Today was very medically-focused. Several children and an old man came to the clinic with bad lacerations on their feet, some of them terribly infected. Future Doc Will Perez, with a little help, addressed these wounds, and then we walked a half-mile down the road to a village where a man complained that his newborn daughter was sick. The origin of the baby's discontent is still uncertain, but she is well below average size and weight for 3 months. We also met with a young boy who is the victim of Ring Worm; his head is covered with circles of pus, but he is seemingly unaware of the severity of his condition. It's so sad to see very sick people--especially young children--who are smiling and upbeat.
Will and I spent several hours this morning examining the houses and beds of the children for bed bug infestations. Bed bugs resemble small tics, and they can bite a host up to 500 times in one night; they look really gross. Worst of all, their bites can cause anemia, and they can carry diseases like Hepatitis B and Chagas, which causes kidney failure and anorexia. We concluded that virtually every bed in every house (with perhaps a few exceptions) has bed bugs--that's horrible. Tonight I wrote a project proposal to address the problem: destroy all existing beds, bomb the houses with insecticide, repair all holes and cracks in the walls, caulk all windows and corners, repaint the insides of the houses with oil-based (anti-insect) paint, and move in new beds and furniture. This plan has some overlap with Paige's "Houses to Homes" project, which has been the source of my and others' painting, and which already has plans in motion to make new beds and furniture. All projects must be formally proposed (with estimated costs, specific procedures, timeline, etc.) and approved by Father Marc and the Board of Theo's Work. I gave our project the title "Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite." Estimated immediate costs don't exceed $500, so I'm sure the project will be approved. The goal is to finish all this up, along with the plans of Houses to Homes, by the end of the summer before many of the children return for school.
On a more reflective note, I am starting to feel more like I belong here. Will and I were very productive today by working together. I love waking up to rooster crows in the morning, getting to work, and having my workout at the end of the day. On my runs around the soccer field, the kids stare as if they've never seen someone run "just to run" before. It's funny when the little ones try to run with me, but they collapse before long in exasperation. I always bring my iPod with me when I run, but the kids love it so much that they just end up huddling in a bunch passing the earphones around while I circle laps around them. Almost every time I take it back from them, I see Bob Marley on the Artist Search.
At night, I ask a lot of questions, and listen to the things that are running through the other volunteers' minds. I'm curious about the mindset of people who have been down here for long periods of time. Linda, for example, has been down here for 19 years, so I spend lots of time picking her brain. It seems that faith in God is often a key ingredient to sticking with it for the long run--otherwise, it's easy to get discouraged and feel hopeless. My personal opinion is that everyone is confronted with hopelessness down here from time to time, regardless of whether or not they believe in God...but maybe those feelings are less frequent and less consuming if one believes that "God will provide"...? God is such a vague word, I wonder how people who talk about him know that they have the same phenomenon in mind. Whether or not you are a spiritual person, being in a place like Haiti has an emotional effect, and it inspires constant reflection on your past, and urges you to re-evaluate your projected future.
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