A Young Doctor's Perspective in Haiti
An Interview with Dr. Fiquita St. Paul
I began working with Rush and Community Empowerment (CE) after finishing medical school in Cuba. I’d heard of them because people were excited about what they were doing in Jerusalem, which was a new town that I did not know a lot about. Before the earthquake, it had been a desert. No houses, nothing. I started as an interpreter with the CE teams and soon fell in love with the community and working with the CE people.
Working in Jerusalem is different from working in Port-au-Prince. There are fewer resources but there is hope. There is a sense that maybe we can do things better than the system because the system is overstretched. I work in a hospital twice a week where we “see” patients. You just “see” them. You’re expected to take a certain amount of cases a day so there’s very little time, and patients don’t know that they can ask for more information or better care. I like having the opportunity to take my time with each person in Jerusalem. It’s why I continue to work there, even though it’s far from my house, especially during these times.
“ People don’t trust the government, so they don’t believe the warnings about Coronavirus.”
I always knew Haiti was not the same as other countries, but the Coronavirus has made it more obvious. In other places, it’s easy to get almost everything delivered, but here it’s different. You have to go out for drinking water, water to wash, food, and gas. There’s not enough electricity to store food, let alone the means to buy a large supply at once. If people don’t go out, they don’t have food to eat. How can you ask someone to buy a mask who doesn’t make enough money to live?
Furthermore, the lack of education and information is problematic. People don’t trust the government, so they don’t believe the warnings about Coronavirus. The government hasn’t supplied resources to the healthcare system, there is no structure. It’s been eye-opening to see these flaws.
Recently, the clinic in Jerusalem was able to re-open. Because we work at an orphanage, we can’t use the full space anymore or the children would be at risk. Triage and consultation have been moved outside and the office is now a patient room. However, all of our precautions, such as hand-washing, use a lot of water that is in limited supply. The PPE makes us hot so we have to work quickly so that it doesn’t become unbearable. But more and more patients are starting to come. Word is spreading that we’re back and operating safely. Many are afraid of the hospitals so they’re glad to have a safe option.
“Haiti has seen such turmoil in the past year and a half, and many other organizations with more resources and bigger names have left and there are no traces of what they’ve done.”
The Women’s Health Initiative is currently paused as we try to see as many patients as possible. My team is conducting a survey for fever to try and determine COVID symptoms. The goal is to keep providing medication to our chronic patients so that they’re as healthy as possible and provide education on coronavirus prevention and what to do if they’re exposed.
I hope a vaccine comes quickly so we can keep the clinic open and resume our many initiatives. I’m grateful for CE because they stay. Haiti has seen such turmoil in the past year and a half, and many other organizations with more resources and bigger names have left and there are no traces of what they’ve done. It’s like they were never here. They couldn’t handle the instability, but CE is still standing, still trying to help. I hope that one day we can finally find the perfect place to practice and move on to other communities in need. I’m going to do my best to make things work.
