Wendy – Blog 9 – Women
Most of our patients are women. I’d say they make up 80% of our most serious fractures. The earthquake struck at 16h50 (4:50 PM) on a Tuesday afternoon and apparently the most vulnerable were adult...
View ArticleWendy – Blog 10 – Reverie on the Radial Nerve
In our first week of medical school (more than 10 years ago), one of the earliest anatomy lessons was for us to memorize the roots and branches of the brachial plexus. (The nerves exit the spinal cord...
View ArticleSherri – Blog 1 – Touchdown
After 4 previous missions I still find myself in the Toronto airport with butterflies in my stomach. In the air flying over Haiti for my first time, my first thought is how calm thing look down below,...
View ArticleWendy – Blog 11 – Hospital in the Middle of the Road
I’m getting ready to leave. I’m trying to explain everything I know about how the hospital functions, and where the hiccups usually occur, to my successor. It includes the progress from where we’ve...
View ArticleSherri – Blog 2 – A Haitian welcome
My first day in the project and I know already that I am going to love it here! On arriving at the ITFC (inpatient therapeutic feeding centre) I took a moment to speak with all the staff and mothers...
View ArticleWendy – Blog 12 – Miscommunication
I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to figure it out. I’ve now spent a total of nearly nine months in Haiti: just over seven months last year, and now another six weeks. My Creole isn’t very good,...
View ArticleWendy – Blog 13 – Last one
At least they are no longer made of bedsheets in the wind. That’s the upside. I walked through a refugee camp yesterday. (Technically, not refugees, but internally-displaced people, or IDP’s.) This one...
View ArticleSherri – Blog 3 – An Introduction to Mental Health
On one of my first days in my feeding centre I met Joseph. At 11 years old Joseph looked 7 at most. Joseph’s family includes 11 children; they have been living in one of the tent cities of Carrefour...
View ArticleSherri – Blog 4 – It’s all about who you know!
In Haiti’s Port-au-Prince/Carrefour region I am supervising MSF’s only ITFC (Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Centre). My program is small, fluctuating between 15 to 30 children admitted on any given...
View ArticleSmall Miracles
This week Joseph was finally discharged completely from MSF’s program. It was a long journey to get here with Joseph, and there were days when I wasn’t sure that we would make it. Joseph’s mother was...
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