Hello everyone,
I made it to Haiti! Got in yesterday morning
and met up with Bob and Rae, the American Salvation Army couple who work in
Port-au-Prince, and they drove me down to Fond-des-Negres (pronounced
Fond-de-Neg for those of you who don't speak French like me), which was about a
2-3 hour drive. The place I'm staying is far nicer than I expected, like
beyond anything I would have thought. The overall complex is very nice
here, though the hospital is small and mostly what I expected, the living
quarters above it are pretty much any normal apartment building. I have
my own room with a bed, desk, and private bathroom. The electricity does
come and go, but for the most part we always have it because the hospital has a
back up generator. Still have the mosquito net hung around the bed,
though everything is screened in and my host thoroughly soaked the room with
mosquito spray just in case. They seem to always be cooking, so I
definitely will not starve. Yesterday they cooked "lunch" which
consisted of chicken legs, spinach and carrots, potato casserole, rice and
beans, and then for dinner they made a type of porridge that was pretty
amazing. Aside from touring the complex yesterday and going through all
my luggage and supplies (yes, everything made it!), the day was pretty chill.
I will start working in the hospital today, which I'm still not sure what
that will consist of, but we shall soon find out. They do have a fully
functioning pharmacy that seems to have a good variety of medications, and the
TB ward is off in a separate part of the hospital where the patients stay for
2-6 months receiving treatment. The rest of the hospital is separated
into men, women, and children, though it's pretty much mixed whenever there is
overflow. There are small "kitchens" around the outside where
the families wash the clothes and cook on small stoves, essentially charcoal
grills -- if you stay in the hospital your family has to provide everything for
you while you're here, there isn't a hospital staff like that or nursing care
that even changes bandages and such, so the families are very involved.
They do sell the drugs to the patients as well, and that's the main
source of income for the hospital. If patients cannot afford it, there is
some way they work around that, usually asking other patients to help pay it
seems......everyone here is very communal, if anyone needs help they just help
you and keep walking. If a child is trying to cross the street you'll see
someone grab their hand, get them across and then keep going (which I tell you,
the streets are like....well Bob says it's like driving in a video game, and I
agree....people are just crazy). The computer I'm typing on is in the
main living room and I have access to it whenever, so I will be easily able to
send e-mail updates to you all and let you know how things are going.
It's not WiFi that I've figured out at the moment, so no pictures will be
coming your way for now.
I'll let you know how the day goes! Pray
that I stay healthy and that I can be effective in treating our patients today.
Thanks so much.
-Aaron Tabor
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