Unfortunately, I was not feeling well at all on this last day of our work in Haiti. I had been up all night with gastric problems, and was really wiped out. However, I did manage to work the whole day, with the help of Arsenicum Album, a remedy for food poisoning that can be a life saver when traveling. I was not 100% but did manage to accomplish what we needed to do.
A deaf child and the interpreter from the US who was visiting
We started at 9 at St. Vincent’s again, treating those kids we had not had a chance to see on Wednesday, some family members of the staff, and more staff members. It was a cool day for Haiti, I think the remnants of tropical storm Bonnie, which had blown through the day before, had shifted the winds and we had a nice cool breeze all morning. Some of the kids from Monday and Wednesday came by to say they were feeling better, and just to say hi, which was really fun. Treatment is always more successful if you have some follow up with your patients, that will be possible with St. Vincents for sure.
Woman showing us her headache!
This time I used my computer to analyze some of the cases which was helpful, and between sips of a Sprite to settle my stomach and give me some energy, taking breaks by lying on one of the examining tables, and yelling over to Kim when she got stuck and could not understand even the translator’s english, the morning flew by.
We had an appointment at 2pm with the director of the Notre Dame Nusring School, and had to also pack up all our supplies to be returning to the storage closet at the L’Hopital Francais.
We made it to the nursing school by 1:30 and then waited till 2:30 for the director, but the meeting went very well. There was no need to convince her of the efficacy of homeopathy, or the benefit to her students in the field, or the legitimacy of our organization. She had already spoken with the doctor who put us in touch with her and was ready to hear our proposal. She really wanted us to come back on Monday with an introduction to Homeopathy class in hand.
So, we are putting together ideas about where to go from here, we have this school and one in Leogane who want us to teach nurses basic homeopathy. It looks like I will be returning almost certainly in 2 months to be part of the teaching team and to provide a teaching clinic also for the nurses.
The "team" with our drive in the center, Joseph
This is the best news, for being able to support Haitians in being self sufficient is much more important than any other goal I might have held onto before.
Having spent a week at the hotel, of course I made a few friends, one of whom was a waiter in the dining room who spent time teaching me Creole. As a parting gift, he gave the last members of the group a keychain with the word Haiti carved in wood. When I said goodbye he said in Creole, you leave my heart sad, which was just how I felt.
I leave Haiti definitely ready to go home, however also ready to return. They are a proud and dignified people who deserve much better than what they have drawn this time. When I arrived the situation seemed so hopeless, how could anything change here? But as I am leaving, I am feeling much the opposite. And I know that I would like to be part of that change.
Artwork for sale on the street in Port au Prince