Final Thoughts

It's been almost a week since I've returned from Port-au-Prince, and I've had a bit of time to reflect on my time there, as well as all of the people I met and interacted with while I was there. As I've said, before I left I was a bit resistant to the idea of writing this blog at all. But now that I’m back, and I can read over what I wrote when I was in the middle of it, I’m really happy I did it.

As the purpose of this chronicle was to try to convey to people living here what things are like in Haiti, I hope I was able to get across what life is like for the people who come to the University Hospital for care. I also hope I was able to do this without putting any of the aid workers in the limelight. Often the reports we are shown from news organizations focus on either devastation and suffering, or on individual relief workers there to help. What I tried to convey here was neither of those things in isolation. I may have given an example or two of each, but I did that to provide context for what was happening every day in the lives of the people of Port-au-Prince.

I don't claim to have any sort of comprehensive knowledge about Haiti in general, or even about Port-au-Prince outside of what I've seen. My experience there was very limited. What I saw of Port-au-Prince consisted of the drive to and from the airport, and the 4 minutes of video in my last post. What I do know is that just about every Haitian I met--patient, family member, translator, hospital staff, or stranger on an airplane--was friendly, patient, caring, and amazingly appreciative. And all of this in the face of everything they face on a daily basis.

When I think about all that I saw there, both medical and otherwise, I simply couldn’t have imagined what I was getting myself into. The challenges (emotional and physical) were easily the toughest I've ever faced, and the learning curve for practicing in that environment was essentially vertical. In the end though, I’m unbelievably happy I did it, and would do it again in a second.

I think the last thing I should do is thank all of you for your support and kind words over the past few weeks. Thank you also for the concern and caring you've shown toward the people of Haiti. If any of you are considering volunteering or donating, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'll do my best to put you in contact with someone who can help you get to where you need to go.

Thank you again.

Frank
fpetruzella@yahoo.com