Namaste

Namaste is a sanskrit word. It translates literally to "I bow to you", but the meaning, at least within the yoga tradition, translates to "I honor the divinity in you which is also in me". It's a way of recognizing, and taking joy in, our sameness as human beings who share the breath of a divine life force. Recognizing we are sisters and brothers, no matter the color of our skin, the structure of our houses of worship, or the distance between our homelands.

This was an easy concept to reflect on in Haiti. It was self-evident in our everyday interactions. Smiles, laughter, tears, these are the things that have us instantly connect.

Aaron and I were blessed manifold during our medical mission to Haiti and have been since we've returned. Not the least of which is the overwhelming support we've received. It continues to humble us how widely our blog has reached, and how generous support has been.

I want to take this blog to send a special thanks to Brightwater Yoga Studio, in Hendersonville, NC.   The owner, Leigh Ann, held a special class with all proceeds donated towards our mission in Haiti. A group of generous yogis collected to do adho mukha svanasana (down dog), virasana (hero's pose), savasana (corpse pose), and many other asanas in support of the Haitian people.  I know their hamstrings took the hit of their generosity!

This gift from Brightwater Yoga holds a special place in my heart. Yoga has been a key part to my groundedness (or attempt at it) during medical training that offers anything but balance in it's rigorous scheduling and demands. I have been fortunate to practice yoga under Leigh Ann's direction a handful of times during my training. Her studio is near my sister's home.

Through her studio, her teaching, and her presence Leigh Ann creates an atmosphere that encourages yoga to do the work it's meant to do. On two separate occasions, I came to true peace and forgiveness over challenging life issues while in her class. This is an incredible gift, in and of itself.

That Leigh Ann, and the yoga community at Brightwater, have been part of another life-defining experience--Haiti--deeply touches my heart. To all of you:

"Thank you, and namaste."

~Maryclaire

Haiti's Invisible Elderly

A heart-wrenching story and photo essay from the Washington Post this week on the elderly who are being forgotten on the streets over these many weeks since the January earthquake.

Haiti's Invisible Elderly

Photo Essay

-Aaron

A Smaller World

Providing health care in Haiti was a team effort, not just between Aaron and me, but with the many others who committed to the Heart to Heart Clinics: translators, administrators, nurses, doctors, paramedics. 

My last blog post included an email from Calixte, one of our translators. This post, I'd like to share an email from Anita, an ER nurse from California. Anita joined us about halfway through our stay, and stayed on awhile after we left. She accompanied us on our first day of the then-experimental mobile (aka: taptap) clinic and on our house calls. 

She and I made an easy connection, sharing a room (and a tent when a smaller, but still alarming 4.7 earthquake on 2/24 shook us out of the modest seminary room), communal meals, and most importantly sharing the day to day of working in a medical and humanitarian disaster of a magnitude that still remains hard to fully comprehend.

Serving in Haiti was a life-changing experience for both of us. She has put some of her thoughts down in words, and given me permission to share them with you. She hits eloquently on our experiences, the issues that remain, and the uneasiness we all share having left a place, and a people, who remain in need of so much.

~ Maryclaire

..........

It has been a week since my return from Haiti, and I thought you would appreciate some reflective thoughts.  How quickly it was for me to fall back into my roll as "Mom" with swim practice, the start of baseball season, classes to attend, working day & night shifts, and yes, even a Bon Jovi concert with husband & son...  and that was just one week!
 

The difference is that this week I also shared my thoughts and experience with loved ones, co-workers, friends, acquaintances, and strangers who were interested in hearing my story; whether it was in the grocery store, work, school, on the sidewalk, etc.  It always began with the standard question, "How was it?", and my answer always began, "It was life changing... I don't ever want to forget". 

I think daily about Elyse, the beautiful Haitian woman, and her incredible meals.  Also, her ability to find joy in the simple tasks of daily living.  The lesson she taught me was the ability to rejoice in the act of serving others (sound familiar?).  I was a guest in her country, to serve those in need, and she relished in her ability to share her talents (and tent) to make our stay enjoyable.  She taught me that I did not have to travel to Haiti to experience the joys of volunteering and offering aide. 

I was humbled by the thousands of Haitians who woke every day to the never ending despair of their situation, yet maintained their activities of daily living with dignity & resilience; peace.  They returned to their churches and gave praise and thanks to the Lord with total ruins and loss surrounding them on all sides.  I felt like an intruder bearing witness to their powerful return of faith as I questioned my own on some levels.

You greet strangers with a smile and wave that was always returned.  The trust that was placed in our work was unyielding, and yet I/we could offer so little in comparison to the modern technologies of the 21st century United States.  Frustrated? Yes!  Every second of every day I was frustrated.  Frustrated that we could not offer patients proper surgical and medical attention that was a basic standard of care in my country.  I was embarrassed at my ignorance to this crisis that was clearly present long before the devastating quake.  

