Suzi and John Parker's visit to HSC 11/2011

John and I have just returned from HSC where we spent two
weeks, with John doing some inspection on the renovation process and I spent my
time working in the guesthouse and looking around the hospital. While the renovation isn’t finished yet, and
some things are still hung up in customs, we were gratified at what we saw
going on at HSC.
To begin with, the hospital seems to be functioning well
medically. There were about 20
in-patients there, and the day clinic was seeing 80 or so patients every
day. There was also a group there, from
Oxford, MS, (1) doing mobile clinics (2), working in the clinic and hospital
(3), and visiting and working building a wall at an orphanage. One of the docs assisted in a hysterectomy,
and followed the patient with the Haitian surgeon, and he was pleased with the
level of medical care the patients were receiving. The doctors were doing daily rounds and
charting the patients. Nurses were
taking vitals at every shift change, noting urine output when necessary, and in
general not sitting around. The patients
were receiving meds as part of their hospital fees (200 gdes/day). There were sheets on the beds (The nurses are
responsible for making sure the sheets don’t disappear with the patients, as
happened with all of the early patients.
Some of the crib mattresses also disappeared, but that seems to have
stopped with the nurses being responsible for the supplies.). Food is being brought in by the patients’
families, but all food must be eaten before 7:00 pm when the rooms are mopped,
and no room is allowed overnight at the hospital. There are screens on the windows, and bed
nets on each bed. The laboratory is
working, and the ER is staffed with a doctor with disposable paper lab coats
being used as sheets on the gurneys. There
are plenty of paper lab coats that showed up after the earthquake, probably
enough for at least several years.
The word is that Fred Butler is hoping to get the eye clinic
cleaned and resupplied, and open sometime this spring. The plans are to move the dental clinic from
the third story of the hospital to the eye clinic building, and staff it with a
local dentist who has worked with several groups this year and received good
reviews from the visiting dentists. Both
services are badly needed in Haiti and Leogane, and will bring back most of the
former functions of the hospital. But
there is no talk of starting a hypertension clinic, which several visiting
groups have suggested. Those of you who
know Zo (Joseph, the man who took care of the generators) will be sad to know
that he had a stroke the week before we arrived. He is recovering, and getting around, but
slowed considerably, and seems to be having short term memory problems as a
result.
The renovation is coming along. All of the windows in the 3 story building
have been replaced with closing and locking tilt out windows, which do a great
job of blocking out the street noise and the noise from the loud bar on the
corner. There is still a lot of minor
electrical work to be done, and one generator is still in customs. (The story is that when the government
changed, the new customs director was working in his office when a gang of
armed thugs came in and took over, so the old director could re-occupy the building. Haiti’s government is probably best
described as ‘fluid’). Everything has a
new coat of paint, the water is on, and the toilets all work. The water pressure is strong enough to get to
the 2nd floor, where the guesthouse is. When the a/c’s get out of customs, all the
rooms will get one. The renovations are
supposed to be finished the middle of December, and if things get out of
customs as expected, the job might not finish too much after that date.
When a pole hasn’t been pushed over by a truck between
Leogane and the generators in PAP, we seem to have power during the evening
hours, from about 7:00 to 7:00. But the
voltage fluctuations are frequent and enormous.
The ceiling fans go from stopped to sounding like and airplane. It doesn’t sound good for the longevity of
the a/c units. My suggestion is for
everyone to come soon, before they start breaking from the voltage problems at
night.
Security has been improved.
Only one member of the family is allowed in to be with the patient. Albert has put deadbolts on all the doors of
the guesthouse. When there is a group,
there is a member of the hospital staff that sleeps at the door of the
guesthouse. Now that the windows close
and lock, and since the person who stole the passports was caught and the
person who stole John’s computer was caught, the thefts seem to have
stopped. But we are still advising real
diligence on the part of the visitors.
Even with all the Tecina workers who are doing the renovations moving
things in and out of the drug room, the scrubs room and the depot, nothing
seems to have walked. Things may be
getting better.
The car situation is another matter entirely. It is still horrible. John and I went to town in the land cruiser
a few days ago, and no amount of beating with a rock on the battery cables
would get the car to start. Fortunately,
we were parked on a hill and Belange jump started it in second gear (That car
has no first gear right now.) The other
land cruiser is being robbed of parts to keep the first one running. The big truck is working OK, and the Nissan
is doing OK. But there aren’t enough
cars to go around. Thanks to John
Talbird’s contribution, two new double cab pickups have been bought, and when
(if? - $7000 for both) they get out of customs perhaps the problem with the
cars will be solved.
What are the needs today for the hospital and
guesthouse? Both the hospital and the
guesthouse need sheets and towels. The
water pump is on its last legs. A new
motor ($1000) will perhaps fix it, but it might need a whole new pump
($2,000). The lab and the OR at least
could use some kind of voltage regulator to save the lives of the medical
equipment. A technician would be a real
asset to the hospital. I did a survey of
all the medical equipment for a new project that a friend of mine is doing – see
rxdonate.com – and more than half of the equipment needs repair or
replacement. When you bring a group
down, try to find a medical technician to come with you.
Bob and Robin Sloane are scheduled to come down as
guesthouse coordinators in January. I think
by then, the hospital and guesthouse will be ready for you. Dr. Gladys is very anxious for people who
come to work in the hospital and teach the Haitian employees. This is a change from what we saw in 2003
when we were there, and a very welcome one.
We don’t know what the long term prospects for HSC are, but
right now, it seems to be treating the sick, helping the lame to walk, etc, and
we are praising God and Dr. Gladys for that.
While infrastructure problems remain, and political problems are always
with us, we are encouraged at what we have seen going on now.

