Our First Week

Week one down with 13 left to go in the Haiti Hiatus! Aaron and I are have been doing little things this week to settle ourselves into life here in Croix Des Bouquets, Haiti including buying local beer and groceries at the market stall outside the compound, exchanging our money, and most importantly determining the best position for our mosquito net (after an epic fail or two, we finally have it right!). We are starting to feel at home and are adjusting to the pace of Haitian life well, or at least we think so as evidenced by our decreasing concern over the lizards and bugs that are part of the ecosystem of our room.

The large and lush seminary compound we live on stretches out in all directions and includes an expansive garden, school, dormitories, primary care and rehabilitation clinic. It's absolutely beautiful here. We really can't guess as to how many people live on the compound but included in that number is a good amount of priests, nuns, seminarians and other volunteers/workers. Beyond Haitian Creole we hear a good deal of Spanish (many of the nuns are from Colombia), French, and Italian to name a few. Everyone is exceedingly friendly and passing by someone with the greeting of Bon Jour or Bon Swa is the norm both in the compound and on the street in the surrounding neighborhood (imagine if Chicago-ins were like that!). The compound is also a zoological society of sorts with chickens, peacocks, dogs (and puppies!), lizards and other such creatures roaming freely. It's mating season and the hens have been awkwardly laying eggs in inappropriate places like planters and tabletops in the dining area. The roosters who crow in the morning sometimes do so horribly off key which makes me giggle. The squawking (is that the right word?) of the peacocks is very familiar to me from my childhood home next to the Detroit Zoo, where we would hear the peacocks at all hours.

A tour of home...

We weren't kidding about the peacocks

Momma Hen laying an egg in the planter

The volunteer living room/chill quarters, note the planters/hen houses

Doing my notes at the end of the day

Vines shade the arbor at the center of the courtyard

The hallway leading to our room

Wish I had brushed up on my horticulture before arriving

View of our end of the compound from the rooftop

Nightly rain storm rolling in

I jumped right into work on Tuesday morning and was lucky enough to have an English speaking Haitian as my first patient. I haven't had another since and have been working my way through clumsily rehearsed phrases. But my patients have been very patient with me are are excited that I'm trying to learn their language. Between the fluent therapists I've been working with, the interpreters, and the rehab technicians (it's been a real team effort), I've been getting along well with the language barrier. Next week starts formal Creole lessons with Aaron and the principal of the school at 6 hours per week so hopefully I can close the gap quickly (or more realistically just narrow down a bit).

Kendra and Erin are the two US PTs I've been working with who have been generously educating me on the inner workings of the clinic, Haitian language/culture, and letting me follow them around like a lost puppy on all their errands and appointments. Both of them have lived in the country for over a year and I've been extremely grateful to have them as ambassadors. Verito (little Veronika) is the petite Chilean OT from the volunteer organization America Solidaria. Verito speaks Spanish and has been working in the country 2 weeks so her Creole is on par with mine. It's been interesting to co-treat with her though; without discussing it, we know what the other is trying to do with a patient and can jump in and help. For example, I had a little guy on my lap who I was working on head control and mid-line orientation with and without missing a beat, Verito jumped in and engaged the child in a way that facilitated the treatment. We've worked together with a handful of patients this week and have been able to blend our skills seamlessly to get the job done, therapy being its own kind of language that we have in common.

Kendra and Erin enjoying a slice of home in Pentionville

I've been spoiled this week with plenty of hemiparetic shoulders and out-of-rhythm scapulas to work with. I even had a Parkinson's patient who responded well to large amplitude training (extremely fun). Working with a developmentally-delayed 22 year-old was culturally tricky because I was working to re-train the mother on how to provide cueing to allow for increased processing and to account for her decreased attention. I MacGyvered a simplified GivMorh sling, but I'd like to improve on my design a bit. I also lead a weight loss exercise class with about 40 ladies and we had an absolute blast jumping around to Haitian Kampa music with empty 12 oz plastic Tampico bottles filled with rocks as 1 lb weights. I've struggled a bit more with the sensory kids and the lower extremity orthos as to be expected, but otherwise the patient population and the setting are similar to my last job in the US. Again, Kendra and Erin have been very supportive with that. The patients are really unfamiliar with the concept of therapy so they're eager to learn and motivated to work, which is the best you can ask of any patient anywhere.

The court yard where weekly exercise class take place

Erin has been my guru of power tools, teaching me how to use a dremel, power saw, power drill and even a sewing machine this week. Since there's not an equipment vendor market in Haiti (and if there were one, it'd be unaffordable to most Haitians), a lot of equipment can be made with some creativity and re-purposing of old materials. Erin has learned a lot and is a pro at this. I spent the day on Saturday and Sunday helping her assemble Rough Rider wheelchairs and MacGyver a few items including a pediatric seating device for some of our involved kiddos and a wheeled cart to hull the iconic 10 gallon buckets Haitians use to carry water in. Understanding how Haitians perform their everyday activities is a big part of understanding where to begin with fabricating adaptations. The sock-aid I found floating around the clinic (commonly used with hip replacement patients in the US) is starting to look like excellent raw material for possibly another project more suited to our patients' needs and lifestyle.

