Clinic in Terre de Negre, a remote village in Haiti

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I finally got an opportunity to get out into the field in Haiti. The medical and veterinary team was scheduled to go out on the 24th, and mustered (lined up) at 6:30 am with all our gear. We waited (on the ramp - very uncomfortable) with our flotation devices on and helmets at the ready until 8:30 when they decided they couldn't get the part they needed for the helicopter to make it safe to operate. So we took all the gear off and went back inside. (Despite the annoyance of the wait and missed opportunity, I still would rather they identify they needed a part BEFORE we were in the air or after we were in the remote village and couldn't be picked up). Another team was scheduled to go out on the 25th, but they canceled them and allowed us to go. This time, we mustered, went up the ramp, put on the gear, waited (like always), loaded into the helicopter, strapped in to the harnesses and then the crew member motioned us to get up again. So we got up and off the aircraft and went back inside to wait for them to warm up a different helicopter. Soon, we were on our way, first to the airport at Port-au-Prince to pick up our 'force protection' (4 Haitian policemen you see here in the pictures - the NCIS agents who were previously on board having returned to the US). Then we were off to a very remote village called Terre de Negre (black dirt or black earth). As we started hiking to the village church, people just started appearing out of the bushes.

The 3 other doctors and I saw 206 patients in about 4 hours. We ran out of Tylenol, ibuprofen and topical antibiotics. It was very frustrating, as two of the last patients I saw probably have malaria, and not only don't we have any medications for treating it, I couldn't even give them anything to help with the fever. Sigh. Medicine in the developing world. But I got some great pictures. Hope you enjoy them.

We left Haiti on the 26th to have a liberty (mini-vacation) in Puerto Rico. Aside from the day and half liberty in Guantanamo, most of the crew aboard the ship have been working almost every day since the ship left Norfolk, Virginia in early August. The food service folks work 3 meals a day, seven days a week. I have great admiration for them.

Next blog will be from our next work site in the Dominican Republic.

Apologies for sending 3 blogs at once, but I got a chance to access the Internet on a rapid network (Starbuck's in San Juan, Puerto Rico) and I got all the pictures uploaded rapidito. YEA!!

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Photos

Walking to the church to hold clinic
People start to come out of the bushes

The line gets longer
As the local people join us on the walk to the church

A local home at Terre de Negre
All the houses are painted in different designs

4 Haitian policemen
Our force protection (I call them the GWGs - the guys with guns).

The local church cum school
And today, the clinic

I started taking pictures of kids
First - 4 kids

And every time I stepped back for a wider view
... there were more kids

Half the village hiked up to see us off
Waiting for the helicopter to land in a flat spot on the hillside

After this shot, I had to hunker down on the ground
along with everyone else. The helicopter blades generate a tremendous wind that carries rocks and debris and can put out an eye.