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The Haiti Project |
Trip to La Valle
Dr. Carolle's Report
by Dr. Carolle Jean-Murat, M.D.
Where to begin? The
advent of our journey began with a first-ever VIP welcome at the Port-au-Prince airport by
Mr. Jean Geneus, Minister of the Diaspora. Throughout our 10-day stay, we met with
educators, professionals, students, and townspeople to discuss their needs and to view
local conditions. We also put in 12-hour days providing medical care at the local
outpatient clinic, and presented a variety of school programs at Lycee Philippe Jules. But
I’m getting ahead of myself.
The medical and
educational team of twelve professionals for the recent trip included the special
talents of:
From New Orleans:
Medical team:
- Charles Rene, MD
- Critty Hymes, MD
- Muhamad Bay, MD
- Sandra Maldonado, RN
Educators:
- Richard Kay
- Richard Kay, Jr.
- Dr. Yvelyne Germain McCarthy
- Julian McCarthy
From Texas:
Medical team:
Moses Wilcox, Jr., MD
From San Diego:
Medical team:
- Carolle Jean-Murat, MD
- Priscilla Bramlette, RN
Educator:
Elizabeth Jacques
My trip to La Vallee
began with several important events in my youth that compelled me over the years to become
a doctor. Eventually, as I was growing up, my dream became to build a hospital in Haiti
just as Albert Schweitzer had done, providing medical care for the poor.
In pursuit of this
dream, I was fortunate to work among diverse populations and conditions in New York,
Mexico, Jamaica, Milwaukee and finally establishing a private practice in San Diego in
1982. I tried to go back to Haiti in 1987 after Baby Doc left. But the time wasn’t
right.
Then one day, the
message became very clear: It’s time for me to go home! It wasn’t time yet to
build my own hospital, but I was time to join Dr. Charles Rene on his 20th trip to Haiti
to La Vallee de Jacmel. La Vallee de Jacmel, nestled in high mountains of the southwestern
part of Haiti overlooking the Caribbean Sea, is a progressive town. Years ago, the people
of La Vallee formed CODEVA (coude a coude pour le development de La Vallee - Elbow to
elbow for the development of La Vallee), and eventually built a small hospital with
the help of every villager. Later, they built the Lycee, a high school, for the poor.
I embarked on a
fund-raising journey with friends, colleagues, and patients. Everyone pitched in to make
this particular dream come true. Priscilla, a nurse, and Elizabeth a social worker who had
joined Dr. Rene on previous trips to Haiti, decided to help me with the fund raising and
personally joined me on the Haiti trip. I also convinced a friend, urologist and general
surgeon Dr. Moses Wilcox who practices medicine in Texas, to accompany us.
We all
met in Miami. It had been 11 years since I had set foot in my native country. The only
recent images I saw in my mind were the slums pictured on TV or in the newspaper. But as
we approached the Bay of Port-au-Prince and I could see the coastal regions, my heart was
racing.
How can I explain what
I felt when we finally landed. When I set foot on the Haitian soil, it was like being
reborn. "I am home," I said. Even though I had been gone for a long time, the
surroundings looked very familiar. I saw my grandmother, my mother, my family, even myself
in the face of everyone I saw. It was like I had never left. We were all one big family.
The crowds, the dust,
the poverty did not matter. It didn’t matter that there wasn’t any hot water for
a shower (the town is located on top of a mountain with temperatures ranging in the 60s
during the days and 50s at night). It didn’t matter that electricity was available
only from 6 to 9 pm; that every meal had to be made from scratch, cooked outside on a
charcoal stove; no refrigerator or microwave; that the water only trickled from the tap.
And that when I went to Jacmel—the closest town by the ocean just to stay in a hotel
where I could get a hot shower—that I was bombarded by mosquitoes. They didn’t
touch anyone else on the team. They just had to taste my Haitian blood from California in
spite of my being bathed in mosquito repellent. I was HOME.
We saw patients who had
walked for hours to see us, who patiently waited for hours to meet with us, only to have
to walk home again. Even those who had had surgery, because where they lived wasn’t
accessible to cars, had to return home on foot.
We had to make due with
what we brought with us. There was so much to be done with so little. It was frustrating
to see people suffering so greatly because of the lack of simple things that we take for
granted in the U.S. But with the supplies I’d brought with me purchased with the
money I’d raised, as well as the supplies donated by Alvarado Hospital, life at the
hospital was a little easier. But after each grueling day, on the way home, I felt
rejuvenated. Every time I touched an elderly woman, a middle-aged woman, or a young adult,
I was healing my grandmother, my mother who had recently passed away, and myself.
My time was also spent
at the school. On a high school motivational day, I spoke to kids who’d walked miles
to come to school, most of them hungry, eager to learn. I reaffirmed to them that
education was the only way. That, like them, I had to go to school hungry sometimes, I
also went to sleep hungry, but I had a vision that education was the key. Now that I was a
successful doctor, I had come back home to show them the way.
To motivate students,
we created the Aubies Frank scholarship, which will pay for the tuition, school supplies,
and two sets of uniforms each year for the top five students of each class—a total of
40 students. We also created the Louise L. Hay Scholarship Fund. This fund will provide
tuition for the poorest children. In addition to the scholarship and the scholarship fund,
we are looking for sponsors to adopt the children of La
Vallee. A
tax-deductible donation of $100 will offset educational expenses for one child for an
entire year. I also spent time interviewing the village elders, the priest, nurses, nuns,
hospital staff, many educators, and of course, the students. My belief is that to make
things work, especially in a foreign country, one must determine the needs of the people
and work with them to achieve their goals.
Our team of educators,
doctors and nurses worked incredibly hard under adverse conditions to give excellent care
under horrible conditions, as well as dealing with a foreign language.
As we were packing to
return home to the states, someone came to the door asking for Dr. Carolle. It was the
father of one of the children at the Lycee. He had tears in his eyes. His son had told him
that he finally understood why his father had been telling him he had to get up every day,
and walk for two hours with an angry stomach to attend school. I represented everything he
had been trying to convey to his family. He’d walked two hours just to come thank me.
I have to continue to go back and
inspire. There is a great medical need in La Vallee. We have to take care of the children,
teach them about health prevention. We need a program subsidizing meals for the children
as most of them come to school hungry every day. After raising enough funds to buy
a generator, the Lycee has electricity for the first time—computers are needed to
create a link to the rest of the world for this small village. Plans are for a trip every
June and November. Our next trip is scheduled for June 10th. I can’t wait!
Dr Carolle Jean-Murat
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