Trauma nurse Bill Johnson, of Grand Rapids, Mich., encourages Castellane Drouillon to stick out her tongue during an examination at an outdoor clinic set up by volunteers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. UMNS photos by Mike DuBose.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*
Jan. 27, 2010 | PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (UMNS)

The patients ranged from a toddler with scabies to a man with prostate cancer.

Dr. Troy Silvernale, a United Methodist family physician, walked the grounds in the backyard of the Methodist Guest House, checking people and handing out numbers. The most serious patients had the lowest numbers. Those who could wait had the higher numbers.

Silvernale and Bill Johnson, a trauma nurse, came to Haiti as part of a medical team from Michigan. They found rooms at the Methodist Guest House and on their second day set up a clinic in the house’s backyard.

“You won’t see us on CNN,” Silvernale said. “We aren’t doing the dramatic stuff, but we are showing people we care.”

The ecumenical team was organized by Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Grand Rapids. Each day before they leave, they take time for a devotional and join hands to pray.

Missionary ties

Silvernale was born in Haiti and lived in the country for 12 years.

“My parents were United Methodist missionaries,” he said. His ease with the language helped him move among the more than 500 families who are living on the grounds of the Methodiste de Freres church and college.

Most of the population is living outside because their houses are damaged or destroyed or they are afraid to be inside any building.

On Jan. 26, with the help of two women who work at the guest house, Silvernale did informal rounds of the people seeking help. Tom Reichert, a pastoral outreach minister from a Catholic church in Atlanta, acted as traffic cop for the team as the line got longer and longer.

“We treated a man with prostate cancer, put on clean dressing,” Silvernale said. But most of the people in the camp are relatively healthy, he said. “We want to check all the children for dehydration.”

Another patient came to see the doctors because she was hit by falling concrete during the earthquake. She said her leg, back and neck hurt. She also said she was having trouble sleeping and experiencing nightmares.

Johnson gently checked her bruised leg and told her it would heal soon. “You have a bruised bone,” he said. “That takes longer to heal than just a skin bruise.” She went away with something for pain and something to help her sleep.

On their knees

Johnson, a tall man, spent the morning mostly on his knees.

“It makes them feel cared for if you look them in the face,” he explained, wincing as he straightened up. He said most of the people they were seeing in the camp were OK physically, but they need to know someone cared emotionally.

Silvernale said dentists were in high demand. Many of the patients were suffering from toothaches.

A 12-year-old boy came to the clinic complaining of a headache. When Johnson looked in his mouth, he said, “Oh, my God. I have to take a picture of this to show my kids what happens when you don’t brush your teeth.” Most of the boy’s teeth had cavities.

“It’s his teeth that are giving him a headache,” he said.

A pregnant woman who has had no prenatal care was close to time for her child to be born. “Please wait until after 5 p.m.,” Silvernale joked. “We will have another doctor here who can deliver the baby. I really don’t want to do that now.”

The doctors and nurses will move out to area hospitals and clinics as needed. But they promised the people at Methodiste de Freres they would be back.

*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service on assignment in Haiti.

News media contact: David Briggs or Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.  

Video

Clinic at Methodist Guest House

slideshow

Photos from team in Haiti

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