Hey everyone!
The last couple of days have been pretty exciting. Yesterday, Charmaine, Kohki, and I went to a local doctor's clinic to watch a woman give birth to her fourth child! As soon as Dr. Merisier called us, we got ready and headed over to his tiny little clinic. The room that she was in was smaller than my dorm room at school! We arrive around 3 p.m. and waited for about 45 minutes until the baby was ready to come out. The only real technology the doctor used was a machine that was hooked up to a microphone, and recorded the baby's heartbeat. Around 4, we started to see the baby's head! He had a lot of hair on his head, and it was so amazing to be able to see a live child birth. Once the head started to come out, Dr. Merisier slowly started pulling on the baby's head (which did not look safe, but I guess it works!) to help him come out. Once the baby was out completely, the doctor held him upside for a little while and then he started crying. We watched the nurse clean him up. Besides cleaning the baby, weighing him, and cutting the umbilical cord, they don't really do anything else with the baby! They didn't check his vitals or anything. The doctor just told the mother to take the baby to a pediatrician so that he could get his vaccinations. The baby was a healthy 8 pounds and was shivering until they put clothes on him.
After the baby was delivered, we saw the doctor deliver the placenta and sew up a small tear that the mother had. He did all this very quickly and with a fraction of the medical equipment we have in the U.S. In Haiti, it's not common for the father to come with the mother to the hospital/clinic. The baby's father wasn't even waiting outside! He was at home. The mother only had her sister with her, who took pictures of the baby and sent picture texts once the baby was clothed. When we were looking at the baby, the mother's sister just picked him and gave him to me to hold! I was so surprised, considering the mother hadn't even held him yet. He was so adorable and was trying to open his eyes. Eventually the mother came over to sleep with the baby. They usually keep the baby and the mother for about 4-6 hours before sending them home. Seeing the delivery was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I got to experience that.
On Thursday night we went dancing at a place called MaSaJe groove. It was a nice semi-outdoor patio area with pretty murals on the wall and mosaic artwork on the floor. We spent a couple hours there trying to do the cha-cha and merengue. It was fun!
This morning, Charmaine and I went to the market with Lazeena, our cook. She goes to the market everyday after cooking breakfast to buy ingredients to use for our lunch and dinner. I never realized how much work it is for her to go shopping all by herself. The market was really crowded, especially since it was a Saturday, and she started bartering with the women at the stands to buy fruits and vegetables. She ended up buying passion fruit, carrots, spinach, potatoes, bananas, 60 eggs, breadfruit, rice, vinegar, oil, garlic, cherries, and "lanmbi," which is conch. She bought each of these things at different stands. She has some friends that own a clothing stand and after buying a few items she goes back to her friends' stand to store the items there. We were there to help her carry things today, but it must be pretty difficult when she goes alone. At the end of her shopping trip, Samuel, the groundskeeper at our guesthouse, picks her up and they somehow manage to balance all the food and two people on one motorcycle!
Here are a bunch of pictures from the past few days!
The last couple of days have been pretty exciting. Yesterday, Charmaine, Kohki, and I went to a local doctor's clinic to watch a woman give birth to her fourth child! As soon as Dr. Merisier called us, we got ready and headed over to his tiny little clinic. The room that she was in was smaller than my dorm room at school! We arrive around 3 p.m. and waited for about 45 minutes until the baby was ready to come out. The only real technology the doctor used was a machine that was hooked up to a microphone, and recorded the baby's heartbeat. Around 4, we started to see the baby's head! He had a lot of hair on his head, and it was so amazing to be able to see a live child birth. Once the head started to come out, Dr. Merisier slowly started pulling on the baby's head (which did not look safe, but I guess it works!) to help him come out. Once the baby was out completely, the doctor held him upside for a little while and then he started crying. We watched the nurse clean him up. Besides cleaning the baby, weighing him, and cutting the umbilical cord, they don't really do anything else with the baby! They didn't check his vitals or anything. The doctor just told the mother to take the baby to a pediatrician so that he could get his vaccinations. The baby was a healthy 8 pounds and was shivering until they put clothes on him.
After the baby was delivered, we saw the doctor deliver the placenta and sew up a small tear that the mother had. He did all this very quickly and with a fraction of the medical equipment we have in the U.S. In Haiti, it's not common for the father to come with the mother to the hospital/clinic. The baby's father wasn't even waiting outside! He was at home. The mother only had her sister with her, who took pictures of the baby and sent picture texts once the baby was clothed. When we were looking at the baby, the mother's sister just picked him and gave him to me to hold! I was so surprised, considering the mother hadn't even held him yet. He was so adorable and was trying to open his eyes. Eventually the mother came over to sleep with the baby. They usually keep the baby and the mother for about 4-6 hours before sending them home. Seeing the delivery was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I got to experience that.
On Thursday night we went dancing at a place called MaSaJe groove. It was a nice semi-outdoor patio area with pretty murals on the wall and mosaic artwork on the floor. We spent a couple hours there trying to do the cha-cha and merengue. It was fun!
This morning, Charmaine and I went to the market with Lazeena, our cook. She goes to the market everyday after cooking breakfast to buy ingredients to use for our lunch and dinner. I never realized how much work it is for her to go shopping all by herself. The market was really crowded, especially since it was a Saturday, and she started bartering with the women at the stands to buy fruits and vegetables. She ended up buying passion fruit, carrots, spinach, potatoes, bananas, 60 eggs, breadfruit, rice, vinegar, oil, garlic, cherries, and "lanmbi," which is conch. She bought each of these things at different stands. She has some friends that own a clothing stand and after buying a few items she goes back to her friends' stand to store the items there. We were there to help her carry things today, but it must be pretty difficult when she goes alone. At the end of her shopping trip, Samuel, the groundskeeper at our guesthouse, picks her up and they somehow manage to balance all the food and two people on one motorcycle!
Here are a bunch of pictures from the past few days!
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| Holding the newborn baby boy! |
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| One of the many cute calves in the field next to the house |
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| The main road (route nef) that passes right in front of our guesthouse |
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| One of the shops in Leogane |
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| The "river"- there usually isn't much water, and when there is, it is muddy and has lots of trash in it |
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| Women selling mangoes |
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| "Tap-taps-" They are the taxis of Haiti- the back seats lots of people. Tons of people cram themselves, their merchandise, and often, live chickens and goats on the tap tap. When you want to get off, you tap the roof, pay the guy in the back, and the driver drops you off! |
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| Street with many people selling things |
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| Clothing "shop"- Most of the things they sell in Leogane- like clothing, backpacks, and toys are usually used. All the stores are like yard sales. |
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| MaSaJe "Groove"- the dance floor |
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| The market |
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| Following Lazeena (on the right) through the market! |
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| Lazeena balancing a bunch of stuff on her head |
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| Washing clothes! |
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| Learning from Jocelyn |
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