alannarene: What would it be like?

My little friend Oliver. He loved to play with the camera. That's what he's reaching for.

Hello from Haiti. Of course, by the time I post this I'll be backing the states and you can probably hear it from my own mouth. It's 11 am and I just woke up to get readyfor my shift tonight. Last night was a good night. We've been discharging a lot of kids. The goal is to get down to only a couple before Sunday so they can have room in the new hospital. It has been such a great learning experience because you and the doctors are actually a team! They really count on you and trust you. I can do things here that I can't do at home. We have two really great peds doctors with us this week. I really enjoy their company. One kid the first day was flirting with me and kept saying (in English too) "shake like Shakira." so one of our docs, Mike, calls me Shakira now. It's pretty funny. Maybe you have to be here!

Pictures a little dark, but he's pretty cute, huh?

Inserting IVs in babies. Their IVs never lasted more than a day. It was quite annoying!

I felt really blessed last night. It's kind of a long story, but here's part. There is a family here whith a little boy and a little girl. They all stay at the bedside. The little boy sleeps on the cot and the rest sleep on the floor next the cot. Last night we found a sheet set. The plan was to give one of the sheets to a new family that came in he night before and had nothing to sleep with. Well, this first familys mom saw the sheets, called "Miss" and said she needed a blanket for her baby because he didn't have one (not true, they all had plenty of bedding). We ended up giving one to each in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. We also have another family in which he mom has brainwashed her son to give her all his food. She hoards it. He is very skinny and almost emaciated looking. I can't really describe the emotions those experiences tendered. What would it be like to have so little, that you have to take at every chance you get, even if its from your son? How does it feel to have so little that you cease to think about those around you because you are in want? I just kept thinking about all the crap I have that isn't necessary, all the things I think I want that I don't really need. I keep thinking about how I'm not as willing to give of my stuff as I should be. Why? I have everything and more. I have me whole family, my husband, all of whom are well and not injured in any way. I have a house, a job, a car, a bed. We have another woman who refuses to be discharged because she has nowhere to go. What would that be like?