Missing Haiti

It has been two weeks to the day since we set off for our Haiti adventure and I am now sleeping in my own comfortable ,bug free bed! I still smile whenever I think of the dedicated and giving people we met but especially of our Haitian friends. Donna so eloquently chronicled our first week and I so enjoy the blogs written by the new rotations of therapists. I have a story to recount involving our famous friend, Judaline. She was having difficulty even touching her left hand and would not attempt any self range. Just prior to her visit I had worked with an 8 year old boy with bilateral hand contractures. At the end of the session he was using one hand to range the other. I praised him for his bravery and his technique. The translator relayed this episode to Judaline who promptly cried, "I am a girl!" I explained that although she is a beautiful girl, she needs to be as brave and strong as a boy to regain use of her hand. I over heard her mother say, The women in Haiti are as strong as men, but we don't have the same rights. As in the USA, there is much that deserves change in Haiti.
I want to encourage therapist from clinics large and small to sign up for a rotation. It is so satisfying to provide therapy in a setting where the need is so obvious. May the gods continue to smile on our endeavor! Judy