Special Graduate Report from Haiti

Connecting with the people of Haiti

Centennial College graduates are doing outstanding work all over the world. Isa Jeanson, a graduate of the Journalism Fast Track Program at The Centre for Creative Communications, is now a Communications Advisor with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) currently stationed in Haiti and helping with the relief efforts. Below, she takes a few moments out and answers some questions from the front line.

I am so sorry for the delay, it's been tough finding a quiet moment to respond...Isa.

Q: What has surprised you the most in Haiti?

I think it's the resilience of the people. They a facing an incredibly tough situation post-earthquake. But within a few days of the earthquake, they picked themselves up, and moved ahead, either building their temporary shelters out of bed sheets and sticks, or plastic sheeting, or looking for things to sell in the market. Basically finding solutions to their needs.

Q: What has been your biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge post-earthquake has been to find temporary shelters or a solution to allow people to move back into shelter that will actually be helpful against the rainy season and the hurricanes that are due to come in the fall. Some people have tents, many others are still living under plastic sheeting. Neither of these will stand against the fury of hurricanes, or the flooding caused by the rains. We are already seeing the consequences in the camps of tropical downpours, where camps are turning into mud baths. It's a really horrific situation for people living in the camps.

Living conditions in post-earthquake Haiti

Q: How are you finding the current mood / situation? hopeful or hopeless?

I think people have hope because it's what allows them to move ahead in life. Without hope, there is nothing left for to work towards. But that said, it's a tough life for everyone here, and it shows in their faces, for example not many people smile in the streets, they are fighting to find work, to feed themselves and their families. Despite all the aid that has poured into the country, it is only a temporary solution, and the long term outlook is worrying as many agencies leave Haiti.

Q: Aan you describe the work your are doing there? What's the mission?

MSF has over 15 medical facilities in Port au Prince, Jacmel and Leogane, all three cities were severely hit by the earthquake. We have been providing mostly orthopedic surgical care, but have expanded our programs now to include basic health care, therapeutic feeding for small children, we have specialized units for burn victims which include plastic surgery, and obstetrics care for pregnant women, as well as psychosocial counseling programs.

Q: What is the most important thing people should know about what's going on in Haiti?

That the needs are still massive. Shelter has been the biggest obstacle, but so has job losses, health issues, insecurity for women and girls living in a camps. There is a long way to go before all these issues are resolved.

Helping with the massive relief effort

Q. Why do you think the work you do is important?

I would rather use the word "relevant" than important.

I think MSF's work is highly relevant in this context, where health needs are a huge priority. If you don't have your health, you can't take care of finding shelter or a new job. We've saved many lives of people who would have died from seriously infected wounds resulting from the earthquake. And we continue to save the lives of malnourished children, or women who may die in childbirth. For me this is the priority, saving the lives of people who may not otherwise have access or who cannot afford to pay for healthcare.

Q: Why should anyone care about what's going on in Haiti, even if they live on the other side of the world?

I hope as humans that we can empathize with our fellow humans. After all, compassion is a great hallmark of humanity. At the very least, if you can't donate, or come to Haiti to help out, you can concern and inform yourself about what is happening to others. Solidarity provides great comfort in a way that a bandage cannot.

Q. Why did you choose this career?

I have always wanted to be useful in my life, and to help others. Working for MSF is definitely the closest opportunity I've had to be part of a group of people who also feel the same way.

En route with the team in Haiti

Q: Do you feel like you are making a difference?

I think the organization is making a huge difference by helping people and saving their lives. I hope I am making a small difference myself, by being part of it.

Q: Has it (being in Haiti after the quake) been overwhelming at times? If so, how so?

In the early days after the earthquake, I was overwhelmed by the number of patients who were in so much pain and suffering from their injuries. Lately, it's been overwhelming to see so many people who are living in truly dire situations, which will become worse as the rainy season and hurricanes comes. Although we do our best to help people, there is usually a point where you can't do more. It's facing that point, that limitation, where it becomes incredibly frustrating, and painful, and overwhelming.

Q: How can average people help or make a difference?

The most obvious way is to donate money to an organization you believe in. But even before money, the best way people can make a difference, is to engage in an issue, but reading about it, perhaps joining or creating a local organization that can support Haitians, or contacting your MP to voice your concerns.

Doctors Without Borders in Haiti

Q: Do you have any examples about the people you are helping in Haiti?

Perhaps the most beautiful story is about Elisabeth's smile.

Elisabeth came to our hospital a few days after the earthquake, with a massive injury to her right foot she sustained from falling concrete. She is 43 years old, and has two grown up children but no husband. Before the earthquake, she made a living by selling vegetables on the market. When i first met her, it was about two weeks after the earthquake. She was lying in her bed, with a sad look, almost like she was on the verge of crying. She didn't engage with anyone else in the tent (our patients stay in tents and not buildings because they are afraid of being indoors). So I sat down next to her, and asked her how she was doing.

She explained that she was in great pain, and showed me her right leg, which had been partially amputated as a result of the injury she sustained in the earthquake. She started to cry and held on tightly to my arm for comfort. It was so hard for me to see her in this state and I just wished I could make all her problems disappear. She had lost her home and everything she owned, she was now handicapped, and dealing with the realization of what this all meant.

I alerted her case to our counselors, who approached her to give counseling support, and to a nurse asking her to give Elizabeth more medicine for her pain. It was another two weeks before I saw her again, but I was astounded to find someone almost completely different. She had a huge smile on her face, and said hello to me in a cheery tone.

She proved two things to me: 1) that the human spirit is unbelievably, incredibly inspiring and resilient, and that 2) the MSF teams were doing a great job giving support to our patients, not only physically, but also psychologically.

I am very lucky to be part of this mission, and to be part of the lives of Haitians.