Day 37: Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Well, Hurricane Sandy has been hovering over us for the past few days here in Haiti. I was expecting a lot more wind and lightning, but really all it's been is wet. But the difference between a few rainy days at home and a few rainy days here is that Haiti's environment doesn't have the structure that we do, so their dirt roads become dangerous muddy rivers and the streets start to flood. We had a total of 10 patients yesterday morning, zero patients yesterday afternoon, and a whopping zero patients today. Pretty much everything except clinic was closed. Good thing it's only a 2 minute walk from the guest house! And good thing I brought a book...

As the rain was pounding on the tin roof above my head last night and I was curled up under my mosquito net, I couldn't stop thinking about the thousands of Haitians that still live in tent cities. For those of you that can't really grasp this image, imagine the worst thunderstorm you've ever experienced. Now imagine that you had to sit through that thunderstorm in a 5x5 tent. But instead of a cozy camping tent with an air mattress and a lantern, your tent is made of a tarp that you found 2 years ago after the earthquake and now it's full of holes and leaking all over you. Not only that, but it's been raining for 3 days, so now your "floor" is a 3 inch deep puddle of mud. And you know you don't have a bathroom, right? So every time you step outside to go, it's being washed away toward your neighbor's tent. All of this while you try to keep your kids safe, who all keep saying that they're hungry and cold.

Still worried about Hurricane Sandy affecting your plans for Halloween weekend? I hope not.

Which leads me to another thing that's been bugging me. For those of you who asked me "why Haiti?", saying that we have plenty of need in our own country - we have NOTHING like this. I've seen things here that I never imagined I would see, things that no one should have to live with. I've had patients come in with clothes and shoes 4 sizes too big or too small because that's all that they have. I've had hemiplegic and paraplegic patients carried into clinic by family because they don't have a wheelchair. I've seen amputees, stroke patients, and paraplegics be brought to clinic on motorcycles because it's the only public transportation available to them. There are people with contractures, wounds, and infections that would NEVER happen in the U.S. because we have access to clean water, pharmacies, and doctors. I can't even tell you how many times I've had patients ask me, with their heads bent in shame, if they could do some easier exercises this session because they haven't eaten for 2 days and they don't think they have the strength. All I can do is give them a granola bar and watch them work so hard to get better. Despite all of this, the Haitian people are incredibly humble, happy, and genuinely thankful for everything they have.

How is it possible that we don't have to experience these heartbreaking things, just because we were lucky enough to be born where we were?  It's amazing and frightening all at the same time...

xo