Finding A Cure For Malaria

PH Graduation--2nd Generation

Last Wednesday, we celebrated the graduation of the second generation of public health agents. There were 11 students to enter the course and there are 11 certified agents leaving it. The new group will be taking on additional public health responsibilities including weekly water testing and treatment, combating the rat and mouse problem in the village homes, reducing the standing water pools on campus, designing public health training programs for the house monitors, weekly garbage clean-up in the children’s villages and the list goes on…

Junior Francois was the 11th student to join the class.

Jonas was the success story of the class. 20 years old and still in the 6th grade, no one thought that he could handle the challenging work and weekly exams in the public health class but he shocked them all. He passed every last exam and had a perfect attendance record. While the other guys would be out having fun, Jonas could be found on the doorstep of his house, studying his public health manual. He has proven to be one of the most dedicated workers I have.

All of the newly graduated PH members enjoying some soda and pate at their graduation party.

Public Health Presentations

As a final project and a last requirement before graduation, I have all of the public health students form groups of 3, choose a topic that we covered in the 3 ½ month course and put together a 15-20 minute presentation. Each presentation had to consist of at least one large poster, a two-page written essay or fact sheet and a short skit. Each person in the group had to talk for at least 5 minutes. At the end of each presentation, there was 10 minutes of questions and answers. We had a total of five groups presenting on topics such as Tuberculosis, Nutrition, Hygiene and Sanitation (washing hands, covering your food etc.), How to take care of a sick person, and Malaria. They all did a terrific job.

I recorded all of the presentations on video. Each ended up averaging nearly 35 minutes each! Getting these boys to talk was not difficult at all! With some fine tuning, we’ll be adapting all five of these presentations for both primary and secondary lesson plans for the 1,200 students at the nearby schools.
Serool, Enock and Webert holding up their poster on Jan Pou Nou Okipe Moun Malad (How To Take Care of A Sick Person)

Jeff and Jean Roody hold up a poster on vomiting as Gedna explains the importance of rehydration.

Gedna, Delince and Daniel perform a skit showing how to recognize and treat Tuberculosis.

John and Jonas hold up a poster showing the different stages of a malaria fever while Junior discusses how to identify malaria symptoms and properly treat a person with malaria.

You Can Feel The Tension In The Air

Elections are right around the corner and threats of manifestations and riots are hitting the streets. All white people are advised to stay indoors and those who are not a part of the riots are recommended to stay off the streets and keep the distance.

Politics in Haiti is a scary topic. With over 50 political parties, corruption seems to be the only thing tying them all together. When news spread, that Lavalas (a political party in Haiti founded in 1996, of which former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is a member) were not in the running this coming election, it took just minutes before the word got out that a huge manifestation would be staged this weekend.

"They're telling people to write your name on the bottom of your foot," Fritzner told me last night. "Why?" I asked. "So that they can identify you if you're found dead."

I'm doing my part to stay on campus. We've even taken in Amanda, a U.S. volunteer working on an AIDS project in town. She'll be staying with us on campus because it is too dangerous to stay in town. Please keep everyone in Haiti in your prayers. Not a day goes by where I don't realize how much we take for granted in the states. The truths we assume. This is the time of year when death tolls run the highest and dirty politics run rapid. I'll keep you posted.
Will

Turning 23 in Haiti

I woke up yesterday, first a little bummed to not have my family or closest friends here with me, but when I stepped out my door to a beautiful, bright and shiny day, it was hard to stay feeling sad. The reality is, I could have done any number of things for my bday. I could have taken a trip out to the beach in Port Salut, or the breathtaking waterfall in Camparrin, a day in Port-au-Prince or hopped on a bus to the Dominican Republic to spend time with friends I don't get to see very often. Instead, I decided that no matter I went, no place would be as fun as a village of 600 children who all new it was your birthday. I couldn't have a party large enough for everyone, so instead, Naseer, Amanda, Fritzner and I, spent the afternoon filling 950 water balloons to start a village-wide water war. We filled up 500 balloons for the kids and put them into coolers that were strategically placed on the Espwa campus. I had a few of the older Espwa boys go and call out to invite all of the children over and within minutes, dozens and dozens and soon hundreds of children were running up taking cover as we bombed them mercilessly with giant water balloons from the roof of the guest house. By the end of the day, I was soaked. I had been hit everywhere and was sure that the kids were aiming for my head because I definitely received some dead on face hits! It was a blast and everyone had a great time. Fr. Marc even joined us on the roof to throw some balloons.

It couldn't have been a hotter day and everyone welcomed the water. The children started throwing themselves in the way of the balloons and some would catch them only to throw back at us.

Dee, a member of the Espwa board of directors, made the trip down for my birthday and brought me my favorite foods, remaking Thanksgiving Day dinner and lemon moraine pie. She brought me a black hoodie with the words "Ti Dokte" (Little Doctor is what the children used to call me when I first came to Haiti) embroidered on it. She also brought me two scrub outfits, one with my name on it and the other with "ti dokte," so that I could have them for med school in the fall. The children made me a ton of cards and pictures and I was serenaded to by one of the music groups on campus. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

Fr. Marc, underhanding the balloons.

Scoping out the grounds and identifying my targets.

The kids, gathering in preparation for the bombing.

It's My Birthday!

I've got 1000 water balloons and can't wait to use them! We're going to have a massive water balloon party!

My Little Buddy

This is Roberson, the 5 year-old boy who we believe to have cerebral palsy. He lives in the next village over. I first met Roberson and his mother, 5 months ago when a concerned neighbor asked that I help find him a new place to live. His mother was newly pregnant and was forced to abandon him every day to work the fields in order to put food in their mouths each night. Roberson, paralyzed from the waist down, was left to sit in his own urine and feces until a neighbor or his mother returned to change him. When I first found him, he was alone in a corner, covered in saliva, urine and bugs.

After Mother Theresa’s organization turned Roberson and his mother away, I went to Fr. Marc and asked if there was any way we could get Roberson’s mother a job at Espwa and have one of the ladies at Espwa watch Roberson during the day. Without hesitating, Fr. Marc made the calls and by the next morning, Roberson and his mother were on campus being hired by Berthony, the Director of Espwa. Now, nearly 8 months into her pregnancy, Roberson’s mother cannot work nor can she take care of Roberson. While we continue to hold her job and send her food, it was obvious that caring for Roberson was becoming harder and harder even with the help of neighbors.

This is the new chair that we had made at the Espwa carpentry shop to help relieve some strain from Roberson’s mom. It acts as a potty chair and with the arms on all three sides; it allows Robeson to hold himself up unlike before when his sitting on the ground also meant his face being in the dirt from his inability to hold his upper body up. Ever since first stumbling upon their home while on my morning run, I’ve made it a habit to visit frequently. Sometimes I just sit there with him in silence. He smiles and starts throwing up his arms when he sees me coming, while his mother yells “Gade, Roberson. Zanmi ou ap vini.” (Look, Roberson. Your friend is coming). He is a beautiful little boy, full of joy and affection.

Raymond, the man who first told me about Roberson and asked me to help is currently in the middle of helping to build a new one-room house for Roberson and his mom. Raymond dedicates 6 months out of the year to living and working in Haiti, building homes for the poorest of the poor. His work is inspiring.
Roberson and I just thinking about things and shooting the breeze.

Roberson's mom doing laundry.

Roberson in his new chair.

Roberson's old chair and his new chair.