HSC is a busy place

Bob and I arrived on Wednesday to manage the guesthouse at Hopital Ste. Croix. The hospital is a busy place, much more active than it was during our last trip in July. Physicians and nurses were at work on the busy inpatient unit. There were also nursing students working with the nursing staff.

This morning the pre-construction meeting was held for the first phase of the renovation which focuses on the three- story part of the hospital. Representing the construction firm, Tecina, was its VP who directs this and other projects for the firm, the engineer who is the project manager, the field engineer on site and the independent engineer (who I believe provides quality assurance). They will begin scheduling/planning on site next week.

Additionally, the reverse osmosis water system is being installed. Of the same size as a shipping container, it will produce 10,000 gallons of pure water a day.

We look forward to sharing the news of HSC with you.
Robin and Bob Sloane

News from the Hospital

Give thanks with us! On September 22, Bishop Duracin came to Leogane and after a worship and communion service, blessed the hospital and reopened it for in-patient care. The week before the blessing was a time of great excitement at HSC. Last minute preparations, in addition to the regular hospital outpatient activities added to the enthusiasm. The cooks in the guesthouse were up all night prior to the opening, cooking soup joumou, making muffins and banana bread, and everyone was doing last minute cleaning and making beds. The hospital looked almost elegant, with colorful quilts on the beds. The electrical and plumbing systems were checked one last time, crib mattresses were picked up, the hallway plants watered, and the outside paint touched up. The next night, there were two patients in the hospital, a woman patient, and a pediatric patient. Doctors and nurses have been scheduled around the clock, and there have even been a couple of procedures done in the two operating rooms.

There is life all around the hospital. The day clinic, x-ray, and labs are still working, and seeing over 150 patients each day. The Children’s Nutrition Program moved their re-nourishment program back into the old operating rooms of the hospital early in September, and there are mothers and babies and children everywhere, both in-patient and outpatient. Even on the street in front of the hospital, you can now see coffee ladies, snack vendors, and other commercial activities.

