Category: Blog

The Hurricane on Mt. Patmos

On the 22nd of October, Michael and I flew into  Haiti and headed directly into the mountains after picking up the bags we left here.  We drove for 5-6 hours till we came to the end of the vehicle road way up in the mountains behind Port Au Prince.  We had traversed a paved road with 200+ curves, a riverbed that took around 4 hours and 20+ river crossings, and a dirt road along the mountain side so steep at places you wonder how you can drive on it.  At the end of the road we unloaded the 36 buckets that contain our clinic, the luggage the team needed for staying in the mountains for 5 days, and all the food we would eat during that time.  Yes, it was quite a load, and sometimes I get embarrassed at how much stuff we can come up with.  But we don’t want to be a burden to the community, so we take our sleeping mats and all the food we need.  Anyway, the Haitian’s from the mountain we were going to, all chose what they could carry and headed off.  By the time the time the trucks were empty, it was 5.  The last group of us started off on the 2-3 hour hike with three rivers to cross and hour of daylight.  We ended up hiking in the dark, the last half of the way, which I don’t really mind.  Everything went well, we all arrived safely, had some supper and went to bed.  Tuesday I set up the pharmacy while the sheets were being hung to form consultation rooms.   We had 4 consultation rooms, and soon got rolling.  There was the normal aches and pains, gas and acid, and quite a few clogged ears.  I had some good help in the pharmacy and we had fun giving out packages with hygiene items and a dress to all the girls under the age 14.  CAM had quite a few donated, and it was so special to see a little girls eyes light up when she realized that this “kado” was for her!  Wednesday we had around 120 people and the wind was blowing pretty hard by the evening.  We knew there was a tropical storm coming, but what could we do about it?  Wednesday was my birthday, what an odd place and time to turn 25 – on top of a mountain in a brewing hurricane!   I thought it was fine, I love the work here and the people of Haiti.  By Thursday it was raining and blowing, and not many people came.  Friday was a full-blown hurricane and every one stayed inside.  It was an adventure to go to the outhouse, the wind would rip the door out of your hands.  The wind eventually did rip off the doors, oh well, it is all in a mountain trip.  We got cabin bound and passed the time singing and playing games of Dictionary and Pictionary and Confusion.  We made that church on the mountain ring with song after song, most from memory.  I was so glad that the team consisted of people who love to sing.  We had no electric, and no lamps or candles; when darkness fell, we had only our flashlights.  One evening we played with hand shadows, and the doctor was really good with making his shadow talk!  We always went to bed early, what else is there to do?  The next morning we woke up to RAIN and WIND again.  At various times and places you could find someone (a lot of the time it was me) staring out into the storm.  I was SO grateful we were on top of the mountain top instead of in the valley.  If I have visual elbow room, I don’t mind not being able to go somewhere nearly as much.  Saturday was the day the team was to have flown out, but we weren’t going anywhere.  The hurricane had lingered over our particular spot in Haiti as if wanting to wash us into the ocean.  Finally the thing moved on, but to our dismay and blank amazement, part of it broke off the main storm and sat directly above us, dumping the rain!  Now you have to realize that we couldn’t just leave when the rain stopped.  We were trapped by the rivers, one on each side of the mountain, roaring and foaming so loud you could hear it at the top.  Saturday the rain basically stopped and were we ever GLAD to see the sun.  We started trying to find a way out as it would be days before the river went down enough to get to the trucks, to say nothing of the big river going down enough to drive out through.  We actually called the UN and other various organizations to see if we could get a helicopter to come get the team out, but we finally were told that there were only two helicopters in Haiti.  They were both occupied doing rescue operations in life threatening situations, and our situation wasn’t life threatening.  There were some of our team who HAD to get home, even if they had to walk out.  So early Sunday morning one of our Haitian translators set out to a mountain top that was six miles away, as the crow flies.  That mountain top was accessible by vehicles.  He finally got to his destination around four in the afternoon, and by that time most of the team decided they wanted to hike out.  Michael volunteered to go as escort, and with a few Haitians for guides and three mules, they set out.  They left around 2 in the afternoon, and hiked till 10:30 pm.  They stayed in the house of the mayor for that region, and finished the hike the next morning in 45 min.  A man from CAM picked up the team, and Michael hiked all the way back to Patmos.  He was so tired and footsore when he got back.  We did clinic a few more days, and five days after we were supposed to have left, we finally packed up to head out.  Horror of horrors, it started clouding up and thundering the afternoon before we were to leave.  We couldn’t just head out, we needed people to carry out the stuff, and they wouldn’t come before morning.  Thank God, He made the clouds dissipate, and there wasn’t a drop of rain!  At 4:30 the next morning, the Pastor with us started hollering on the microphone he had brought along, calling the people of the mountains to come and help us get out.   They showed up one at a time till we left around 7 am.

