~July 26,2012~
Hello, all you readers and supporters, I’m glad you have visited this blog once again.
It means you are interested in the work or the people here in Haiti! Thank you for caring and praying for us, we need it desperately! The work here is God’s work, and as His children there is nothing we can do but serve Him, for it is our calling and our joy to bring Him glory!
I have been asked to share with you one of my days. Today was very busy, so you get to follow me as I do the things that come to hand. Remember, not all our days are quite this busy, thankfully, but it is a good representation of the norm.
I went to clinic this morning at 8:45 and signed in. I work in the pharmacy, helping to keep things flowing in giving out medications, keeping an eye on the amounts used and the availability of the medicine, restocking, and the most important job of a pharmacist- double checking prescriptions. I really enjoy my work in the pharmacy, I like working with pills and figuring dosages, and working with just a couple of people. I still struggle to understand everything a Haitian says, unless I know the person, so talking mostly with my fellow pharmacists suits me just fine.
When a dossier or prescription comes in, Zita, Madam Lege, and I all help collect the meds and count the right amount into little bags. We often are working on several at the same time, or else we would be bored stiff. After that, I take the meds, double check then with the prescription, and mark the bags or bottles with the name of the drug, the number of pills to be taken at a time, and the number of times a day.
We keep things as simple as possible, because most of the people have very little education and get confused quickly. Something as simple as putting four dots on the bag, separated as far as possible and explained to mean one pill four times a day can be messed up. They will repeat back to you- “Take one in the morning, one at noon, one in the evening and one the next morning!” And then you have to explain it all over again, “No, one in the morning, one at noon, one in the afternoon, and one at night.” It is amusing sometimes, and discouraging other times, because you have to wonder just how many people actually take their medicine the right way.
Sometimes if Breanna is busy and I am not, I will do a bandage job. I did the lady this morning that had her ear cut almost off by falling on a rock, we sewed her up last night. I wanted to see how it looked, and praise the Lord, I think it will heal! I also help Michael with the blood pressure rendezvous; we have a program for people with high blood pressure. They have to return on set days, and we evaluate, and continue or change the meds they are taking. Again, a lot of the time, confusion reigns. The reasons for not taking meds the way we told them are so varied! It is typical to have between 3-8 rendezvous a day. Also, at various and sundry times I need to go to the house to get more meds, or milk for a baby or more bandaging supplies.
We finished up clinic around one, and after lunch Anita, Breanna, Nate, and I had a conference to decide what to do with the baby that came in with pneumonia. Anita had it on oxygen, and it was doing fine like that, but we were going to run out of oxygen in the morning. So we decided the wisest thing to do was to take the baby out to the Leogane hospital right away, and save some of our oxygen in case of another emergency.
They got going around 3pm, and I did things around the house till a girl came to the gate with blood running down the back of her head. I took her to clinic and cleaned up the gash made from her hitting her head on a rock, and then I had to put three stitches in. As all the stitching sets were used, I then rounded up all the instruments and cleaned and packaged them so we could sterilize. It is a long job, but I enjoy matching the different kinds of instruments up to best fulfill the requirements.
Well, it is now late, and time for me to head to bed. I hope you have enjoyed the day, and have a better idea of what life is like here. We NEED your prayers and support, all day every day! The Lord bless you all,
Virginia Rudolph