After a slender August and early September, the guesthouse schedule is filling up again. Peter Ferris has come to take our place, and his energy is contagious. He was quick to help us finish up our to-do list, rearrange the managers quarters, and brighten up the hallway and sitting area. He will stay until Christmas, when Bob and Robin Sloan, from Fort Worth, will take over the guesthouse manager position. There are still some holes in the schedule before Christmas, and March and April have room for groups. And, there is still an opening for a guesthouse manager couple or two, to fill in the schedule so everyone can trade off the work. Do you know someone who would be good? Refer them to John Talbird, the chairman of the HSC board.

As many of you know, John and I have been back in the USA for about a week. It is good to be back and we are really enjoying a rest, and looking forward to a hometown grandchild at any moment. We are feeling optimistic about the hospital, and satisfied with our year in Haiti. During our time in Haiti, we were aware of and thankful for the prayers offered on our behalf. We were surprised during the blessing service, by being presented with a plaque thanking us for our work, and surprised again, by a birthday party for Suzi that evening! We have left a lot of friends behind, and are grateful for all the people who shared our vision and hopes for the hospital. The blessing service was a moment of closure and thanksgiving. Dr. Memnon, the director, and the other staff leadership of the hospital are determined to make the hospital a good one. Of course, the hospital has only just opened. We would like to see the hospital build a reputation for being a superior medical provider for everyone in and around Leogane. This will take time, and a continued commitment on the hospital’s part to its mission. And we would like to see a renewed commitment of support for the ongoing financial needs of the hospital. Please continue your prayers for the hospital, for Dr. Memnon, and the other staff. We hope to return one day to a thriving, caring, sustainable hospital.

Suzi

A Haitian wedding is very much like an American one, but it is sooo different! One of our translators invited John and me to his wedding. It’s the first one we have been to in Haiti. It started at 6:00 pm so we arrived at about 5:50. It was a lucky thing that we arrived then, for unlike anything else in Haiti, it started on time. When we arrived, there were 3 or 4 ladies standing around outside in wedding dresses. But we only saw two men who looked like a groom, including the one who had invited us. There were 4 groomsmen and 4 bridesmaids, . . But I am getting ahead of myself.

We took some pictures of the wedding party, then went in and sat down. Instead of nice, quiet organ music, there was a too loud tape of dance band noise. Then the procession started..

First to enter was a single girl in a bridal dress and bouquet, accompanied by a junior bridesmaid. This wasn’t the bride I had come to see, however. And instead of processing, the bride did an intricate stepping and turning and walking sideways routine that reminded me of Texas line dancing. She took several minutes to inch her way towards the front. Although the junior bridesmaid started much later than this bride, the junior bridesmaid arrived at the front of the church first. She collided with the line dancing bride as they passed. Neither acknowledged the other’s presence.

Next came the 4 bridesmaids and groomsmen. They were dressed alike, and were obviously a group. They came in all together, but they also did a very intricate choreographed routine, with the bridesmaids setting their bouquets on the floor, dancing off, and the groomsmen picking them up and dancing over to the bridesmaids and bowing and presenting the bouquets, spinning slowly, doing a coy do-si-do, and inching their way forward.

But the procession, already about 20 minutes long, isn’t finished yet. A second bride looking person came dancing in but this time with a groom. More dancing, turning, etc.

After everyone was in the front, the groomsmen and bridesmaids made an arch with their arms. Two young children, a flower girl with no flowers, and a ring bearer with no ring, solemnly marched in. These children are not like American children, however. They knew what they were supposed to do, and that it was important, and they did it faithfully and without timidity-or smiling. Then finally, the bride and either her mother or her maid of honor marched in together, followed by the groom and probably his best man or father. All went under the arch of hands rather like a Virginia Reel, and sat down in 4 chairs at the base of the steps to the communion table, facing each other. The children sat on the steps facing the congregation, where they sat for the next hour and a half, never moving, never fidgeting, never smiling.

I haven’t mentioned the building. It is a church, made of brick with wooden rafters and tin roof. Instead of windows, there are sections of open brickwork to allow ventilation. But it is hot, hot, as the building has been sitting in strong sun all day, and there has been no breeze.

