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Have I told you about M'Boss? Have I told you about Madame Vern?

I just cannot say enough about how much I think of Janet + Vern. They are an amazing couple.

Vern has been here for 3 mos. He does not really get a day off apart from the occasional beach day or trip to the falls. Those things only happen every other week, if at all, and he still has to be the one to set that up. He rolls with everything. He does not seem to get flustered. He is very good at stepping back, making a plan, and coping or adjusting.

Like many practitioners his skills and talents are deep and many...but his seem more so. Put me on an island, and tell me I get 5 people; I might need a Vern.

It may be possible that Vern has an even more diverse/ eclectic music library than I do...but that is probably because he is just a little older than me. I aspire to his level.

He loves golf, red wine, his wife Janet and their daughters Jessica and Anya. He can put running water into your tent, kay, house or adobe and over-haul a wheelhorse tractor blind folded.

I can only imagine how this rotation of practitioners was better for Janet being here. You never really know some people until you know their better half too.

Shortly, after we arrived in Haiti, I was working in the clinic and talking with Jo'el. Jo'el's chat went like this....pretend a Haitian-Jamaican is talking in almost English.

M'Boss, oh, M'Boss is sooo hapi. Yes, I think so. And I am so hapi for m'boss. Mrs. Vern is here. That is so good. Yea man.. He is a veddy, veddy good man...yeah man....cksk...I think maybe, m'boss Vern for whole life...I think so, yeah man....

Janet went to the hospital many, many days, helping to care for the cholera patients and others too. Sometimes she was well received by the Haitians. Sometimes she was not. Still, her report back to us each day gave us a perspective on the clinic and the hospital that I think would have been different had she not been here. Believe me, she put in some long days.

I told Dennis before I left that I am fortunate; my life is filled with shining examples of the kind of people I want to be. I keep hoping it'll rub off, cause I just found two more in Janet and Vern.

We didn't watch the movies that Janet was hoping to, mostly because we kept visiting and chatting with each other as well as other volunteers and hospital staff. We went through a lot of Prestige and a couple bottles of rum.

One of the last nights, Jimmy, the facilities engineer for the hospital stopped in. We chatted for A LONG time. He's from Pittsburgh and has been here 4 years. Every day @ 6am and 6pm, the power to the entire compund shuts off for a minute or two, as one generator shuts down and the other starts up. Jimmy has a small heart attack every day during the shut down, praying the switch over will go smoothly. I don't have a picture of Jimmy, but picture Santa Claus with a slightly shorter beard, longer hair...still red, not white yet, round belly, but not yet fat...in hiking boots and cargo shorts, bottle of Prestige in hand...that's Jimmy.

Having Janet and Vern made me miss my family more and less, all at the same time. We were constantly sharing family stories, challenges and triumphs.

Haiti has been a great experience. Vern, Janet and I were talking about what we are going to tell people about the trip. We all sort of agreed that it might not be much. You can't sum up this kind of thing in response to the question, "Hey, how was your trip?". Still, the blog gave me a vehicle to try to share as I went. I hope you enjoyed it, for now you already know how my trip went.

Haiti is home to many good happy people. People that want the best for theirs. I am heading home now so we can continue to take care of ours.

Thank you, everyone that sent emails or comments. I loved every single one. They helped me feel not quite so far away.

Thank you Vern, Janet, Brendan, my family, Hanger P&O,Inc. and the Hanger Ivan R Sabel foundation for helping me to do this.

Love you all,
Chov Blanc

P.S. If I get to post any other pictures, I will do it here. So, there may be another post. I am waiting for permission. If not, au voir.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&client=mv-google&hl=en&rl=yes&v=wAXYn_hYj2A
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Day 14

