I woke up to a very loud gurgling sound at about 3:00am this morning. I think I actually jumped out of bed while I was still asleep because the only thing I remember is standing up outside my mosquito net, my heart pounding. It turned out to be the toilet. I have no idea what was going on with it, but it stopped eventually.
I was up for good at 5:30am when the power went off. It's just way too loud outside to fall back asleep. I'm still trying to fully understand how the electricity works at the hospital. There are set times that it is on and off and today I met one of the guys who controls it! (I think I’ll be good to know him!) He also controls the water, which he turns on only after 8:00pm (but occasionally it has been on during the day, too, if we’re lucky). It appears that they shut the electricity off between 5:30am and 7:00am. It’s off for good at 7am if it hasn’t already been shut off. It comes back on sometime after 9am (but usually closer to 10 or 11am). Then it’s off again in the late afternoon and comes back on for the night usually just as it’s getting dark. From what I understand there are 2 different generators and then there is the Haiti electricity. Right now (it’s 8pm) I think we are on the Haiti electricity because I don’t hear any generators going. This isn’t too reliable though and during the day when we have electricity it’s usually from the generators. The different generators are responsible for different circuits, too, so sometimes only certain lights work.
Anway, today was not such a bad day. I spent the morning in the hospital with the paediatrician getting the low down on the kids. We’re going to put all 4 of the kids in the nutrition program. This means the CNP will cover all their medical expenses and provide therapeutic milk (powered milk, oil, sugar, water, and there should be vitamins added but we don’t have access to the proper vitamin mixtures) to rehabilitate them. I think we just need to go over the inclusion criteria because there has been some confusion over which kids can be in the program. There are other things that need to be worked out but that is beyond what I can even think about trying to do right now.
I made Yva go to the Leogane market with me this afternoon. It wasn’t market day, but there were still some vendors there. We ended up taking the truck because Yva hurt her knee the other day and didn't want to walk. It’s nice to have vegetables again!
After the market, Yva and I went to visit a Ti Foye in the nearby village of Bronyotte. It only took 20 mins to get there and didn’t involve any mountains. Yva did a good job at explaining things to me. The women cooked a soup of yams, plantains, carrots, leafy vegetables, butter, and chicken bouillon.
(Picture: Lucnie, one of the two monitrices in Bronyotte, preparing juice at the Ti Foye)
We also went over the “3 kalite manje” or 3 qualities of foods; those that protect, those that nourish, and those that make you strong.
(Picture: Going over the “3 Kalite Mange”)
This evening I went with Frank and Marialena to meet Hilda, the director for the nursing school in Leogane. She’s great! She’s Haitian-American and has started this wonderful nursing school here. I’m going to celebrate national nurses’ day (or something like that) with them on Saturday. I think I may have agreed to teach some public health classes to the students, too.
