Shabbos in Haiti

Day 6 is in the bag!!!

Kiddush for Shabbat in Port au Prince

We have completed 32 cases this week, a variety of congenital deformities and a smattering of other pathologies. Today was the last push, we had all be working since we got here. This is where the coca cola came in, just enough sugar and caffeine to get to the end of the day. Our day was filled with OR and clinic, pain control and cast changes. Our teaching came to a close with defibrillator lessons, some EKG reading and clubfoot lectures as well as a practical lab for our great technicians!!! All in all, heat, rain and mosquitoes...it was an amazingly wonderful, heartbreaking, educational trip. It is amazing when there are a group of relative strangers with a common goal that can get together and get along! It's like the reverse of The Real World!! We have worked together and broken bread (MRE, Protein bars, Tuna, Mac and cheese). We have our routine, by the time I gather my bars and cup for coffee, John and Chris have heated up the water for their coffee and generously share with me! Cindy comes in to prepare our coffee and everyone elses starts filtering in. We set out for chapel or OR and get our day started, at the end we meet up casually checking email, eating dinner, chatting and getting to know each other. I am excited for tomorrow no real cases, no scrubs and a chance to really hang out although I feel like I know everyone....an amazing surprised was left in the break room tonight, courtesy of Brittany Blair, the long term lab tech volunteer serving here at Adventist. Brittany was a religion major at LLU, and she studied Biblical Hebrew and Judaism, among other topics. In order to make us feel at home, she prepared Shabbos candles, grape juice and challah bread, braided and doubled. Although I myself am not Jewish I felt a great sense of comraderey as Dr. H and his family lead the prayers. Shabat Shalom every one, Day 6 is done!
Yo Jen