Cange ...May 12th

Today is Nurses day in Haiti. There is no school for the students so we decided to take a trip to Cange which is the site of Zamni Lasante {Partners in Health} Which is the hospital Paul Farmer helped build. We rode about 1 1/2 hours in our pick up truck, I am getting used to the "Open air experience" and really experienced the beauty of the mountains and plateaus of central Haiti. It really is a beautiful land, greener than I expected with lots of mangoe trees. my biggest disappointment is most of them are still green.The children hit the trees with sticks trying to get the mangoes to drop. we saw people all over on burros, walking, the women carry all sorts of items on their heads including one with a bucket full of live chickens. The children are priceless, all in their uniforms. The girls always have bright ribbons matching their uniforms in their hair.. many people cooking on the side of the road. the houses are small stone or wood structures. The cooking is always done outside with charcoal...which is where the deforestation comes from.
Water is always an issue. There will be a center in town with a tap. people come from all over and fill their buckets and then carry them home on their heads. As we approached cange the streets were lined on both sides with vendors selling food. mostly beans and rice and these folded over things that looked like pasties. The vegetables they sell are small and sparse due to lack of water. The fruit primarily bananas and mangoes. We did not eat any of the vendor foods as we had been warned. Their is an air of market and people always trying to get you to buy something. the gates of the hospital are like the division from one world to another. Zamni lasante is like a Oasis in the middle of a desert. we asked if we could have someone tour us around. The administrator was immediately available and seemed delighted to see us. he introduced us to a Dr. McKinley, a Haitian who specialized in Infectious diseases. He took us first to pediatrics. We were amazed to see a fully functioning peds unit with a NICU. The hospital has running water, oxygen and can care for preterm infants. They had 4 babies in the NICU on O2 that were less than 30 weeks when born. They do not have ventilators but seem to be doing a great job. We went to the Medical ward where We met another wonderful Haitian Dr. who was fluent in English. He said most of the problems they cared for were infections, malaria, Typhoid, TB and HIV. The men and women are together in one ward but seem very well cared for. they also have a lot of patients that were evacuated there for care after the earthquake. They had so many that they had to use the church as additional hospital space.
I really want to give you the image of this area as it was so remarkable. Not only the hospital and staff but the grounds. The paths were all terrraced and planted with lush, verdant greenery and floweres. The space was cool and calming and therapeutic. The terraces wind up higher on the mountain to the Maternity section. We met the two midwives who run OB. They are responsible day and night for all the patients in Ob. including the prenatal clinic. They work 2 weeks straight and then get 3 days off. I feel like I have it pretty easy!!! They were University trained Nurse Midwifes very knowledgable and did a great job. We met The OB too and he was great...they do a lot of C/S with spinal anesthesia. About 20%. But they get all the referrals from patients in the village who have problems. We then went up higher on the mountain along these beautiful paths to where they have a full school K thru 12. Then we went to the Wilson Building. Where we met Jacki Wilson a South Carolinean lady, who moved to Haiti in 1984 with her husband. He was responsible for the water system which ahs made this area into a functioning hospital and beautiful area. She stayed and has has set up as chool for the arts. She is encouraging haitians to produce artwork and markets it for them. As there is no tourism art has been struggling. She has developed a program where bracelets will be sold in the US, to remember haiti and will support 1000 jobs for haitian artists. Michelle Obama has signed on to promote this. We also visited the church where the 82 year old Father LaFontaint still is active. He was responsible for giving Paul Farmer his foothold here. They have worked together and developed Partners in Health. The book "Mountains Beyond Mountains" describes Cange and is a delight to read. As you know Bill Clinton appointed Paul Farmer and Partners in health to lead the efforts for health care in Haiti. I was overwhelmed and excited...this is a vision for Haiti!