Hitting the Ground Running

Morning: In Haiti, there is no need for alarm clocks or wake up calls. Before the sun rose, we were already being awakened by the sounds of nature - birds, chickens, but most loud and proud, the roosters. The breakfast bell rang promptly at 7am where we were greeted with French toast, hotdogs, fresh pineapple, pineapple juice and good strong Haitian coffee. We knew it was going to be a good day. We had a full morning of patient care with Altidore (the Haitian PT tech who works at Bethesda). We treated and consulted with her on treatment interventions for a variety of conditions. Most of the patients we saw had a stroke but we did treat a few orthopaedic conditions.

Afternoon: We had six patients scheduled but none of them showed up. We decided to invest our time in teaching and educating Altidore by giving her the chance to ask any questions regarding patients she is currently seeing in the clinic. Most of her questions revolved around treatments for gait deviations post-stroke. In the picture below you can see Bev demonstrating hands on techniques with Altidore. We then unpacked the supplies we brought and all discussed the benefits and uses of each item. Although it wasn’t what we expected, it was unstructured time well spent pouring into Altidore and Charlot, one of our trusty translators (the Haitian man in the picture below). They have also been pouring back into us to help us better understand Haitian culture, language and patient interaction.











Highlights from the day:

Bev- 

1. It was a little slice of heaven to spend a morning working with a full schedule of highly motivated post-stroke patients and their invested caregivers. They are so appreciative of any suggestions we have to help their recovery, which in Haiti, is mostly on their own.
2. I have been praying that this trip would be one in which our team can provide a long lasting impact through education of Haitian therapists. The afternoon of one-on-one mentoring with Altidor was an answered prayer on Day 1.
3. Today is my birthday. It was a huge highlight to have “Happy Birthday” sung to me in Creole not once, not twice, but three times.

Wick-

1. After praying for one of my patients this morning, she asked if she could pray for me. This is the third time I’ve been to Haiti and I’ve never had that experience before. It was so wonderful and humbling to experience this woman’s heart for Jesus as it poured out into her prayers and interactions with me. Her energy was contagious and I look forward to seeing her again next week!
2. Celebrating Bev’s birthday with her and our Haitian friends.