The Pediatric Ward

Haiti is such a beautiful country… it reminds me so much of St Vincent, where my sister served in the Peace Corps. The people are all so friendly and welcoming of our group which is so nice. Today we had a really eventful day filled with some of the cutest kids I have ever laid eyes on. We started the day visiting the pediatrics unit of the general hospital in Port au Prince. We brought diapers and wipes to give to the nurses to share amongst the babies and kiddos who are staying there.
In Haiti, the patient or patient’s family is responsible for all of the medicine and supplies needed for their stay/surgery/procedure. Most of the children who are in the hospital had at least one parent who stayed with them to advocate for their care. We were able to speak to many of the children and with our translator Reggie, we were able to find out more information about them and their ailments. There were several babies staying at the hospital who had been abandoned and had no one to sit by their bedside to snuggle them so Libby and I started our visit by holding them and loving on the babies who had no moms or dads. The first baby I snuggled fell asleep in my arms and was having baby dreams! It was so nice to be able to comfort him.
Another one of the abandoned babies seemed a little weary of Libby and I and burst into tears when we came over to him. Big crocodile baby tears  I decided to scoop him up anyway and he eventually settled down and snuggled up to me. I think all he really wanted was to feel safe and comforted. It was really hard to leave the hospital today. We all had a very emotional time there. So many of the children there are suffering from ailments that we in the United States would be able to remedy quickly and easily, so it was very hard to watch them be in pain. Today’s experience made me realize that I do, in fact, want to work in pediatrics once I become a Physician’s Assistant, and I would love to be able to bring my (official) medical knowledge back to Haiti one day
 x0x0x0 Colleen