Friday, October 29, 2004

Weighing the two month old babies

Weighing the two month old babies

Today babies two months of age were
weighed at the feeding center. Moms
come to weight their babies each month
in the first year of life. During the
first 6 months they totally breast
feed. After 6 months some fruits and
vegetables are introduced. Lots of
group education is provided to these
mothers during this weighing process.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

The Big Mack Truck

The Big Mack Truck

About four times a year a big container
is filled with supplies from Norwich,
CT and sent by barge to Port au Prince
where big Mack trucks arrive to
transport the supplies to HHF. Tuesday
three Mack trucks arrived back at HHF.
Nothing is too small or too big to
transport! You will see roofing, wood,
boxes of food, medical supplies etc.

The Big Mack Truck

The Big Mack Truck

About four times a year a big container
is filled with supplies from Norwich,
CT and sent by barge to Port au Prince
where big Mack trucks arrive to
transport the supplies to HHF. Tuesday
three Mack trucks arrived back at HHF.
Nothing is too small or too big to
transport! You will see roofing, wood,
boxes of food, medical supplies etc.

Saying goodbye to Sister Sophie

Saying goodbye to Sister Sophie

Sister Sophie leaves Wednesday morning
for a three month leave from the Center
of Hope. We have become good friends
and coworkers. I will miss her.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Third degree burn

Third degree burn

Today the Cuban orthopedic doctor asked
me to see a patient whose Left hand and
arm is burned severely. He learned I
had worked with a plastic surgeon.
This young boy was burned with scalding
hot water. It is mostly 3rd degree
because he has no pain. I have called
upon my old boss, Dr. Curtis Juhala,
for some advice. He needs transferral
to a burn center. That is not possible
so we will soak in water, dress with
Silvadene cream, work on function and
see if Dr. Juhala has other suggestions.

The Rooster

The Rooster

I continue to sleep with ear plugs
because these roosters crow all night!
I have told this rooster that I learned
to butcher chickens as a child but that
did not scare him!

German Submarine

German Submarine

Do you see the shadow in the water?
There is an old German submarine sunken
in the sand and Caribbean water left
over from WWII.

Yoga class

Yoga class

Here's Nicole being our Yoga instructor
on Sunday morning. Good exercise!

Party for Sister Sophie

Party for Sister Sophie

On Saturday Nicole, Marie and I had the
sisters over before Sister Sophie
leaves for India. She will be gone for
three months. She and I have worked as
a team since my arrival so I will
really miss her. Last Friday she had
me do an OB ultrasound by myself. I
found all the parts and measured
correctly! After the party Sister
Sophie and I went to the hospital. We
learned that the 2.2 kg baby with fever
died Friday evening. We learned that
the baby had aspirated meconium.
Johnny's wife and baby went home on
Saturday. It is very fun to do rounds
at the hospital.

Friday, October 22, 2004

Marie goes to the mountains

Marie goes to the mountains

I took this picture at the beginning of
the week as Marie prepared to go to the
outpost clinics for the week with the
Haitian workers. She looks like she is
going to her first day of school. They
drove 4 hours to get to clinics and
then hiked even farther into the
mountains to other posts. It's a great
service HHF provides to the rural areas
of Jeremie.

My Creole Lessons

My Creole Lessons

Three afternoons a week Renel teaches
me Creole. At this lesson he was
teaching me about conjugated verbs.
Present tense (prezen) of walk
is "mache", past tense (pase) is "te
mache" and future tense (friti)
is "pral mache". Did you get that?

Sophie counsels women

Sophie counsels women

There is so much education necessary
for these people. Yesterday we saw
many women in their 30's who had 8-10
children. HHF teaches about child
spacing and Natural Family Planning.
Having Catholic affliliation they do
not distribute contraception however it
is available in the city. The problem
is cost and access so teaching natural
family planning is where efforts are
focused.

It's time to clean my room

It's time to clean my room

Wow...I arrived here three weeks ago.
The time is going very fast. Here's my
bedroom after spending time cleaning.