Assembling my first and probably not last Rough Rider

Step into my office

Modifying the wheelchair with a built-up back to decrease the seat depth and eventually chest straps

Turing an exchanged busted old wheelchair into seating and positioning gold with an inserted foam backing, seat and strapping and eventually a lap tray.

It hasn't been all work though. On Saturday Erin, Aaron, Kendra, and I went to a restaurant in the more affluent neighborhood up in the mountains called Petionville. The restaurant, MUNCHEEZ (you say it like that) reminded us a bit of Siem Reap, Cambodia. We ate pizza and salad and it was absolutely delicious. We swallowed it down with an ice cold Prestige lager and all was right with the world.

MUNCHEEZE!

-Clare

I second the observations Clare mentioned with regard to the unbelievable beauty of the seminary grounds, the warmth and generosity of the people here, and the magnificence of sharing pizza and a cold Prestige with new friends. A few other personal experiences to round out the week:

The tropics have been good to us - it's nice to get out of the blustery winter that keeps trailing the Midwest. While Clare was absorbing the world inside the rehab clinic, I spent my days at the seminary school just down the street where I start teaching English to 7th and 8th graders tomorrow. My boss, Sister Gloria, is a whirlwind. She speaks Haitian Creole and Spanish and no English, but somehow has no problem communicating with me. She is a warm, engaging, witty nun who means business and it's easy to see she has captured the heart of everyone at the school and in the community. She is always on the run but consistently looks out for my well-being asking if I'm happy, comfortable, if I need anything, and how I like being at the school. It's clear I'm in good hands.

Lush and Tropical

In addition to teaching English, I've found some other useful roles in the school. A woman named Maguy works as what appears to be a mix of a resource person and school OT and recruited me as soon as she heard I was looking for more to do. I'm now helping her with leading activities for the 4-6 year olds in a few classes. She tries to particularly help the kids who are hyperactive and those with sensory issues, but the activities always include the whole class. Thursday we used construction paper, yarn, glue, and scissors to make faces. And just like when I was a little tyke making paper cut-out faces for an art project, this past week I got to learn the words for eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Beyond helping Maguy and teaching English, several of the Haitian teachers want to learn more English and have sat down with me during every break period to read over my English-to-Creole notes, but with the opposite goal. It's been fun because I've gotten to know all the teachers and in helping them with English, they've been helping me with Creole.

I also took a field trip to another small school built and run by the seminarians called Corail. It's about a 30 minute drive from here and up close to the mountains. There's a beautiful church right next to it and the school has about 3 or 4 classrooms, small but with beautiful tiled floors and what appears to be everything you'd need for a pre-internet age elementary school. I went with Sister Gloria and another Chilean from America Solidaria named Karla to a meeting with about 30 parents. Sister Gloria was happy to have me there, because even though I had no idea what she was saying, she wanted to introduce me as the new English teacher from the US. In my best and broken Creole, I introduced myself and said I was happy to be there, which they all enjoyed. Sister Gloria was impressed with my comprehension and vocabulary given I've only been here for one week, so that made me feel good.

Sister Gloria also knows I'm studying to be a psychologist and has quickly made use of my skills in that regard. Of course it's hard to help someone psychologically when you don't know the language, but many of the school kids do know a fair amount of English. As she was running into a meeting with the other teachers, she pointed to a kid on a bench of the school courtyard by himself and told me to go talk to him. Three years of high school Spanish and a week's worth of hearing Creole was enough to figure out what she said: "He's got a lot of family issues, go talk to him. Don't worry, he speaks English." So I sat down and asked him what was going on. He told me he was kicked out of class for being disruptive (which seems to happen a lot there - either that or the kids just leave the class and run around the school building whenever they feel like it). We talked a bit about music, and in asking about his family he told me his mother died a couple years ago because she was sick. We didn't talk about much else besides my tattoos (Haitian kids are OBSESSED with looking at and touching them) and soccer. I told him if he ever wanted to talk more about anything I'll be around a lot for the next few months. I later learned from Erin and Kendra of the clinic that he had a severe abuse history and everyone at the seminary has looked out for him for some time now, so I'm glad I was able to connect with him.

Speaking of music, the kids here are pretty funny. Haitian culture is many things, but shy is not one of them. There's a soccer field on the seminary compound where many of the kids go there after school to both play in organized teams and watch each other with the teachers. I sat on the sidelines with the kids and tried to practice my Creole with them and the teachers. Thankfully they were gracefully patient with my poor grasp of the language. One of the kids introduced himself and asked if I like to sing, then when I said "yeah, sure I do" he demanded I start singing. I wasn't sure what to sing so I asked him what he liked to listen to and he said rap music. "Okay," I said, "What rap music do you like?" "Justin Bieber!" was his response. I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that answer, and not knowing any Bieber songs (I haven't been in touch with pop music since before 7th grade myself), I said I would try singing with him if he started. It was pretty hilarious and all the other kids were laughing. I told him that we could sing one or two of his songs for English Club (an informal elective where the kids can practice English with me). So part of my homework this weekend was downloading "Baby" and "Love Me" and wondering how this ever got translated to rap...

My overall feeling so far is that the people here - the nuns, the volunteers, and the Haitians - are extremely kind, conscientious, and generous. It's really inspiring. Stay tuned to hear how my impression of prepubescent auto tune goes over with the kids.

Cheers!

-Aaron