The Story of James

James at the clinic.

James was one of many children that became orphans because of the earthquake.  When the walls fell on his house, his small four year old body had enough room and he suffered from a wound on his head; his parents, being much taller, were killed by the falling walls.

James lived alone on the street for several days.  Although for practical purposes he was considered an orphan, he had to be seen for a number of days to be without an adult guardian in order to be declared orphaned.

James came to the orphanage at Croix-de-Bouquet for temporary placement about ten days after the earthquake.  The wound on his head left his skull exposed.  Our team was able to clean and dress the wound.  If the wound stayed clean and James stayed well nourished, the skin would cover the bone at a rate of a millimeter a week.  With the narrow part of the wound measuring 8 x 5 cm, the skull might be covered in a year; however, without surgery, the open wound has a high risk of infection.  An infection would not only prevent healing, but might also go through the bone to the brain.

James receiving some much needed attention.

A couple of days later, we heard that a plastic surgeon had arrived at Love-a-Child Hospital, where tents were set up in open fields about fifteen minutes outside the city. James became one of the first patients to be operated on!  The skin was closed and he recovered well from the surgery.  After the surgery, he returned to the orphanage for post operative care.  With James eating well and with the wound closed and free of infection, James is expected to have a complete recovery.

Although, like many others, James became an orphan because of the earthquake, he is one of the fortunate ones that will be well looked after with clothes, food, lodging, schooling, and a loving environment. We are thankful that James has found comfort amidst his lost, and pray that the same might happen to other children who lost their parents in the earthquake.

The Story of Joshua

Joshua is from a family of four children. His family lost their home in the earthquake. Joshua and his family were able to stay at the orphanage instead of setting up in one of the tent cities.

Joshua at the clinic

Joshua, his sister, and I got to know each other when I asked why they were looking at me and laughing. They said that I had greeted them by saying “Bon jour” instead of “Bon soir”. And didn’t I know that at five in the afternoon is the evening (soir) and no longer day (jour)?

I then asked them about one of the fruit trees on the orphanage. I asked if it were papaya or mango. The next day, Joshua shot a stone at the mango tree to make a ripe mango fall and gave it to me as a gift!

Later in the day, I spoke to Joshua’s father, Tito, who is a semi-professional musician. His father gave a smile and told me about Joshua the day of the earthquake.

Joshua and his family lived in Port-au-Prince, but were on the street when the earthquake struck. They witnessed their home cracking then crash. Joshua, who loves music as much as his dad, cried, “Dad! Hurry and get my drums!” Tito realized he was unable to salvage anything but decided to teach Joshua: “Joshua. There are more important things than drums. You should ask me to get our Bibles instead.” Joshua, pointing to his head, answered, “Dad, you got it wrong. You made me memorize bible verses so that when your house falls, you can save the drums. Go get them!”

Fortunately, no one in Joshua’s family sustained injuries so I did not have to doctor them. However, getting to know Joshua and his family was one of the highlights of my work in Haiti.

The Story of Manushka and her baby Buverier, also known as Beverly

Baby Buverier being treated.

Our team had been in Haiti for one week.  On the fifteenth day after the earthquake, Manushka came with her sister and her four month old daughter, baby Beverly. The sisters had lost their parents in the earthquake, and were the only remaining family members. Baby Beverly had severe diarrhea that had started before the earthquake, but got worse once the earthquake struck. While grieving the death of her parents, Manushka feared for her daughter.

Upon examination, Beverly was extremely small for her age.  Although she tried to drink, she was just too weak. Even though Manuska’s technique was checked by our lactation consultant, Beverly’s dehydration was so severe that she simply could not draw enough fluids and nutrients from breastfeeding.

We brought Beverly and her family to the Miami children’s tent hospital.  She received IV hydration overnight.

We came to see how they were doing the next day. Beverly was feeding well and appeared much stronger! With the hydration, her diarrhea was better as well!

Baby Buverier being treated in Haiti.

But she had another problem which, now that she was stronger, we could address.  Her feet were bent inward and, even with pressure to turn them, we could not put them straight.  This is called clubbed feet.  Without treatment, she would never learn to walk.  The orthopedic surgeon suggested that Beverly get weekly casts on her feet for a year. If in a year her feet were still not straight, the surgeon authorized transport to Miami Children’s Hospital proper in Florida where he would provide the surgery without cost.

Not only was her life and death issue of dehydration resolved, but her foot problem would be addressed!  How wonderful for Manushka who, after loosing her parents, was comforted by the health of her baby and the assurance that her baby’s foot problem would be resolved.

Interview with Dr. Robert Yelle

Dr. Robert Yelle was interviewed as part of the service for Renaissance Church on February 7, 2010.  The audio from this interview is now available here.

Most people will be able to click on the link to listen to the audio on their computers, or right click and select “Save Link As…” to download the audio file to their computer for later use.

The Story of Jackson

Jackson is a 17 year old who was carried to our clinic by his neighbors on a door on account of the fact that he could not walk. This was on our first clinic day in Haiti in the area of Carrefour near the epicenter of the earthquake, but ten days after the earthquake occurred.

Jackson being carried into the clinic.

Jackson was at home during the earthquake with his younger sister and their father.  His mother had died years earlier due to cancer.  The walls of his home fell on him and his sister.  He and his sister were caught in the rubble for many hours.  When they were broke free by their father, Jackson could not walk due to the extreme pain in his left leg.  His sister fortunately suffered minor injuries.

On exam, Jackson’s left hip was grossly displaced six inches away from the midline.  His femur at the level of his hip was fractured.  Without proper surgical alignment, he would never walk on his leg again.

Jackson’s father had not been able to seek medical care for his son despite it being ten days after the injury was sustained.  The family had no way of transporting Jackson to the hospital: they did not own a car; hiring a cab was prohibitively costly; and public transit not an option as Jackson would not be able to mount a bus.  As his injury was closed, meaning that the skin was not broken, his life was not immediately in danger and, had he been brought to the hospital, Jackson would have faced a line of many hundreds of people and might not have been assessed for a full day. Assessment would have been delayed on account of the hundreds of cases that were life or death.

Having read about the relief work that different organizations were doing throughout Port-au-Prince, I immediately thought of the American and Canadian Red Cross temporary hospital.  The hospital had been set up in the streets around the ‘Hopital Universitaire” at the heart of Port-au-Prince.  The University Hospital itself had fallen to pieces: the hospital walls were cracked and lecture halls collapsed on an entire class of nursing students.

We hired a taxi at the end of the clinic day, and brought him to the University Hospital.  Because we were medical personnel and we escorted Jackson, he was taken from the cab by the United States Military and brought to the temporary hospital run by the Volunteer Haitian Doctors Association.  A volunteer police officer from New York was instrumental at ensuring a bed for Jackson in one of the white tents set up along the streets that served as a part of the temporary hospital.

Dr. Yelle with Jackson.

We were able to leave Jackson in good hands.  He would be operated the next day from an orthopedic surgeon from the United States working with the Red Cross. Post operative care would be offered by the Volunteer Haitian Doctors Association.

Jackson was in good spirits when we left.  Jackson’s father was very grateful.  He cried when he hugged us to say good-bye and said thank you more times than I was able to count.

I left the hospital with the team satisfied that we made it possible for seventeen year old Jackson to receive the care he needed to be able to walk again.  It was an excellent finish to our first work day in Haiti following the earthquake.