There also is no electricity. The processional music was loud because it needed to cover the sound of a small generator. Once everyone was in the church and sitting down, all activity stopped while the generator was unhooked and taken outside. Still running, and still loud, as generators are. It was connected to a circuit of 3 standard light bulbs. The bulbs began to glow orange but not to really provide any light. Which was unfortunate, because by now it is dark.

The service starts, a standard church service. A song, a prayer, a short sermon, a scripture reading another song, and another sermon, by someone else. Of course, everything is in Creole, so I can only understand enough to know what is going on. I don’t know what the sermons are about.

By now, the generator has either failed or run out of gas. Only the minister seems to have noticed that we are sitting in the dark. He has pencil flashlight to read his notes. People are still coming and going into the church, but all is dark. A couple of the bridesmaids get up and leave, but nobody seems concerned.

A group of singers gathers for an anthem. A man with an accordion starts playing in the back, and walks to the front to accompany the group. They sing well, and do a little rhythmic moving. But the only time we can see them is when someone takes a flash picture.
And one more sermon. This time it is the real thing. A full 40 minutes. Halfway though this sermon, a very loud motorcycle starts up outside, then drives into the church and is parked in the back. The driver gets off and walks forward and joins the congregation, leaving his lights on. Nobody notices. The sermon continues, but now we can see. After a few minutes, when the motorcycle battery runs down, we are in the dark again. Another motorcycle starts up outside, drives in, and the driver joins the congregation, leaving his lights on.

By end of the service, the church has 5 motorcycles with drained batteries parked in the back. Haitians have learned to solve lots of problems that we can’t even dream up. And this congregation is taking care of this service.

Finally, the vows begin. They are pretty standard. The groom says his, then is allowed to kiss the bride. But as soon as he does, the preacher pulls them part, as if to keep things from getting out of hand. The congregation laughs, and starts to enjoy the proceedings. The bride says her vows, and the kissing routine is repeated. By now, everyone has stood up and filled the center aisle and the front rows of the church to get a better view. The rings are prayed over and exchanged. A final kiss is allowed.

But it’s not over yet. Everyone in the immediate bridal party has to go up to the communion table and sign a register or certificate. The minister tries to get the congregation singing during the signing, but folks just stand around talking. After the signatures are finished, the service is over. No recessional, everyone walks out together. The flower girl and the ring bearer move and relax for the first time since they entered the church 2 hours ago. Would an American child do this?

John and I have a car. There are only two other cars at the service. All the wedding party, and most of the guests (probably about 75) try to get into these 3 vehicles. Those who simply cannot be mashed into the cars arrange for a motorcycle taxi ride. We start toward the home of the groom for the reception. Down dirt paths and through the cane fields. Around a cow who refused to move out of the path. Across a ravine with no bridge. And just a block past a field with a tent city.


The house is a partially completed brick structure with a roof, no windows in the openings, and not a dab of paint. But it is standing, which is an accomplishment in Leogane. The wall of the front porch is covered with a pink satin sheet, with decorations pinned on. A table with a feast fills the porch.

I mentioned the tent village near the house. About 150 people from the village are gathered in the road. They are joined by the 75 from the church. Everyone wants to see, and the crush is truly Haitian.

To our surprise, (why are we surprised at anything by now?) the processional that occurred at the church is repeated. Only this time, the distance to the porch is only 30 feet, and the width of the aisle is only about 3 feet. But all the dancing routines are repeated. A man keeps trying to push the onlookers back out of the way, but his effort is wasted.

In spite of the feast, there is obviously not enough food for everyone, so John and I plead guesthouse needs and make our way back. A few ladies join us to be dropped off on our way. But they have takeout boxes with food. As we leave, the loud music continues, and follows us for the first mile, around the curves and through the cane fields. There is a party going on tonight! The cow doesn’t seem to mind.