It's time to clean my room

It's time to clean my room

Wow...I arrived here three weeks ago.
The time is going very fast. Here's my
bedroom after spending time cleaning.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

6 day old baby with fever

6 day old baby with fever

Mother brings this 6 day old 2.2 kg
baby to the clinic this morning stating
it's been running fever. Temp was
102.2 by axilla. Where's a good
neonatologist when you need one! Baby
was sent to the hospital however the
hospital has minimal serves. Makes me
aware once again of how fortunate we
are in the US with our health care!

It's fashion day at the baby clinic

It's fashion day at the baby clinic

Check out this dress. Many mothers sew
their baby clothes. It reminds me of
clothing I sewed for my dolls as a
child. They zig zag and make lots of
designs on their shirts and dresses.

Check out this umbilical cord

Check out this umbilical cord

This baby was born at home. The cord
was wrapped with a string and lots of
guaze. What a mess it was to remove
the gaugze and clean this up. They use
gentian violet on the cord stumps here.

Do you think this is a girl?

Do you think this is a girl?

Do not predict the sex by what an
infant is wearing. I find a little
penis and testicles when I undress this
baby. Maybe pink and blue is just a USA
thing!

I'm So Content!

I'm So Content!

I just had a checkup by this lady and
I'm so happy and content that
everything is OK!

For those of you that sew

For those of you that sew

Check out my cute little vest made from
a washcloth. It ties behind my neck
and behind my back. Cute huh!

Always something

Always something

Last night I was eating sunflower seeds
for some good salt when I felt a rock
in my mouth. A cap that was put on a
tooth in July cracked in half. So
today Sister Sophie took me to a
dentist that works with HHF to have the
cap glued back on. It worked!

Is it a fi or garcon?

Is it a fi or garcon?

Two Haitian pregnant women with money
came to the Center of Hope today
wanting ultrasounds to see if they were
having boys or girls. Here is the
group looking at the ultrasound try to
find that little appendage!

Samuel is 4 days old

Samuel is 4 days old

Samuel (Johnny's son) is now 4 days
old. His mother sewed his newborn
outfit. We visited him today at the
hospital.

Orthopedics at the hospital

Orthopedics at the hospital

This man was shot in the leg in
September and has been in the hospital
for one month. He wanted his picture
taken today.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Cubans & UN at the Beach

Cubans & UN at the Beach

Here's our beach crew. Quite a group
at the beach today!

Babes at the Beach

Babes at the  Beach

So here are the Three Amigoes at the
Beach. Nicole is on the left; Marie on
the right. We have become quite the
threesome!

Johnny & his wife have their baby

Johnny & his wife have their baby

On Saturday Martee, Marie and I walked
to the hospital to see Johnny's new
baby named Samuel. Johnny is the "fix
it man" for the grounds and very good
to us. I gave them a quilt from the
Washington Lutheran Church Women. She
had a C section the day before so was
not feeling to well. She will be in
the hospital 8 days! She had to pay
for the hospitalization on arrival.

The church altar

The church altar

Here's the church altar. The catholic
church was located higher into the
hills of Jeremie. We loaded up kids as
we traveled. I think we had at least
10 children traveling with us to church.

It's going to church day

It's going to church day

Today I left the house at 6:30am to
meet up with the Sisters to go to
church. Here you see Sister Sophie
(front left), Sister Anna (front right)
Sister Mary Ann (back left) and Martee
(behind right). I love the music at
church that includes bongoes, keyboard,
and guitar.

Friday, October 15, 2004

The maternity ward

The maternity ward

There's not much privacy in the
maternity ward. We visited a pregnant
woman that we sent to the hospital
yesterday with a BP of 166/100 with 4
plus protein. They did not induce but
put her on Aldoment.

Young girl with baby crying

Young girl with baby crying

Here Sister Sophie is talking to the
nurse. The nurse is explaining that no
one came with this pregnant mother to
the hospital from the mountains. No
one is caring for her. Sister Sophie
and I took her to the Center of Hope
this morning. She receives the quilt
from the Washington Lutheran Church
women!

Hospital Rounds with Sister Sophie

Hospital Rounds with Sister Sophie

This Friday morning Sister Sophie and I
went to the hospital to see some
pregnant women and children. Our first
stop was the pediatric ward where we
saw this boy who had just arrived. The
pediatrician has not yet seen him. I
suspect he has something wrong with his
kidneys with the amount of edema he
has.

