Notes From Leogane Part NO. 24 : Matthieu

       

May 18, 2012 is a national holiday in Haiti – Flag Day. No school and light work schedules. Flags were attached to buses, tap taps and motos all over Leogane. At breakfast I said “Bon drapo jou” to Jeannine, thinking I was wishing her a “Happy Flag Day.” She corrected me. “Dave pale, ‘ Bon fet drapo jodia.’ “  Jeannine’s on the spot Kreyol lesson came in handy about an hour later.

MATTHIEU

Friday last was the final mobile clinic day for the medical group that returned to the United States the next day.  I went to this clinic because it was held in Matthieu.  The first time I met Mario, last April 2011, he already was telling me about the beauty of his village.  He was so “spot on” – an expression I need to teach him. He after all has tried to teach me some Kreyol slang – though it is difficult for me to remember.

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I hopped into the back of the pick-up truck driven by Mr. Guey.  One of the two team doctors was in the front passenger seat. (Photo 0851)

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The pick-up was carrying equipment and supplies for the mobile clinic.  The rest of the medical team and four translators squeezed into the Land Rover driven by Jean Claude.  That’s Jean Claude in the red BoSox baseball hat in Photo 0853, talking to the Rector after we arrived at the Episcopal Church in Matthieu, where the clinic was held.

When I go to a mobile clinic location for the first time, I ride outside in the pick-up bed so I can take in the new surroundings. There was much to see last Friday. The trip to Matthieu took about twenty minutes; first about 4 miles north on the paved Leogane bypass road and National Route #2 highway, followed by about 2 ½ miles on a narrow dirt road. On the dirt road, we passed several sugar cane fields. Early stage corn stalks were scattered on both sides of the road. There was one field that looked like it soon would be home to small banana plants. Cattle and goats were grazing.

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(Photo 0850 was taken from the back of the pick-up.  Photos 0878 through 0882 were taken during my walk back to Leogane.) Of course, as in any village in Haiti, chickens roamed free, because it was not their time. Lucky are those that lay eggs.

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While I never saw it, during my walk out of the village I think I heard water flowing in the river that Mario later said was on the other side of a field that bordered the dirt road.  The river feeds the irrigation canals that line both sides of the road. (Photo 0882)

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A number of people were patiently waiting for the medical team when we arrived.  (Photo 0852)  After an opening prayer (0858), the clinic 
opened.  Patients first met with the lead translator, Peter, who conducted an interview to obtain information for the intake form.  Next, blood pressure, pulse and other vitals were taken by members of the team. Often, vitals are taken by non-medical team members who have received a tutorial from the nurse and doctor members of the team.  This group was fortunate to have a former lab technician serving in that role. For some, a drop of blood was taken for a malaria test or other screening done at the mobile clinic.

Patients then were seen by one of the two medical professionals. Last week’s team doctors were a pediatric physician and an OB/GYN specialist. At each stage of the clinic, a translator assisted the visiting medical team. About 140 patients were seen last Friday.

Among the patients were two infants. One was a twin who was suffering seizures. She was immediately rushed to Hopital Sainte Croix with her mother carrying her on a moto, and then was sent to Port-au-Prince for an MRI not available in Leogane. The other infant had a temperature of 104. She was brought back to Hopital Sainte Croix and was released four days later. Mario later told me the hospital bill was around 1,400 Gourdes ($35 USD). As I mentioned in a previous Note, Hopital Sainte Croix is a low income hospital that is essential to the delivery of medical care in Leogane Communale.

     

Many of the mobile clinic patients receive a prescription from the mobile clinic doctor and then go to the last stop in their visit – the pharmacy. Before they come to Leogane, many of the medical teams request that Mario be a member of the translators group so he can work the mobile pharmacy each day. As a patient arrives at the mobile pharmacy site, the American pharmacist reads the prescription from the doctor and hopefully finds the necessary medication among the drugs the team brought to Haiti. Then the pharmacist confers with Mario to go over the instructions he needs to give to the patient.

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Having watched him in action at several mobile clinics, I think Mario is so effective at making sure the pills, ointments, inhalers, etc. are used properly because he brings into play a combination of Marcus Welby (and definitely not House), your favorite uncle, and the wisest 50 year old in your neighborhood. After Mario talks to you, while looking over his reading glasses and waging a finger at the medicine bottle, I can’t imagine you would forget that the two pills you need to take each day cannot be swallowed at the same time, but rather one must be taken in the morning, the other in the evening.  That’s Mario and the pharmacist in Photo 0876, and Mario with the first patient of the day in Photo 0877.

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THE NEW “GREEN” SCHOOL

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The Rector of the Episcopal church and school in Matthieu was gracious enough to show me around the new school that opened September 2011.  Its construction was financed principally by Lutheran churches in Finland and Canada. For that reason, the Rector explained, one wing of the school was painted a light green for Finland, the center wing red for Canada (which also is one of the two Haitian flag colors) and the last blue for Haiti.  (Photos 0870, 0871 and 0872)  In the main courtyard a biogas system has been installed (0874), which provides methane gas used for fuel in the separate cook building and cafeteria of the new school.

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While the Episcopal church in Matthieu was severely damaged by the earthquake, so that now  church services are held outside in the pews shown in photos 0852 and 0858, some of the rooms in the school still are used for classes. (Photos 0863, 0864 and 0875).  As I was walking through the classrooms, I stumbled across an English grammar lesson that caught my attention.  (Photo 0854)  Peering at the blackboard, I learned a thing or two about the proper uses of “since,” “for,” and “also.”  A French lesson was on the blackboard in the next room. (0857)

THE WALK BACK     

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I’ve been to a number of mobile clinics, so I left the Matthieu clinic site one hour after our arrival. Mario talked to me enough before I left to know a liked his village – a lot.

It was a holiday, so why not walk back to the hospital in Leogane City Center. It only took me 90 minutes.  It was a trip that was easily divided into two parts. First was the walk out of Matthieu to National Route #2.  It is a major highway that starts in Port-au-Prince and ends in Les Cayes. Les Cayes is on the sea, on the Caribbean side, more than 75 miles west and south of Leogane.

On the walk out of Matthieu, I remembered Jeannine’s lesson. I think I surprised a few villagers when I said – I think in decent nasal Kreyol – “Bon fet drapo jodia.” There were smiles here and there, and sometimes “Bonjou” in response. The walk was peaceful. To see a quiet, lush, working farming community not too far from the hustle and bustle of National Route #2 was rejuvenating. In most cases, I met friendly people in Matthieu.

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Thirty-five minutes or so after I left the mobile clinic, I heard a siren in the distance and knew I soon would reach the main highway. I have little to say in this Note about National Route #2 that is not captured in the attached photos – 0883, 0892, 0895 and 0900 - other than to say that it is of course an important part of the infrastructure that brings people to market, connects Port-au-Prince to the western regions, and allows important products to reach rural areas from distribution centers in larger cities.

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To those of us who live in the United States, this comment must seem rather trite and simplistic.Of course highways are important. But when talking about Haiti, I know its infrastructure is nowhere near being on par with Maricopa County, Arizona.  Roads, public power, and sewer systems in Port-au-Prince do not come anywhere near the dependability of some of the poorer metropolitan areas in the U.S.  There is nothing here that approaches the U.S. Interstate Highway system. Without question, drastic infrastructure improvement is essential to meaningful progress in Haiti.

As I walked down that dirt road last Friday though, I also knew that I haven’t seen many places like the village I visited last week. I was enriched by coming to Matthieu. Thank you Mario for pestering me to finally make the visit.

I hope this Note finds you and your loved ones in good health and spirits.

Peace,

David

24 May 2012