Sunday, September 30, 2012

For every thing there is a season

Final day of September! A busy month for all, I am sure, so thank you for taking the time to follow me!

Dieunie's kitchen and the makings of a great meal.

Before looking back on the week, I wanted to tell you about my day. I went over to my friend's house to help prepare and enjoy a meal. Dieunie, who is the MFH cook, was one of my first few friends when I arrived in Haiti. Very outgoing and warm, she talks to me as if I have known her her whole life. She also talks to me as if I understood Creole like any Haitian. Today, she invited Jenna and I to her home,  and we sat, talked, and prepared the meal for the day.

Only thing that's missing is the chicken.

The huge plate of marinated rice, chicken in a sauce, and beet and carrot salad (a typical Haitian meal) was wonderful. It took most of the day, however, to prepare it. It amazes me how much time goes into cooking. There's not time to do much else. But, for Dieunie, it doesn't matter. She is with friends and family and serving others at the same time. From her example, I think I need to change my perspective about learning to cook!

Neonatal resuscitation class for the matrons.
Thursday I continued to record information from the hospital birth logs. I will have to take a picture to show you, but they aren't pretty! Lots of ineligible handwriting and the occasional blank space. I am recording how many births each one of our graduates attends, as well as any complications and fetal deaths. So far, I am getting an average of eight fetal deaths a month. Hoping to decrease that number with time!



Now you demonstrate!

Every week with the usual coordinating and organizing, so nothing new there! We did have a party last week with homemade ice cream. Yummy! And, I took pictures at the post-graduation training for our birth assistants. Neonatal resuscitation!



The cream came all the way from Port-au-Prince. 

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Pieces of the Puzzle

The matrons (in white) entering the church from the back of the church.
With the arrival of Nadene Brunk, MFH Executive, and Dr. Steven Eads, MFH Medical Director, I have been getting an inside look into the pieces that make up the organization. For instance, last Tuesday, I accompanied Nadene and Steve to a meeting with Dr. Laguerre, the Medical Director of St. Therese hospital in Hinche. We talked about midwifery pay, adding supervisors to the maternal ward, and supplies and labs. This relationship is crucial, from what I observed, to sustaining the program at the hospital and fixing all of the glitches in our services. From what I was told, the previous medical director wasn't so cooperative. And, that made all the difference.

One of the many songs performed at the graduation.
Last week, I was also busy with helping Jenna Schmitz, a CPM from Maine, with preparing for the matron (birth assistant) graduation on Sunday. From gifts, to food, to the event program, we were running around Hinche making sure everything was set for the big day.
Check out the pictures!
Jenna giving her speech. 

Though the singing and most of the speeches were great, sitting in a stuffy church during the hottest part of the day for three hours wasn't. I told Jenna that she really did do a great job of thinking of even the smallest of details to make that day special. She replied, "This is probably the only graduation the matrons will ever have. So, it was worth making it memorable."

All-boys choir. 


Now, with Nadene and Steve around, everyone in the house gets spoiled. We have butter and cheese, Nadene makes homemade bread, and Steve occasionally throws in a batch of brownies. With all of this, I don't mind the longer To-Do list!

Nadene giving her speech.

One more thing. On the mobile clinic yesterday, we saw 45 women! I went to the same clinic last month and didn't see half as many. The word is getting out. I can't say this about every locale we visit, but these women are seeing and FEELING the benefits of our care. I don't remember how many bags of pills I filled, but I was happy to do it.

One of our students checking the fetal heart rate.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Midwife in Training?

The matrons had their final oral exam on Friday.
Blah! Blah! Blah! I am getting the goats confused with the children whenever I hear someone cry "White!" at the top of their lungs. It doesn't anger me (most of the time) but I can't help but hear the laughter trailing behind me from adults, as they comment about the white woman riding her bike alone down the street. I thought that I would have been old news by now, but, apparently, I am still entertaining to watch.

Taking the oral part of the exam.
I think I am going to designate the start of each week as Mobile Clinic Mondays from now on. I like to help the midwives get organized from the start. Some more baby clothes came in today, so I started putting them in baggies to be handed out this week. Between that, and doing a nightshift per week, I can get a lot of shadowing in! I have been learning the medications and when to give them, for one thing. 

