Helping Tennessee live up to its motto as the "volunteer state," three doctors (two MDs and a PhD) from Chattanooga have traveled with the V.I. Medical and Children’s Relief Trip in the past few weeks. Two left Wednesday, and one returned Jan. 31.
After spending 15 days at the Community Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Dr. Henry Francis, a St. Croix gynecologist formerly of Chattanooga, has tales to tell. For one thing, he says, nobody thanks the rich.
Pediatrician Kathleen Hunt and Catherine Colby, who holds a doctorate in anthropology and has traveled extensively in developing countries—Guatemala, Guyana and Dominican Republic—arrived at the St. Thomas Jet Center Wednesday morning with the enthusiasm of schoolgirls anticipating their adventure, which had begun about 48 hours before.
Friends of Francis and his wife, Suzette, Hunt and Colby say Suzette had shared the doctor’s e-mails documenting his Haitian experience, which duly inspired both women.
"We were amazed about the effort going on from the Virgin Islands," Hunt says.. "We decided to help." Both women have children of their own. "I have three boys, Hunt says, "and I would hope someone would do the same to help them, if needed." Colby, a mother of two, agreed.
Colby says though she isn’t a medical doctor, she has traveled extensively in developing countries.
In Haiti, Colby says, "I’ll do whatever they ask me to do. I can do nursing, organizing."
That must be an understatement. Since finding out about 7a.m. Monday that they would be leaving the next day, the two women gathered more than 600 pounds in supplies for Haiti.
"We have 50 boxes of medical supplies, tarps, tents, even stuffed animals. That includes at least 30 pairs of crutches and 30 walkers," Colby said.
"In four hours’ time, our church, St. Paul’s Episcopal, and Bright School came up with the child medications, fever medicine, pain relievers, sterile hospital gowns and masks," Colby said.
"These are just good people," said Hunt. "And, Delta waived baggage charges."
Dr. Francis left on the mission’s first flight Jan. 16. and returned Jan. 31, the longest stay so far of any physician.
Now, having had time to catch his breath (almost), Francis shared his thoughts Thursday evening, though he had to interrupt his tale to deliver a caesarean birth at Juan Luis Hospital on St. Croix, where he is on staff. ("Successfully," he says, after we resume our conversation.)
The Haitian experience is obviously very much with Francis. He pauses thoughtfully before proceeding.
"Good things, bad things," he begins. "We found an eight-month-old baby underneath his mother, who was dead, covered with debris. He’d been there for days without food or water. We brought him into the hospital. Later, I walked downstairs and everyone in the makeshift pharmacy was crying. I asked them why. ‘Baby dead, baby dead,’ they said.
"I told them the baby wasn’t dead at all. He had a huge gash in his head," Francis says. "He seemed to have facial nerve damage. We put IVs into him for three to four days, and now he’s essentially back to normal."
The rapid recovery in someone so small and fragile resonated with Francis: "In the Lakota tradition," he says, "the Sioux Indians don’t eat or drink for four or five days to practice humility. At the humble age of eight months, something magical had happened with this infant. I told that to the girl who pulled him from the rubble. It’s magic."
Francis had words of high praise for a group of folks generally more reviled than lauded: the rich, the very rich.
"We always talk about doctors, nurses, volunteers," he says, "but the people never recognized were the rich—the people who sent their jets, their precious equipment, to bring tons of supplies to everyone. They left and brought back medical supplies. These are manufacturing plant owners. We need to give them a tip of the hat."
He says, "The people from St. Thomas were the hardest-working group of people there. We had teams from all over who did a tremendous job – the Japanese, Texans – but I’d have to say they couldn’t match what the Virgin Islands put together."
He continues, "To show you, the first day and a half, six of us were going full steam. The community hospital, where we were, was one of the top operating hospitals in Port-au-Prince. Special credit should be given to the Schneider hospital administration for letting their nurses work in Haiti and maintain their income."
Francis is passionate on this point. "Not having regular days off at the hospital, being on call more, working more, that is the real thing – that is not giving money; it’s blood."
He says nurses are in short supply. "I’m an OB/GYN," he says. "In that regard, I’m not needed so much. I’m a nurse, a gofer, a counselor, an orderly. You’re everything when you have to be. It’s not just doing your specialty. We all did that. Nurses are worth their weight in gold."
At night, he says, ‘I’d sleep in the hall beside the triage area, when it slowed enough for me to sleep. I wasn’t the only one; one surgeon slept in the operating room," adding, "Now it’s mostly sub-acute care—people coming back for complications, different medical conditions, pneumonia, tetanus, allergic reactions to dust."
Francis says, "It’s heartwarming to see the number of people helping … suprise boxes from the Kingdom of Morocco, Morocco! And the Islamic TV crew … they came from all over the world, hearts breaking. The people were very courteous."
The doctor concludes, "I never really saw a poor Haitian. They have presence and stature, a very genuine and strong people."
