Traverse City Record-Eagle

Perspectives, by various authors

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  • Emmy Lou Cholak

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  • Haitians are still living near and in buildings that are falling down. Photo by Emmy Lou Cholak

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April 30, 2011

Perspectives: Helping Haitians with health uplifts, yet shatters

By Emmy Lou Cholak, Special to the Record-Eagle ----

As we all hopefully remember, Haiti had an earthquake more than a year ago. The devastation was enormous in a country that was already in poverty.

I recently went to Haiti with a medical mission of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee as their pediatrician. The trip was amazing. I have never worked so hard emotionally, giving all I could to each child and family. It came from the heart and thankfully my well of love never emptied.

I'm so grateful that I had skills to share and help.

The first baby I saw at the Aprosifa (Mom and Baby Clinic) in Port au Prince will not make it; there is a hole in his heart. You could hear the blood rushing through it. He was about half the average size for his age, lethargic, malnourished, slowed development -- an obvious case of "failure to thrive." He also had infections and skin pustules. It's not like we can refer him to a U.S. hospital for the much-needed operation. There is nothing like that available here, and he is very retarded in development.

I prescribed an antibiotic, specific care in cleaning the skin lesions and love -- and let the mother know as gently as possible that she was welcome to return to this accepting oasis of caring any time.

We saw many patients, some sicker, some less sick, all day. One problem followed another.

Many we could help. Satisfaction comes in the doing and the smiling, the encouragement we give just by seeing them and in the sincerity of feelings that we transmit.

It's a day that we can count as finished but that our clients will never be able to close. We are the lucky ones as we try to share with them -- but in so doing we even more point out our advantage and their great need for assistance.

Being on the giving end is not all good -- and being on the receiving end brings a longer list with its own multiple pains and sorrows.

One of the three local agencies that we partnered with, KOFAVIV, (meaning, in Creole, Committee of Victims helping Victims) is a well-organized, good agency. They train women from the tent camps so potential victims, or those already victimized, can have support and help, right where the problems are.

One of their functions is to match people as partners to go to and from the bathrooms at night. The bathrooms -- just port-a-potties -- are at the end of the tent "city" and it takes long dark walks through shadows to get there. It would be unsafe for anyone, especially with such high unemployment and young girls and boys with no families left to protect them.

I was there at the time of Pesach, the Jewish Passover. Moses helped free the Hebrews from Pharaoh. He led them out of Egypt, the land of slavery, eventually to the Promised Land. Where is the Moses for the Haitians? Where is any leader for them? They have their faith, which they cling to as a hope for the future, to give them strength, to help them dream. In the meantime their reality is poverty, abuse, neglect, starvation, filth, victimization, continually, on and on.

A few million dollars is still needed to give to each man a shovel, pick ax, wheelbarrow, and a place to put the loss of their city and life, building a new monument of rubble to the memory of an earthquake conquered. Add to it a dollar or two a day per laborer, restoring their personal pride and, hopefully, Haiti would again rise to be the land they love, returning their life and culture for all Haitians.

With the job of restoring their country after the earthquake in their own hands, pride in themselves and their country will gradually return. With pride will come respect. With attaining self-respect, respecting others begins and abuse and neglect should decline.

Who will donate those millions of dollars to help, without asking for tons of financial return. The return needs to be in the giving. We are so blessed and how much do we really do to help others?

Emmy Lou Cholak, of Traverse City, is a retired physician. To donate to the UUSC or to learn more, go to www.uusc.org and click on Haiti.

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