Blogs from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Central America Caribbean

This final blog entry will be a bit brief. Half of our group, including myself, did not make the connection in Montreal back to Halifax so I am already behind the eight ball in returning to normal life and do not have time for a big entry. I do, however, want to put some finishing statements on the trip. Tuesday in Haiti was a big day for me. Jodi and Dr. Coles (my trauma fellowship preceptor) left that morning to return to Halifax. They had some other commitments so had to get home a bit earlier than the rest of us (turns out that was a good idea, since they might not have made it!) That meant that I was left as the staff surgeon for the day. I am fully certified in Canada to work ... read more

Saturday started with a plan to operate all day again. After a bit of a late start (it’s a weekend in a developing country – this was not unexpected) our first case took much longer than we had expected. We were just going to “pin some broken toes,” basically, but it’s much harder to hit tiny little bones with tiny wires than you would think. To add to our woes, our drill that pushes the wires in continually stalled until it died all together, then we literally used the drill as a mallet to impact the wires in manually. Quite aggravating. I’m also pretty sure I now glow in the dark after exposure to the radiation from all the xrays we are taking! We wear protective lead, but at home I have circumferential lead and here ... read more

On Feb 21 Jeremy drove me to the Halifax airport and an ungodly hour with two carry-on bags and two giant duffle bags crammed full of group medical supplies. I was starting the trip to Bernard-Mevs Hospital in Port-au-Prince with a group of healthcare workers from Halifax. We were all heading down together for a week under the support network of Team Broken Earth, which is a medical aid organization founded by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Andrew Furey out of St. John's Newfoundland. Dr. Furey originally began his medical aid work in Haiti during crisis relief after the deadly earthquake of 2010. Since then, Team Broken Earth has expanded and evolved to provide more ongoing care, infrastructure development, and health worker education. I really love this organization and I have been following them for some time, but ... read more

Bonjour d'Haïti! Maintenant que j'ai enfin accès à Internet, je me suis dit que je débuterais en vous donnant quelques nouvelles! Mon arrivée en Haïti a été un peu improvisée au tout départ, mais les choses se sont placées relativement rapidement. J'étais supposé rencontrer l'équipe qui organisait mon accueil avant de partir, mais coup de théâtre, j'ai fait un petit tour à l'hôpital pour une pierre au rein gauche quelques jours avant mon départ, manquant du même fait cette rencontre. Après un échange téléphonique (où j'étais sous l'effet de la morphine... je vous laisse imaginer la cohérence que j'avais...!), on s'est dit qu'on s'arrangerait sur place. Par pur hasard, je voyageais avec la Directrice par intérim de l'Unité de santé internationale, avec qui je réalise un de mes stages. Celle-ci m'a donc donné un coup de ... read more

As we prepared for our flights to Haiti, CNN informed us that there were riots in the capital, Port-au-Prince. We knew Haiti was going to be tricky but political riots are more than we had bargained for. Haitians are annoyed and frustrated because, after years of electoral fraud and corruption, the Electoral Commission has decided to postpone the presidential elections. Some groups had decided to riot to show just how annoyed they were. Rioting has been a favourite way to make a political point here ever since it worked in the 1800s to get rid of the Spanish. As we board our plane bound for Haiti, we scan for any war correspondents. Luckily, none spotted. We arrive to a peaceful city - well, noisy, busy, even frantic but no sign of any rioters. Our hotel is ... read more