Will the young mother who lived with her husband, 2y/o son, and parents in an 10 x 10 shanty receive the surgical services to remove the external fixator?  

Will the elderly female with the  gangrenous finger receive the appropriate care before getting septic?  

Will anyone remember the 14 y/o boy who was so proud of his healing leg wound that initially presented with maggots?  

Did the infant child with the neck abscess / infection make it to the hospital, and was she received or rejected?  

What will happen to the people of Haiti when the rains begin?  

I question whether I remembered to report off all the "follow up" plans / ideas that were passed along to me when others departed.  I was mentally and physically exhausted, overwhelmed, worried, and I am sure that I did forget.  The comfort comes in knowing that I am a proud member of this wonderful society of humanitarianism.  Many will follow after me fresh with energy, skills, and ideas to make a change / difference in human lives.

On that same note, I could not be more proud of my community and hospital.  Yes, one person did make a difference.  Mendocino Coast District Hospital did make a difference.  The community of Fort Bragg, California did make a difference.  Thank you for your love, prayers, and support.  Thank you for making my world smaller. 

- Anita

Dear Doctor

"Dear Doctor,

It's a pleasure for me to [write you]. Ever[y]thing is ok for me by the grace of God. I hope that for you too. I miss you a lot...."

So began the surprise email Aaron and I received a few days ago. It was from Calixte, the young pastor of the Bel Aire Church, and one of the translators at our Heart to Heart clinic. We specifically chose him to be translator for the mobile taptap clinic because of his ability to size up the safety of a situation, control crowds and remain calm under pressure.

He is also a warm, gregarious person, with an easy smile and good sense of humor. We were thrilled to hear from him. He is someone I hope to have in our lives for years to come. While I'm not sure how it will come to pass, I envision sitting down to dinner with he and his wife in the future. (His girlfriend is getting a degree in Business Administration in Florida. When she retuns, they will marry.)

Just prior to receiving this unexpected note from Calixte, I had decided my next blog would be about Calixte, and the many other young men who arrived to the clinic each morning cheerful, in professional dress, and ready to translate hundreds of patient visits. Like Calixte, our translators were young men in their twenties, all personally affected by the earthquake, living in the tent cities. All were eager to help us help their people. I want you know a little of their stories.

Jean Baptiste was our taptap driver. He skillfully drove us each day in and out of Port-au-Prince. He also manned the wheel of the taptap when we transformed it into a mobile clinic. He was careful to park the truck so we could leave quickly if needed. He would jump out to perform crowd control from time to time, when the crowd pushed in too closely. People, especially children would press their bellies against the bumper of the taptap, to relieve hunger pangs. (Aaron had a young patient who wrapped part of a torn sheet tight around his belly to help relieve hunger pangs.)

Jean Baptiste has five children. He and his family stayed on the Nazarene grounds, but they did not have a tent. He, his wife, and five kids, slept on the ground, or on the floor of the taptap. Unaceptable. Towards the end of our stay we arranged for a Coleman tent, left by a previous volunteer, to be sent down from our base site in Leogone (the epicenter of earthquake) to the Nazarene Seminary. It arrived the day before we left. Aaron gave this tent and our remaining food to Jean Baptiste who was so overjoyed to have a 'home' for his family, that he kissed it.

Augustave was my clinic translator for two days. He had studied English at language school before the earthquake. He could say my name with the best American accent. He was studious in nature, keeping an English-Creole notebook of medical terms. He even had with him an English book on natural health for children published in the 1990's. He had picked it up for a few goud on the street.

"I like to know about different things, " he told me.

I encouraged him to go into medicine when the infrastructure returns. Haiti lost 60% or more of their medical personal in the earthquake.

Like all of our translators, and patients, Augustave was well-groomed and professional. One morning he was interpreting the clinic visit of a pretty young Haitian woman. It wasn't until after she left to the pharmacy station, that he quietly shared that this young woman was his fiance. They had planned to marry in March, but had to postpone the wedding due to the earthquake.

John kept the clinic running smoothly. After our patients entered the church, they were ushered to the second floor to back rows of pews that functioned as our first waiting room. From there, they were called to the third floor where our clinic 'rooms' were located. A dozen people could wait here on a concrete bench while waiting for a room to open. John efficiently kept people moving to one of three rooms as they became available.

He also dispensed de-worming medication to everyone. All patients were given enough mebendazole for themselves and all family members. We had several patients return to say how well the medicine had worked in just 24 hours.

John also happens to play the drums quite well. He played at Sunday service. The following Monday he said to me, "I saw you sitting at service yesterday, did you like the drums?" I gave him an emphatic "yes!", because truly my favorite songs were the ones where he had played the drums.

