More?

The pics and descriptions were great. I hope you can spare a little time to tell us more..?
~bob

I've been trying. I could write captions fine, but I am having trouble finding words for what the week was like. I was thinking today that I came back changed, but I am not sure how I have been changed yet. There is just so much swirling around in my head.

My mind has been down in Haiti all week. I've been distracted and only half here. I keep searching Flickr tags for Haiti or Leogane and looking at pictures of strangers that feel familiar. Tonight, we got together with the team that went for a "debriefing" meeting; it was a chance to talk about what the week has been like with other people who "get it." That is one of the most frustrating things: talking to people who ask about the week about what it was like and getting polite, sympathetic smiles because they think they understand but they really don't because they haven't seen it. And I know this because I used to think I understood because I had seen those commercials and television specials, but I really didn't understand.

One thing I learned tonight was more about Haitian hospitals. Probably because I didn't see one firsthand and feel more distance, I can talk about that. First thing that you do when you go to the hospital is pay your bill. Once you have paid for the bed, they get a mattress out of a locked closet. That's pretty much all you get. There is no bed linen, no food provided-- a family member must move into the hospital with you to take care of you. (No bed for them, of course, they haven't paid for one.) When children get older, say 10 or 11, they might miss school for a month at a time because they are taking care of a hospital-bound parent. There are special areas on the hospital grounds for families to cook their meals.

But perhaps you don't need to be admitted, you just have a gash in your arm. First, you pay the bill. Then the doctor writes you a prescription for the things he needs to take care of you: rubber gloves, gauze pads, suture kit. You then go out to a pharmacy and are able to get a few things on the list, but need to go to a few more to get all of your supplies. Then you can go back and have your arm treated.

I did kind of snap at a student this week. Like a true teenager, he made a comment about how awful his life is. "Do you have a toilet in your house? Yes? Then your life isn't awful."