A long serving cook at the compound died 2 weeks ago and Julian and I attended our first Haitian funeral. She had been sick for a couple of weeks when the decision was made to airlift her to the mainland, unfortunately she was not strong enough to make the journey and died as Julian and Greg transferred her to the truck to go to the airport.
The life expectancy in Haiti is only 45 years but actually fairly good if you make it past your fifth birthday. They do not have a lot of health care as we know it and despite a fair amount of malnutrition and parasites they are strong and healthy individuals who work hard and play hard. We always expected to have to go to a funeral while we were here. The level of personal protective equipment and health and safety on site being a major risk factor, so we had brought clothes to suit. To a Haitian funeral you wear mainly black and or white or very muted colours but you make a real effort to look good and be seen in your high heals and new nails.
We walked with the other missionaries and compound staff down to church for a 3 o’clock service. The weather was very hot as expected and Julian was wearing both long trousers and socks with shoes. I could get away with a black polyester skirt and sandals. The staff had made t-shirts with a message for Mme Geles and purple ribbon flowers. The small church was packed to the rafters with several hundred people and we, with the rest of the missionaries, were ushered to the front row facing the choir and the family. Luckily we had a fan blowing at us and Dr. Kris, a former compound missionary now living in the north of the country, sat behind us translating. It was a very moving service with lots of songs from various choirs lasting 1 1/2 hours. The Haitian tradition is to walk in procession with a brass band and the coffin to the burial site at the local cemetery. At this point people get very emotional and many very loud outcries were heard. It is generally believed that the person who cry the hardest and loudest are the ones who loved her most. This often results in mourners fainting in the crowd and having to be carried away by other family members. I am pleased we went to show our respect to this far too young woman of 54, leaving 4 children under 17, but it was also interesting to see this cultural stronghold.
A very pleasant alternative to our weekly boat and snorkel trip was found a couple of weeks ago. We have often walked to the Saline and dipped our toes in the water but it is not a restful experience as we are surrounded by kids who want to play with us, braid our hair, talk with us and generally have our attention. This of course is very positive and for the most part pleasant but a restful day by the beach it is not. The beaches are full of rubbish brought in by the tide or left by the locals as there is no refuge collection in Haiti. At the other end of the Saline lives an America NGO, Kelly. She runs a school for children who have not been to school before, enabling them to go through primary school in a few years making them eligible for secondary school. Her house is open to the public but surrounded by a wall and the beach is cleaned every day. Kelly offered to us to come swimming when ever we wanted to and it is very lovely being able to wade in to the water and sit in the shade after a swim. This stretch of beech also has some of the best snorkelling round the island. We have been down there 3 times in the past 2 weeks. Thank you Kelly and Max for your hospitality.
As I have mentioned before we have a couple of goat kids, Spud and Daisy. They roam the compound eating almost anything with their mum, she was on loan while they were still suckling but still with us as the owner cannot catch her to take her home, our grass is obviously too good. Anyway, Spud developed an abscess/cyst on his right cheek and it grew bigger and bigger till it was the size of a golf ball. Now I know that that is not good and in discussion with the visiting surgeon, who would have been happy to operate on the goat but Miss Vero said “NO”, we decided to give it antibiotic injections. I know this would not really get rid of and abscess but thought it could only help before I operated……….! The decision was made and I got a scalpel and some gauze knowing full well that this would be messy. I'm not sure I told Julian exactly what I was expecting so he agreed to hold Spud while I lanced this boil. Pastor Greg thought he might come have a look but soon disappeared many meters back when the goat cried out and Julian went “Arghhhhhh” as the puss started running down his arm. It was all very quick and despite being messy very orderly. However the boil soon grew back, I had obviously not done the job thoroughly enough, so we had to have another go. This time I decided, again after consultation with the surgeon and his very capable scrub nurse, to make 2 incisions, one top one bottom and irrigate the abscess. Our new neighbour, Craig, agreed to hold the cup of water while Julian held the goat. We gathered a little crowd this time, most stayed the other side of the mesh door, safely out of range, and got to work again. This time it took a little longer but Spud was fairly calm and even after his 3 antibiotic injection in 4 days he seemed to thank me and let me stroke his little black head. I now intend to write “Vet” on my CV.
I had my first meeting with the senior hospital staff just over a week a go. Having a new building does not automatically mean a new hospital so we had to sit down and decide if there was any changes they would like to make. As you all know I have no experience in management or business but as an outsider I can see where they need help and will try to help them make those changes. The plan is not to turn the hospital into a western facility but to improve on all the amazing work which goes on there and make a healthcare provision which is sustainable to the people of La Gonave. The first meeting went well. They have a few clear ideas of what they would like from the new hospital and seem pleased to have the help to do it. The real challenge is to implement these changes and we will start that after our return in August.
A week of sickness has hopefully just ended. It started with me feeling a little under the weather and finding myself with a temperature last Thursday. It was not bad and I was still able to do things just very tired and hot. Friday morning I felt a lot better and thought that was it but by lunchtime Julian was pale and sweaty and complaining of a mighty headache. We though about it for a short time and decided to start Chloroquine for Malaria. Julian had stopped his prophylaxis after about 6 weeks of being here. All the long term, Americans, do not take Malaria prophylaxis. The UK medical council says Chloroquine is safe to take for up to 2 years and I always maintained we should take it but as most of you will know its difficult to make Julian do anything he does not want to. Unfortunately this rubbed of on the girls and after 2 months they also pleaded to be able to stop. Chloroquine tastes horrid, it is so bitter and there is no getting away from the taste. As they are old enough to tell us how they feel, the deal was that if they became ill they would take the recommended treatment dose. Julian got worse and worse as Friday went on but we had it on good authority that if it was Malaria he would feel marked better a couple of hours after the second dose. So Friday night saw a turn a round for him. Unfortunately he did not get better as quick as he had hoped, Malaria still takes time and he was out of any action all week. Including missing Jaron’s 4th birthday party on our back porch. Julian was starting to feel sorry for him self and was bored of feeling rubbish.
Monday afternoon, Ella started to feel hot and lethargic……… Julian at this point was aware of his surroundings enough to ask me not to do clinic Tuesday morning if Ella was ill also. Don’t think he could cope wit the idea of looking after someone else as well as him self and poor Becca would have been stuck with the 2 of them. Ella’s fever didn’t get very high but she was not getting any better and by Wednesday we considered asking the local nurses for help. The problem with calling in Miss Vero and the others is that she is likely to do a blood test and put up an IV as a matter of course. Ella of course was not very keen on this but Thursday Lunchtime when her temp spiked again I went over there expecting her to have a blood test to see if it was bacterial or viral. Lab closes at lunchtime, as I well knew but forgot, and so no blood test was done. Ella, bless her, ended up with an IV. She was petrified of having it put in but was very brave and managed very well. She kept weeping though and after a while I realised that she was frightened of something really bad being wrong with her. This did not stop until the IV came out Friday afternoon. And now Saturday morning we have a healthy but tired household. Ella and I were meant to have gone grocery shopping to Port Au Prince Friday-Saturday but of course that could not be, so I sent a list instead. The lures of ice cream and looking at shelves with choices has to wait till we return to England in only 3 1/2 weeks. Throughout the week Becca have been a star and nurse helper looking after both Julian and Ella with great empathy. Thank you Becca.
