Hi Everybody, i am back from Haiti and thought i would share some of what happened whilst I was out there.
The patients that I met were all spinal patients, they all have fractures to the lower and or upper spine. This means that most of them will never be able to walk again, and some will possibly never be able to sit up.
The unit I was working in has recently changed from being a maternity and paediatric unit to the first and only spinal rehab unit in Haiti. This means that a lot of the patients who have lifelong injuries may well end up in this unit. There are currently 15 patients there and hundreds and hundreds more in field hospitals across Haiti.
An example of the patients is a young girl who is 24 years old. In the earthquake, she lost her baby, her husband, her 5 siblings, her parents and her grandparents. She has a grade 4 pressure sore on her sacrum so is unable to lie on her back. She has no feeling in her legs and is not eligible for spinal stabilisation at present due to the severity of her pressure sore. This young girl has had her entire world wiped out by this earthquake. Every day I went in, she was smiling, she braided my hair, she drew pictures, she laughed and giggled, like any young woman does. However, one evening, she was crying out in pain, for the famliy she had lost, as well as with neuropthaic pain in her groin and thighs. She was crying for her lost baby and her lost family.
Nothing could have prepared me for how deeply this visit would affect me. Haiti is like a forgotten nation. The people there have less than nothing. There is no postal service, no ambulance service and the state run hospitals are pretty much like walking into a death sentence. The infections rates in the field hospital near the project leapt up to 50% in the week I was there; there were no toilets there so patients and relatives were relieving themselves in the tents where there are 40 patients, with open wounds. In the field hospital, the Milot, there were 6 tents, each with about 30 to 40 patients in them. The injuries were extensive, many, many amputees, both arms and legs. Basic is not the word for the care they are receiving. The Americans have provided an excellent service and the surgeons are performing over 100 operations a day but the aftercare is desperate. Some people are ready to go home and are medically fit but there is nowhere for them to go. They have no homes to go to and no families left. They will stay in these tents until NGO's can find somewhere to put them - this could take years.
The work that the Haiti Hospital Appeal is doing is totally and utterly invaluable. Whilst there, we were called to a road traffic accident. We went in the only ambulance in Haiti and scooped up 5 patients who were badly injured. Had this ambulance not been available, I doubt that any of the patients would have survived. One lady that we treated died in the night but at least she had a chance, more than she would have had if we had not been able to treat her.
These people have NOTHING. I have been to Africa before and I have seen poverty but I have never, ever experienced this level of poverty. Disabled people or those with deformities or limbs missing are considered to be cursed. These people are usually kept in back room, not being seen, for their whole lives.The earthquake will hopefully change this ancient belief but in the meantime, the money you have given and continue to give, goes straight to those who need it most. Three 40 ft containers of aid arrived whilst I was there with equipment for the new hospital; clothes, food, baby bottles, buggies, wheelchairs, drugs, dressings, bandages and much, much more. Whilst there, I was able to help get the new hospital building ready and the patients all moved into it whilst I was over there. The ward is comparable to a ward in the UK, light, air con, freshly painted, clean, with bathrooms and showers which can fit a wheelchair. Without donations, these patients would still be in a make shift ward, on normal matresses and in a dark room with very little air or light. The patients are thrilled to be where they are now and this one ward is setting the standard for their future care. A lot of the families never want to return to Port Au Prince...they feel that they are in their new home and have a new family in the workers and other patients around them.
My plea to you all now is to not forget these people. I feel they are a forgotten nation. The country is the third poorest in the world. How often have you heard of money from comic relief, sport relief, red nose day or any other major charity event going to Haiti? Not very often. I am guilty of ignoring this country, just like many other people but now I have been and seen the desperate situation out there, I have been moved to raise awareness and money for these people. They have nothing in life whatsoever, it is hard for them to have ambitions or motivation to even carry on living but yet they do, they smile and laugh and since I have been ill after getting back, I have had messages from the patients asking how I am and hoping that I am better!
So, please, please, keep giving and please try to keep Haiti in your minds as it falls out of the news after the quake response. It is still there, these people still need compassion and care, they still need to eat and drink fresh water and they still need their voices to be heard through other people. The patients I have met, I will not forget, and would love to go back out there at some point to carry on the amazing work the charity is doing.
I am literally begging that you do not forget this country. Please continue to donate to this site and give as much as you can. I will be badgering everyone I know to continue their support for this desperate country so you may as well keep giving before I get to you!
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
Thank you so much for all your support so far and thank you in advance for your generosity and compassion.
Hattie
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