Are you Haiti-ed out yet?

Lisa and I spent the next couple of days digging in the garden and varnishing beds in the clinic. We were looking forward to Wednesday, when we headed back to the Baptist church for a health clinic. MBH mostly treats women and children, although they do treat a few men.

We started out in the cooler hours of the morning.

Misty and Martin stayed back at the clinic, in case anyone needed help while we were gone.

I was carrying the little bottles of naturopathic remedies.

They are heavier than they look.

Really, they are!

Lisa toted a roll of toilet paper and her water bottle.

Me, I had decided to hold it till we got back to the clinic.

Whatever "it" happened to be.

Trudge, trudge, trudge.

Still trudging....

...and admiring the very lovely funereal adornments on this building.

Some things just don't need translating, do they?

Finally, the cool shade of the church.

Sean is showing me how to take temperatures. 

Something about the temporal artery. 

(I had to look that up.)

So I took temperatures...

...while Lisa did blood pressures, which required considerably more talent.

Our awesome Doktes with Santo.

The translators, Lucien and Santo, worked as hard as anyone else.

I spent some time being the pharmacist at the table on the right, which made me feel very powerful.

I also checked the teeth of the children who were waiting to be seen. Children who had cavities scored a toothbrush and toothpaste. There was a startling correlation between cavities and lack of brushing. Big surprise there! It was a fun job, as some of the kids were reluctant to open their mouths for inspection and had to be cajoled. The moms finally got into it and were saying "brose, brose" (brush, brush) when I asked them if the kids brushed or not. 

One little boy took one look at me and started screaming. He was inconsolable. I felt a little better when he had the same reaction to the doctors.

Mission accomplished. 

I think we saw about thirty patients. 

Not bad for a morning's work.

My impressions of the day?

I love how the moms dress themselves and their children in their best clothes to see the doctors. It is reminiscent of a respect for themselves and the doctors that we don't see too much in American culture any more. 

The children, whether brought in by moms or grandmas, were obviously loved and cherished. 

They were often malnourished. 

Most of the children are given coffee to drink, which causes stomach aches and other problems. 

The doctors fight ignorance and superstition as much as illness. 

Many of the people waited for two or more hours, but the children sat quietly and no one got impatient or complained. It was an enjoyable and gratifying morning.

And the walk home was very hot.