The same day as Tanya and the rest of the Angels to Haiti team arrived in Haiti Dr. Karen McCarthy and her medical team from Jacksonville, Florida also arrived. They held an afternoon clinic on October 2nd. They came from the airport and got right to work!
They brought their medicine with them and the pharmacy was soon set up.
Tanya and Holly along with a Haitian interpretor helped to man the reading glasses station.
Patients came at 8:00am to sit and await the arrival of the team. We told them that they could come back at noon but nobody did. These people were desperate for medical care. They waited for 5 hours until the clinic started.
Amos helped by calling out the patient numbers to come to the registration table.
Our kitchen table also serves as an operating table :) Dr. Karen and one of her team members are preparing to remove a cyst from this young girls neck.
Procedure completed along with a new set of clothes!
The first day Dr. Karen took more time with the patients as some of them were pretty sick.
There was a constant stream of patient traffic at the consulting table.
Another surgery done was lancing a huge abscess under this lady's neck. A rotten tooth created a huge abscess that took over her face and neck. She needed to be hospitalized but the hospital we took her to told us to come back tomorrow. It was an emergency that couldn't wait.
Dr. Karen removed a lot of pus from the abscess and the lady was started on some heavy doses of antibiotics. This lady's life was in danger because the infection was septic.... but there was a happy ending. I will post more pictures of her progress at a later time :)
At the registration table, patient info, blood pressure and temperatures were measured.
This elderly man was given a can from the team and also a pair of glasses.
He was a happy man and left the clinic encouraged by the attention and care that he received.
Jefftay, Amos' younger brother helped out in the pharmacy.
The pharmacy station was busy with a few team members plus haitian translators helping out.
Dr. Karen's team comes to Haiti about once every 3 months and they are all Haiti pros.
Tanya is holding onto this little girl.
Dr. Karen comes with toys for all her younger patients. Sometimes children try to come into the clinic by themselves just to get some toys :)
William is giving the okay sign for the clinic :)
Marlene helped out at the registration table.
Teresa is examining one of the young patients.
I stayed near the gate and helped out as one of the bouncers :) Sometimes people fight to get inside the gates, that is how desperate they are for medical care.
Roseanne is someone I have known since I first came to Haiti. She makes a living selling souvenirs. Teresa bought a crocheted bag from her.
Rudy helped out in the pharmacy too. He is the young man who went to the United States for cancer treatment a few days after the earthquake. It sure is good to see him alive and well! We are sponsoring him for his Rheto (Grade 12) schooling this year. 2 of his younger brothers are part of our Coram Deo school program.
Macdonald is translating for one of the team members. He loves helping out at the medical clinics.
Frandy was helping control the registration table and making sure that people didn't try to sneak to the table ahead of their number.
Jn. Eddy is one of our teachers (Grade 3-4 class) and is starting his 3rd year of university this year. He is studying to become an accountant.
Pastor Pierre came down from Kenscoff to help with evangelizing and crowd control.
That first day the team worked later than usual. They stayed at a guesthouse that just opened up in our neighborhood at the old Notre Maison house. Jim and Debbie Hambrick of "Until the Whole World Knows" started the guesthouse. They are veteran missionaries who formerly were missionaries in Venezuela. It is great that they are in our neighborhood.!
