I have to say, day one was not at all what I expected it'd be. It started when we arrived at the airport. There were swarms of spectators at the entrance of he airport, shouting at us, waving fists at us, trying to grab us. We fought our way through the crowds trying to get to our waiting vans. The streets were dirty and crowded, people were driving old American cars so fast and so close to you on the side of the road that you had to really careful where you were walking. One misstep would send you falling into the oncoming traffic. Accross the street were what we americans would call shacks. Dozens of people were gathered cooking, playing, watching us. Everything was in shambles. Homes no longer had roofs, rubble was everywhere, kids ran around shirtless in holey shoes, or none at all.
Bunch of us squeezed into a van outside the airport
We all squeezed into a bunch of really small vans, and drove 1/2 mile to the over end of the airport. We drove through a gate with barbed wire on top and armed Haitian gaurds at the entrance.
Entrance to the pediatric ward
The camp itself is situated on an old airfield. I can see the existing airport from the entrance of my tent. When the planes land, you can hear the screeching of the wheels so loudly the tent almost shakes. There ar ditches dug throuhout the camp and around the camp to prevent flooding of the patient wards or the volunteer tent. Pebbles line the pathways to help absorb and drain the spring rains. The volunteer tent is like a circus tent. It's got six rows of cots each about 16 deep. The cots are really quite nice. There is airconditioning inside the tent, but you only notice it when you step outside. The pediatric tent is small and divided by curtains into a NICU/PICU and a regular ward, and it is connected to the main OR by a small door in the tent. There is also a small lab housed in that tent and a small adult ICU/PACU. the patients are on cots too. In the peds tent there is often another cot adjacent to the patients cot for the families. Mothers do not leave the bedside of their child for any reason. Despite he fact that the restrooms are immediately outside the peds tent, the have small bedpan that they use. They simply squat at the side of the cot and go.
The pediatric ward, taken in the middle of the night.
I got assigned the night shift for the first 3 nights. Because of a number of reasons, our first shift started at midnight. I went to my cot to try and get some rest, and I started feeling really sick. I thought perhaps I was hungry/dehydrated so I drank some water and ate some food. Over the course of the next several hours, I started vomiting with such violence, and had such severe abdominal pain, I sincerely thought I was going to die here. I longed to have Ricky by my side holding my hand, my mom holding my hair. I wanted somebody to take care of me. I don't get sick much. I don't think I've vomited sinc I was in 6th grade. I can't describe to you how aweful it is to be sick, and in so much pain, with not one around you to help. I am the volunteer... I should be helping. After suffering through his for 5-6 hours, I finally told the volunteer director. Afterall, I was supposed to go take care of these kids and I could barely stand myself. She gave me an IV and pumped me full of fluid, hen gae me some zofran to take away the nausea and then dicharged me from the "ER" and told me to sleep. I didn't get much sleep, but now that it is afternoon of he next day, I feel much better. Despite how much I truly hated feeling sick, and how embarassed I was to miss my first shift and have to go to the "ER," I was reminded how to rely on the lord to "hold my hair" and comfort me. I had no one else. Tonight I look forward to forgetting abot myself and taking care of these sweet kids. Afterall, they are always in these conditions when they're sick. I only had one miserable night.
My cot
Me and my IV. PS, zofran is an amazing drug!
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Location:Green cot, row B17, Haiti
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