Haiti Post Jan 26 2010

Bedtime now. Hope for NO natural alarm clock tomorrow! We are treating lots of wounds as they heal( or not) , the secondary infections, the diarrhea, vomiting,asthma ( dust EVERYWHERE), fever and lots of babies today. Most not gravely ill now but always a few who need real help for sure. Part of our team went to 2 smaller remote villages this afternoon and found people with injuries from the earthquake who still had had no access to medical care even 13 days out now. Several finger and toe amputations had to be done, but went well. These people are so tough! You can imagine they must have been in a lot of pain for days and days. Without even Tylenol or ibu. We have that ( most of the time) plus some other stronger meds and good old lidocaine!

---just felt another tiny tremor---so strange .

We need scalpels, inhalers, splint materials, minor surgical instruments, and maybe some ronguers would be helpful.

Pediatric things very useful, too!

The city is a mess, but bustling again for sure. We still see people hunched inside collapsed bldgs sorting through rubble. Sad, and dangerous. You can tell which flattened bldgs still have bodies in them by the smell. But this means that there are also many areas that no longer smell like death.

The tent cities remind me of pics I've seen of India. Tarps, boards, anything utilized. Trash everywhere, although you do see trash cleanup ongoing. Only this is not how they have always lived. It's new, it's sudden, and it's likely going to be prolonged.

Compare to ground zero in NY: this is same devastation spread over many kilometers. People' s homes gone along with their families, business places and landmarks.

But, on a bright note, it feels good to be here doing whatever we can. The people are lovely.
If they can persevere, of course we will, too. We get to go home after.
January 26 at 7:28pm via Facebook for iPhone