Tomorrow will be our last day in clinic. The day we live into the meaning of “things done and left undone”. We’ve seen a little over half the children and many teachers. Mercifully we haven’t seen any very sick children; just the occasional skin infection, stomach ache and common cold symptoms. Lots of dental caries, which we can now refer to a nearby local dental clinic. Over the past 2-3 years we have strengthened our relationships with local Haitian doctors. This allows us to refer children with orthopedic or other serious problems, which is much better than leaving Haiti not knowing if the child with rotten teeth will be taken care of. The Eye team from Southern College of Optometry plans to come in May. Its a tremendous gift to have their services.
Our team has three young members as I mentioned in an earlier blogpost. Simon helped us redesign the workflow on our second day, which helped traffic flow much better. You can only imagine the jumble of kids at the door trying to spell their Haitian names to Stephanie, then getting weighed and measured, then John sticks their finger for an iron level check, all before they come to see the doctor. Sophie has been deputized by John to do much of the finger sticking. I’m proud of her for learning a new skill and being mature enough to handle herself when she is doing something to a child they don’t like! Ella has been an all around helper, but today she became my scribe. She learned to write prescriptions from my dictation, including the Latin notations. She has excellent handwriting, which is a rare and valuable skill.
Tomorrow we will join the children in a chapel service. We hope to see all the rest of the children, a few teachers, and play with the resident kids in the afternoon. I promised Frenel a game of Go Fish (with brailled playing cards). Jump rope and fingernail painting and blowing bubbles will entertain all of us and make it hard to leave.
I haven’t blogged much this trip because I’m too exhausted at the end of the day. But please know that the children are happy and healthy and safe in their new home.
Susan