One final note. A week later, the translator comes and asks us for a loan. We had given him cash for a wedding gift, $40. He needs money to pay for the reception, another $50. Since he hasn’t worked in a while, I am confident that we have paid for his reception. It was a bargain!

Exciting news from Hopital Ste. Croix

Lots of things have happened since my last blog, much too long ago. Just to catch everyone up on the goings on:

1. At the last board meeting, a new director was appointed. Dr. Gladys Memnon is a determined woman! She has been working at the hospital since shortly after the earthquake, organizing, directing, making decisions, and moving things forward. She is an OB/Gyn doctor, and under her direction, things are happening.

2. The old Medicine wing of the hospital has been repaired, cleaned, painted, and is being set up with about 30 beds. The plumbing is fixed, the electricity is on, there are fans in the patient rooms. Sheets are on the beds, curtains at the windows, and doctors are ready to make rounds!

3. The Children’s Nutrition Program is moving into the old central supply room and a room next door. They hope to move in next week, and will use the area for their re-nourishment program. Mothers and severely malnourished children are brought into the hospital and the babies are fed ‘plumpy nut‘, a fortified peanut butter that has lots of protein and calories. Most babies start gaining weight immediately, but as they begin to recover, they often get very sick, as their immune systems don’t recover as fast. For this reason, the program needs to be separated from the pediatric area of the hospital.

4. The guesthouse continues to be open for business. We have held our first groups who have come to do mobile clinics! After the earthquake, all of the medical groups worked at the tent hospital across town. The tent hospital did great work, and was staffed almost entirely by volunteer doctors and nurses from everywhere. The tent hospital closed about a week ago. But the villages around the commune (like a county), both those up in the mountains, and along the seaside plains, have had very few mobile clinics. We are excited to begin to do these clinics again. Would you or your church like to organize a group to come down and do a week of clinics? Contact me at hscguesthouse@gmail.com, and I’ll tell you all you need to know.

5. The community health worker program is revitalized. It was severely restricted when the hospital closed about 3 years ago. Now, many new health workers, Ajan Saintes, have been hired and trained, and are working and being paid under the auspices of Hopital Ste. Croix. The Ajan Saintes are in charge of the vaccination programs. The village health workers teach basic health practices, do blood sugar checks, and help find folks who need to come to HSC.

6. The out patient clinic, the laboratory, and the pharmacy are still operating at a busy rate. We are seeing almost 1,000 people a week in the clinic, and the lab and pharmacy are busy supporting the clinic.

Of course, this is not the entire picture, only the good part. The bad part is that the hospital is still short of operating funds. We have had a lot of help in the rebuilding and renovating efforts. Today we are accepting bids from contractors for the remodeling of the 3 story building of the hospital. When this is complete, hopefully in 6-8 months, the patients can be moved into the first floor of the hospital, and the reconstruction of HSC can begin in earnest. Incidentally, the renovation plans include a sewage treatment plant, which might be the first one in Haiti, with the possible exception of the UN and other large NGO’s. But all over the world, the same principle is at work: People are more likely to give money to build a building, but nobody wants to help it to continue. And, since HSC is a mission hospital, and will treat anyone, even if they cannot pay, and since most people in Haiti have trouble feeding their families and can’t pay for emergencies like illness, Hopital Ste. Croix will never be self supporting. Running a hospital in cheaper in Haiti than in the US. $1200 a month will pay for a doctor, and $300 will provide a nurse. Would your church like to put HSC into their mission budget?

But now the big news. The official date to start accepting in patients at HSC is -----SEPTEMBER 1, 2010! Please keep the hospital in your prayers as we take this important step.

