Captains log 2019... Actually mommy’s log

Yep! Guys I am a mommy. It has been a while since I have last posted (understatement) and there have been a lot of changes. 

In February 2017 my life changed drastically. We decided to have carnival for the kids in the pediatric ward at the hospital I work for 

when I was handed a baby boy to hold...big trouble!  I do that all the time but then one of my staff members told me “li abandone ” he is abandoned. Looking into his eyes he smiled into my heart and the firstwords out of my mouth were “oh Damn”. This was love at first site and I was not ready, or so I thought. 

Code Blue....No Wait ..Code Milk

What The Mess...

So I am spending a quiet evening at home (finally) when I hear a tapping at the gate and someone calling my name (so goes that quiet night) the security guard  say that Madame  Lareche is calling for either Dr. Wise or myself and said it was and emergency ( we have a 27 week premature baby in the unit and so if Madame Lareche says it's and emergency it really is). So I quickly change into scrubs run to Joe and Anna's house telling them there is an emergency in NICU, and took off running to the hospital.

hmm... as I run through the hospital to get to the NICU, past the guard that warns me to stop running or  I will fall (it had rained earlier and hospital has tile floors), so I do what anyone would do at that point ...I ignore him and kept on running to NICU cause it's and emergency right??? I get to the NICU  where it is suspiciously quiet and madame Lareche is calmly walking away from the incubator... she opens her mouth and tells me "bebe a pa gen lèt" ....... WHAT THE MESS !!! she says that the baby does not have any milk,,, important but not an emergency.

Apparently the guard decided to add emergency to the message.

Soon after I arrive Joe and Anna get to the NICU to assist in the "code" but I had to break it to them that it was not a code Blue but a code Milk ... yeah we just had our exercise for the night .

Don't get me wrong I am happy that it was not a real emergency but dang it my heart can not take this kind of excitement.

Until next time

Blessings
'
Marc J  (S.A.L.T)

HAH's First EMT Graduates

Hôpital Adventiste EMT Graduates 

The Adventist Hospital in Diquine has four new EMT's as of Friday.  Today I feel like a proud mom x 4.  For eight weeks our students left their jobs, their families, and their comfort to attend the EMT program, an 8 week course provided by EMPACT-Northwest.   Our students left their homes before 5am in order to reach school by 8 am, missed meals, reaching home sometimes after 7pm.  Even on days where there were demonstration and people were cautioned to not travel on the roads, our students refused to miss a day of school.  Out of the several weeks of demonstrations our students only missed 1 day, that's it.

They took motorcycle taxis in the rain, endured injuries and still made it to class without complaint.
To explain how proud I am of Exume, Josette,  Pierre, and Rutza, I do not think I can begin to put it into words.  Every Sunday they would come of their own accord to the hospital for tutoring, often staying 5 to 8 hours in order to grasp the concept.   Every week they made a pact among themselves not to give up, to finish what they started in order to help change our ED and to make a difference in Haiti.

We often speak of how difficult it may be when we try to change an existing system, and how EMT's are not yet known in Haiti.  We often speak of the challenges that they will face, but more so we speak of their desire, their determination to help things change.

I am so proud of our EMT's, If they are Haiti's future, we are on the right tract.