There are few dull days here in Oriani, and it seemed like January was par for the course – lots of interesting cases! We saw a total of 1,611 patients, delivered 4 babies, vaccinated 35 children, and did 213 prenatal consultations. Here are a few highlights since our last update:
One Sunday during the morning church service, a motorcycle pulled up to the church and the driver asked for some help with his wife, who was in labor. Turns out we knew the guy; he drives truck for a good friend and fellow church member, Ti Pierre. So Carmina, Chancela, and I headed over to the clinic to assess her. Everything seemed to be progressing normally but she was very early in her labor, so we sent her home with a few instructions and told her it would likely take a while, as this was her first baby.
Fast forward to Tuesday, when my phone rang at 2:45am. It was our friend Ti Pierre telling me his driver’s wife had not yet delivered but they felt it wouldn’t be long. I told them to come to the house and we would assess her. While I waited for them to show up, I got around a few supplies we would need in case the baby was to be born quickly. When he pulled up in the driveway and honked, I went out in the cold darkness and unlocked the gate. Here was the same lady we had seen Sunday, accompanied by her husband, along with Ti Pierre and his wife and the usual assorted family members. We ushered her onto the front porch where we had our supplies set out and examined her. It was obvious that the baby was not far from being born, so I woke up Chancela and Roseline to come assist and we gloved up. While we waited on the baby’s arrival, Ti Pierre’s wife played double roles by supporting the laboring woman while at the same time keeping us entertained with stories about how her babies’ deliveries had gone in years past, and how Ti Pierre didn’t like to see her suffer so he always left when she was in labor. We tried to get this lady’s husband to come in and support her, but he told us he “didn’t have the heart” and quickly vanished back into the darkness. Apparently, that’s a cultural thing here. In the States, we put a lot of importance on dad being around for the delivery, but here it is very common for the husband to be unable to support watching their wives in discomfort, and many times they choose to be nowhere around. Anyways, we chatted and coached the laboring mom, and around 4:00am, a beautiful healthy baby girl was born! It is a pleasure to help any and all patients, but it seems especially good to see someone you know personally have a good outcome.
Unfortunately, not all our patients recently have had an outcome that positive. One early morning Carmina and I headed to the clinic to see if we could help another laboring mother who was pregnant with twins. An ultrasound done earlier in the week had shown abnormalities with the pregnancy and we had told her she must go to Port-au-Prince for a hospital delivery, but unfortunately she went into labor before she had time to make the trip. The first baby was born normally at home but the second was not delivering, thus her reaching out to us for assistance. We quickly discovered that the second baby was already dead. We did what we could with the capabilities that we have here, but sadly, she hemorrhaged and passed away in our clinic. It was a blow to us to see a patient die that we were trying to help, especially a new mother with a small baby. The family and locals made it even harder, if possible, by graciously accepting the outcome and thanking us for doing what we could to help. But it caused us, once again, to remember that we are only tools in God’s hands and sometimes there is nothing we can do with our limited resources and abilities. After she died, some fantastic stories starting floating around town. It is custom here that when a pregnant lady dies, she cannot be buried with the baby still inside. The family of this lady had made some attempts to extract the baby on their own, but were unable to. So the next step was to hire an ounga, or a witch doctor, to cast a spell and make the dead mother deliver the baby. We were left with many questions and we still have no idea what the true process was, but in any case the baby was, indeed, removed from the mother’s body before burial. Some things are better left undiscovered. The dark side definitely has power over those who believe in and practice it, but the Christian need not live in fear.
Down the same line of voudou and dark magic, we had another interesting case recently where a lady brought in her fifteen-year old son for consult. Her story was that he had been sick for several days with a headache, abdominal pain, and some vague psychological symptoms including talking strangely, wandering around, and not responding appropriately. She also reported that he had lost bladder control and was now urinating on himself. I had many questions in my mind as I examined him. He appeared to be a well-developed, normal fifteen year old, but he simply stared blankly at me and refused to answer most of the questions I asked. “How old are you?” Blank stare. “What is wrong today?” Nothing. “Can you tell me your name?” Silence.
His vital signs were normal and I could find nothing obviously wrong with him, but something was clearly not right. He had, in fact, urinated on himself, which is not a good sign. Finally I asked Carmina to come take a look to see if she could figure out anything, and when she came into the room things started falling into place. “Do you know who his mom is?” she asked. “She’s a mambo.” A female witch doctor. Ok, so maybe there is something more than medical going on here? As the story unfolded, we found out that she had already taken him to an ounga, or male witch doctor, quite a distance away in Belle Anse, but he had told her to bring him to us. I felt somewhat helpless, as it seemed there were spirits at work here that we probably could not conquer in our short consult time. We finally gave him a few medications and sent him home. When we told him he was free to leave, he simply rose from the chair and stood in the middle of the room, staring blankly around as if he had no idea what to do next. We pointed out the door, and he took a few slow steps in that direction before stopping again and swaying on the spot. Finally his mambo mother took his hand and led him away. What more should we have done? What will his outcome be? What power does darkness have in such a young person? In those circumstances I feel so helpless and my understanding of the Haitian Creole language seems too rudimentary to try to explain what I’m thinking or feeling. Since then, I’ve visited with a friend of mine here about this boy and he encouraged me that if he comes back to the clinic, we should let our secretary Frè Willy know what is going on so he can come visit with the family. He is a minister in our church and can help us work through these situations.
February finds Haiti in uncertain times. The president, Jovenel Moise, was supposed to be finishing his term and holding elections this weekend, but he says he is not giving up his seat because it was a full year late that he was able to take up the office because of the political situation at the time. The opposition is demanding that he step down, but the international community including the United States supports his claim to another year in office, so we’ll see what becomes of it all. In any case, here in Oriani we feel safe and quiet, relatively insulated by miles of rugged mountains from the unrest in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Keep us in your prayers and support our work if you feel prompted! We can’t do what we do without you and your donations.