Members experience Haiti on all levels

By DEBORAH A. MILES
When four PEF members joined a medical group to volunteer in Haiti at the end of March, the devastation caused by the 7.0 earthquake January 12 was far more shocking than they had imagined.

“I thought I was prepared for the trip, but when we arrived, the destruction was incredible. Everything is in ruins,” said Barbara Serafin, a clinical nurse 3 at Rockland Psychiatric Center.

“There is no electricity or running water. People live in shacks built on top of rubble where their houses used to be, and where their loved ones are buried. There is garbage piled up and people relieve themselves on the street,” she said.

Serafin, along with two other Rockland nurses, Sciencia Torchon and Loise Louis, worked in a clinic in Leogane and Carrefour.

They talked about a 12-year-old girl who came to the clinic with her head split open. A rock, holding up a tarp, got loose in the night wind and struck her while she was asleep. Her mother placed chewing tobacco in the wound to stop it from bleeding.



“We had no anesthesia. We had to remove all the tobacco with tweezers. The girl was so brave. The wound was so deep, I could see her skull. It was scratched,” Serafin said.

The girl came back for appointments to have the dressing changed, and was healing by the time the nurses went home.

Torchon said they worked and slept in the clinic.

“We lived in one big area. It was a remarkable experience,” Torchon said. “One day, we were able to walk around the town. The need for help and the great devastation was­ overwhelming. I grew up in Haiti. I was not expecting to see such terrible conditions. I experienced all kinds of emotions. I went to the street where my grandparents used to live and broke down in tears when I saw the destruction. On a happy note, I was able to see my parents. The walls had collapsed in their home, but were replaced, providing them some security.”



Back at the clinic, they saw between 60 and 120 people a day. Children and adults streamed in with cases of diarrhea, dehydration, malaria and ringworm. Another young girl came in who had fallen on the rubble and split her lip.

“She was lucky,” Serafin said. “I brought along sterile equipment so we were able to suture her lip. Her lip would have been split for life. Now it is just a scar.”

And other girls came too. They had been raped in the tents, became pregnant and needed medical attention.

While these PEF nurses were tending to patients, another PEF member, Gustavo Santos, a minority business specialist at the state Department of Transportation, distributed water, clothing and food to the needy.

“This trip was necessary for me,” Santos said. “It was a tremendous learning experience and challenging. Most of the people spoke Creole, and did not know a word of English or Spanish. It was a barrier for me in terms of communicating with them.”

Santos was touched by the Haitian children. He said they were so innocent and grateful. Whenever he gave them a dollar or energy bar, he said their eyes sparkled with gratitude.

Although the week they spent in Haiti left each of them with bittersweet memories, they all said they would go back again.