First Day at Work.

Every night at Quisqueya, they have a meeting at 7:30 to tell everyone where they will be working the next day. Megan and I lucked out - we got assigned to Petionville Club, a large former golf club in the hills of Port au Prince. 90,000 people live there in a tent city. Sean Penn (yes, the Sean Penn), is actually the guy in charge there and is known unofficially as THE guy in Haiti to call if you want to get things done.

We didn't know what the clinic was like there, and didn't know what to bring, so I erred on the side of caution (or the side of crazy if you ask anyone else) and packed A LOT of stuff. We each had a backpack that weighed about 35 lbs and it looked like we were outfitted for an Amazon expidition. We had enough things to stock a full clinic. When Megan and I got there, our liason, Cassidy, asked if we were spending the night. The clinic there was a lot like a MASH hospital without the operating room. There were several work stations, a procedure area, an OB section (a baby was delivered during the day), and a pharmacy. They were actually extremely well provisioned... Oh well.

Megan stayed in the main clinic, seeing rashes, heartburn, strep throat, cough, abscesses, and one very memorable and very sick child with an acute abdomen and a fever of 105 that needed to get transported emergently to the hospital. I found my niche in Triage, separating patients with mild complaints that could be treated right away, and more serious problems that needed to be transferred on to the main clinic. I saw a few strains, a lot of back pain, a lot of vague but minor abdominal pain, headaches, and pregnancy complaints. All the kids seemed to have fever, decreased appetite and diarrhea. It was my job to decide which ones were REALLY sick. The whole time, there was a line of > 40 people waiting for care (though I think some of the folks were just there for the entertainment value of watching the Triage - the women especially seemed fascinated by the questions and exams).

The one patient who broke my heart was a little six year old girl named Lorishka with developmental delays and CP. She hadn't been seen by anyone medical since she was 2 years old. She had skinny little arms, very bowed legs and could not speak - but had such bright eyes and a sweet smile. She wasn't really sick but her mother wanted to know if there was anything to do for her. She clearly needs lots of physical, occupational and speech therapy, but that kind of coordinated care just isn't available in Haiti. One of the Petionville staff, Reuben, will be contacting an NGO that specializes in disability care and hopefully, Lorishka will get some help.

We were hot, sweaty and overwhelmed by afternoon. But when our ride came to take us back to Quisqueya, both Megan and I felt that it was too early. We each wanted another hour or two to finish up the day and complete the care with all the patients there. But maybe we'll be assigned there again tomorrow.

PS: We both saw Sean Penn, and Megan got a peek at Susan Sarandon walking around touring the camp. Apparently, Ben Stiller and Shakira were there too. Who knew you just need to go to Haiti to get up close to the stars!

Rachel