Bonjour! How are you? I thought I would write a little about my experiences thus far in Haiti.
When I first got here on February 3, there were four cholera patients. Today, three days later, we have 36 patients. A family of six was found to have it and will be coming today for care. There is a big tent from UNICEF on the grounds for the patients. The room they were being treated in is now too small. Everyone will need to be moved soon. This morning I rolled up all the flaps on the windows of the tent to air the space. The village the new patients come from has no clean water and so we were expecting more patients. We did get up to 30 patients at one point this past week but are now down to six patients as of yesterday.
No one has died here since my arrival. We have 24/7 nursing and cleaning staff. Some we pay; some are paid through other groups. With the rainy season fast approaching, the number of cholera patients will rise as so many people and villages have no clean water.
We are involved in a clean-water project (Kolorasil program) for the people and people line up for the supplies. It is still a challenge to get the people to understand that when supplies run out they need to come to the clinic to get more.
The clinic expats consist of two Medical Missionaries Fellows who are ending their time here. I am the administrator of the St. Joseph Clinic and I work with the medical director to keep the clinic functioning, supplied, staffed, expanding and caring of the Haitian people. I am using my years of skills as the past administrator of health programs in Nepal. Sister Claris Zwareva is the other Maryknoll Sister serving here. She will do the community health work.
The poverty is very hard to see. It is even worse than in Nepal’s outer villages. Haiti is noted as the poorest country in the western hemisphere and it is easy to see why. There is a large lack of industry in the villages and the land is lacking nutrients to grow anything well. Haiti is still fighting back from the earthquake from over a year ago and a hurricane as well.
Unsafe drinking water exists and is the cause of cholera spreading. Lack of adequate health care outside of the capital is evident for the majority of people despite the attempts of the many worldwide groups doing their best. A lack of good roads is one major problem in the villages around Thomassique.
The people are friendly and at Church (packed) this morning. The music is joyful and abundant. I made a little friend. He is a little boy who sat in front of me and kept staring at me throughout the entire Mass. I got him to smile and laugh when I wiggled my ears and made funny faces. After Mass I asked him his name in Creole. He smiled and whispered his name to me.
There is a difference in the mountains from the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti. The DR has trees on them and Haiti has cut all theirs down for fuel but never replaced them with new trees. Currently not much is growing here in Thomassique or in the surrounding area. We are finishing the dry season. The land is so dry and lacks any nutrients. The rainy season is about two months away. However, last night it poured rain! Everyone was outside enjoying the relief from the heat.
There are kids around but I do not get to see them much. They are told not to come to the clinic if they are not sick because of the cholera.
I got into town a few days ago. The town consists of a place to buy a local phone, a Catholic Church, A badly cared-for cemetery (which consists of a few open graves), and a place for the homeless called the ‘Poor House,” which is made up of a few rooms where an entire family must live. There is also a very small “store” which has very little to sell.
There are no paved roads. Rather, there are very dusty dirt roads with holes and huge bumps. The main means of transportation is walking or by motorcycle.
Finding a place where I can sit at times to be quiet is hard as every space is used and people always need help of some kind 24/7.
Blessings,
— Sister Elizabeth Knoerl, MM