We hiked out Wednesday morning, the 31st, and it was such a beautiful day!  After 30+ inches of rain, all the dust and loose dirt was washed away, leaving all the colors bright and clean.  Of course the trees and plants were wind battered, but the air and earth were so clean and bright.  I saw colors in the rocks that I never thought existed there, great streaks of red rock that were normally covered in dusty dirty brown.  I fancied that those big red streaks were where a dinosaur was squashed in the flood and fossilized!  Not really, but it was something to laugh about!  We loaded up the trucks and headed out, Jeriah and Michael driving.  They have both driven over everything that is passable with a vehicle (and some that weren’t), so I wasn’t nervous about the trip out.  A couple of the others were nervous- to a degree!  We had had men fix the two washed out places in the road to the riverbed, and the one place was so steep that I could not see the hood of the truck (I was standing in the bed, right behind the cab).  It was interesting to say the least.  We arrived at the river, and there it was roaring away through a long S shape, fairly deep, and very bouldery.  I know that is not a word, but “rocky” doesn’t describe it.  We had hired 6 men to come with us and walk ahead of the trucks, clearing boulders away and making a place to drive.  We had to cross the S part four times in two or three hundred yards, and each crossing was difficult.  The first one, just needed rocks moved.  The second was deeper, and had even bigger rocks.  I’m really surprised that the men were able to keep their feet while rolling rocks away!    The first truck roared through the water, but the second got hung very firmly on a rock.  There was no going anywhere.  The water was up to the bottom of the doors, so you can imagine how it was with a whole bunch of men trying to push the truck off the rock.  It didn’t work.  We finally backed up the other truck and try to pull it off.  No go.  So we backed up farther, and pushed it bumper to bumper, yay!  This time it worked!  But oh no! now the first truck spun out, it’s wheels just sinking into the loose gravel of the river bottom.  All the men got behind and pushed, and out it went, towing along the second truck too.  That was only the second crossing.  The third wasn’t so bad, but the second truck again spun out in a gravel bed and had to be pulled out.  All this time, we had been crossing the river pretty much straight across, but the fourth time was a DEEP narrower spot.  No driving straight across this one!  Before each of these crossings, the men all stood at the edge surveying the area and talking over the best place to try.  They finally decided to drive with the flow for a short way, and gunning the engines both trucks pulled safely out the other side.  The rest of the way, was talked over, cleared, crossed, and repeated more times than I remember.  The water kept getting deeper little by little, till we were hearing reports of it being muddy and deeper and uncross-able close to Jacmel.  We reached the road Michael hiked up over the mountain, and decided to try getting out that way and not risk being stopped by the river father down.  The road was steep, and it had a few places to fix before we could proceed, but we finally made it to the top.  It was SO wonderful to finally be on the top of another mountain looking back over the swollen river.  The rest of the trip was uneventful as far as Haiti traveling goes.

And that dear friends, concludes my tale.   Here are some pictures that hopefully are like the proverbial “thousand words”!

Exam rooms right, pharmacy left, sleeping rooms up front

See the donkey’s tail, the trees and the tarp? That takes some wind!

Kind of dreary…

Beautiful sunshine!

Full moon behind the highest mountain in Haiti.

The sunsets were gorgeous!

This is where I couldn’t see the hood of the truck.

Clearing away the boulders

Stuck on a rock

This place was deep and swift

The water was getting deeper

Looking back to where we came from!

 

Some Incidents From the Past Weeks

I’ve been busy since coming back to Ailegue, the other day after clinic was just done I had a stitch job to do.  Another rock-cut–from a school child to another schoolgirl.  I wish these children would learn NOT to throw rocks.

While I was stitching this, a lady came to the clinic, in labor.  Within two hours she had an 8 lb. 2 oz. baby boy.  He was pretty cute!  Of course, I had to hug him a minute.

The little princess of the mission, Cherie, turned one on the 15th.  This is her joyousness after we sang “Happy Birthday” to her!

 

And because I am a sunset fanatic, here is the last picture for today…. this is one of 39 pictures of the same sunset, and they are all different.

