Haiti provided us with a beautiful sunset outside the hospital on our last day there
Recycled tires as a place to sit
A tap tap loaded up and down
A Haitian roadblock. This was one of the few times we observed Haitian police on the road; this car was pulled over while we were not even stopped. Perhaps our Blood of God vehicle saved us from detention.
More colorful signs on a storefront. Coca Cola is everywhere here. We drank Coca Colas everyday at the hospital which many of the team members stated they never drank. It was so warm here that a cold Coca Cola tasted so good!
A woman with her donkey
Motos were the most common form of transportation we saw
Watching the traffic drive by
This is one of a few exceptions of a woman not in a dress; this was most likely someone's home constructed of recycled debris
Not many Haitians we saw were ever casually dressed; they were dapper like these two gentlemen and they looked better dressed than we did some days! This is one of the first things we were told before coming to Haiti; dress like the Haitians do as a form of respect. We were never dressed in shorts or t-shirts outside of our hotel property
Auto Parts store
Brightly colored signs are painted on storefronts
A common sight; street vendors selling a variety of goods such as food items and other necessities such a motor oil
Apartments built with aid funding for displaced Haitians. By Haitian standards these are very nice, modern homes but the complex looks only partially occupied and are a stark contrast to the homes we were used to seeing. They are far away from the town centers or conveniences of street markets and vendors and for people without transportation, they don't appear to be convenient.
Women are seen carrying baskets of fruits and veges on their heads
Entering the traffic jam
Woodwork was seen in front of many homes; this one sold furniture
On their way to or from the market
We calibrated and tested as many Engstrom Carestation ventilators as we could, ensuring one was set up in each bay of the ICU plus one for the ED along with four LTV transport vents
Las Vegas Bar
Note the dogs in the background and foreground - most if not all of the animals we saw including livestock were emaciated
A crash cart
Jason with the ED Residents testing their intubation skills
Lisa, talking a Resident through a GCS assessment with Jason as her patient and the translator standing by
One of the lab analyzers
The analyzer command screen showing all the panels available
One of the healing gardens outside the women and children units
Haitian art displayed on a hospital wall hung with an electrical cord. Can you guess what the four black components are? Hint: we watch them when we're couch potatoes.
A patient in flash pulmonary edema/cardiac failure in the ED that Mario placed on NIV; NIV is used often in the ED
Toni, the ICU Medical Director and Rivette, a brilliant, gifted Resident who helped to translate many of the lectures
Maggie and Jason in the ED
Zadok Sacks, a physician from Ventura, who has an organization called Equal Health that aims to educate clinicians. Zadok hosted us here in Haiti. He's a gracious, wonderful human being. Thank you for giving us all this amazing opportunity, Zadok!
The following four photos are sculpted oil barrel lids; they grace the entire hospital
An ICU bay
Connor putting up his mosquito net. Mario's net completely surrounding his bed.
The roundabout and central square in Mirebalais
Typical Haitian scene. Almost every home has a cook top or grill set up or a table with various goods for sale. Everyone is selling what they can to survive.
More goods on sale
Taps taps, one small, one big. They are all brightly painted like this.
Motorcycles are a common form of transport
The Director of Immigration Complex (I'm getting good at translating French)
Every home seems to be made of hollow tile like this wall is
Trash is a problem here. They don't have refuse collection but they seem to use what they can of it. The tires half buried in the dirt were seen often; some used them as fences or borders between homes or between the street and the sidewalk. Trash is seen in heaps on the side of the road; plastic bottles and containers strewn about everywhere. A recycler could make a bundle here.
An art gallery, perhaps
There are lots of cars here; perhaps not as many as you'd expect but there are cars. In spite of that, many were seen walking or on motorcycles or crammed into tap taps.
They were organized enough to engineer roundabouts and pave some of their roads
We couldn't drink their water but the beer was safe. After a long day, the Haitian beer Prestige, was delicious, sometimes cold, sometimes lukewarm.
A paved street
Mango trees (in the background) were everywhere with a ton of hanging fruit. The foliage at the hotel was beautiful. This was poolside.
On one of our many transports
Maggie, Dr. Fried, Sean and Connor
We actually had pizza on Thursday night! It was delicious with the five star Haitian rum and beer.
At the end of a long day, the team is transported by a Partners in Health vehicle, from the hospital back to Plaza Wozo Hotel
Connor trying to save a spider's life while ensuring it did not endanger (frighten) us. It was a harmless banana spider but they're huge and scary looking with thick bodies and long hairy, thick legs. HUGE! We returned to our room on three occasions to find these monsters in the room. Several minutes later and much thought about how to best accomplish the feat, the poor spider lost which did not sit well with Connor. Thanks Connor and so sorry we made you do it! I told Kacie that they were probably crawling all over our mosquito nets while we slept. Ewwww.