The Cuban Team

The Cuban Team

On our way to the maternity department
we walked by the room where the Cuban
team was having their morning meeting.
They really like my digital camera and
asked that I take a picture of them.
The physician (man) in the back far left
speaks English. He really likes my
palm pilot and Epocrates. Haiti has an
agreement with Cuba to supply health
personnel.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

My roommates

My roommates

Nancy(48)is on the left. She is a
computer person from Portage, Wis. She
plans to make Jeremie her permanant
home. Marie(22)is on the right. She
just graduated from Yale in biophysics
planning to apply to medical school in
the spring. Her father teaches
economics at Yale. We make quite a
threesome!

It's baby day

It's baby day

Every Wednesday at the Center of Hope
the moms and their babies arrive for
checkups. They receive education and
then both are examined. I have had the
joy this morning of examining lots of
les fi (girls) and les garcons (boys).

It's baby day

It's baby day

Every Wednesday at the Center of Hope
the moms and their babies arrive for
checkups. They receive education and
then both are examined. I have had the
joy this morning of examining lots of
les fi (girls) and les garcons (boys).

It's baby day

It's baby day

Every Wednesday at the Center of Hope
the moms and their babies arrive for
checkups. They receive education and
then both are examined. I have had the
joy this morning of examining lots of
les fi (girls) and les garcons (boys).

It's baby day

It's baby day

Every Wednesday at the Center of Hope
the moms and their babies arrive for
checkups. They receive education and
then both are examined. I have had the
joy this morning of examining lots of
les fi (girls) and les garcons (boys).

Monday, October 11, 2004

Quilts

Quilts

I gave two women quilts this week who delivered their babies at the
hospital and are now back at the Center of Hope. They were thrilled to
receive them. Greetings to the women of Washington Lutheran Church!

The South Dakota Averra Group

The South Dakota Averra Group

Here's the group from Sioux Falls, ND.
Most were nurses (ER, cardiology, &
peds) one pharmacist, one computer
tech, and one administrator. They were
lots of fun!

My Teacher

My Teacher

Here's how Sister Sophie and I spend
our days. Sister Sophie is from the
southern part of India. She is a nurse
midwife trained in India. We are
teaching each other aspects of prenatal
care and women's care.

Our two kittens

Our two kittens

La fi (female) and le garcon(male)
kittens are are both weak and little.
There mother is not longer caring for
them so Marie and I have become their
new mothers. We dewormed them last
night. Today the smallest one passed 4
large worms! Yuk!

Our cook

Our cook

Here is Margeurite, our cook. It is
wonderful to come home for lunch to see
what she has made. Today she is baking
bread for us. Awesome cook!

Annette at the beach

Annette at the beach

We have our own private beach here but
the Haitians do not know how to swim.
We had a wonderful swim in the
Caribbean waters on Sunday.

Friday, October 08, 2004

A baby quilt

A baby quilt

Today a mother returned from the hospital after giving birth to a baby
girl. I gave her a baby quilt made by the Washington Lutheran Church of
Northwood. The mom was very grateful as was I.

Smiling Children

Smiling Children

Here's two children from the nutrition center. They roam the clinic
like it's their home!

Center of Hope

Center of Hope

Here is where I spend my days. All the pregnant women from Jeremie and
surrounding mountain villages come here for their prenatal care. First
they have education then they are seen by a nurse/clinician and then
they receive food. The center also houses high risk pregnant women in
their last month. It also has a nutrition center where kwashikor
children are fed and relationship with mother is redeveloped.

My living quarter

My living quarter

Here's where I will be living for the next 6 months. It has 5
bedrooms..only 3 are being used. So I have room for visitors. Hint!
Hint!

Staff at the Center of Hope

Staff at the Center of Hope

Here are some of the people I work with. Ranel is the only man in the
group. He tutors me every afternoon for 45 minutes on the language of
Creole. I am a slow learner!

My friend Diane

My friend Diane

Diane comes to see me at the Minneapolis Airport during my 3 hour lay
over. What a good friend!