The rains are coming...

the road waiting to slide....a few more rains should do it.

where we go to dispense our meds, with portable xray machine in front.

supplies and more supplies

So last night there was a massive rainshower, tropical style. It poured and poured and poured, big fat heavy soaking wet drops. I ran to the bathroom, a space of about 3 meters, and back, and was completely soaked. It was unbelievable. It took six men to hold the flaps on the large tent together while they zap strapped them to the frame. And we are inside a massive tent, on floorboards, safe from the rain. We could only imagine what was going on down the hill from us, where the 100,000 person tent city is held together by nails and tarps. Rumour had it there had been a washout and people were freaking out, shelters were being ripped apart, and everything was chaotic. We were told to get ready for some influx of patients, but we only ended up getting one patient, who had stepped on three(!) nails trying to get out of his house in the rains. Tetanus shot!
This morning we went on a recon mission to he tent camp, and it was great getting to see it all and walk through the tiny alleys (1 person wide). The entire camp is a mud pit, reminscent of those terrible northern Alberta/BC treeplanting camps. Gumbo heaven. That clay just sticks to your shoes pike nothing else. We slipped and slided our way through the city, falling into each other and occasionally into the structures, for which we were yelled at (of course). It's hard to imagine everyone living like that, but they seem to manage. The kids directed us onto the better paths, laughing when we slipped. Everyone walks around barefoot, and I don't even understand how they get up and down that hill without breaking bones. The entire camp is set on a sort of bowl, funneling into the market at the bottom. Which is of course, where everything drains to. All the mud, water, piss, shit, and who knows what else, pouring down the main drag into the market. Where people buy their food. We even saw a battery pouring out acid down the hill, and people walking past it (downstream) in bare feet. Awesome.
People throughout the camp were rebuilding, digging ditches, and laying down sandy soil to keep their shelters clean. Shelters had collapsed into each other, peoples beds were soaked, and we could do nothing for them. Heartbreaking.
We trudged back up the hill to witness a woman being stitched up in our hospital, she had fallen on a broken broom handle while doing some community work and had lacerated her bum about a centimetre from her rectum. It was a deep, painful looking wound. Of course to make matters worse her husband had died in the earthquake, leaving her with four children to care for and no way of earning money. We asked her to phone someone to come help her get down the hill but she couldn't think of anyone to call. We gave her a can of ensure-like substance, and she guzzled it. We gave her five more to take home to her kids, and instructed her to come back up the hill tomorrow for follow-up, hoping she doesn't get infected. Can someone look after her kids? I hope so.
Other than that, clinic was very quiet today. Yesterday we triaged 177 patients, today we had 4. All haitians are focused on survival right now- fixing their shelters. The weekend is also coming, which slows down. I'm sure Monday will be insanely busy!
At least the rain has cooled everything down, but humidity is up, and I'm sure the mosquitos will be happy with all this extra habitat. Malaria, here we come. Water-borne diseases ditto. E Coli will be rampant, as if it wasn't already. And the rainy season hasn't even begun yet, much less hurricane season. There will be a LOT of work here in the coming months.