Haiti by the numbers.
20 - meals that contained Cabrite
19 - cockroaches currently in the sticky trap near the stove.
18 - times Jo'el says,"yeah man" by noon, on an average day.
17 - times Tcho says "I" inside of 5 sentences
16 - meals that contained noodles
15 - Days since I have seen my family
14 - Great days getting to know a little bit about Haiti
13 - Free range goats I passed on my way...300 meters...to the clinic yesterday morning. The babies are so cute.
12 - Noon, water comes on. Fill up a Boket(Creole for bucket) will ya!!
11 - People on our tap-tap this AM
10 - $ the rate for a non-swindled manicure in Deschapelles, Haiti
9 - The value of 1 US dollar to the Haitian Dollar...which doesn't exist.
8 - Banana and Plantain fritters that I ate the other day. Madame Bebe is A-Okay.
7 - speed bumps on the main road from Port au Prince to Deschapelles. The Creole translation for the things is "police man lying down". You better know where they are so you can slow down. You see then on long straight aways and as you approach various villages. It is a big surprise when you slow down from 80 abruptly to 0, and you don't see a Cabrite in the way.
6 - animals that live at Kay Hanger, Van Goat, 2 cats, 3 roosters. Though I haven't seen one of the cats since Tcho was here last.
5 - people on one Moto. Motorcycle in Creole. Amazing
4 - AM. The time Janet and I are catching a ride to Port au Prince, to fly home.
3 - hour ride to Port of Prince, or Cold showers needed on certain days.
2 - Cuban cigars, thanks M'Boss
1 - Chat
X plus 1 more - number of people that fit on a Tap-tap.

Today was a great capper to the trip. Vern was able to secure our favorite tap-tap drive, Tim Timly for a trip to St. Marks.

Yes, a tap-tap is simply a truck, or very often, what Paul Martin may see as a rescued Hi-Cube. Interestingly, Tap-tap is a blanc term I am told. There is no Creole translation. I don't remember the Creole word, but Yvener said it means back of a truck.

The Haitians refer to many things by the name of the most common brand that comes in from the US. Batteries are Ray-o-vacs. Cooking plates are Pyrex. The techs refer to their plaster knife as the General. General tool is on it. I haven't asked them, but I am certain that the box cutters name is Stanley.

Jill had some nurses that came in from Mass General Hosp, including her sister. They came to St. Marks helping to reduce the amount of the Tap-tap.

Dad, Matt + Brian, I actually did the walk around to verify the each wheel was missing no more than 2 lug nuts.

Quite a neat experience riding the tap-tap. On the way out the "corridor". ( This is the rocky dirt road that connects the hospital compound to the main road.). I glance back to see Madame Bebe standing in the back of a tap-tap, so I shout..MADAME BEBE! COM OU YE!!!!!!!

We didn't go to the beach, just had good lunch and walked around a bit. I bought in to a bike shop. You'll see us expanding into the states soon.

Vern and Jill needed some groceries from the Deli-mart. It is an Americans store. Above it is the fast food place where we ate lunch. As well as the IT school where Yvener would like to go.

Yvener met us for lunch and showed us the school, then road back home with us.

We're quite a spectacle...11 blancs in a tap-tap riding across Haiti. We're like the punch buggies of Haiti. 1st want to spot and yell out blanc, wins.

Coming home Vern and I visited Tcho's house. It's a pretty cool place. I took pictures on my real camera, so I can't post those yet. He wasn't quite done with something he was painting for me, so we returned home and he came by after dinner to deliver.

Suzanne, super PT also came by to say good bye. She and I are going to try to skype our classes together. She is one nutty yet cool PT.

I am a little worried about leaving Vern. More than once, walking around with him, he would head in the wrong direction. I'd just stop and ask where he was going.

So, it's been a great couple weeks. Hopefully I gave as much as I got.

It is 5 am now. We are winding our way over the switch backs and climbs over the mountains. The sky is just beginning to lighten, so you can see misty clouds in the valley. All along the roads are people in nice clothes, walking to church. It is still dark. The sky starts as orange at the mountain crests and fads to off white and then to deeper blue as you look up while the sun is still not up.

Vern said he may go to church today with Tcho.

We have stopped for many goats, a horse a donkey, some dogs and on and on.

I am ready to go home. I miss my family.

Okay, the road requires 2 hands at the moment. I'll write more in a bit.

Chov Blanc
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Day 13

Today is really my last day with the Klinik. The morning was another great opportunity to bring these techs along on patient follow up. A van showed up, from an orphanage with some great customers. Vern said that Jill, our case manager, knew they were coming...still for me it was a welcome surprise.

Kids are so fun to work with. They only want to play slightly more than I do. It was good for technicians to see these patients with Vern and I, as many kid patients are the result of birth defects, and thus not your standard below the knee(BK) or above the knee (AK) amputation. The problems are different and unique.