The Rest of the Story- Mt. Patmos

We hiked out Wednesday morning, the 31st, and it was such a beautiful day!  After 30+ inches of rain, all the dust and loose dirt was washed away, leaving all the colors bright and clean.  Of course the trees and plants were wind battered, but the air and earth were so clean and bright.  I saw colors in the rocks that I never thought existed there, great streaks of red rock that were normally covered in dusty dirty brown.  I fancied that those big red streaks were where a dinosaur was squashed in the flood and fossilized!  Not really, but it was something to laugh about!  We loaded up the trucks and headed out, Jeriah and Michael driving.  They have both driven over everything that is passable with a vehicle (and some that weren’t), so I wasn’t nervous about the trip out.  A couple of the others were nervous- to a degree!  We had had men fix the two washed out places in the road to the riverbed, and the one place was so steep that I could not see the hood of the truck (I was standing in the bed, right behind the cab).  It was interesting to say the least.  We arrived at the river, and there it was roaring away through a long S shape, fairly deep, and very bouldery.  I know that is not a word, but “rocky” doesn’t describe it.  We had hired 6 men to come with us and walk ahead of the trucks, clearing boulders away and making a place to drive.  We had to cross the S part four times in two or three hundred yards, and each crossing was difficult.  The first one, just needed rocks moved.  The second was deeper, and had even bigger rocks.  I’m really surprised that the men were able to keep their feet while rolling rocks away!    The first truck roared through the water, but the second got hung very firmly on a rock.  There was no going anywhere.  The water was up to the bottom of the doors, so you can imagine how it was with a whole bunch of men trying to push the truck off the rock.  It didn’t work.  We finally backed up the other truck and try to pull it off.  No go.  So we backed up farther, and pushed it bumper to bumper, yay!  This time it worked!  But oh no! now the first truck spun out, it’s wheels just sinking into the loose gravel of the river bottom.  All the men got behind and pushed, and out it went, towing along the second truck too.  That was only the second crossing.  The third wasn’t so bad, but the second truck again spun out in a gravel bed and had to be pulled out.  All this time, we had been crossing the river pretty much straight across, but the fourth time was a DEEP narrower spot.  No driving straight across this one!  Before each of these crossings, the men all stood at the edge surveying the area and talking over the best place to try.  They finally decided to drive with the flow for a short way, and gunning the engines both trucks pulled safely out the other side.  The rest of the way, was talked over, cleared, crossed, and repeated more times than I remember.  The water kept getting deeper little by little, till we were hearing reports of it being muddy and deeper and uncross-able close to Jacmel.  We reached the road Michael hiked up over the mountain, and decided to try getting out that way and not risk being stopped by the river father down.  The road was steep, and it had a few places to fix before we could proceed, but we finally made it to the top.  It was SO wonderful to finally be on the top of another mountain looking back over the swollen river.  The rest of the trip was uneventful as far as Haiti traveling goes.

And that dear friends, concludes my tale.   Here are some pictures that hopefully are like the proverbial “thousand words”!

Exam rooms right, pharmacy left, sleeping rooms up front

See the donkey’s tail, the trees and the tarp? That takes some wind!

Kind of dreary…

Beautiful sunshine!

Full moon behind the highest mountain in Haiti.

The sunsets were gorgeous!

This is where I couldn’t see the hood of the truck.

Clearing away the boulders

Stuck on a rock

This place was deep and swift

The water was getting deeper

Looking back to where we came from!

 

Ms Edie Aids Haiti

“There’s lots to be done…we just have to get people involved.” Though Edie Smith is 93, you wouldn’t know it by her activity level. She has one speed – full steam ahead. While residing in an assisted-care facility in the St. Louis area, she’s been very active in AFH’s efforts for the Haitian people and her concern for them is palpable. . For over a year since she heard of AFH reaching out to meet medical and spiritual needs in the remote areas of Haiti, Edie has been a powerhouse of energy. In addition to her other tasks at the facility, she’s led an effort for residents to make handbags for the women of Haiti from material remnants. “It’s just sad that they have to carry their belongings around in plastic bags. They ought to have something nice, and something that will last”. Additionally, Edie recognized the need for pill bottles in the clinics run by AFH and has collected hundreds of child-resistant pill bottles from her fellow residents. She removes the labels, washes them clean, and donates them. But Edie’s concern is not for only physical needs – “they need to know Jesus” she says. By helping AHF meet physical needs in the mountains, Edie is showing the love of Jesus to people she’s never met who live hundreds of miles away.

Oh that the Lord would give us more people like Edie!

