(Best) Friends of Haiti
The past two days I (very randomly) found myself with a
non-profit called Friends of Haiti. Friends of Haiti,
based out of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and comes to Haiti four
times a year on week-long surgical and medical trips. The group
consisted of 17 people on the recent surgical
trip, compromised of surgeons, PAs,
anesthesiologists, and nurses (and one improvised chef) from
Green Bay, Washington state, and Philadelphia. Many of the
volunteers had never met before but they seemed to assemble a
strong and efficient team in a matter of days. All of the
volunteers took off vacation time from their usual work to come to
Haiti for a week and work what seemed like 14 hour days or longer
to conduct dozens of free surgeries.
During my time with Friends of Haiti at the health clinic I was
allowed in the operating rooms to watch a few abdominal
hysterectomies, a hemorrhoid removal, a hernia removal, and an
amputated finger repair. I also observed a doctor draining a
thyroid cyst and I helped another doctor conduct breast and
abdominal exams. The sad part was many of these surgeries would
rarely occur in a more developed country due to easier access to
medical treatment. For example, one hysterectomy took out a uterus
about the size of a basketball filled with uterine fibroids. This
would never happen in the United States as early detection of
uterine fibroids would lead to a laparoscopic hysterectomy.
However, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere,
which limits people's access to health care. I couldn't help but
think how lucky I was to grow up with easy and affordable access to
health care, which I always thought of as a right, not a privilege.
These Friends of Haiti volunteers must have realized their
privilege and, may I quote Paul Farmer (one of the greatest
advocates of better healthcare in Haiti), "that privilege
comes with obligations to others and especially to the poor."
Now, you all must be asking, Doesn't Sara care about trees,
since when is she joining the league of saintly healthcare
volunteers? Well, the sad truth is: I'm not, despite my surprising
ability not to barf up my lunch after smelling my first whiff of
burning flesh. However, oftentimes health and environmental
problems are inextricably related and to understand one problem, we
must concurrently look to the other.
Regardless of my lack of medical experience, one of the lead
doctors, Dr. Jack acted as though I was an intelligent and
respected colleague, and not a subordinate. This treatment was
extremely refreshing for two reasons. One, multiple doctors
consulted on about my IBS caused me more angst than I had before
visiting them, leading me to lose hope in modern doctors
altogether. And two, oftentimes being disciplined by teachers in
high school for pointing out their inconsistencies led me to be
weary of my superiors who may be taking advantage of their
power.
Anyway, let me stop now before I continue on a tangent about the
inequalities of the world's healthcare or even how frustrating it
was to be penalized in high school for questioning my teachers (at
least I had an opportunity to go to school, right?). But rather,
end on a recommendation to anyone with experience in healthcare to
volunteer with Friends of Haiti, as I was warmly welcomed into this
amazing group that is fighting back against the unjust system of
global healthcare.
