Student Stories

Jessica Claridge, MD



Jessica and Magda enjoy some play time together.
 This was my second trip to Haiti, and it sank in a bit deeper than my first trip two years ago.  I don't know whether it was the increased ease of communication with the many translators that overran the hospital, or that everyone can identify with tragedy on some level and so it is easier to feel a connection, or that I worked 15 times harder and longer hours and therefore felt more dedicated, but I came away refreshed, confused, pensive, and as usual, with more questions than answers.

No one was untouched by the earthquake, no one.  Everyone could give you the death toll for their family and tell you exactly where they were when the quake hit.  Many had no homes left to go to, and those who did were afraid to sleep inside of them.

By the time I arrived in Haiti, four months had gone by since the earthquake.  The grounds were not quite as packed as in the preceding weeks, but the hospital was still full, sometimes too full, and there was plenty to do.  I had the privilege of working on the orthopedic service.  

Each day began at 6:00 am rounding with the volunteer orthopedic surgeons and often with the physical therapists as well.  At 7:30 am, there was a daily meeting on the front steps of the hospital to have worship and to make announcements and plans for the day.  After that, the madness would begin:  following up on labs, making sure new patients were ready to go to the OR, discharging patients (hopefully to home, but often with just a tent, and sometimes without), changing bandages, scheduling new cases, sporadically helping out in the clinic, helping with pain management, and somewhere in the middle of it all, slipping into the OR to experience the miracles of orthopedics.  This somehow managed to fill the day until 10:30 at night, when a cold shower was actually desirable and refreshing, and then off to bed in my tent on the hospital roof.

My time in Haiti stretched me in many ways and while tiring, it was so worthwhile.  The experience reinforced the realization that each visible problem is only the tip of the iceberg and that I understand so much less than I think I do when I'm at home wondering why someone just doesn't do this or that.  Although my trip to Haiti was overwhelming, it only served to solidify my desire to stay involved long-term.  The problems may be complex, but these people are our brothers and sisters.  It is this understanding and the relationships formed that make reaching out so important and worthwhile.