 

Cross Cultural Haitian Medicine

Cross Cultural Medicine

 

I’m gradually, creepingly learning some rules about being a good health care provider in Haiti.
Here are a few of the things I’ve learned:

1) If you want to awe your patients with your insight into their health problem simply observe which part of the body has a rolled-up piece of fabric tied around it. A cord tied tightly around the waist? Backache or in pregnant ladies round ligament pain. A handkerchief tied headband style around the head? Headache. Around the knees? You guessed it—knee pain.
2) Even if a scratch seems minor, never simply wash it and smear a little antibiotic ointment on it. Always cover it. This will prevent wind from entering into it. If wind would enter into it it could cause the patient to have gas; all kinds of pain in various parts of the body. Wind entering into a wound is what causes it to swell. It is also what causes umbilical hernias (protruding belly buttons) and inguinal hernias. Unfortunately I still haven’t figured out an impressive way to take wind out of a wound.
3) Always reassure a patient they may bathe the area in which they’ve received an injection whether this is for the purpose of injecting medicine or for withdrawing blood. I regularly forget this and was surprised the other day when a week after his first dose of benzathine penicillin as treatment for syphilis, an elderly gent returned for his second dose with the bandaid from his first injection still intact.
4) Here, as everywhere, a listening ear can soothe a multitude of problems.
5) Never underestimate the power of a stethoscope. I first realized the great importance attached to being really, thoroughly “stethoscoped” upon hearing an elderly woman relate with great gusto her experience of having a doctor “stethoscope” her upper arm. Now as far as I know there is absolutely no reason (other than checking blood pressure of course) to “stethoscope” a person’s arm, but just out of curiosity I have tried it a few times in patients complaining of arm pain. They are inevitably delighted. “Yes, ahhhhh, yes, right there!!!” If nothing else it makes the patient feel as though you are taking their complaints seriously. People seem to attach almost mystical power to a stethoscope, seeming to think it can somehow magically whisper a person’s diagnosis into your ear. There are plenty of times I wish it would.
6) There are (at least) three types of fever. Fever that makes your body hot, fever in the blood and fever in the bones (aching, as far as I can decipher). Therefore when a person complains of fever it is wise to find out which type of fever.
7) And then there are the ways of describing problems that keep a westerner such as myself somewhat mystified. “Anba kè-m vid” (Under my heart is empty). That’s a very common complaint, but I think I’ve come to finally understand it—that gnawing, nauseous feeling that accompanies low blood sugar. “M-gen yon van nan zorey’m” (I have a wind in my ears). My best guess is that this is what we would call fluid in the ears. The list goes on . . .
All newborns must come to the clinic for medicine for gas.
9) A baby’s back should not be broken (bent) until it is a month or two old and when you do “break” it you can expect the baby to have diarrhea or a fever similar to teething. Therefore the mothers lay their newborn infants across their laps and bend down to nurse them.
10) Twins are easily jealous of each other and may bring curses to other family members. Therefore if they are brought to the clinic care should be taken to give each twin similar medications otherwise the family may chose to give each twin the other’s medication just to keep things even.
11) Congratulate patients for gaining weight and commiserate with them if they’ve lost.
12) Vitamins have tremendous power (especially in liquid form) and are believed to be appetite stimulants. If someone is saying that don’t have an appetite and are becoming smaller, reassure them that you will prescribe vitamins for them.
13) My idea of what is causing an illness and my patient’s idea of what is causing an illness are often worlds apart. Recently a woman brought her infant son to the clinic. He appears to have an abdominal tumor. Treatment is not an option. Upon discussing her son’s condition with her I assured her there was nothing she could have done to prevent it. I don’t know if she believed me. Her neighbors had other theories. Her sister-in-law died from complications of AIDS earlier this year. Afterwards she took in her orphaned 18-month-old niece who, although testing negative for HIV, died several months later. Her neighbors say it was because of that baby’s spirit that her son was becoming sick. They had warned her not to take in her orphaned niece. They knew it would make her own baby ill. Others shook their heads and said it was because of her set of twins—they were a bad omen who had cursed this baby. I cannot convince them of my point of view; but I can present it as another option and I better be aware of what perspective they’re coming from.
14) Almost every death can be blamed on a curse—even if the person was aged and ill for a long time often someone is accused of cursing the person and thus causing the death.
15) IV fluids have supreme power and are to be desired above all else for giving strength.
16) If a baby is born at 7 months it has a chance of surviving, but if a baby is born at 8 months it is sure to die.
17) Although this has changed, long ago the placenta of a baby was buried in the dirt floor of the house, underneath the bed. A fire was then built over the place it was buried using wood from three different types of trees.
18) If a person has a seizure you should take the clothes the person was wearing when he/she had the seizure, burn them, then take some of the ashes and have the person who had the seizure drink them to prevent them from having more.
19) If a nursing lady experiences a great shock or surprise (ie witnessing an accident; experiencing a sudden death in the family, etc) she should be given special teas as a treatment ASAP. Otherwise her milk will go to her head causing all sorts of problems in the future such as mental illness. The infant should not be given its mother’s milk for a little while following the shocking event either.