Keep Your Priorities Straight

Life goes on in post Earthquake Haiti. The Hospital still is running on generator power. EDH, or the Haiti power company, still hasn’t made it to Leogane with restoration of power poles. We hear rumors that EDH is in Gressier, a small town about 5 miles towards Port Au Prince. But it’s just as well that it hasn’t come to the hospital, because after the earthquake, we rearranged the power once more, so that either of our two generators could run the 3 story part of the hospital. To use EDH once again, we will have to do yet another kludge of the wiring system. Those of you who have been to Haiti and have seen the switching board in the hospital hallway will appreciate the problems.
There are a few parts of the hospital that are not being used. The pump house is on the edge of the property, bordering on a side street. Next to the pump room is a room that was used as a Depot, or storage room. In the earthquake, the wall that was on the street side collapsed, and the room was looted. We managed to save a room full of adult diapers, some walkers, and a few barrels of outdated medicine. The barrels were welcomed by the locals who are probably using them as water containers. The room, with the outside wall missing, is now empty and open to the side road.
The hospital has always shared its good water resources with the neighboring community. Immediately after the earthquake, whenever the generator was started, people came running with cell phones and empty buckets. We had a long string of power strips hooked together, and folks would recharge their cell phones while we ran the generator. Others would fill their water buckets. (We only have water when we have current for the pump.) We have restored the faucet on the street for the community to get water, and folks have learned the hours that the generator usually runs, so we have a steady line of neighbors who don’t have to purchase water from the trucks that roam the city sounding like ice cream trucks.
Today, we found out that we are sharing another resource with the neighbors. A few days ago, John decided that we needed to be able to use power equipment in the pump room. So he had a plug installed from the power line that runs from the generators to the pump. Now, if we have to use a drill or saw in that area of the hospital grounds, we have a place to get electricity for the tools. Today, around 3:00 pm, John was refilling the fuel tanks for the generators. Both generators were turned off while the tanks were being filled. John noticed that there was a crowd of about 50 people milling around in the street while the tanks were being filled. There was a lot of shouting and arguing going on. Someone (John didn’t know him) finally came up and asked when the generators would start up again. John explained what they were doing, and thought that would satisfy the man, but he seemed agitated. It was puzzling, because the man wasn’t a hospital employee, like a doctor who needed power in the emergency room. The water hadn’t been off very long, so it probably wasn’t someone who needed to fill his water bucket from the community faucet provided by the hospital. Besides, men don’t carry water in Haiti. Women and children do. But, as soon as he could, John turned the generator back on and suddenly, the street was quiet again. All the people who had been milling around were gone. John decided to investigate.
It turns out that someone in the community along the street by the pump room, and the empty depot room, had found out that we had installed the new plug in the pump room. (We think we know who spread the word—the electrician lives in the neighborhood along that street). Someone had plugged in an extension cord to the new plug, and ran it around the building to a radio that was set up in the empty depot room. The World Cup Soccer game was on, and John had interrupted the game broadcast when he was filling the generator tank. Already, the depot room apparently has become a gathering place for the daily soccer games. Nobody can say that the Haitians aren’t adaptable people! We are often asked when the hospital will reopen. We assume that people are concerned about medical care. We have learned, however, that we don’t always know what the real priorities are.

Junk for Jesus - Part 2

I've had a large response from the Junk for Jesus blog. Suggestions have been interesting: kites for the children, sandbags for building walls, banners, collection bags for rainwater off the roof, etc. But in real life, here is what we have been doing.
1. The people who work in the yard and on the generator have figured out that they can slip a pair of pants over their jeans and not get oil on their jeans.
2. (This is the best solution). We got yet another shipment from the same helpful organization, and this time it was food. Lots of food! And we have people coming every day who need food. Instead of purchasing plastic bags, we took a XXXXXL pair of pants, tied a knot in the waist, turned the pants upside down, and filled the pants with canned and boxed food, filling them through the legs. Then we tied the ends of the legs together and made a very handy carrying bag (pant?) full of food. We passed the food out to folks who came to the clinic. The recipients were delighted; one person even made up some symptoms when she heard we were giving out food. Now, we only have about 11,000 pairs of paper disposable surgical pants!