Posts Tagged ‘PAP’
* some pix of PAP 6 weeks on:
Posted on March 8th, 2010 by admin. Filed under Haiti.
I rarely leave the tent hospital- maybe to go to a clinic or to the UN, but this time a friend took a few of us for a drive through the center of town “just to see it.” It was not different from what you see on TV, but to see the destruction 1st hand- after some time had passed- I could hardly imagine how anyone survived. Yet somehow life carries on. People sold fruit and rice out of bags at a “market”, and other industrious people were collecting metals from the rubble and cars that were destroyed in the quake. On the road side CDs, phones, champagne (?), radios, watches, shoes, etc- were up for sale. Rudimentary “tent cities” are everywhere- not sure how any of those can withstand even a light rain though, nevermind the rainy season. Near the UN tourist trinkets and art work are sold- Saw that as early as 2 weeks after the quake. At the recently re-opened airport necklace sellers are out in full force- giant smiles on their faces and jokes at hand.
* can the Argentine Army hold a candle to the Portuguese Bombeiros?
Posted on March 8th, 2010 by admin. Filed under Haiti, romance.
Yes, ladies & gentlemen i hear you- you are asking: what about the mens of PAP, this round? Last time we were in awe of the dreamy Portuguese Bombeiros. But as we know they left Haiti- all that is left is a shell of their old camp which is now used as a triage center for our hospital-
So eventually we all had to accept the reality- start to lather and wash our own hair- and sigh loudly as we eat canned fruit straight from a can- no rum drizzled atop by a muscular Adonis type. the suffering!!!! Enter: the Argentine Army…
YEs, ladies- it’s true. All a girl has to do is leave San Francisco to be treated like the goddess that we all are by handsome adorable sweet men from all sorts of different countries. But how do these gorgeous Argentine soldiers stack up in comparison to the Bombeiros??
As you an see: they are cute- but the sheer number is quite low (3 vs 30) add to that they do not have the sweet berets that the Portuguese wear. THey did come bearing their own Heineken- and yes it was cold, but no one spoon fed me or gave me a stylish flame resistant suit.
In the end they were a delicious diversion who tried their best- probably not smart to even attempt to compare them to 30 beret wearing elite force Bombeiros. However I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Argentines, and for a little while, received some extra special treatment. A memory never to be forgotten… in the midst of despair there is still life! Thank you for teaching me that.
* U of Miami Physical Therapy (PT) team in action…
Posted on February 19th, 2010 by admin. Filed under Haiti.
Unlike many in the States- if you give your average Hatian an opportunity to learn they take it, cherish it, and make the absolute most of it. I worked as a PT technician w/ a U of Miami team one rare day when were well staffed w/ PTs at the tent hospital. With our extra hands we decided to do follow up with some of the patients we had discharged to smaller clinics.. unfortunately the reality in these small clinics was that there were not docs, nurses, PTs or even cots for that matter….
A Hatian woman told me that most Hatians believe if you are sick or injured you should lay in bed & wait to heal- THat is counter to what PT is- and for many who suffered severe crush injuries, amputations, and broken bones, we knew we had to go out & educate that moving is in fact good for you- as long as it is done intelligently. At one clinic (pictured here) we had a woman go from a wheel chair to walking w/ a walker within 20 minutes with a PT from UM! She glowed as she walked- and seemed like she had just gotten her life back. It was empowering and gave me the chills to witness such a wonderful thing. It brought tears to my eyes- but like many times that week i bit them back. I worked with a school teacher that was lying on the floor in a tent the past week- i made her do some exercises that the PTs prescribed to her. She really hated it at first but with some animated enthusiasm and encourgaement (via translator) I got her up & walking with just 1 crutch- broken arm & all. Here she is calling her family to let them know the news afterwards:
When in a disaster area we all have to be extremely resourceful… not jsut with our professions but with supplies. The lead PT (a genius I might add) created a contraption with a Bally’s exercise club stretch cord, so that this sweet little 10 year old could slowly get some muscle control back -and again be able to do basic things like eat with his right arm. I was constantly struck by how much good came out of such little time and resources. I work as a psychologist: the mind- mental issues- things take a long time to change- but with PT- we saw instant results. Just a little bit of education brought so much joy. Ontop of that a few outgoing onlookers started imitating what we were doing- we began to train them in some PT basics so that after we were gone, they could step in to help. Again, the glow and joy that i saw from these poeple- to have a skill that was useful and could help- most have never had access to education- it again hit the point home that we have so much opportunity in the states that we take for granted. This was one of the most incredible days of my life. I am not expressing it too well here, but i will never ever forget this day- it warmed my heart and made me want to cry tears of joy.
* as the Fauxhawk turns: an enlightening thread from my facebook
Posted on February 19th, 2010 by admin. Filed under Haiti, romance.
Michelle May a nurse is trying to set me up with a doc- he has a fauxhawk & wears cowboy boots- do i do it?
Laticia Erving likes this.
Tags
ABC abduction border crossing Cairo carjacking citizen journalism CNN Dead Sea death Earthquake Egypt elections God grief gunshot wound Haiti hospitality hot Frenchmen Iran Iran protests Jordan Kurdish Kurdistan media media bias multimedia NBC PAP PBS physical therapy Port au Prince Port au Prine privacy issues Project Medishare protests Ramadan relief work romance Sanandaj Tabriz Tehran tragedy UM hospital University of Miami ZahedanRecent Posts
- My new weekly travel series on Frontline’s Tehran Bureau…
- Update!
- A moment not to be forgotten
- images of our camp
- My favorite baby, round 3