It is fascinating to learn more about the health beliefs and practices of the area. It is also challenging and sometimes makes me wonder how surprised both me and my patients would be if we could get inside each other’s heads and see the rationales each one of us is operating under.

Pray that I can care for my patients in a way that makes them feel valued while also pointing them to the One who can provide freedom from fears of curses and has power to overthrow sickness and death.

Thanks!
Bethanie

A Mother’s Heart

I am ashamed to admit that I did not really want to go on the recent trip with Aid For Haiti.  I have been before and knew full well what I was getting into.  Long days of travel over rocky terrain, steep mountain passes and endless days seeing patients in between sleeping on the floor and using a smelly outhouse.  To be honest, I would have rather stayed at my parents’ house sleeping in a warm bed and going Christmas shopping.  And what about my two boys, ages 2 and 4?  What kind of mother would I be to leave them for a whole week?  But God had other plans for me, and despite my excuses, God’s word assured me, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).  The confirmation is clear and I answer God’s call to serve in Haiti with a “Yes”.

So while my boys happily play with their grandparents for the week, I embark on a long journey into the rural Haitian mountains with my husband Caleb (yes, this whole thing was his idea!).  So this physician -pharmacist couple joined a fantastic Aid For Haiti support staff and translators, settled into our grass hut with dirt floor, separated into our consultation rooms divided by a thin curtain, and began a 4 day mission of medicine and ministry.

My prayer for this trip was that God would open my eyes to the hearts and lives of these impoverished people.  The vision He revealed to me centered around the hearts of the women and the burdens they bear in life.  Mothers know a universal language.  In the consultation room I saw their concern first hand, and the evidence in their children of infections, worms, and malnutrition.  I had a conversation in Spanish with a woman from the Dominican Republic whose greatest desire is to have a child, but is struggling with infertility.  A Haitian woman has had seven children, but lost three of them to starvation.  “They just got skinner and skinnier and then they died,” she explained.  Now a fourth child is sick and she has brought her to us.  I prescribe her nutritional supplementation in the form of vitamins and formula, but how can I heal this woman’s heart?  I cannot begin to imagine the grief she has experienced, the helplessness of watching her children suffer and die, over and over again.

Another woman brought her 4 month old son to us who could not urinate without screaming and crying in pain.  Caleb was able to perform a simple procedure to alleviate his problem while I sat outside with the mother.  Despite the language barrier, I could sense her agony and she waited through the procedure, not really understanding and grieving for her suffering son.  All mothers weep in the same language.

The next day started early and I could tell the emotional burden of this experience was weighing on me.  I sat in my consultation chair as the translator ushered in an elderly woman with an infant son.  A grandmother with her grandson.  The mother is 15 years old and wants nothing to do with the baby.  The grandmother has no money to take care of him.  She sold the tin roof off her house to make money to care for the child.  She has nothing left to give.  She asks me plainly, “Will I take her precious grandson?”

 

I need a moment to breathe.  I don’t have the capacity to process what this woman is saying to me.  But God.

 

Yes, I would take the child, but I might have trouble getting him through customs.  He was so beautiful to me.  All smiles, with bright eyes and curious little hands.  He grabs at the chart I am holding.  I hold him in my arms.

After much discussion with the team and the area pastor we decide the best option is to support the woman financially and follow up at a later time.  So a couple days later we met with her privately, gave her money to encourage her in the work she was already doing for this child and prayed with her.  “Thank you Jesus.” She says it in Creole, but I  understood.  I understand.  Mothers thank God in the same language.

That night at chapel I heard these women singing.  They praise in their own words, which are foreign to me, but some of the tunes are familiar and one cannot mistake their passion.  The pastor reads from Isaiah 61:

 

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me…

To bring good news to the afflicted;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted…

To comfort all who mourn

Giving them a garland instead of ashes

The oil of gladness instead of mourning,

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting…

That He may be glorified.

God sent me to Haiti to show His love to a hurting people…  to show them Christ, who alone can heal their broken hearts.  God showed me how big and wonderful and compassionate He is, and how He longs to use me in His plan if only I am willing.  As the Haitian voices echo around me, I humbly thank God for the opportunity to come and serve with Him.  I thank Him for opening my eyes and my heart.  I praise Him. 

Mothers praise God in the same language.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…”  Ephesians 2:4