Nurses' gear at the Haiti/Dominican Republic Border. Photo by Mishawn Pedersen.
After much logistical shuffling, our friend Mishawn and her colleagues from Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, OR, entered Haiti via the Dominican Republic on February 2. In their first three days on the ground, the nurses treated more than 1,000 people, many of them orphans. Malnourishment is prevalent, as are malaria and the flu. The team is visiting remote rural villages outside of Port-Au-Prince but has encountered a steady stream of traumatized earthquake victims, some with serious injuries. Mishawn reports that everyone they meet seems to have lost a relative or friend in the earthquake.
A family just outside the village where a clinic was held. Photo by Mishawn Pedersen.
It’s sweltering in Haiti (107 on Friday) and the poverty is overwhelming. The nurses hiked into one village that had no road access. During the clinic they conducted there, patients told them that village children are so hungry they eat dirt (a sign of iron deficiency). The group has encountered a few children in need of major surgery and is hoping to use their connections in the medical community to help them. Mishawn says that despite the long days, tough circumstances, and a couple of GI tract bugs, the group is thrilled to be there.
