Tuesday, June 25, 2013

My Time in the Clinic


This week we have just one team staying with us at Terre Noire. This is a medical team from Blacksboro, Virginia. I wanted to share a little bit about my time spent with their team in the clinic. Initially I was terrified to go into the clinic… having absolutely no clinic experience and also having heard some of the stories of patients seen at this clinic in Cite Soleil. HOM shares the clinic with Samaritan’s Purse, an organization that focuses on disaster relief. Patients do not have to pay anything to see the doctor or to get the prescriptions. They often come with a random assortment of illnesses and symptoms, and they see patients of all ages. My assignment was to work in triage with 2 other nurses to check patients in, take their temperature, weight, etc and then get them to the appropriate doctor. When we first pulled up Monday morning at 7:30, I was overwhelmed at the sight of nearly 300 people in line. While they were waiting, they were worshipping, singing and praying as a group. It was neat to see them (hundreds of sick patients) worship so joyfully while waiting in line. I know when I go to the doctor, I’m not near as patient and the absolute last think I want to do is sing and pray with the strangers around me.

I will not go into detail about the patients we saw, mostly because I don’t know half of the medical terms that were used. Each day we saw an average of 140 patients and gave each one vitamins, deworming medicine and any other prescription needed to treat their illness. I wasn’t sure how much I would be able to help, but I realized about 30 minutes in all I needed to do was love on these sick little babies and talk to the moms and other patients (obviously with the help of our amazing translators). I was saddened to see so many malnourished and underweight babies be brought in by such young moms, but was encouraged to watch as they listened so closely to the doctor and expressed desires to become better parents and give their children everything they possibly can given the circumstances. It was also extremely eye opening to listen to the questions being asked and the overall lack of understanding when it comes to engaging in any sexual relationships. Unfortunately, we had to give many young patients pregnancy tests, multiple HIV tests and several were treated for an STD. I think we so often take for granted the knowledge, information and prevention methods so readily available for us.

I cannot begin to tell the many stories of patients we’ve seen this week. But I thank the Lord for each one of the patients we have seen and will see throughout the week and pray for their healing and their protection. By the end of the week, it is likely that we will have seen nearly 1,000 patients. It’s pretty crazy to think that a team of 1 pharmacist, 3 doctors, 2 nurses, 2 extra helpers, 8 interpreters and 2 long-term volunteers can make such a difference. It all comes down to an extraordinary God using simple, average people like me to allow extraordinary things to happen in a community with such great need.  I am so thankful for this opportunity and for these life-changing experiences. The Lord is working in mighty ways here in Haiti and I’m blessed to be a part of it. 

Twins that were less than one month old: Macus and Myson 
 Sweet Myson:

 Tish and Amy with Macus and Myson:
 Max with his chunky little nugget:


 John Gaudy getting ready for his baby to come in 2 months:


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