Last Day of the Wellness Program
Haiti family Initiative
Wellness Program
Jacmel, Haiti
Friday, August 9, 2013- today
is the last day of our Wellness Program. Our five- week program is over. Our
doctors leave tomorrow and camp closes today. As we leave our hotel, I am
filled with anxiety. I expect a difficulty day. I anticipate the
neighbors are also anxious about our departure.
When we arrive at the compound, there are already
too, too many people waiting for us. They are everywhere. There is lots of
tension at the camp. People know we are leaving tomorrow. Today is the
last day these people will receive free medical care for another year. So all
of our 100 medical cards have been given out by 600AM. But there are plenty
more who want to see the doctors. People are begging me to let them in even
though they don’t have a ticket. They are desperate. They are pulling on
my sleeves, pleading with me for anything and everything.
Too many others wandered into the compound for no
other reason than to score some free medicines or pick up a free pair of eyeglasses.
If supplies are going to be given away, today is the day to score a
handout. So lots and lots of people have made their way through the gate,
encroaching on our limited space.
We tried our best to keep the gate closed.
But people still sneak in. They are everywhere. They are becoming a bit
aggressive. And while I do not think anyone would purposely hurt us, I
worry about the growing crowd and their hopes of leaving with something
tangible. If there is just the perception that we are giving something
out, we could have a riotous situation.
We had a group who gathered right outside the
medical clinic. We chased them away several times but they quickly
return. Now we demanded that they leave.
People are on the benches, waiting to be called to
the intake bench. People are on the benches right outside the clinic.
For some reason, people are lined up right against the wall, just
waiting. They don’t have a medical card and they aren’t waiting for
the doctor. They tell me they are here, waiting for their children
in the camp. But this is a ridiculous statement as no one looks after
their children. They are waiting in case just in case we have some supplies to
give out.
Now there is a crowd that is gathering right
outside the medical clinic. This is a younger crowd, maybe 15 or 20 people and
they will not comply with my request to leave. They are demonstrating a
slight attitude of defiance. They are not willing to surrender an
opportunity to get something for free. Much to everyone’s surprise, I had to
take someone by the arm and escort him out of the compound. I had to break up
these clusters of people and I had to do this quickly. So I ask Max, Jeams,
Lucien, Monell and Antoine to help me kick people out.
“The only people who can be in the compound are the
people who have a ticket to see the doctors.” I tell them. This would now
bring our crown down to a manageable group of 200 down to 50 people.
The men start to help but they don’t quite have my
idea of what it means to kick someone out. They aren’t aggressive people
by nature. So it is hard for them to take control. And this moment calls
for ugly American behavior. So I have to resort to my loud, aggressive,
high school principal voice and we begin to clear the crowd. After half an
hour, we have cleared everyone out. Several of us stand guard at the
gate.
By noon, the final lunch of smelly sardines, beans
and rice has been served and cleaned up. Adeline wants to keep the
plastic bowls for her family dishes. She is grateful for the gift of 100 chipped
plastic bows. The camp kids have all gone home. The last patients have been
given an ample supply of medicines and the medical clinic is now closed and we
are all focused on cleaning up and putting the summer program to bed.
Now it is just the volunteers and the translators.
I really wanted the neighbors to leave because I have a big problem on my hands
and I don’t want people interfering with our situation. We have hundreds
of dollars of medicines that expired in March. I have to make a decision
as to what to do with all of this stuff. I can give them to
the local hospital; I can offer them to local doctors and pharmacies. I
can discard them. Or I can store them for another year and leave next
year’s volunteers with the burden to take care of this problem.
So we put phone calls in to every connection we
have. We were able to find a doctor who took a whole suitcase of medicines back
to his practice. The nearby orphanage took lots of supplies and
medicines. The local hospital and the pharmacy would not even touch the
medicine. There are few laws in Haiti and apparently the expired medicine
law seems to be strictly enforced. So now I have no other choice but to
discard this pile of drugs.
There is no good trash collection solution in
Haiti. People just throw their trash everywhere. The landfill is
the local beach. I didn’t want all of these antibiotics ending up in the
water. I didn’t want the yardman to burn the medicine for us. This
quantity needs to be handled in a secured incinerator. Otherwise, all
those chemicals would be floating through the air for every mosquito to ingest
and then become immune to them.
I call on the mayor and he comes over. He
puts in a few phone calls and he assures me, he will take the drugs and
incinerate them in a safe, secure manner. I am not comfortable with his
reassurance but it is the best option I have. So the translators and I
empty bottle after bottle of antibiotic drugs in a hazardous waste bag.
This kills me as so many people could have benefited from all this
medicine. What a lost potential.
We clean up, lock up and wander across the street
together to the local café for one last beer together. I take a moment to
look back at the Salvation Army Compound and think to myself, “what a
shithole. I’m going to miss this place”.
The other volunteers and the translators decide to make the journey up
to swim at Basin Blue Falls. I hop on a motorcycle and head back to the
hotel. I am not interested in the falls and really, I could use a few minutes
to myself. The Wellness Program is finished and so am I.
There
was real melancholy as we sailed away from the continent and headed north to
Argentina. We all stood on the back deck
and took pictures right up until the continent just became a big blur in the
horizon. And then we were back in drake’s
passage again. We have two and ½ days until we reached our port in Argentina
but we all felt a little sadness that night.
To compensate for this lost, most of us spent the last two nights in the
bar until closing. We just did not want
to waste another minute of not being together. 