As of this morning there are no lab results for the monitrice. She looked a little better today than she did last night though. I decided to give them another day to come up with a diagnosis before I convince a doctor to presumptively treat her for malaria (or just do it myself).
Today has been interesting. The two monitrice supervisors, Yva and Felicia, who work closely with me did not show up to work. Yva is sick, but she told me yesterday (we stopped at her house on the way home from the village) that she would be here today and I have no idea where Felicia was. This was not good because most of the things I needed to do today involved things they need to help me with. So I hung out with the hospital program organizers for a bit and visited the kids in the pediatric ward. Mme. Gerard told me that none of the kids are under the nutrition program even though all of them were severely malnourished. I did not understand Mme Gerard’s explanation as to why they are not in the program and I couldn’t find the paediatrician, Dr. Matthieu, to help me out. So, I just hung out with the kids for a bit. There was a 2-month-old little girl named Madeleine, a set of premature twins (the littlest things I’ve ever seen) and a 1-year-old boy with kwashiorkors. He is very sick, but I was actually able to get him to smile! So cute. By 1 pm everyone who works for the nutrition program, as well as the doctors, were gone. So that was the end of that for the day. Tomorrow I’ll attempt to figure out what’s going on over there.
After being completely grossed out by the chicken-laced food from yesterday, I told Jolina, the woman who has been cooking for me, that I will cook for myself from now on. I think she is relieved. Today is market day in Leogane (every Wednesday and Saturday actually) and so my intention was to go buy some vegetables, beans, and rice, but that didn’t happen. I asked Jolina if I could go to the market with the woman who goes every day and she told me she would have her come get me when she goes. But she never came. I think it is because her mom is in the hospital (everyone is sick around here). I need someone to accompany me to the market because 1) I don’t know how to get there and 2) I don’t know prices of things. I could have the driver take me there, but driving into the market in a truck will call way too much attention to myself. Being the “blan” (white person) is already a spectacle. And my Creole is still pretty bad and I know I’ll just get completely overcharged for everything. Since I’m going to be here for a while that’s probably not a good way to start. So, for lunch a cooked a pretty disgusting meal of dried soy beans, pasta, and soy sauce. And I ate the leftovers along with some dark chocolate for dinner. I need to do something about this tomorrow too before I get sick!
About Me
- Kara
- Leogane, Haiti
- Hi everyone! I hope that through this blog I’m able to keep in touch with everyone and share stories about life here in Haiti and wherever else I may end up! **** Here’s a quick overview of what I do: I’m the program manager for an American NGO called the Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti (CNP). The CNP works throughout Leogane district in collaboration with the Hôpital St. Croix (an Episcopal run government hospital) and consists of two main components: an in-patient rehabilitation program for severely malnourished children and a village-level “apprenticeship” program for mothers of moderately malnourished children. The village health workers, “monitrices”, recruit sick children and their mothers to participate in 2-week long apprenticeship programs in their villages where moms learn how to cook more nutritious and healthy foods using locally available and affordable products. In addition we will be working with the hospital in reinstating the district vaccination program that has been inactive for over a year. My job is to work with the Haitian hospital staff and the village health workers to make sure all of this goes smoothly! Easier said than done!