Donna

Well, President Preval must have payed his bill to Hugo Chavez because the gas shortage is over today. Good for the people I guess, but bad for us because the traffic is back again. It was nice for a few days to not have to sit in bumper to bumper standstills twice a day.
The children made the day wonderful today. Early this morning a mother brought a 3 year old little boy named Clifford to our clinic. He lost his left leg above the knee and she had brought him to the hospital because of a tiny blister on his stump. People in Haiti have no idea what therapy is or that it is available so she never considered any service other than having his stump checked. I taught her how to place a special sock on his stump to help shape it for a future prosthesis and pump some of the swelling out of it and she caught on so quickly and was so happy to be able to help him. I got out several pairs of children's crutches but they were all too big for him! We finally took one set apart and rebuilt them to fit. They were red and yellow and he was so delighted when I put them on his arms. He must have watched others walking with crutches as he seemed to know just what to do. He put them out in front of him one at a time and then took a little hop. In just a minute or two he was hopping all over the clinic and little beads of sweat were rolling down his face. Having not walked for months now, he must have been so tired, but did not want to stop! We asked mom to bring him back in 2 days and hope to be able to refer him to a group that fits children with prosthetic limbs. If I did nothing else here this week, giving him back the ability to move on his own made me feel so good!
Then I went to see Isaac today and he is so much better! The little limp boy I held just 2 days ago has been replaced by a stronger one who moves his arms and legs often and tries to hold up his head when I lift him. Anise says she feeds him often now and I am so happy she finally understood how important that is. Her milk supply has increased and I know Isaac is now getting the quantity he needs. When she and I went for a walk she told her husband to watch him closely and be sure no mosquitoes bit him. I told her mom's in Haiti have so much more to worry about than in America and that she was doing such a great job. We talked about breastfeeding more today, sore nipples and c-sections. To the translator's credit,he never faltered or was too embarrassed!
JoAnn and I are trying to relax at the guest house this evening but the frogs are so noisy. They do not sound like frogs back home, but more like a group of drunken ducks quacking and laughing. It is not a rhythmic sound but more chaotic and bizarre. Last night a small red and blue colored frog fell out of a tree onto our balcony and scared JoAnn enough that the owner of the guest house heard her screams and came running to see what was wrong! We found the frog dead this afternoon and I had to peel his suction cup legs off the tile floor. Something else to add to our list of things that you will experience only in Haiti.