NSUCO - The Visionary Fall 2010

the VISIONARY • Summer/Fall 2010 # February 26, 2010, was a remarkable day for me. An aftershock that morning cut out electricity on the tarmac. After spending hours circling the island of Hispaniola, the pilot decided to land the plane in Santo Domingo. I spent the night sleeping on a chair at the airport. At 7:00 a.m. the next morning, we left Santo Domingo en route to Port-Au- Prince. Thirty minutes later, we were flying over the city, which looked like a war zone. An hour later, we arrived at the hospi- tal camp and broke into groups based on discipline. The journey started for me by doing a few translations since I was new on the floor and didn’t have many skills to offer; however, by late af- ternoon, I worked with a group of trauma doctors doing translation. By the evening, I was pulled from left to right doing translation, picking up medications from the supply room, distributing toiletries to the patients, and helping the nurses that needed assistance. By Wednesday, the new shift of volunteers came, but we were very short-staffed so I became a nurse with no training. I had six amputee patients and six in isolation. It was a challenging day; I quickly had to learn everything from how to change an IV line and tube feed a day-old baby as well as work with a few families doing grief counseling. Accompanied with a chauffeur, I also transferred advanced-case TB patients from our camp hospital to an infectious disease hospital. The week I was there, Dr. Smith Blanc, an NSUCO graduate and resident, was the only eye care provider onsite. Saturday evening, after Dr. Smith departed, an ophthalmologist came on board. Sadly, the tragedy is far from over. The population is facing all kinds of brutal- ity, from domestic violence and rape to car accidents and gunshot wounds. Children and women are the most fre- quent victims. Women are victims of rape and domestic violence whereas children are abandoned and often sold as sex slaves or given to more affluent families to do household chores. In order for the country to recover from this dilemma, a reform govern- ment needs to be put in place, where it would be governed by an outside source. The corruption is so deep that the country has become disabled. The resources that are donated to Haiti must be con- trolled by a foreign institution. The population is greatly suffer- ing, but in order to resolve the problem, we need to reduce the corruption, provide safety, and improve the health care. I was delighted to be a part of the medical team and to repre- sent NSU. It was an excellent experience, and I would be glad to do it again. I have even kept in contact with some of my pa- tients, who have sent me emails from time to time to give me updates of their conditions. NSU Responds: My Journey Back to Haiti B Y J OSIE T OUSSAINT , M.S. L OW V ISION A SSISTANT , T HE E YE C ARE I NSTITUTE