Jen Watters Haiti Blog
Monday, April 19, 2010 at 4:40pm
Bon Fete! Bon Anniversarie! Happy Birthday!
First of all, thanks so much to everyone for all of the wonderful Birthday wishes!! It’s been a very interesting birthday and a very interesting week in Haiti. We started the weekend and the Birthday festivities off with a big party at one of the HI houses. There were three other people celebrating birthdays this weekend and one of them leaving this week – so we had quite a celebration! There was lots of food, drinks and DANCING!! It was so much fun!! I think I was in the first group of people to leave, which was at 2 am!! See, I’m not too old to stay out late (occasionally).

Sunday was a great day as well. I went back to church at St. John Bosco with my friend Lissette. It was my favorite mass in Haiti yet. The music was SO joyous. The priest was excellent and gave a rousing homily (at least from the response of the congregation – I surely couldn’t understand him. Louise – we miss you!!) In the afternoon we headed over to one of the other houses for a little dip in their pool, which was a refreshing treat and I even got to watch a movie after that they projected onto the wall. It was the first time I had watched any tv or movies since I came here – it was nice. Then we had dinner out planned at a nice restaurant in a really beautiful old house to continue the birthday celebration. There were about 14 of us and we had our own room up on the top floor – it was so neat!! There was even a sofa and a sitting area. Unfortunately after we ordered I started feeling a little ill and I think that some leftovers that I ate at lunch caught up with me. After a quick visit to the bathroom, I ended up having to leave early and head back to the house =( But they did bring me my food to go. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m sure it will be good! I had a little bit of a rough night, but I’m feeling much better now. I stayed home today and slept a lot. I even tried some crackers and peanut butter this afternoon – and so far so good!! So, a quiet birthday so far =)
Just a quick update on some interesting happenings in Haiti this week:
– There was quite a stir surrounding Michelle Obama’s visit. Which you probably know more about than I do, since I haven’t seen the news. But I do know that there was a LOT of traffic. I actually didn’t make it to the hospital on Tuesday because the roads were all blocked!
– They ran out of gas!!! It’s been crazy, the gas stations are FULL of people and cars just trying to get what little gas is left. Someone said that the Haitian government controls the gas coming into the country and they felt that this was a political move, but I don’t know enough about it to say. It seems like the gas is back but it was a challenging few days for many Haitians with no transportation and no gas for electricity.
As far as my work, I have loved being back in the hospital!! I have some amazing patients right now. There are two spinal cord injury patients, both with paraplegia. They are great! Both with large pressure sores which is frustrating, but I don’t think that there are many pts in Haiti with spinal cord injuries that don’t have pressure sores. Our new coordinator is amazing though and she thinks we can get pressure relief mattresses made locally in as little as two weeks!! That would be amazing! My guys are on plain cots right now and I think that anything would help!! I have another patient who is an amputee from the earthquake, but he’s had some complications and is still in the hospital. He had an infection and already needed to have one revision in the end of march. He was so depressed that he hadn’t been eating, he refused to try standing or doing anything out of bed. So, last week, my friend Natalie who had been working at Croix Rouge before me had a brilliant idea!!! We have a guy who works with us at the Prosthetics and Orthotics workshop who is an old amputee who’s been using his prosthetic leg for several years now. He makes peer visits and does some peer counseling, so Natalie arranged from him to come out to the hospital and visit our patient Example. They talked for over an hour and the rest of the week, he’s been a super star. He’s eating now and is always asking for food. He’s up to walking 40 feet!! And even though he still won’t lie on his stomach, I’ve at least got him doing hip extension in sidelying!! Woohoo!!
This week, I’ll be back at Del Mas (once I’m feeling better) for a couple of days, while the other therapist is assisting with moving the camps. They’re starting to relocate people out of some of the camps in public areas, especially some of the more hilly ones that will be dangerous as the rains increase. So we’ve sent a team to assess people as they arrive in the new camps outside of town and to identify if they have any disabilities or rehab needs. Then at the end of the week I’ll head back to the hospital. It’s great to be back at Del Mas, but I miss my Croix Rouge patients too – I can see how you’d get attached if you stay at the same hospital for awhile!
One more bit of exciting news: This week we will start a new schedule and Saturdays will be a half day of work where we will focus on training the local staff – which is exciting. I’ve been trying really hard to teach as we work, but sometimes it is challenging, especially when you have a lot of patients waiting. So, this will be perfect!
Thanks again to everyone for all of your positive thoughts and prayers, and especially for your Birthday wishes! My 29th year is getting off to a great start!! I am so blessed to have all of you in my life!!