How to put on sterile gloves for the "show me" part.
I won't go into too much detail, but there was one poor woman whose placenta didn't come out during my nightshift. I learned that if it won't come out after 40min, then you need to force it to. She and the baby were just fine after that though.





Part of my English class this weekend with Brother Harry.
Oh, and there are some new additions to the hospital! I helped direct two big supply cabinets to be put in our storage room. We have a motorcycle with a trailer, and so we took one by one slowly down the road to the hospital. You won't find any moving trucks down here! When MFH moved houses, they rented a dump truck to transport all of the furniture. Yikes!
Finally starting a composte bin at the house. 



Monday, September 10, 2012

How many will it be?


I have been helping with an English class for Haitian women every Saturday morning at Maison Fortune. Brother Harry, who has lived in Haiti for almost 30 years and works at the orphanage, leads the lesson most of the time. We are at basic conversation level at this point, but this past weekend, I tried to broaden the vocabulary a bit. I printed out lyrics to follow Josh Groban’s version of “You Raise Me Up” from my computer. We sang and listened to each stanza and then reviewed the words. I knew it was a good class when I heard one woman humming the tune to herself as she was leaving. 

A matron student filling out her birth log. 

At one of the clinics, a midwife told me that one of the patients was due to have her 7th child. The woman said that her husband didn't believe in family planning. She looked to be in her 30s. I asked if she wanted condoms, but she shook her head no. 

Women aren't the only ones who need family planning!

 And, as usual, I finished the week attending the matron class (birth assistant training for a local community). This group is about to complete the course, so I have been recording more data for the number of births that the group has collectively been doing each month. The number of births they attend is approximately 50-100 each month. 

A matron student filling out her birth log. 
It's very exciting to see such high numbers and to know that this program will hopefully improve the delivery and care of newborns. Even the witchdoctor in the class has changed her perspective on pregnancy and laboring mothers. She practices Vodou, an African-based religion, and used to believe that preeclampsia-associated seizures were the work of evil spirits. Because of the course, she has since reported to the class that she sends those women straight to the hospital.

Another sunrise. 

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Bon Fèt

Bon Fèt Femnsaj pou Ayiti


“Do you have any gauze?” asks one of the midwives on staff. I had paid another visit to the hospital yesterday morning after the women’s English class. I brought along some supplies that the last group had left behind after their two-week stay. But I didn’t bring gauze. The midwife was using the end of a sheet instead. I told myself that I could bring in supplies all day but still not meet all of the maternity ward’s needs. Those type of materials can be retrieved from the pharmacy, barely a walk away from the ward. From my standpoint, it’s just a matter of checking what is needed before the day shift, so that items don’t run out. From theirs, well, I still haven’t figured that one out yet.


The big meal
I joined the visiting midwives for another nightshift on Wednesday. It was unusually still that evening, and so there wasn’t much relief from the hot and sticky air. There aren’t any fans, God forbid air-conditioning, and so you just have to make do – patients and staff. I did get to see a of couple births though, so that made up for the endless sweating. One little guy didn’t make it, unfortunately, and because there isn’t a NICU, not much could be done for him. The American midwives reminded me just how blessed they are to work in birth centers that are equipped with the technology to practically guarantee life. I nodded, sympathizing with the mother, and realized that at least she chose to come to the hospital where she could better guarantee her own life.

The group enjoying a picture slideshow and music.

On a more positive note, after recovering from the night shift, I did some shopping for the big fèt on Friday. All of the students, preceptors, hospital staff, and other friends were invited for a big meal that afternoon. The occasion – well, there wasn’t one. But, who can turn down a party?


I did what I could to help the cooks prepare for over 40 people, but I promised that I would take care of dessert. I found some cake mix at the local store and decided to add my coveted Ghirardelli brownies to the list. I learned how to make some icing, and with a little extra flavoring, the cakes turned out nicely. The brownies were gone before I could take a second glance, but I snuck in a bite while everyone else was still on the main course.
Some of the students.

 It was a success! Pictures included to prove it. Keep following! September’s schedule is picking up!

Students and preceptors posing in front of our jeep.