For starters, one of our PT's, Claire, fell ill. Suzanne, another PT did not want to leave Claire. Add to that the fact that in going to the beach we'd be passing through St. Mark's, the place where the cholera outbreak started, and it was an easy decision to make.
Brendan left @ 4:30am today. He will be missed. Vern + I saw him off. We have heard since, he is home, safe and sound. We were a little worried about him being help up for screenings for the cholera in Port au Prince or even Miami.
Vern made almond and banana pancakes today. Dericious. That's right, I said dericious!!!
Shortly after breakfast Ian, the hospital administrator called asking what our plans were for the day. He wanted help prepping drinking water for the cholera patients. We had no plans. All in favor....2 votes, Aye!
No sooner did we get off the phone and Tcho shows up at our door with his daughter. Both were dressed and pressed, his daughter looking cute as a button. They came to see if we wanted to go to church with them. If it weren't going to be a 2+ hour service, I would have loved to have gone.
Vern, Janet and I headed off to the hospital around 8:30am. Janet has been such a saint, putting in long days in such a hot, dank, crowded, sad place.
The place was over-run. The cholera has really effected everything in the area. Patients were at every turn, in the halls, on benches, sitting in chairs, beds that were old, steel and too short for an average human, it seemed. Every ward was over-full. This is a hospital that would not exist in the U.S. It is old and dirty...yet it is one of the cleanest and best of it's kind in the area.
Once there, Ian cornered Vern and I and said he wanted us to prepare water, but he had another job 1st. Ian + I had just met the other day, but somehow he knew the job I needed to have. He brought Vern and I over to 3, what I would call "classic", gurnies. Two, were all mine, pictured above. The tires were off the rims of a couple wheels (tubeless Scott) one needed the canvas restrung and one needed a brake adjustment. You know why this was my job. ;). Still, these were unlike any tire changes I had ever done. For one, my tire lever was a swiss army knife. Two, these tires were old and cracked. Erik Katz, I needed those tree trunks you call forearms. By the time I was done mounting the 2 tires on the rims, I needed to rest...my fingers were numb.
Fellow racers, I did not time this flat repair as I was the only one in the race...winner!!
Vern took the larger, heavier duty gurney that had a large wheel that was ready to fall off. This guy is like McGuyver. I even heard him ask for duct tape...along with some wire. When he was through, you could not tell there had been anything wrong with the bed.
The rest of the day was spent setting up cots in what was the out patient area, to handle all of the cholera patients, as well as manning the hydration stations that were set up in the various hospital areas.
Cholera runs it's course in about 3 days, but people usually need IV fluids and then oral. Vern and I mixed 5 gallon batches of a kind of gatorade-pedialyte mix thing, (tasted like sea water) to load the hydration stations. The stations were set up so patients and family members can maintain hydration.
The hospital system in Haiti is different than the US (no kidding)...you can get medical care, but food and self care, like hygiene is provided by family members.
Before we left for the day, we helped a crew set up a large tent, that will serve as the new as the out patient area, until the cholera patients start to wind down.
Haiti is such a broken country. Over dinner each night we find ourselves debating what is really going on here. It is so close to the US that relief is easy to get. They almost seem to expect it. They appear not to care for each others well being. They beg for everything. White people have always come and helped them out. What else would happen. These are just some ideas that get passed.
Very sad.
I hear that my boy Ben scored a goal today. Man, I am sad to have missed that. We usually let him pick dinner if he scores...this typically is win-win situation for him and me. I really just miss watching those kids run.
Bon nuit,
Chev Blanc
PDA
those look like they'd make perfectly good race vehicles.
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