They say the hardest part about public health nursing is getting to the patient. Case in point: today we just couldn’t get there.  We had planned to cross the Grand Anse, the river that shares the name of this region, to conduct our final adolescent health fair.  Mother Nature had other plans.  The rain that fell throughout the night caused the river to rise too high for our snorkel truck to cross.  Clad in our classic white and blue uniforms, we dispersed out across the muddy, rocky, pot-holed “roads” of Jeremie.

Team 1: Out to downtown Jeremie to the Aka-1000 mill to see how protein enriched flour is made which is distributed by The Haitian Health Foundation to combat malnutrition in women and children. 

Team 2: Hopped in the back of a van with Sister Sophie, a nurse midwife from India, to provide prenatal care in a mountain village.  Oddly, they crossed the Grand Anse using a bridge.  They screened mothers using a high-tech portable sonogram and a tape measure.

Team 3: Who says there’s no “I” in team?  Our lone ranger braved the language barrier with an “English translator” to a village heath post where local midwives convened for their monthly educational session reviewing postpartum danger signs and contents of birthing kits provided to them containing clean razors, gloves and other various supplies necessary to ensure a safe birth.

 

After our tasty lunch of granola bars and trail mix, we reconvened in the afternoon to observe primary and prenatal care in various settings.  At the Center of Hope, directed by a German national, prenatal care was facilitated by Haitian and Cuban physicians and nurses and students assisted with counting fetal heart rates and measuring gestational age with a measuring tape.  Meanwhile, across town at HHF, patients, dressed in Sunday’s best, braved the heat and their own discomfort, to seek care.  Patients waited in the halls to be seen with a range of ailments such as toothaches, malaria, gastric pains, STD’s, arthritis and hypertension. Health care concerns prevalent in the United States were echoed with Haitian care providers such as patient adherence, availability of medicine and concern for the price of receiving treatment.

 

As hard as it is to get around Haiti, everyone manages to get here.  From India, Cuba, Germany, Canada and our very own charm city. Practice in global health nursing presents itself with barriers related to culture, language and training.  Our time in Haiti has demonstrated that passion for providing care transcends political, economic and language obstacles. Somehow, we all understand each other sharing laughs and hiccups in translation working to empower a community.