Emily and I have kept in pretty close communication over the past year. After everything she and I have gone through with staff transitions, big MFH news, and simply growing older, we have a mutual understanding of what it is like to work in an environment such as this -- this house, this community. Her most frequent comment to me was that she couldn't wait for me to see how much has changed and how little has changed, at the same time. I now see exactly what she meant.
There's something about coming back to a place that is so unavoidably nostalgic that makes you aware of any subtle differences. For example, there are ways in which the program management has become more streamlined. The volunteer recruitment process is more efficient. The maternity ward walls have been painted, screens put on the windows, and fans installed above. But then, the people are exactly the same. The whole staff and all of my friends around town have greeted me so warmly. I hopped on a moto with Davide on Monday, expecting to be holding on for dear life every time we came upon a rocky or wet part of the road. Instead, I wasn't holding on to the back or nervous about big rocks. When I danced for the first time at the disco on Sunday, I was told I dance like a Haitian girl (a serious compliment!). And I am definitely still sick of the breakfast food options in the house. It's really, really great to be here.
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The past few weeks have been exceptionally difficult in the Central Plateau. Although it is the middle of the rainy season, rain has been relatively scarce. Last night was the first night it had rained in a week and a half. On top of that, city power has been out for about a week. Everyone's phones are dead, businesses are closing, and it is difficult for anyone to be productive. For us here at MFH, this generally means that we rely on the trusty generator to get us through. Unfortunately, the generator finally pooped out on us after so many days of consistent use. Li se yon granmoun, Manno says. The generator is an old person. Napoleon, the boss jeneratris, has been working on it as late as 10 pm by flashlight to fix it. We thought he was going to be successful a few nights ago, but it won't run on its own, so he took it entirely apart and tomorrow he'll make the trek to PAP for the one piece we need.
Having no power is generally fine by me. It's been extremely hot, which is miserable for sleeping and just general productivity, and the cooks weren't able to cook the dinner they'd prepared for us the other night (thank God there is Easy Mac at Ebenezer market), but I can do most work without internet until my computer dies -- and my little Macbook's battery lasts quite a while. Unfortunately, when everything dies, we are unable to work. And, once the water tank on top of the house ran out of water, we no longer had running water. So, it's been bucket showers (took my first one today in a few days...) and we've been carrying buckets of water from the cistern out front to the bathrooms to flush. I caved and bought some minutes on a Natcom stick so I can use the internet until my computer battery dies. Life in general is just a little bit harder, but I'm definitely ready for the power to come back on! Always an adventure.
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As I began to work on a monitoring plan for the mobile clinic, I realized that I needed a better understanding of what exactly the midwives do at each clinic. In other words, how, logistically, do they see 20-120 patients between the four of them? How does the paperwork get filled out (this includes both diagnostic materials that are used to follow a woman throughout a pregnancy, but also data collection sheets for MFH purposes)? Which parts of the mobile clinic would not happen without x, y, z? So, this morning, I went to Bassin Zim with the ladies. It's a much closer (~40 minutes), much shorter (~20 patients) clinic, but we saw both new and old patients, as well as one postpartum lady with her sweet baby, too. I took notes and feel very ready to work more on the monitoring plan.
What's difficult is that I want to collaborate with Nadene and Steve more than I am able to without wifi. I'm hoping that I can get enough of a start on everything, and then we can work back through everything when I am able to reach them over Skype.
In other news, Bobby bought his flight today! He's officially visiting the last two weeks I'm here. I'm sure I'll still be working hard by then, but he has been experiencing some severe FOMO, so I'm not surprised he caved and bought a flight. Every staff member has asked me about him, so I know he'll be welcomed as warmly as I was!
I'm still conserving battery life, so I'll stop here, but I'll do my best to update every few days. Thanks for reading!