Suzanne and I brought a group of them up to the tennis court again. Charite returned to get some more PT. Alix Paul,the tech also joined us. He seemed pretty excited to see some of the dynamic things that Suzanne was trying to get the kids to do.

I would love to post pictures, but we are not supposed to do that. I can send them out to specific people. I am thinking, that if you left comments on the blog, then maybe you could receive pictures. What do you think?

The afternoon was time to catch up on fabrication with the boys, making sure that Verb is all set to go on Monday.

The klinik crew is above starting with the blanc is Vern, Yvener, Jo'el, Tcho, Rony, Chov Blanc, Cira, Rosline, Paul, Myriame.

Jill is not in the group photo. She is an RN from Boston. She has been down here since May and serves as our case manager.

I need to find pics of Claire and Suzanne too. My 2 weeks here would not be complete without them and Luke.

Till tomorrow.
Bon nuit
Chov Blanc
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Day 12

Ha!! Where am I?
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Day 11

This is Yvener and Charite. Both men are victims of the earth quake.

Charite lost his leg and his home. Upon losing his leg, his wife and kids left him. He says that his wife no longer thought of him as a whole man, without his leg, and left him. She thought there would be no way he could provide for a family.

Charite has been homeless ever since. Today, Charite made leaps and bounds in his progress. For a while he has been plagued by limb issues. But today was like a new day. Suzanne, Yvener and I worked with him for quite a while. You can see from the pic, that we brought him up to the tennis court. Here we did more dynamic stuff.

It is funny that we use the tennis court, because to get there you have to walk about 100meters up a rocky dirt road. Haiti is one huge, rocky dirt road. It is not a tennis court. Still he marched around and we would bark orders at him, so he could test and trust his leg. "Speed up, slow down, speed up again". "Turn, climb over the net"
Suzanne grabbed his hands so he could mimic her movements...grapevine left, grapevine right, forward and back.

Yvener was really excited. We took a picture of Charite to send to Mrs. Mellon. Yvener said that she is the one who found Charite and brought him to the hospital., that she would be really excited to see how well he is doing.

Yvener is not 18 like I guessed the other day. He is 20. He lost both parents and a sister in the earth quake.

Last night Yvener came by the house after work, to visit. Vern had said that he wanted to share some red wine with his boss. Yvener is a great kid. He really cares for the people in the clinic and the patients that come there. As we shared a few drinks, we talked about Yveners family.

Yvener is from Port au Prince. Before the earth quake he had his parents, 2 sisters and a brother. They lived in what Yvener describes as a middle class apartment, on the 3rd floor, over a store. His father coordinated drivers/ chauffeurs for the airport, working very long days and weekends. His mother was a seamstress. The sister that died was in medical school, at the time.

When the earth quake struck, Yvener was outside, sitting on the stoop with friends, hanging out after school. He remembers clearly running toward the street and looking back at the building he lived in. He could see it literally falling down, as the ground gave way behind it. He said there was dust everywhere, nearly blinding for a little while.

After the earth quake, buses would come through the area, Yvener said, to take people to hospitals in out lying communities. For five days he did not get on one, because he was uninjured, and all around him were hurt people.

Yvener remembers crawling through he rubble, searching for his family. Around day 2 or 3 he found his sisters leg. He knew it was hers because of how she liked her nails done(pedicure). He said he stay there for a long time, just hugging her leg.

Yvener was closest to this sister. He is the youngest. She was the oldest.

"I didn't eat for 5 days. I was so skinny. When I finally get on a bus and I cannot even stand. I just fall on the floor and they poor some water on me."

Before we knew what had happened, it was 7pm. Madame Bebe had already left. Dinner was nearly cold on the table. Janet offered for Yvener to stay and share with us, and he did.

Today, Yvener lives in Virete, a neighboring town to Deschapelles. He stays with friends there. He is nearly estranged from his living sister and brother, as he says he never really felt close with them. They never really talked to him, they said.

As we talked, I kept looking for hints of emotion from Yvener. He wasn't flat. But he wasn't emotional. He says he is ok with everything. He also says that he drinks a lot of beer in coping.

Since June, Yvener has worked as an interpreter for the clinic. His English is very good. In the coming year, he is hoping to go to school for IT.

Yvener, like many of the people in the clinic are good, honest Haitians. I knew they were here, somewhere. They don't ask us for handouts or money. What they need is our help and guidance so that they can learn to care better for themselves.

