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Saturday Sep 04, 2010

First impressions

It is certainly a huge cultural transformation completing the three day journey from England to Haiti.  Flying over the beautiful islands of Bermuda and the Bahamas; reaching the flat and very developed land of Miami; swimming in the crystal clear Caribbean Sea, and salsaing in the bar of an all inclusive hotel all was an enjoyable and fearless adventure.

After being told (once I booked my flight) that the route I had chosen to take: crossing the Dominican Republic/Haiti boarder by land was unsafe, I was not looking forward to the rest of the journey.  Clutching desperately to my bags I caught the two coaches with no problems.  Once on the second coach I even started to find the whole situation quite amusing; wondering how I ended up with the responsibility of yanking open the door to the onboard toilet whist passengers clambered over luggage splayed all over the passageway.  It was unfortunate that there were a lot of older Haitians onboard with the need for very frequent trips to the toilet!

I was met by the warm faces of Reninca and Fiona at the Cap Haitien bus station, shortly followed by the rest of the team who we met at a lovely Haitian restaurant in town: a relaxed lull into a false sense of security of what was to come!

It’s amazing to see such driven and versatile people working at Haiti Hospital Appeal.  There are about 5 or 6 different projects going on at one time, which are all led by Carwyn and Reninca – the couple who head up the charity.  One minute they’re unloading containers of aid and distributing it to Port-au-Prince, the next they’re interviewing for new posts to set up a brand new community-based rehab service.

I’m thriving in helping out with as many aspects as I can get my hands on!  I’ve been invited to lead the training for the new posts: which, as much as the Disability Options Team (for those of you who know) may have given me some skills, will be a real challenge.  These case manager-type roles will need to be taught everything from the basics of what a disability is, and the importance of social inclusion (in a country where those with disabilities are commonly thought of as an act of the devil), to hands-on assessment, advice and education which families of those with disabilities so desperately need.

I completed my first day at the spinal unit today and I am completely astounded by what has already been achieved.  Many patients have gone from having foot-long  grade 4 pressure sores to being completely healed which is nothing short of a miracle.  This means that they are now able to get into their wheelchairs, making them much more independent.  The Haitian physio assistants have been brilliantly trained by staff from ‘Healing Hands’ who are a group of spinal injury specialists who have visited several times throughout the last six months to give training and advice to the permanent staff.

That’s not to say my job doesn’t come without its challenges!  Culturally, the Haitians take illness and disability to mean that they will be dependent on others.  This can be frustrating to observe as a therapist, as you want to empower the patients to lead as normal and independent lives as possible.  Nonetheless, some of the patients are highly motivated: The work they have put into their rehab, and the encouragement and help from their family members really shows.

Working in a unit where you don’t speak the language of either the patients or the staff is a very daunting task, but as the patients have already started mocking my Creole knowledge (or lack thereof), it will only make me more determined to master it!

My third major challenge is coping with the heat.  Those of you that work at RLH – leaving the heating on full blast until May is nothing compared to this!!  The heat seems to affect some patients more than others, but they definitely all seem to cope better than me at the moment.

One final note with regards to the fundraising – amazingly we flew past the target, and have so far raised over £12,500, with money still coming in.  Thank you again to all those who contributed/donated/participated/fundraised.  I will keep you posted on how the money will be used, as there are some exciting plans in the pipeline.

Lots of love

Hannah

Posted by Hannah ( 1:12 PM )
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