Mark had lived in the States for ten years, but had returned due to visa restrictions. Just prior to the earthquake he had been standing in the street talking to his sister. He had been called across the street by another friend, when the earthquake struck. He looked over his shoulder a split-second later and his sister had been cut cleanly in two by falling debris--without even the chance to scream.

In the immediate aftermath he and others went through the rubble trying to free those pinned under concrete. One of the first people he pulled out was a young girl who was stuck under debris of a fallen apartment building. She had told him her godmother was holding onto her foot so she couldn't climb out. In reality, it was the dead weight of her godmother's body that was holding her down.

Mark shared this story with me at the end a clinic day, after which he thanked us for being there. Saying, if given the choice, he and other Haitians would choose to be in the States and not here in the aftermath of the earthquake. They were all so grateful we volunteered our time and our skills to Haiti.

Below is the closing message from Calixte's email. I pass it along to all of you who have supported the work we did with the Haitian people through your prayer and donations*.

"A friend of you[rs],

MAY GOD BLESS YOU and your family"

~ Maryclaire

...............................

*Several people have asked about donations received. To date we have received about 65% of our costs for medicines and travel. We are grateful for your support!

Chile

Most of you are aware that an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile over this past weekend.

Many people have asked me "are you guys getting ready to head down there?", and my reply is crisply, "no".

There is a fundamental difference between the 8.8 earthquake in Chile, and the 7.0 quake earthquake in Haiti, and it has little to do with the difference in magnitude between the earthquakes themselves.

Chile, an industrious 2nd to 1st world country with political and economical stability was the site of the largest earthquake in recorded history, which occured there in the middle of the 20th century (9.5 magnitude). Because of this, buildings were designed to withstand substantial earthquake damage. The major cities in Chile have well-developed emergency response teams and high quality hospitals available. And the nature of this quake itself is significant- it was of large magnitude but happened deep into the Earth, and it occurred in the early morning and on a weekend- when most businesses and large buildings were largely unoccupied.


The January 12th Haiti Earthquake occurred in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, one that has faced nearly a century of political upheaval, persistent aid embargoes, and other sources of instability and persistent poverty. The earthquake occurred during the peak of business hours on a weekday- when the markets, schools, hospitals, and streets were heavily populated. The epicenter was only 15km from the most populated city in Haiti, Port-au-Prince, with nearly 3 million people and it was a shallow quake. The buildings were poorly constructed, and from poor or improvised materials (there are actually no building codes in Port-au-Prince).

The loss of life in Concepcion and the surrounding areas in Chile is heart-breaking. As of this morning the death toll is just over 300. Crews from around the area risk their lives hourly to reach survivors trapped in rubble.

But consider that the apartment building across the street from our church clinic itself has a death toll nearly double that of the current death toll in Chile. When we left, the total in Haiti was 270,000+ in mass graves alone. That did not count bodies yet buried, or the thousands upon thousands that will be recovered from the rubble only en masse when the foundations are cleared over the coming years.

Consider that there was a 9,000 UN peacekeeping force on the ground already in Haiti due to instability. There are hundreds of thousands currently starving in Port-au-Prince right now, and it's 6 weeks after the event itself.

And the news will get only worse in Haiti. When we left, biosurveillance was detecting the initial cases of typhoid, malaria, H1N1 influenza, and cholera. All will explode as the rainy season begins now. Rabies, diarrheal illness, and other infectious diseases will multiply. The aggregation (mass collection of people) will continue to pass these and other illnesses throughout the tent cities and homeless masses sleeping directly on the street. Community acquired pneumonia will blossom throughout the masses.

Infectious disease is only one thing that will be brought by the rain. The mudslides that will be generated will pull down the tens of thousands of shanty homes on the hill and mountain sides that have already been shaken from their lose foundations.

And then there is the ever-present danger of secondary collapse of buildings, and of course- the damage another earthquake itself could bring.

Both Maryclaire and I can personally attest the people are starving and have no water. The people will become cold, frustrated, further despondent.

My concern, and the reason for even writing this post, is that I don't want people to either forget Haiti or become preoccupied with the event in Chile that the news is relentlessly portraying at this moment because it's interesting. Aid and attention should not be diverted from the continuing crisis of the Haitian people. The Chilean government actually specifically asked for no foreign aid initially. Later they allowed aid from neighboring countries, and even from the United States. Heart to Heart International has contributed a team and supplies to the area as appropriate for the level of emergency and continues to assess the situation.

Keep Haiti in your minds and hearts as you also reach out with your prayers and donations to Chile. Please remember the millions who have been hurting, grieving, and starving- even as the news hasn't been paying attention.

-Aaron