Friday: July 16

I woke up today with the very early rising Haitian sun. Sleeping on the cot wasn’t too bad, but I was awfully tired to begin with. After breakfast (watered down oatmeal,) we headed down to Camp Hope and set everything up in the PT tent. It was especially hot today because there was no breeze. There were many patients who waited all day and some were just there to hang out in the shade. Sarah and I sat up front working with the charts and winking at the cute little kids. There was the cutest goat that just perched itself on the floormat of one of the tents and took a little nap.

We had way to much fun today. Johnny, a blind man at the camp, got his first walking stick. He danced with and twirled Betsy and had the whole camp smiling and laughing. On his way out with his new cane, he would tap on chairs and sit on girls’ laps, giving them a kiss on the cheek. He definitely didn’t mind the attention. It was awesome to see that he would now be able to get around a little bit easier and wouldn’t have to rely on other camp members to get around. A group of boys were making fun of a girl for being lighter skinned (they called it “trying to be white”) like Michael Jackson. After that we all had to do a Michael Jackson move as our names were chanted. It was hilarious. We also had an “In the Jungle” sing-a-thon with the translator, Junior, as our leader.

One girl with a leg length difference got a new pair of shoes today with lifts. It should help her back pain and she was just so excited. Brice, a translator hopeful, hung out with us a lot in the front and walked around checking things out. He speaks five languages.

It started raining in the afternoon, which was nice, but it didn’t last long. Towards the end of our time there, Sarah and I went outside to play soccer with the little boys. They are so funny and all the guys there think I’m great at soccer, which isn’t exactly true. The ball usually deflates after ten minutes or so, but it is as if they don’t seem to notice. We keep playing and trippin on the flat piece of plastic. I’m sore though, from last night’s soccer and piggyback rides.

Some of the stories today were hard to hear. Louis, also a translator hopeful who wears the biggest smile and has an incredible amount of energy, told me that his mother died five years ago and he lost his fiancée in the earthquake. What do you say to that? Another little girl had her sister and father die in the quake and another came in with two broken femurs and shoulder. I saw a little girl today, about 4, with the worst burns you can imagine, face, chest…everywhere. She can’t close her mouth or turn her head because of the scar tissue. They are working to get her to the US to have surgeries. Apparently, her sister dropped her in hot oil as they were trying to run away from the shaking. The father was up in the mountains and died, and this little girl didn’t receive any care for 2 weeks.

The problem is that you would think that the earthquake was a few weeks ago which the conditions we see. It has been six months! But it is amazing that these people wear the biggest smiles I have ever seen and have the most joyful laughs I have ever heard. How do they do that?

So, today was awesome. I’m gross and sweaty and dirty and hot, but it was all worth it.