Haiti, May 2016
I had my third opportunity to visit Haiti with a group doing eye examinations and eye health treatments. The first two trips were to the hospital compound at Millot about 45 minutes south of Cap Haitien. This trip was to Pont Sonde northwest of Port-au-Prince by about a three hour drive.
What a difference at the airport since 2012. There was more than one runway and this terminal is two stories and very modern. The previous one was a small one-story building that had seen better days. Also, the newer terminal could handle hundreds of people whereas the older one was about 50’ x 50’ and packed like a sardine can. AND I was able to order a
steak sandwich which was as delicious as ours, especially after an abstinence of seven days!
We were housed in a real hotel this time which was very modern, perhaps 5 star with a few minuses; electric sometimes, roof stored water for the cold spout with a SLOW flow, no hot water, and air conditioning when the electricity was on. It was nicer than my two earlier trips.
Four doctors and fourteen support staff were able to examine 1200 patients. We were really moving along! Three days were spent in a clinic next door to our hotel, and two days were spent in two different churches, one Christian and one voodoo.
Our patients spanned the ages. All of the children were quiet, well behaved, and respectful. The only problem with the adults was that THEY wanted to be first and jammed together like sardines. I had to keep trying to keep the peace and keep them in line. Otherwise, the adults were respectful to us and very grateful for our services.
We saw many patients who needed no further services; excellent vision and healthy. However, there were about 50 cataract patients that were so blind that they needed to be led into our area. These were referred to the surgeon in Port-au-Prince the next day and were given their post operative visit with us the next day. They entered with the eye patch on which we would carefully remove, verify their condition, and ask them to read the chart. They were astounded, thankful, teary, and giving hugs to us. Now, these particular patients had been without any sight in either eye for years and suddenly they could see print, trees, their church, and their family and friends; quite exciting. Part of our group fee paid for these operations at
$50 each! Eyeglasses were provided to hundreds of people. Their vision varied from mild to extreme. Again, it was exciting to see people’s reactions when they could suddenly see. Glaucoma, hypertension, and diabetes are more common among blacks and this was very evident in our examinations.
I did see many rice fields on this trip, and the “farmers markets” had thousands of coconuts, squash, bananas/ and watermelons. The housing in towns and in the country were much like what I saw on the other trips; sticks with a tarp, run down buildings, and trash galore. It seems like everyone just chucks things along the roads. In fact, there were many dump truck loads just dumped along the highways that had been gathered somewhere. Occasionally there was a nice house, and Friday afternoon found us in a superb resort and gardens. Some people do have money anywhere you go.
In any “town” area the traffic was horrendous; motor bikes, vehicles, and pedestrians mingled together to closely without anyone giving in to the other so it was like lava flowing though fingers; there were rare accidents because everyone paid attention to the dangers.
I compared it to an ant hill; imagine 350,000 people in Boyertown as an example.