Amy

Today was yet another great day! After a very busy morning, the afternoon slowed down and we were actually able to finish up relatively early today.
My morning began with a discussion on the age of our patient, Clifford. Clifford is a "three-year old" patient whose leg was amputated after the earthquake. Yesterday when I first met Clifford, his mom told me he was five. However, all previous documentation indicated that Clifford was three. When I asked her about the discrepancy, Clifford's mom stated that she did not know why everyone was documenting his age to be three since he was, in fact, five years old.
Today, Clifford and his mom were back at the hospital, this time to see a pediatrician. When Clifford's age was brought up again, Clifford's mom told us that she was sure he was five, but that she did not actually know when he was born.
So, he's three or he's five...that's a big difference in age. We are skeptical that Clifford is actually five. For now, we don't have an age for this beautiful little child. Our translator Alex asked me, "How can she not know when her own child was born?".
Since we finished up early this afternoon, Jenn and I took our first trip to downtown Port au Prince. So much damage, so much rubble, so much trash and so many tents. We wondered, how will they ever be able to repair this city? How long will these people have to live in tents? There is still so much to do before rebuilding can even start.
We were driven through streets of downtown PAP by our driver, Ernold. Despite the tents, rubble and damage, Ernold was so clearly proud of his city and his home. He was so excited to point out different monuments, museums, the soccer stadium, the "largest hospital in all of Haiti"! When we asked Ernold how he felt about his country, he told us, "It's my home! I'm proud to be from Haiti!".
This is what I love about the Haitian people...they don't dwell on the earthquake and the damage it caused in their city. They don't ruminate on the injuries they sustained in the earthquake. They still see the beauty in Port au Prince and in life itself. They still go about their days and try to make a living. And they do it with laughter and smiles.
Ernold also walked Jenn and I through one of the tent cities. Jenn had two small bottles of bubbles, so we gave them to a couple of the children we passed by. They were so delighted and their parents very appreciative.
After we returned to the guest house, we went down to the orphanage for the first time loaded with donations from us and from our wonderful friends. The children were so excited to see us and were tugging at our clothes. We spent just a little bit of time with them, as it was almost 7pm bedtime!
As fully expected, we fell in love with the kids! I told Dr. Bernard that I'm not quite ready for kids yet, but once I am ready, I'll definitely be returning to Haiti to adopt!!
Every day here has been so rewarding and so fulfilling, but today was such a special day for Jenn and I. We feel so fortunate and grateful that we are here to help, but we both agree that the Haitians may be nurturing us even more!