On Good Things

My last day of work in Haiti is this Friday. These last few weeks have been incredibly great. Busy, fun, and with a sense of belonging at the clinic. We are really in a big push to see as many patients as possible right now. As you probably know, my job is in the OB/GYN part of the clinic here. Within the larger study of examining when it is best to start ARV treatment, we are running another study looking at HPV in HIV positive women. Then within that there is another study looking at prostaglandin levels in women with and without cervical lesions. All this translates into me being very busy in the clinic, trying to coordinate patients coming, the appropriate paper work being ready (harder than you can imagine to get copies), examining patients, giving treatment, etc. It has been very hectic. Amidst this, though, I have realized how much I love about what I do here:

1) When I walk around the clinic I always run into coworkers who I horse around with and joke with in Creole ("bay odyens"). It has really become home to me in the last few months. It's helped that I’ve had to beg pretty much every lab here at some point to let us borrow supplies of some sort.

2) Our drivers are awesome. Sometimes we have a chance to stop and buy them all beer on the way home from work. It’s a good time. These guys could ignore us or whatever (they speak little if any English), but instead they are always upbeat and friendly, joking around with us in Creole about everything. They also cash checks for us and do other minor things that must be done. (And they put up with me when I insist we need to see another patient and we can't go yet.)

3) The two OB/GYN guys are work with are fantastic. One of them has on more than one occasion stayed well past 4:30 (6:30). This may not seem like much, but the labs shut down at 4-4:30 and everyone goes home. But this guy never complains; he just is like, “yeah, this is my job.” I am going to email the director of the clinic about him. He’s great.

4) The administration. They have been excellent. Despite not really knowing the director of the clinic, the secretaries/admin ladies have taken care of absolutely everything I could need. Any time I had a problem about a paycheck or anything else, they took care of it.

5) Locals. The locals where I live are wonderful. I am friends with a few guys here. I met them both the first week I arrived. While I work a lot here, whenever I can get out to the street to eat I do. My favorite is the lady around the corner who sells this big spicy plate of spaghetti for about a dollar. When I go out and sit in the dirt street/alley and eat, I always see the local guys I know. And they’re always really nice. I invited one of them to Mandy’s going away party; he speaks little English, but I think enough people spoke some creole there that it was “anfom.”

6) Plat de jour. I couldn’t leave this off! This is my daily lunch plate of rice, bean sauce, and meat. It is awesome, and it’s huge, and it costs 1.50 US. I love it.

7) Having no car but things being possibly available just around the corner.

8) Learning how much I know about seeing patients in the clinic, although I claim to know nothing about it. Although I complain about clinic, as I began to learn more and more Creole I began to understand patients more and was able to explain the drugs to them , the exams, how important it all is.

9) The ex-pat community and other foreigners. While I miss the lab desperately (turns out not everyone is concerned with “what the answer is”, but rather are concerned with looking good or appearing smart), I have enjoyed the other ex-pats I have met here. People from all over the world and even states. Being from the US-South is a unique thing here; especially considering that I am one of the most educated science people.

10) Haiti. This place is poor, many are uneducated, many are sick, and yet there are still smiles just a few feet away. While there are many things that bother me about this place, one thing about walking around here, especially as a “blan” is that you are always greeted. There are even some kids here that always say to me when I see them “Goodmorning!” It doesn’t even matter what time of day it is!


I am sure I will be back.