A Doctor In Haiti

This is from Dr. Merline Milien, whom I've had the pleasure of working with on several occasions in Haiti.

On a flat mattress and a small blanquet francise and i are lying on the drive way of the Haitian academy where we spent the nights since the earthquake, just like everybody at port au prince, cabaret and all over the big south of HAiti. People used to be in the streets, walking, working, selling eveything, but now there are on the streets to sleep.

Most of the time in the past they considered Haiti as a country in needs but today, need is too weak to talk about Haiti. I heard that we will find help from other countries, even i don't see them yet till yesterday, but i am sure they will come, if they don't we will have more people dying from the decomposition of the dead bodies than from the earthquake. Port au prince start to be really smelly and it is scary.

In spite of anything we could ask, we need SANITATION. As a physician i can also say protection for us who escaped. If i want to list the needs, like food, clothes,toilet articles, shoes, and a roof are all important, we know that God is watching from the closest not just in the highest heaven, he is there with us.

While we lost several physicians, nurses in the catastrophe, we needs hands, we also need mental assistant for those people who are there watching they lovely ones died without able to do something, even for us too,when the clinic at the HAitian Academy has half falldown, it is just after we find hundreds of people coming for help and we just say sorry, i didn't have any gloves or anyother things in our way to help, and i was thinking about our limitation that become not just a limitation but impossibility, several are died before they can move to other places, 7 of the big hospital at port au prince collapsed so reffer someone is not the right word for the moment, some time later on the afternoon, we saw at the neighborhood some missionaries who have a burn center, they opened it to help peple, but they couldn't take in charge the open wound and bad fractures and at this time we went over and asked them to help, we were relieved in being able to do something, they have mostly things to take care of a burned patient, but we found some sutures and we did the job even our feet get tired, we used our knees and till we can't anymore, it was the same scenarios for the last four days. We also needs pads for the ladies, as the marquets are not available we saw people wth their period and don't find pads to put on.

Sorry if i talk too much, i know i was in shock, but God allowed me to do well with the patients.

Love
Merline