Tuesday, 22 July 2014

It's hard to believe we've already been here a week and a half!  At the same time, it seems like a long time ago that I left the states...so many things are so different here that it's a constant barrage of new information.  It was overwhelming at first (and I was really missing my baby nephew!), but things are starting to feel more comfortable and every day I make more friends.  Everybody at work and at the villa has been really kind and friendly, so that has made the transition easier.  Also, I was very fortunate to arrive at the same time as three other long-term volunteers--Shana, who lives with me and is also from the states, and Hajo and Birgit, the German couple that live next door.  It's been incredibly comforting to have people around who are experiencing the same things at the same time and I have no doubt we will have a lot of good times this coming year!  I was also excited to meet Merlin, who is an orthopedic surgeon that grew up in the NPH home in Honduras and was checking out the surgical suites here.  I've read and heard a lot about him through NPH, but nobody every mentioned how hilarious he is.  Hoping he comes back to Haiti again to visit! 

Work in the NICU is going well.  In talking to the other new volunteers here, we all seem to be finding that one of the most challenging aspects of working here is simply to figure out what we're supposed to be doing...we're ready to work hard, but first we have to figure out what, exactly, we're working on....  I knew before I came that I would be challenged by this, but I guess I didn't know exactly how directionless it would make me feel.  However, it's only the second week, so I'm trying to focus on improving my languages as quickly as possible and just getting to know the nurses and learning the routine on their unit.  In retrospect, it seems hilarious to me that I was nervous to start orientation at my new job at the U of M last January...here, not only was there no orientation per se, but everything is in French.  Ha.  The nurses have been so wonderful, though--it can be tiring to precept new nurses, and I'm sure the fact that I'm constantly asking them to repeat things I don't catch doesn't help...but they've been so patient and welcoming.  Actually one of them already invited me over to dinner at her house and offered me one of her brothers in marriage, so I think I'm getting along with them pretty well.  Ha ha.     

The other main practical challenge has been getting around.  Because of recent safety concerns, we are no longer permitted to walk anywhere, so although the villa is only about four blocks from the hospital, we have to be driven (all of the properties are behind high walls topped with razor wire and gates with armed guards).  It's pretty isolating.  The UN was actually all over St. Damien last week assessing our security in preparation for a visit from Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon...however, he never made an appearance.  Father Rick joked, "Tell him the babies aren't armed.  The doctors and nurses aren't either, as far as I know.  But the babies definitely aren't."   

A million thoughts have gone through my head this week; the amount of suffering is overwhelming and forces into question faith and beliefs that were taken for grated prior.  Mass is held every day at the hospital chapel and weekday masses are funeral masses unless there are no deceased (which hasn't happened yet).  Usually there are about four coffins, but I was told that if there are too many bodies, sometimes they have to put more than one in a coffin.  Since St. Damien is a pediatric hospital, mostly it's children and babies.  They don't all have names.  Rarely are any families present.  To me, the saddest part is that nobody in attendance even knows who these little ones were, but at least there are some people there to honor these short lives.  I've questioned how people can maintain their faith in a place with so much widespread suffering, but in some ways, it seems easier to find your faith when you have nothing else to distract you.