Trying to Make a Dent

A little late with communicating tonight as the internet has been down. The day seemed to be “the usual” if there is such a thing. We all have seemed to settle into routines. Marietta and March made their rounds on the surgical wards taking care of wounds and changing dressings. Marietta dove right in and took care of 2 infections; one was on a breast and the other was on a lower leg cellulitis. She used Qtips to drain out the infection with the hopes that they will seek further medical attention after we are gone. March and Joanne dressed a burn victim. This was her 3^rd dressing change by our group. She seemed pretty comfortable until the final dressing was applied. The only “pain” medicine that these people receive is Ibuprofen. That is just not enough when you have such bad burns.

Matt was in the OR doing a few cases. None were reported to be as difficult as yesterday; 2 hands and one ankle. Dr. Pierre –Louis was very excited to use a powered pin driver as opposed to a hand tool. Matt says the ankle was a one week old fracture/dislocation that went “well”. Actually his words were, “it was good”. For the surgeons back home reading this that must mean it was fine.

Linda was on standby to enter the OR as needed for support. In between she would be in the airless, windowless, supply closet with Joanne as we continued to try and sort through the numerous boxes of donations; some old and some new. Matt joined the organizing team in the closet when he was done for the day and helped to sort through the chaos. The girls did not do a very good job making room for all of the orthopaedic stuff we need space for. They will try harder tomorrow.

We ended our day around 5pm and walked back to the hotel. The scenery is unbelievable. So many sights and smells to experience. Very few people will speak to you as you are walking by unless you say hello first. Joanne likes to do that. No one else does. She hands out gum (they call them chicklets) and they follow her for blocks. We wish she would stop.

We all took great pictures today. Sam, Marietta, Matt and Linda took a walk to the waterfront where we saw the potential for a beautiful landscape and harbor. The reality was far more depressing with dirty ocean water, laden from the unfiltered sewage from the city. Amazingly though, we also saw children walking down the streets studying their schoolwork under the fading light of day, reciting memorized lines from their worn textbooks. It seems that education is the only way out of the poverty that surrounds us.

That’s all for now. Hopefully the internet will be back tomorrow so we can post this update. Love to all.