Bon nuit

P.S. Yvener says I spell it wrong...it is Chov Blanc...not Chev

Chov blanc
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Day 11

Bonjour

I don't know if I should call this the best day in Haiti. Part of you says there should be no such thing. But if there could be one, this might be it.

It's Wednesday, which means a journey to the orphanage in Port au Prince, again. We were joined by Yvener as our interpreter, Vern, Suzanne RPT-Ph D and Claire RPT.

Fore the long to trip to the city, I sat in the back with Yvener. Yvener lost both his parents in the earth quake. I believe he now lives with a relative in the town of Verette, just outside Deschapelles. I forget how old he is, but I'd ball park it @ 18. He speaks English really well. He's a great guy.

We leave @ 7AM. As we travel out, we see many, many kids heading to school. Here in Haiti, most schools are private. The kids are all dressed in their finely pressed uniforms. Passing some kids in Mirabeles, I hear some them shouting as we pass..."Hey blancs...oooo chev blanc!!!". I chuckled....Yvener says,"you hear them?!". He was surprised. I said, yeah, I kinda like it.

Our driver for the orphanage trips is has been Jafar...like the genie . He's a fairly large guy, a little darker than most Haitians and kinda hairy. I said to Yvener, he's so quiet and stoic up there. He appears unflappable. It's like he's a big body guard that you don't want to mess with. He really just doesn't speak English so well, so this is the effect.

The orphanage brought a few castings. All of them were AKs as a result of the earth quake. One of which is a guy that plays for the Tarantulas, and amputee soccer team in Port au Prince. Turns out, Suzanne knows his coach. There were gabbing like long lost friends, though they had just met, as I was casting him.

While we were at the orphanage, Vern got a call from Jill RN, our case manager at the clinic. She said a new patient showed up at the clinic. We left no clinicians there. Vern asks if he's a BK or AK...answer was BK. He moves the phone from his mouth to tell me what's up. I said, suggested to put Cira and Paul on it. Together, they'll know what to do. Vern and I had the AK casting brims, and it is better to start with BKs anyway, but talk about a perfect situation. This is what we all needed.

We finished early and Suzanne suggested we go to the U.N. For lunch. Apparently, they have an outdoor, roof top grill. This place was unreal. It was a global melting pot cafeteria...on a roof, under a tent. I had a cheeseburger, fries and a coke, while Haitians, Canadians, French, Germans, Swiss, and a few other blancs gabbed around us. Unreal.

As we prepared to return home, I asked to ride shot gun. I needed to get the front seat view of the spectacle that is driving a car in Haiti. Whoa...the van's a stick!! I hadn't even noticed. Twice, I said, Jafar, let me drive!! Twice, he threw me the keys. Twice, I assumed he was just kidding and just passed them back. Still, I wonder.

Don't mistake me. I know what this Haitian driving is. It is fast, slow, then fast again and tight. People and animals of all shapes and size are in danger. The road belongs to the biggest, ballsiest vehicle. That's the rules. Yvener says, in Haiti it is known that if you hit a person, you simply keep driving. If you stop, you will be beaten and probably killed.
We stopped for a minute in PoP to get some essentials, toilet paper...still haven't used a volume even close to the last group.... Rum for Claire's boyfriend, coffee and some Toro (Haitian Redbull).

On the way home, I chatted with Jafar in broken creolish. He'll be driving almost 12 hrs by the days end. I offered him half my Toro...he said he already had one today, and that's his limit. ;)

The ride home brought one and only one casualty...poor little rooster. Maybe I will sleep better.

Upon arriving back at the clinic, Cira and Paul were pretty excited about their 1st solo patient casting. They were like excited kids. The cast was already filled and modified, laying out with the measurement card, so Vern and I could check. It looked supreme. Though I haven't seen the patient, I'd bet money on the fit. I am sad I won't be here to see those boys fit that leg. I am proud of them.

Dinner was some cabrite, and rice with peas and lentils. Madame Bebe and I played our usual game of her trying to take my beer, when I ain't even done yet...and I get very angry...MADAME BEBE!!! Fa fanne!!! I'll bite that hand if you get it too close. Chomp!!!! Though...deep down...she really misses her piti piti bebe...Brian H.

After dinner, Vern announced that he made a few special purchases at the market, some red wine for he and Janet, and a couple Cuban cohibas for me and him.

