Clinic
Road Trips and Politics
As many of you may know, we are in the middle of a 3-year project to improve and pave the road between Cayes, on the southern coast and Jérémie, on the northern coast of the southern peninsula of Haiti. We’ve traveled on the “new” road several times in the past few months and each time…
Read MoreWhatever Happened To The Clothes????
As some of you may know, last spring we sent out an appeal to the churches in the New Brunswick, NJ Presbytery for used clothes and shoes to be sent to Haiti. We were packing up some drums with backpacks that had been donated by high school students in Wisconsin and wanted some clothes to…
Read MoreHurricane Aftermath
We were able to drive up to our clinic on Tuesday this week, finding the road very slippery and gutted out, but passable. We had to put our jeep into 4-wheel drive “low” position, that gives the most power, so we could make it up some of the steep, slippery hills. Our patients were grateful…
Read MorePositive Feedback
The woman sitting across the desk from me in my clinic examination room looked familiar and I could see from her chart that she had been to the clinic in the past. I couldn’t remember what I had seen her for without looking at my notes, though, and I saw that her last visit was…
Read MoreApril/May Travels
I recently returned to Jérémie, Haiti after spending several weeks in the US. Here are some highlights of my visit there: 1. The second annual Hope for Haiti fund-raising banquet was held at the Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee on April 17, 2010. Over 250 people attended and it was an enjoyable evening for all, with…
Read MorePost-Earthquake Survey
When Cherlie and I returned to Jérémie after our help with the relief efforts in Port-au-Prince, we did a little survey among our patients to get an idea as to how many of them were, indeed, affected by the earthquake. Out of 74 adult patients surveyed, 74% of them (55 patients) said they had family…
Read MoreBack at Home and Work
“They’re back,” we heard. “The doctors from Gatineau are back.” “Miss Cherlie, Miss Cherlie – we’re glad to see you.” Such were the comments we heard as we headed up the mountain from Jérémie to Gatineau last week. Our absence was longer than expected, due to the earthquake and the time we spent helping with…
Read MoreReady, Set, Go…Again!
Well, Cherlie and I are on the move again, back to Santo Domingo today and, hopefully, on to Port-au-Prince soon after that. We spent the past few days in Florida, catching up on correspondence and paperwork, gathering meds and supplies and packing up to go back home to Jérémie. First, we’ll be checking in with…
Read MoreThe Walk
The young boy sat across the desk from me as I asked for the second time, “So, you came all alone to the clinic today, just you, without any parent or brother or cousin or anyone?” He shook his head confidently as he answered, “No, I came all alone,” as if it was no big…
Read MoreHIV in Haiti
Clarice sat in her chair on the side of the desk in my examination room, looking intently at the little test cartridge. I was talking to her as the HIV rapid test result was developing. I realized she probably wasn’t hearing much of what I said – she was concentrating on the test cartridge. I…
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