Matthew 25 News

[bcholmes]

Dispatches from Matthew 25 House

FARM FAMILIES NOT HIT BY THE EARTHQUAKE ARE STILL AFFECTED

In Haiti, community organizers are known as “animators”, natural leaders who know how to stimulate and encourage others toward a common goal. They are rarely paid for their work, but are simply active members of their own communities. For the past several weeks a group of animators has been trying to assess the changes in the life of farm families in various communes, in different regions of Haiti, in hopes that the effort will result in farmers receiving earthquake relief assistance.

The animators meet at Matthew 25 house every day prior to going out to the countryside. Three Americans, Monica, Eric, and Mark, who have taken on the responsibility of entering the collected data, are also at the house. All of these people are part of the *Haiti Response Coalition* I’ve mentioned numerous times in other posts. Lilica, a woman from Greece, handles logistics for the group. The animators are also the people who have pointed out the locations where mobile clinics were most needed.

Assessments have been completed for some 3,000 families. Although that number is far below the number of families whose livelihood comes from agriculture, the varied locales that have been included should provide a somewhat accurate picture.

I had to opportunity to assist in some of the data entry. At first I just started to enter the bits of information. Typing, and “tabbing” along on the spreadsheet, I entered the data for the first assessment. Then, about half way through the second assessment it hit me that the answers to the questions on each piece of paper provided a brief window into the life of a real family. The questions were very much to the point: How many people lived in your home before the earthquake? How many are living there now? Did you lose crops? What had you planted? Do you plan to plant this spring? Do you have seeds? Did you lose animals? How many?

It was quite staggering to read that since January 12 most rural households have more than doubled in size. Household in areas not directly hit by the quake were affected indirectly by the influx of extended family members. With the shortage of food in the city in those first days, most of them arrived hungry. Crops were harvested for food rather than for market; seeds carefully saved for spring planting were also consumed, and animal husbandry plans had to be disregarded. For many families the traditional method to save for children’s education is to raise a pig for slaughter at the time the school fees are due. This year even the “piggy bank” had to be sacrificed.

Mark took on the task of writing the group’s proposal for the leader of the United Nations Cluster on Agriculture. The three have attended almost every meeting since the earthquake; an interest had been shown in their efforts and a proposal had actually been requested. The primary request is for the immediately replacing lost seed, and animals. The long-term proposal is a request for financial assistance and education for farmers in terracing and permaculture. However, even in this time of crisis and immediacy of need, the method and forms required for presenting the proposal have been changed twice. Time will tell if the third time is the charm, and the proposal will be accepted and funded.

WE LEARN THE WAY THROUGH THE GENERAL HOSPITAL

Many of the thousands injured in the earthquake suffered broken limbs. Lack of hospitals, medical personnel, x-ray and bone setting equipment and casting supplies led to injuries being simply stabilized. The stabilization was done with what was available: cardboard, bandages, and strips of cloth. Many had casts placed on their unset limbs, and a lot of them are unaware of the problem underneath the cast. At the time, there was nothing else that could be done. People are only learning this now that they walk into hospitals and clinics to have their casts removed. When the stabilization was done merely with cardboard, bandages, and strips of cloth the problem was understood. It’s those that were cast, often by medical personnel who spoke a foreign language, in mobile clinics or field hospitals set up to handle the immediate crisis that the injured are learning of their additional problems.

We recently had two teenage patients come into the field clinic who needed x-rays to determine if their leg casts could be removed. After taking them to two hospitals, only to be turned away either by the answer, “No, we are only receiving patients with immediate trauma.” Or, “I’m sorry, but the machine is down,” we called Dr. Megan Coffee, a guest at Matthew 25 who works each day in the infectious disease tents of the General Hospital. A compassionate and dedicated physician, she tries to help us whenever she can. This time was no exception. I drove and we brought along the two teens, a nurse, and an interpreter. Megan met us, wrote a prescription for x-rays, and directed us to Radiology.

After waiting only an hour the x-rays were taken, and we were directed to bring the two to see the French doctors. Huh? Who? Where? By that time the next patient had been called in, the metal door closed, and the two women receptionists shrugged their shoulders at the question. We saw an American man walk in wearing and identification tag around his neck, and a cap bearing the hospital logo. By the way, I’ve come to believe that wearing an ID tag is like having free ticket to anywhere. I decided to test the theory, and tucked my driver’s license inside a luggage tag, and hung it around my neck. Sure enough, I’ve been able to just walk right inside anywhere with never a question asked. It’s gotten me past private security guards, Haitian police officers, Bolivian, Canadian, and Brazilian UN security, and United States Military personnel. I figure that if anyone questions me I will simply reply, “Yes, I am a licensed Massachusetts motor vehicle operator.”

