A group of 8 medical students from Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University, with mentors Aaron Michelfelder, MD and Rev. Sam Sawyer, S.J., traveled to Fond des Blancs in May.  They were joined by 4th year resident ZL who has just finished a year with Paul Farmer in Canje.  With great enthusiasm, the group organized and packed medicines they had purchased  to treat the poor.  Four full days of clinics were planned for remote areas in Belle Riviere (1 hour drive) and Villa (very difficult 1 ¾ hour drive up a steep mountain). 

Belle Riviere  has a very small clinic manned by an aid trained by the Ministry of Public Health.  She had about 20 bottles of medicine and little else.  Once a year, a doctor visits from the U. S. under the Parish Twinning program.  They saw 95 patients the first day and 110 the second.  Patients were mainly suffering from hypertension, gastric problems (secondary to lack of food and hyperacidity) and diabetes.

Villa is on top of a mountain, far away from everything.   The local Mennonites have built a lovely clinic and would like St. Boniface Haiti Foundation to staff and supply it.   It is still unfurnished, so people in the community brought chairs, tables, and mats from their homes to be used by the team as they saw patients.  The first day, 200 people were seen.  The second day, 450 patients showed up and the truck was sent back to the hospital for 2 more doctors and a nurse.  Patients in general were much sicker here, as it is a 10-12 hour walk to the hospital and no transportation is available, so most people are not able to get to the hospital for treatment.  Many of the elderly were carried to the clinic.  There were several transfers to the hospital in Fond des Blancs.

One of the most compelling cases was 19 year old Monique who arrived in an extremely agitated and paranoid state.  She was suffering from cerebral typhoid which is usually fatal in a few days.  She was quickly transferred by truck to the hospital in Fond des Blancs where she was treated with life-saving antibiotics and recovered. 

An Emergency Room was set up to treat a variety of injuries-burns, machete cuts, and more, all lying on the floor on cots.  One man, in particular, had a burn on his leg that he had sustained on a motorcycle.  It was covered in a filthy bandage. The wound was cleaned and debrided, then covered with non -stick gauze, antibiotic ointment, and wrapped with gauze.  He was instructed to return again in 2 days to clean and rebandage it again.  He was so thrilled to get the care that he needed that he stayed the entire day.  When he returned 2 days later, there was a dramatic improvement in the condition of his wound.  The team was grateful for the opportunity to help these people. 

While all of the was going on, our Public Health Nurse was busy testing 150-200 people a day for aids and doing Aids Education.  It was a great opportunity and much was accomplished.

In gratitude to the team for their gift of medical care, the community prepared, each day, spice tea and bread in the morning and a lovely lunch of rice and beans and chicken.  How proud they were to have the resources and the dignity to be able to provide it.

Click here to read about Max Leither's experience.