Day 6: Orphanage Paraclets, Caregiver School, and Notre Dame University of Haiti

The team spilt up into many different groups today and did a lot of different things. The biggest group went to the Paraclets Orphange to do a clinic on there kids and staff. Another group taught classes at Healing Hands for Haiti. Jeff and Aislinn taught college classes at Notre Dame of Haiti. Finally, Katie, Tristyn and Allison helped clean and organize the supply room and found many surprises like 40 boxes of sterile gloves! First, I will have Hailey talk about the clinic at the orphanage then Julie talk about feh caregiver school.

Paraclets Orphanage Clinic:

The journey to the clinic started with a trip to the local pharmacy. We were out of some basics and wanted to restock before visiting the orphans. Turns out, Haiti's medicine is far more expensive than the US's, but Jared (our pharmacist) was able to purchase what we needed. The Paraclets Orphanage is high up in the mountains, down a steep, broken brick path. We parked at the top of the path and hiked all our supplies to the bottom. The children (about seventy of them) were already waiting in the courtyard, all quietly waiting. Amy, Brandon, and Hailey all did intake paperwork, taking names, date of birth, height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, and taking any complaints. Then we sent them upstairs to see our excellent medical staff Emily, Jay, and Jinil. When they were finished, they visited our pharmestist and nutritionist, Jared and Kirsti, who gave them vitamins and any medications they might need. The process ran smoothly and we were able to see all 70 children and several of their staff. Most of the children were healthy and had no complaints; only one little girl had a fever of 102 degrees and a serious infection on her knee. When we were done the children sang us a welcome song, and we were able to tour the orphanage. After all of that, we were able to do some shopping on the way home, and spend way more money than anyone wanted to spend. Especially Jay, who has a very compassionate wife. 

Healing Hands for Haiti Caregiver School:

We taught Caregiver School to Haitian employees at the Healing Hands for Haiti Clinic this afternoon. Julie talked about the importance, purpose, and types of immunizations. Joyce talked about choking, demonstrated the Heimlich Manuver, taught adult and child CPR, and had the students demonstrate on dummies. Sandy addressed "caregiver burnout" and used specific examples to teach healthy coping techniques. We had about 15 students and everyone was engaged, asking great questions, and seemed grateful for the topics presented.

We accomplished many different tasks today and we are all getting ready for our trip to Hotel Indigo to spend the night and be able to relax on the beach! Thank you for everyone's support!

Words of the Day:

Kristi- Fever
Kathleen- Anfon 
Jared- Road Construction 
Jinil- Pant
Tristyn- Lazy
Emily- Rooftop Calisthenics 
Jay- Can't Say No
Joyce- Dust
Alli- Boxes
Jeff- French Keyboard 
Sandy- Shopping
Julie- Spiders
Brandon- Mezie
Hailey- Peed On
Katie- Great Day
Amy- Masks
Aislin- Krapo