Wednesday February 3rd

This morning we got up and decided that since it would be two hours before military transport could take us to our area and the fact that we needed to buy more dental instruments we     ( Joel Blake, Jeff Bates and I) took off on foot to catch a tap tap. We walked about a mile to Delmas, as we were walking a military vehicle came by and we waved them down and they gave us a ride to the dental store. We bought the instruments that were needed and I changed out some more American money for Haitian gourds. I got some brand new 10 gourd bills which is a 2 dollar bill (I am bringing a lot home). We then jumped on a tap tap and went to the tent city on Delmas 33. When we get there the crowd is overwhelming! There are hundreds already gathered there waiting for us. This tent city has had no medical attention since the earthquake. There was a group of Haitian boy scouts there that were helping. Once we set up tarps and tables with medical kits the people began to line up. We had in our unit Doctors, nurses and translators. We sent the patients through a triage and rated each a 1, 2, 3 in severity. As soon as this was done hundreds of mothers lined up with their children. I think this was a chance for them to have a doctor look at their child. A lot of wounds were treated but hundreds of well checks were done. It was a good service to do for the Haitian people today. I am sure that most Haitians have never been seen by a doctor. Even for pregnancy and birthing a child. I think we take for granted in the US the services that are right there for us so quickly. I spent most of the day translating but also had many opportunities to treat infected wounds and rebandage them. They are just so appreciative that we are here and that someone cares about them. We saw about 380 people today and treated everything from runny noses to 3 inch boils in an armpit. We even had to emergency evacuate a patient who had a stroke to a field hospital by the airport. I know that this kind of love is giving the people here hope for the future even though it still looks very bleak to me. I am looking forward to going back to the Peitionville Chapel tomorrow to work on the members there.