After a great call to my family...anyone remember how to factor a number?...kids, math homework... Vern, Janet and I sat on the front porch and enjoyed the drinks and cigars. Suzanne and Claire came over for a bit, to say goodbye. Claire returns home to Scotland tomorrow.

The night was so clear. We turned out the porch light, and with no light pollution from typical American cities, the stars were so impressively bright.

Cheers
Bon nuit
Chev Blanc
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Day 10

Fellow Hanger-haiti volunteers...can you imagine Tcho and Jo'el as Saturday night live characters? I so can.

Happy Birthday, Janet.

I felt like I finally slept last night. Most nights have been pretty restless. It is so humid, you just feel sticky all the time. I have not even had an inkling to sleep in. I wake each morning @ about 5am and I am done, just tossing about till the water comes on.

The cold trickle of a shower seemed old today. Someone could spit in me and get me wetter. Still, it is enough to get clean.

When the shower is done, it is helpful while there to cycle the hand pump to ensure the toilet tank is full. 20 pumps gets a pretty full tank, though 14 is really sufficient. Then you need to empty the small buckets into the big, place the small bucket under the trickle to fill until the water is shut off.

There were a couple times last week when the water did not come on at noon or 6pm. Apparently, a couple pumps broke and the huge water tank was down to 20% capacity. The cholera had really increased the demand.

Breakfast was cereal and warm powdered milk. The only cereal here is corn flakes. Though, Vern has a stash of homemade granola, which is a welcome topper.

Madame Bebe brought out the sugar bowl as we began to eat, and without missing a beat Vern and I exclaimed in unison, "you think she de-anted the bowl?".

No, I haven't had the sugar since I realized a family was living there.

The clinic was great, today. We started with a little class on fit, alignment + trouble shooting. The boys are still like sponges. Upon announcing that we were ready to start, Alex Paul raced to get is notebook and be the 1st seated and waiting for school to begin. It was pretty funny. He and Cira speak the least English, but it is not hard to see that they are picking up the most. I am so glad when you can see when they get a concept.

The Israelis came in 2 van shifts, today. The 1st came around 11am. True to our plan, Vern and I had a tech with us for each patient casting, fitting or adjustment. We thought we were going to be working late, but utilizing the techs as assistants, really helped us be more efficient. Tcho, Paul and Cira seemed to really enjoy working with the patients. Paul and Cira really shined. You didn't need to know Creole to know that they were communicating well with the patients about what problem was, and how we were going to fix it.

For many, bedside manner is the kind of thing that can't be taught. You can tell people to communicate and have compassion...but it really just needs to be in you.

It just made for a great afternoon.

Dinner was Madame Bebe's famous hot dogs and spaghetti...thing...of course with a little shaved cabrite(goat) sausage. There is some American pasta noodles served almost everyday. Cabrite also seems to find it's way into at least one meal a day.

Noodles. I do love noodles.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLMUsXnHdGbA&v=LMUsXnHdGbA&gl=US

After the noodles we enjoyed a little birthday celebration for Janet, with a little Prestige + Rum-Cokes with a few of the hospital volunteers...RN's, PT's, and some others....but the capper of the evening happened just at the end of dinner.

A pleasant, Haitian lady appeared at the door. She had her manicure tools with her....Janet, then stated that she must have agreed to a manicure from this lady without knowing. She is a nurse in the hospital. Her name was Marjorie.

The manicure standard rate is 10$. Marjorie spoke a little English; was very charming. I offered to pay for the manicure as a present to Janet.
She seemed to understand.

Unbeknownst to me, while I was in the bathroom, she asked Vern to the kitchen and told him she needed more money. I came out of the bathroom, and people began to arrive for the party. Before she left she gestured to me that she was done and ready to go. You can imagine a semi-crowded room, everyone talking. Vern sits down next to me and says something to effect of, "I took care of her". I didn't catch it at first..but as we continued to talk to Marjorie...it started to settle in. I was just amazed at the gall!! I shouldn't be at this point. As she left, I followed her out, and nicely asked for the correct change back.... "Oh, I thought that was a tip." She said.

To then go back in and put everyone's stories together, made for quite an exciting evening.

The pics above are ...little Cabrite, Madame Bebe + Chev Blanc, and Janet + Marjorie.

Bon nuit.
Chev Blanc
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