Sara picked me up in Carrefour and after a chatty 2hr pick-up ride, we make it to her house in the outskirts of Jacmel. The maternity center is beautiful and I cannot wait to see it all set up with furniture and supplies. She had expected to receive a shipment of furniture a week ago, but there were delays as usual and the shipment is not scheduled to arrive to port until the end of March. Sara had called to give me the heads up as she was worried about me coming and being bored since none of the clinical activities can begin until we get the actual furniture.
Awesome that things always seem to work out despite changes in plans...
An NGO named Bumi Sehat had gotten in contact with me (word spread quickly within the midwifery community that a French speaking midwife was coming to Jacmel and staying for a couple of months). They asked me to come work with them ASAP. So it worked out perfectly as things with Sara's Olive Tree Projects will be slow until the end of the month.
I worked all morning with the people of Bumi, a gang of midwives all very eager to work and all sharing a philosophy of low-intervention births, which are the kind I love. They have set up this amazing dome tent in the middle of the field with beds and a full pharmacy. We have 6 consultation beds and do 2 days of pre and postnatal consults per week, seeing anywhere between 50 to 100 women per day. They all have charts with us and we offer them the option to come give birth at the dome when their time comes. Basic prenatal care, but oh so important. Love it! Felt right at home as this is what I had been doing in Carrefour, except that the set-up Bumi has is much easier to work in. There is still A LOT of organizing to do. Susan, the coordinator and I got along like 2 peas in a pod and she was impressed at how autonomous I already was. Really helped that I had been doing this in Carrefour, as I was back in my comfort zone of standard prenatal and postnatal care. My creole is getting better and better. My comprehension is 90% but I am still having a hard time speaking as I quickly revert to French as it is easier than to try and find my creole words. Anyways, my official application (a 4 page essay written late last night) was reviewed by the directors and approved and I got offered to come live at their huge house a couple of minutes walking distance from the dome. A comfy set up with meals included at no cost since they have taken me in as official staff. I am set up at Sara's for now but might take the offer and move in. They are expecting 8 births in the next couple of weeks and an average of 40 per month starting April. It would be most convenient for me to live with them as I will be expected to be on-call. I'm going to weigh my options and decide tomorrow. Got offered to stay at the assistant's directors hotel which is a couple of blocks away. Cheap but not free. I might just do that as I don't necessarily want to work, live, eat and sleep with the same people day in and day out for the next couple of months. Knowing myself, I will go a bit stir crazy if I don't have room to breathe. Anyways, gonna sleep on it and decide. Happy to have so many options. Everyone I have met so far has been hilarious and there is quite the mix of personalities at the Bumi Sehat House, so I'm looking forward to being busy there until things get more organized at Sara's. The beach is at walking distance and everyone meets there on Sundays for beers and BBQ. I really thought I was coming into total devastation and didn't bother packing a bathing suit as I thought that I would surely not have any time to even think of beach bumming...Apparently, it ain't so. We work hard, but SUndays are everyone's day off and all the expats come out from their guarded NGO compounds and meet at the beach. It's nice to see that there will be a healthier balance here. I'm really looking forward to the road ahead.
If you wanna know more about Bumi Sehat's work visit their blog: bumisehathaiti.blogspot.com
Internet access will be easier from now on and I will make sure to upload my pictures as soon as I can.
Love from Haiti,
T.
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Hi! I'm a doula living in Port Alberni, got hooked onto your blog and have been salivating for more details. You are truely doing amazing work, thank you for taking this on and for giving so much of yourself to these women and their wee babes. Still tearing up over your premie story.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you in these coming weeks as you settle in and get the lay of the land (and hopefully a bathing suit to get a lay of the beach, too!)
Megan
Tania,
ReplyDeleteHello from Montreal! This is amazing work that you are doing and it really is very inspiring. Thanks for keeping this blog and sharing these stories - it is truly a different perspective on the whole Haitian crisis. All the best, stay safe, and yes, enjoy the beach every once in a while!
Cheers,
Peter, Meaghan, and Olive
Salut Tania,
ReplyDeleteJe viens de découvrir ton blog, et suis en train de le dévorer...J'aimerais bien venir à Haïti pour un mois, mais j'aimerais venir avec mon mari, qui peut tout construire et réparer, et ma fille de 16 ans, qui est prête à aider des enfants et des bébés. Je ne sais pas si c'est possible, mais tu as peut-être une idée. Le travail que tu fais m'attire beaucoup. C'est exactement ce que j'aime faire. Mon mari viend du grand nord, et est très habitué au chaos, à la vie dure, et d'une patience...Tiens bon!