St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish provides financial support for St. Joseph Hospital, a six-story building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. During our trip we went with hospital administrator, Fr. Calixte, to assess the progress of post-earthquake re-building. Much of the hospital had been damaged or destroyed and it was slowly, floor by floor, coming back to life.

At the top of the stairs on the 3rd floor, there was a statue of the Virgin Mary mounted on the wall, returned to its spot on the re-built wall after having fallen through the ceiling to the 2nd floor during the earthquake. Much of the third floor and the floors above were in large part reduced to rubble. The statue was found standing upright and virtually undamaged on top of a mountain of concrete chunks and debris that had come crashing down onto the second floor.

The only damage to the statue was that her hands, folded in prayer, were broken off. Which caused us to wonder

- are we now her hands?

 

 

 

 

There is an image of a child that I cannot get out of my head.

While making “medical rounds” in the mountains, we were directed to a mother who had a baby with a bad cough. The family of six lived in an 8 x 10 shelter with corrugated metal forming the walls and a tarp serving as the roof. While the coughing baby was being checked out, I noticed another baby sitting diaperless in the dirt in front of their home.

I have a grandson, Joseph, who will celebrate his first birthday in a few weeks. I used a mental image of Joseph as a gauge to help me approximate the age of this baby. Based on size, I guessed the baby to be about 7 or 8 months old. I approached him, squatted down and attempted to engage him – rubbed his cheek, made some funny faces, picked up his hands and gave them a little shake. Nothing. No response at all. Just a blank stare with glazed over eyes.

Ro and his stethoscope, along with the mother and an interpreter, joined me. I indicated that the baby was very lethargic and should be checked out. A few quick words exchanged between the mother and the interpreter brought to light that the baby was in fact 4 years old! He has never walked or talked. When asked if the child had eaten that day (it was late afternoon), the response was “No.” When was the last time he had eaten? “Yesterday…I think.”

The child’s heartbeat was faint. I was told that it was likely that he would not be alive by the time we visit again.

We spent an entire day traveling to and visiting Our Lady of Mt. Carmel chapel, which sits high up in the mountains of Haiti. To get there requires two hours by truck over the rough mountain roads and another two hours on foot. Eight of us made the trip. Fr. Jesse traveled with us so we would be able to celebrate Mass when we arrived. Approximately 250-300 people filled the chapel!

After Mass, we set up a mini medical clinic. Nurse Duray and I were in charge of taking vitals – blood pressure, temperature, and oxygen saturation. Over a four-hour period, we saw nearly 200 people! Of those, about 150 just wanted human contact and to check out our medical gadgets – blood pressure sleeve, digital forehead touch thermometer, etc. Those whose vitals were outside the normal range were sent to the next tent for a closer look. There they were treated for pneumonia, bronchitis, skin infections, and a variety of other ailments.

Everyone who had come to Mass stayed for the day – our visit was a big event not to be missed. Before leaving, we gathered together with our new Haitian friends and prayed. We began our two hour journey back to the truck, leaving behind 300 rosaries and some much-needed medicine.

In the midst of all of the chaos of Port-au-Prince, some comedy relief. An elderly man standing on the side of the road, wearing a flannel shirt and a baseball cap that read: Git-R-Done.