A Horrible Situation Redeemed

The last several days I have had the privilege of teaching Haitian nurses. These are the nurses at the front lines of this battle against cholera. Dr. Kara Gibson gave several us the task of brainstorming to develop simple lessons on hygiene and aseptic technique, rehydration and patient care documentation.

Our Haitian nurses come to us with four years of education and a variety of experience. For many, this is their very first job. Others have some experience in an outpatient setting, but not with IV’s. Then there are a few seasoned veterans among the ranks who can start an IV in the most elusive vein and who have the experience to help us tease out diagnoses which often coincide with cholera.

I love that Samaritan’s Purse is not only in the relief business, but also looks  toward development. The old “teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. I also consider it a personal challenge and joy to work myself out of a job.

After all, long after we leave, these Haitian nurses will still be here fighting the good fight against poor health amongst their own people.

So, we begin with a diagram of a stick figure nurse teaching her patients and their families good hygiene, the importance of oral rehydration, and how cholera is spread and can be prevented. If each patient and family member returns to their community and teaches their household and neighbors, who then do the same, then the efforts will be multiplied and the results life-changing for an entire country. We plant the seed that one nurse can make a significant difference in Haiti.

We also point out the obvious: these nurses are becoming experts in the prevention and treatment of cholera. God is transforming this horrible situation into a gift of great value for these nurses. They will be forever enriched professionally by this clinically challenging experience.

We end each short session with the presentation of a simple certificate, complete with a stamp from the Samaritan’s Purse office. Each nurse will keep and use these treasured certificates when they seek future employment.

My favorite moments? When they become animated, jump at the chance to demonstrate removing an IV, or when they smile and laugh at my Kreyol. But the best moment was yesterday when they sang an impromptu song to thank me. No matter how much I give these dear people, I always come away more than blessed.

Sweetness.

Keeping Our Sanity

In the midst of so much suffering and overwhelming need, the tender and humorous moments help us get through the grueling hot days and long nights. They help us keep our sanity in an otherwise surreal world.

Seeing a recovering child sit up, eat crackers and laugh at a silly face drawn on a balloon.

Catching a glimpse of a chaplain stroking the cheek of a child frightened by an IV insertion.

Holding a limp child who needs some TLC while her mama nurses her younger sibling.

Watching a father tenderly care for his small children while their mother lies ill on the adjoining cot.

Wondering which patient has the strange cough only to realize it is the cow just outside the tent.

And then there are the definitions unique to this setting:

Positive TapTap Sign:  patient arrives at Triage in a TapTap with horn blaring, lights flashing; have the IV ready to go

Pest Control: Mama hen leading her chicks around the camp to devour the hundreds of gnarly grasshoppers

Multi-tasking Generator: powers floodlights, dries freshly cleaned cots, dries hands, warms IV fluids and offers heat to patients chilled by the night air and cold IV fluids

Gourmet Survival: MRE’s, Meals Ready to Eat. Shelf life 12 years. Mmmmm.

Decon: process of cleaning every possible contaminated surface with diluted Clorox; including shoes, scrub clothes, pens, stethoscopes and bodies.

BRAT diet Haitian style: ripe banana, white bread, bouillon with plantain or bread, white rice

Rehydration Cocktail: Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), straight up (no ice)

Baby Food: crushed crackers mixed with ORS and perhaps ripe banana

These are the moments which make the scope of this disaster less terrifying.