. Today everyone is full of energy, sharing the cases they saw. We've witnessed so much this week: Haitian driving, flash flooding, tents falling apart, rats eating through our garbage while we slept, no water, no electricity, even being locked in a room to hide from people who do not support the work we are here to do. The number of times I've received a beautiful smile & heard "merci" far outnumbers the struggles we've endured. God has blessed all of us in ways we never knew until we came here. Today my translator asked me if I'll ever come back to Haiti; I said "absolutely!"
Jessica
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