Clinics and Vacation
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday devastated me. I spent the day working at the clinic again. Early in the morning a baby came in. An interpreter pointed the mother out since they didn't have a standard sheet, but a handwritten referral as we sometimes see from other clinics. I pushed her to the front of the line after looking at her infant.
Her head was clearly too large and her eyes were dialated and fixed. She was 40 days old. The doctor stood up and walked two steps toward me, clearly shaken, and said, "I just want to cry." That shook me coming from a doctor. She paused, then continued saying that this was the second baby like this that morning. Since I was the clinic runner she gave me instructions: "Go to the white house and talk to the coordinators about arranging a ride to Project Medishare in Port-au-Prince. We can't do anything here for her. If they can't arrange a ride, then we're basically done here."
I stayed through my 2 hour break to help out after that. This week's crew is short-staffed and losing all of the runners at once wasn't going to help. People in lines outside were getting angry, standing in the heat for hours, many in pain. I took a short break later in the day. The woman sat for a couple of hours with her daughter and only once we had a ride arranged was she notified just how serious her daughter's condition was. I went back to Belval Plaza exhausted and slept for almost two hours before dinner.
Tuesday morning I came in and got a radio call for a runner. I came to find the woman and her baby. She missed the shuttle to Port-au-Prince. She had been there since 4am, but somehow missed the shuttle.
Besides that Tuesday was less stressful and less busy, but I clearly needed a break. Today I signed up for house cleaning, which is a disgusting task (we throw our used toilet paper into waste baskets, which get cleaned everyday). I took the afternoon off and packed to go. After 30 days we're required to take a break. I'm a little early, but it's necessary.
I'm heading to Port-au-Prince tomorrow and I have two options. I could take the "shuttle" we have for $80, splitting it with other occupants (but there won't be any) or I can take public transport, which is about 25 gourdes (65 American cents). Guess which route I'm going.
I'm crashing in Delmas 33 Thurs. night, getting picked up by my friend Andy on Friday morning, and heading to Santo Domingo for the weekend. I'll crash in Delmas again Sunday and head up the mountain Monday morning to visit Vivian. I'm excited for the weekend because I'll be with great people, visiting new places, and relaxing. I will not be bringing my laptop so you will likely not hear from me for about a week.
Peace!
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