I have been trying to take some time in the mornings to do some yoga, stretching, reading or just simply being present and reflecting on the my work here or preparing myself for the day ahead. This also affords me the luxury of having a cup of coffee, being the only one awake and doing some great people watching from the roof. Today I was thinking a lot about last week’s clinic experience as there were a few standout patients that have stayed on my mind. They all showed up with similar concerns; belly aches and dizziness which appeared to be caused simply by hunger. But hunger is not simple. It is complex and terrible and not easily remedied and overwhelmingly present here in Haiti. I have realized it is one of the most gut wrenching things to see patients come in with and I have found it the most difficult to understand and deal with.
There is nothing worse than having to tell someone to save bites of food from one of their two meals (if they are lucky) to eat later in the day as their dizziness is caused by lack of food. To look someone in the eyes and say, I am sorry you are hungry and know there is nothing you can do to remedy the situation has been and will be the source of most of my unrest and sleepless nights here. We have small amounts of rice we can give to patients who are hungry and malnourished though feeding a family of four or more which is usually the case means the rice does not go very far. I have been giving people vegetables out of the garden as well which makes all the work we have done to get things to grow worthwhile but also only provides a short term palliation of the hunger, which I am completely fine with however as a long term thinker and a lover of sustainability I wish there was more I could do to help. There have been many times I have thought about going home to Oregon, selling all of my things and coming back to feed everyone with the money I made…this thought I am sure has come to many who have worked here but realistically it is not a viable option. What we need is a shift in global health and in recognizing that throwing food at a starving population is as ineffective as throwing medicine after medicine at a population who does not care to take their health into their own hands and actively work to make lifestyle changes.
No one benefits from people coming in and telling them what to do. The true benefits come from educating, teaching and creating sustainable jobs and ways for people to feed themselves.
It is common to see women carrying large baskets like this on their heads.
View from the drive into Cap Haitien
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