The last 3 weeks have come to a close as the last of the students from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine left this morning. They were a great group and worked very hard to make sure our patients got the best care possible. I saw compassion in their eyes as they worked with sick children and adults and I know this group, like the others, will forever be changed by their time here in Haiti. I am also sure that this time here will make them more well rounded doctors who will have a head start when they enter the clinic or will be even more advanced when they return to their current clinic position.
It’s funny because I always thought I was one of those people who always wanted to be around others. As I get further along in my life I realize I might not be. Haha. Ok so I really really loved having the students here and it was great getting to know them all but it was also like being back in the college dorms (well, I take that back, in college I only had to share my bathroom with 3 other girls, not 10+ other people). I am thankful that this beautiful building has an amazing roof that doubles as a great ‘get away’ spot as well as a garden that I can find myself getting closer to the earth in. I find so much happiness in just being outside; gardening with aspirations of growing food for our community here or planning other outreach programs with the children I can see from the roof in mind. There is so much I want to do while I am here and I am beginning to get the sense that I need to make these visions a reality as 6 months will fly by like that! We have been gardening at the local orphanage and I cannot wait to go back in a few days to see how great the plants are growing! I was literally blown away last time at the fact that we planted watermelons from seed and one week later we had 2 inch seedlings! In a country where food is scarce this could be the answer to so many problems. Obviously it is not as easy as getting seeds to people, we need to take into consideration the land people have-or lack thereof, the ease of getting water and the general knowledge of what and how to plant for success. Where there is a will there is a way I guess…
Departing with the students were two other wonderful volunteers, Susan Moray a fantastic midwife (and a former hairstylist who gave us all amazing and much needed haircuts) from Portland and Nancy Becker a seasoned Dietician with knowledge about sustainable nutrition programs in resource poor areas. They were intelligent, hilarious and full of passion for their work and the work being done here. Susan was in on two births and worked with our midwifery student and other midwives imparting her years of knowledge about the process of birth and extensive understanding of what women need in order to have a healthy home birth. Nancy taught mini nutrition classes to the patients waiting for care and also tried to get a better understanding of what knowledge patients had regarding healthy eating habits by simply asking those in the community what they thought about certain foods. The kids loved it as did the adults and I know the information she was able to give to the people here will be passed on to families and friends. She also went to market and took note of varying prices of goods so we are able to tell our patients things like, “save your 30 gourds you spend on Tampico and cookies and spend it on 5 peppers”. Susan and Nancy also came up with a great idea for keeping our patients fed and hydrated while they wait for care, sometimes for 6 or more hours. More to come on this idea as we get it going, the idea is for Santo our head translator to be in charge of project ‘Happy Meal’.
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