FHI Haiti 2012: Final Clinic

12.31.12



Our site today was at a clinic in Carrefour, on Arachon 32 (a road). On the ride there I had no idea what I would be doing. I came prepared with the dental supplies, and luckily the Haitian dentists and students also arrived so the dentistry would continue! Initial setup was hectic since I had to basically create the dental clinic on my own. We were set up in a small room in a building next to the main clinic.  Terrible lighting, very small, but we managed to make do. We set up two chairs, one of which was a wheelchair, that locked in place, and we brought the mobile dental chair as well. Childrens' chairs were used as our tray tables, a bucket with a bag for dirty instruments, and clean ones on the other side of the room. Once again, we had a ton of patients, extractions and cleanings all day. Wilkey, was an awesome translator for me all day. He stood by my side through lunch and until the end where he refused to eat without me. At the end of the day when Dr. Marabishi Jasmin got us all together for a "closing ceremony", I know Wilkey must have said something to him because I was honored to get a shoutout for the hard work from Dr. Marabishi Jasmin.














(From left: Valesca, Sylvia, Jefferson(Haitian Dental students), Karen)



One moment that day I won't forget was when Wilkey started telling me that we'll have a special patient today. A tooth that has been bothering his mother for a long time needed to come out. I ensured him we would take excellent care of her. When she arrived however, I reviewed her medical form and found that her BP was much too high for us to do anything. My heart literally sank. There was nothing dwe could do and I felt helpless. Dr. Hubert and Watson also agreed that we needed to give her antihypertensives and wait. I talked to her with Wilkey about diet and exercise and explained the situation, and Wilkey understood. I know it's going to happen, but I never, ever want patients to leave my chair in pain.

Once again dental was the last to finish up and I had to turn away one patient since the traffic would be killer if we didn't stop when we did. New Year's is a big deal in Haiti because Haitian Independence day is January 1st as well. I was also told that the Haitian revolution was one of the only slave rebellions to lead to the development of an independent state during its time. So all the more reason to party hard. At the closing ceremony, Dr. Marabishi Jasmin spoke one last time and prayed. He presented our team leaders with a piece of Haitian artwork, and voiced his appreciation for the relationship we have, and the opportunity to work together to serve the people.

That night we had a bonfire and counted down to the new year. One of the best new year's ever.