Watchin'

Our dental team has treated 121 patients as of yesterday, and somehow they are able to see more each day.  Yesterday they saw 30 children, nine of whom were under six years old.  As seen here, there is often an audience of very interested children at the window who seem riveted by watching our dental team at work.  Dr. Betsy encourages this.  She hopes the onlookers today will become the future dentists of Haiti.  We also want to note that the newest member of the Unit is Mr. Johnson (left).  He is an interpreter who lives in Petite Riviere when he is not in school.  He has become our dental health advocate who explains to the children the technique and importance of taking care of their teeth.

Waitin'

 

Waiting for the dentist

 

Waiting some more



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Still waiting



Redemption songs

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Rural Haitians have little exposure to video media.   Televisions are scarce, theatres are rare, and even the viewing of DVDs is limited.  What takes their place are the churches.  Even a small town like Petite Riviere can have a grand church that holds a large congregation, some of whom will walk considerable distances to attend.  Non-Haitian visitors to rural churches are infrequent, but those few who are fortunate to attend will invariably experience an unforgettable celebration.  Perhaps most striking is the music.  Even on Sundays in ordinary time, the celebrations will seldom last less than two hours and the musical bounty that enfolds a visitor seems to endure and refresh for days.  The entire congregation is the choir and all will sway and pray, both individually and communally in harmony to the music.  The instrumental accompaniment is just as diverse and infectious.  Drums, of course, are prominent and essential.   

This past Sunday was Easter and the ceremony was undoubtedly the most spectacular of the year.  But even the days preceding Easter have their own beauty.  For instance, the music and lower photo here came from the more reflective celebration on Holy Thursday. 

This past year, the world has noted the tremendous resilience and hope that Haitians retain, even in the most trying of times.  One cannot help but wonder if it is Haiti's music and celebrations that nourish this most precious of virtues. 

The Unit

There is a television series called "The Unit" which is about a team of specially recruited, highly trained, disciplined and dedicated soldiers who work in difficult circumstances to accomplish their mission.  I dream that the producers will travel to rural Haiti someday and see the real thing at work.  We have a number of Units at Visitation Clinic.  Our newest one is lead by Dr. Betsy Barcroft from Memphis who is an accomplished pediatric dentist and spends her free time treating disadvantaged children to places like Alaska, Hopi Indian reservations, rural Arkansas and now Haiti.  She and her incredibly efficient assistant Stacy have volunteered for ten days to work at our clinic with the goal of seeing every child they possibly can.  Each day, they start early, don't want to take lunch breaks and work until the last child is seen.  They spent weeks preparing for the trip, acquiring all the equipment, supplies and instruments, which they squeezed into their checked baggage.  Betsy even did her own fundraising for the project.  

It is unfortunate that our Unit's members share a major flaw which will keep them from becoming television action heroes.  They are just too darn nice to be believable and the children actually like them.

The worst of times, the best of times

Imagine for a moment that you are a child in rural Haiti and your tooth hurts.  Next thing you know your parents are taking you to a big white building where maybe you can hear some kid crying through one of the windows.  Then after waiting for a long time, your mom takes you to a  room filled with scary stuff, where these pale strangers put you into a weird chair that nearly turns you upside down, then they get out the biggest needle you've ever seen, even though they try to hide it, and then it feels like a couple stings and your mouth feels thick and funny.  Next thing they are cramming  weird gadgets that look like scissors into your mouth, then a loud machine makes this noise and there is a whining sound on that tooth that you don't want anyone touching.  And you can't even holler to your mom who is sitting next you looking worried.  Finally after a fistful of forevers they are taking the stuff out of your mouth and you can't stop shaking and you want to cry except it seems too late.  But then the strangest thing happens.  You get this little car like you've never seen before with wheels that actually turn and it's the most wonderful thing and you can't wait to get outside to play with it.  And somehow you can't quite remember how the worst day of your life turned into one of the best.

Click here and you help change a child's day at Visitation Clinic in Haiti.

Dental screening

This week we are bringing a new program to Petite Riviere - pediatric denistry.  We have two dedicated volunteers with years of experience in chilren's denistry.  Today they were screening children in a nearby school.  The video shows how this was done.  Unfortunately our team found that nearly all of the older children had untreated cavities and other dental problems.  In fact, it looked like most of children had no prior dental care.  Over the next ten days, our team will be treating these children and, we hope, many others too.  Our team won't be pulling many teeth.  They have come with all the equipment and materials to do high quality restorative dentistry.

If you are very observant, you can see on the blackboard a table showing the size of the class.  For those of you who can't quite make it out, the sign shows that there are 83 children in this modest sized class room. 

Market

In rural Haiti there are no supermarkets, convenience stores, or Walmarts.  Shopping and trading is done in an open market that lines the main street of Petite Riviere every Wednesday. 

The daily diet of most rural Haitians consists of rice, beans, fruit and grain products.  With no electricity, there are few refrigerators and ice is a rarity.  So storing meats and fish is a challenge. 

The lack of refrigerators also impacts the healthcare that Visitation Clinic provides.  We can't dispense pharmauciticals that require temperature controls.  And patients with trauma injuries can't apply ice to reduce swelling.

Education

One of VHF's core missions is to provide health education to the general populace.  We do this in a variety of ways, including radio talk shows, large public gatherings and, every morning, a meeting with the patients.  These photos show typcial morning meetings.  The patients have gathered in the clinic's shaded portico and are waiting for the clinic to open.  Each day, one of our medical staff has been assigned the task of preparing a short talk on some public health issue.  This can range from basic hygiene, to child nuitrition, to the need to take medicines in the proper manner.  When Dr. JF is the presenter, there is often much humor in the presentation and much laughter and smiles in the audience.  Programs like this can be one of the most effective ways to improve overall health, as well as to quickly get on top of outbreaks of diseases like cholera.