Who knew that you could travel from LA to Sri Lanka before dinner is set on the table…all without ever leaving Leogane?
Robinson, Shilpa, and I with our new Sri Lankan friends
Today is Saturday, which means that I have a few minutes to share with you the adventures of my most recent GPS tour of duty with Shilpa and Robinson. Normally we leave the clinic on foot before 8:30 AM to begin work, and return by 1:30 to have lunch at the clinic. However, some of the clinics requested that we meet them for afternoon appointments, after the typical Haitian clinic hours (9 AM – 2 PM) have passed and there are fewer patients to be seen. Robinson agreed to meet with us a little later so that we would be able to make the 3 o’clock afternoon appointment that was requested of us by one of the clinics.
We left the clinic at 11 AM and headed towards town. Our first stop was Prosch clinic, a clinic/pharmacy where Dr. Yves, an OB/GYN sees his patients. The building did not appear to have any damage from the outside, and Dr. Yves informed us that he had been fortunate enough to be able to continue to offer the same services to his patients that he had always offered. As we were speaking with Dr. Yves, a woman peeked in the doorway. Immediately, Shilpa and I recognized her as the woman who owned the corner drugstore that we frequent to pick up candies and crackers. Dr. Yves seemed surprised that we knew the woman, and so even more surprised that we also know and enjoy speaking with her children, who claim to have learned their perfect-American-accented English from Hannah Montana. In response he turned around the picture on the top of his desk and chuckled, “You mean my children?” It turns out the woman was his wife!
It’s little things like this that make us feel like we are really at home here in Leogane. Dr. Merisier jokes with us that Shilpa is already more popular here than he. And he’s not too far off. Apart from the fact that Shilpa is one of the kindest and most patient human beings that you are sure to ever meet, the Haitians love the “coffee and milk” color of her skin (in the words of Eunide). And I’m sure that it helps that she always tries to have a sticker or piece of candy to give to the children who absolutely adore her. Everywhere we go, we can’t help but smile as we hear “Shompa, Topa, Shoompa,” all Haitian variations of Shilpa’s name….which is ironic considering that Shilpa earned her name because her mom wanted to give her daughter a name that would be easily recognized and pronounced. Mrs. Agrawal, you did a great job!
Getting back to Dr. Yves…much like Dr. Merisier, Dr. Yves seems to be quite a jack-of-all trades. Below the title “OB/GYN” listed on his business card, there is a third line that says “Writer, Director, Producer.” Dr. Yves explained to us that he enjoys working with students to write and produce films. He informed us that the first film that he worked on with students, which focuses on AIDS, has won several awards and was featured in a film festival in Los Angeles a few years ago…(Dr. Yves also joked that Leogane is like the LA of Haiti…it has an L and an A, so we should nickname it LA…I’ve never really been to LA, but I imagine there could be a few other differences). Although we don’t have enough of an internet connection to view the film while we are here, we look forward to having a viewing party as soon as we return to the states!
We continued on to the sites that we had planned to map out that day, including Hopital Saint Croix, the Episcopalian hospital that served as Leogane’s major hospital before the earthquake. Much to our surprise, we were introduced with Mike McIntyre, an American man who is not only heading reconstruction for the hospital, but who also happens to be a former member of the Duke faculty!
Undamaged halls of Hospital Saint-Croix
After leaving Ste. Croix, and making a few more stops, we headed back home. As we were passing the UN camp, which is located only a short walk from the clinic, Robinson suggested that we stop by to talk to them about their healthcare resources. Although it was tempting to return home and call it a day, Shilpa and I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to add one more stop to our day’s work. Sometimes, as we walk to and from the clinic, we catch glimpses of the Sri Lankan soldiers through cracks in the walls bordering the camp, and we can hear their morning prayers, chants, and songs starting at 5 AM from the comfort of our beds in the clinic. We knew that sometimes the soldiers would give out supplies, clothing, and food to some of the local Haitian people, but otherwise the Sri Lankans were a complete mystery to us. They invited us into the camp and gave us a shaded seat on a bench just inside the camp. We were instructed to wait until someone came who could give us more information about the health resources available at the camp.
We learned that the UN soldiers are stationed at camps throughout the world for one of three main reasons. 1- by request of the country’s government to maintain and enforce peace, 2- by consensus of the UN that soldiers are needed to maintain peace, 3- to enforce peace in circumstances that are not peaceful. The Sri Lankan soldiers spend 6 months at the camp before they return home to be replaced by other soldiers. When we arrived at the camp, we had actually been in Haiti longer than the Sri Lankans, who had only been here for 10 days.
Although our intentions were only to gather information, the Sri Lankans offered us a tour of the facilities. We were very impressed by the orderliness, but also the coziness of the camp. There were animals seeking shade under trees that had been recently planted throughout the camp, and the buildings and walls were decorated with photos of Haitian people, Buddha, and photos and pictures of Sri Lanka. They showed us the dentist office, the operating room, the inpatient ward of the hospital, and the laboratory, explaining the stats to us along the way. Although the healthcare facilities are used primarily for the soldiers, the Sri Lankans explained to us that if they have the capacity to care for someone, especially in an emergency, they do not turn away Haitians who show up at their gate. They showed us their records which listed the civilian patients that they had cared for the previous week, which averaged about 3 each day. They told us that their greatest limitation is lack of supplies and medication.
Sri Lankan beets, shrimp, pickles, lamb, onions, and rice
After taking plenty of time out of their schedules to answer our questions, they insisted that we share with them a cup of tea before leaving. We did not want to inconvenience the soldiers, but we also did not want to be disrespectful, so we accepted their invitation…not to mention, we were not in any hurry to leave the only air conditioned building that we had entered (other than the “ChouChou” gas station) since we had arrived in Haiti. They
Robinson's favorite food is white rice
brought us into the Mess Hall, showed us photos of their wives and children back home (the Sri Lankan soldiers in Haiti are all male), and showed us videos of the towns where they lived in Sri Lanka. Two videos later, Shilpa and I realized that tea was nowhere to be seen. Instead, tablecloths had been set beneath a feast, complete with enough rice to fill a small boat, and with dishes of lamb, beets, curried cucumbers, shrimp, some kind of marinated cabbage, and apple juice (san sik!…without sugar…just the way that we liked it!) Although we requested that our new friends join us, they insisted that the three of us conquer the feast alone. I looked over at Robinson with a knowing smile and told him that I now understood why he insisted that we stop to talk to the Sri Lankans. He just laughed and told us that last year, they only had tea.
As we were finishing the meal, I looked up at Shilpa, and we had the same realization…the meal was not over.
Shilpa and I enjoying our first taste of Sri Lankan food
They had set out another table full of papaya, grapes, and apples. Although we are fortunate to have fresh papaya frequently at the clinic, grapes and apples were something I did not expect to see until I returned to the states. As our Sri Lankan friends ushered us over to the fruit table, I noticed a huge smile light up the entire bottom half of Robinson’s face, as his eyes grew to light up the upper half. I followed his eyes to the individual glasses of “kreme glas” that had appeared out of nowhere. In English, we like to call kreme glas, ice cream. Let me assure you, it does not get much better than vanilla ice cream and fresh papaya in the middle of the Caribbean.
Robinson, Shilpa, and I with our Sri Lankan friends and kreme glas
We thanked the Sri Lankans again and again for the hospitality and kindness that they had shown to us, and wished that we could offer them something in return. Although we had nothing to give, we wrote down their email addresses and promised to send them copies of the pictures that you can see here.
Shilpa and I are already making plans…summer 2011…Sri Lanka.