The man with the cap turned out to be the person in charge of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) in charge of the hospital. However, he didn’t know where the French doctors were either, but he immediately got on his cell phone to find out, and then led us to the proper building. Inside was a wonderful team of orthopedic specialists from Medicine Dumond of France. They looked at the x-rays and determined that the boy needed surgery not possible to receive there because it required a closed surgical unit, and there was none. We were told that the best action would be to have him evacuated to the U.S Navy Comfort Ship in the harbor. In the meantime the yoing woman we brought needed a new cast. However, they could not do that either because they were out of casting material. “We have casting material” I said. “If we bring some back tomorrow will you recast her leg? We will send it in the morning with Dr. Megan Coffee.” “Yes”, he replied, “and if you could bring us some real coffee too that would be wonderful because we don’t have any of that either.”

The next stop was to find out how to get on the Comfort Ship. I leave the group sitting in the “French” building, and begin the hunt. Who do I run into just outside? Megan! She’s talking with Paloma, a member of a medical team from Spain. Paloma is also the person who handles all of the evacs to the Comfort. Hooray! Do we have the right guests at Matthew 25 or what? I explain the problem with the boy’s leg only to have Paloma reply that all of the patients on the Comfort are being discharged because the Comfort Ship is pulling out on Wednesday. However, there is a team of Orthopedic surgeons coming tomorrow from Double Harvest, a wonderful medical clinic just outside the city in Croix des Bouquet. She didn’t know if they would provide a closed surgical unit, but I was advised to bring the young man back the next day.

I return to the group hopefully waiting with the French. A Haitian doctor working with them tells us not to give up because in about a month they hope to have a closed surgical unit. I think, “Yeah, in a month there will be a surgical unit, and hundreds upon hundreds of patients in the same position as this young man who won’t be able to walk without it, or maybe it won’t happen at all”. But just in case I ask, “Please, please is there a list he could get on now to be sure that he has the opportunity for the surgery?” “Yes, I’m Dr. Orr, and I’m the head of orthopedics,he said”. “Give me your card with his name, and I will put him on the list.” Okay, now we at least have two possibilities.

It had been reported in late January that during this crisis Partners In Health (PIH) was taking over the General Hospital, but that has not turned out to be so. PIH had stored some equipment and supplies there, does send supplies when needed from their hospital in Cange, and also provides two resident physicians. The man we had met in Radiology is from The International Medical Corps, the organization that is really orchestrating this amazing medical effort, and providing most of the staff.

The International Medical Corps (IMC) was started in 1979 by a group of medical personnel from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in response to the war in Afghanistan. The Russians had invaded, and all but a very few physicians had been killed. The organization now responds to crises all over the world. There is a frequent turnover of staff though because IMC members are working medical personnel who take short term leaves from their jobs to serve with the Corps.

When described in print, the layout of the General Hospital sounds nice: a shady courtyard surrounded by buildings. Over the years it has become notorious for poor medical care. Now though, the place is bustling with an international mix of medical staff. Tents filled with patients surround three sides of the courtyard, and beds have been set up under tarps inside it. The patients have hung bits of cardboard or sheets to provide some privacy for themselves. Several women had small children and babies with them. Next to the patient area are more tents: /Unicef/ and /Handicap International /to name two. The courtyard is no longer grassy, but muddy.

The next day we pack up the casting material, the coffee, and the patients, and return. The French doctor recasts the teenage girl’s leg, and we then learn that the Double Harvest team has arrived, but they cannot do “closed” surgery either.

Scott Weinstein, a nurse from Canada, and another guest at Matthew 25 works inside one of the two emergency room tents. We are resting on chairs in the shade of the courtyard. Scott comes over to tell us that the Double Harvest doctors are currently on a hospital tour, and he will lead them in our direction. It is then that Sr. Mary calls to say she is on the way with two more patients (fortunately, neither one in need of surgery), and that we should return to Matthew 25 so that there will be a vehicle there if again needed. We leave the patients, and their mothers with the interpreter, and return home. An hour later we receive another call: The Double Harvest team has taken both patients back to Croix des Bouquets to have surgery at their facility. They had determined that the young girl, too, needed surgery

All of this had taken place while I was not able to communicate because the internet was down, or the satellite dish was being moved, or the circuit breaker needed repair, or etc. It is now about five days later, and both came through the surgery, and are said to have been “model” patients. They are both now staying in our field hospital for their recovery.

— Vivian Tortuga