Post comes a tad late this week. Tropical Storm Isaac knocked out the internet for sometime. Luckily for Hinche, that was about all the damage there was.
Last Tuesday, I joined the Bridges to Prosperity VA team to celebrate the inauguration of the completed footbridge. Check out an earlier post to see pictures! But there was certainly a crowd to be seen at the all-day event. There were many people from both communities that were now joined by this new structure. The mayor also came along with some UN Security (some of the Indian soldiers wanted pictures with the Americans) and MINUSTAH staff. There certainly wasn't enough room to sit nonetheless stand underneath the tent, and so after the 10th person said his thank you's, I had to squeeze my way out to give my feet a rest. A great thing to celebrate, and so I was happy to join the festivities.
The next day I paid another visit to Trianon, the new birth center. I am finding that the travel will always take longer than the actual visit, so it didn't surprise me that the car broke down and we found ourselves walking for almost an hour to tour the nearby hospital. What first began as a joke turned into our mantra - "It's Haiti."
The most memorable event of the week, however, didn't happen until Thursday night. I joined the visiting SF midwives for a nightshift, at least that's what it turned into. I had planned to try and see some hospital action and still make it home to sleep in a bed, but by the time midnight rolled around, no taxis were to be found. I did get to see a couple births up close and personal, as well as a neonatal resuscitation. MFH has a Haitian translator that communicates between the Americans and the Haitian students. If you can, picture a woman in labor with the constant babble of translations and directions tossed between midwives crowding around her. Unfortunately and luckily for her, she is too preoccupied to notice the commotion.
So far, I know how to hold the IV bag and maybe put a suture in a vaginal wall - but I would much rather do the former!
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