It has been just over a year since a devastating earthquake crippled Haiti, already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Shortly after the Jan. 12 quake, which killed more than 200,000 people and left an estimated 1.5 million homeless, Tulsa physical therapist Amira Al-Jiboori made the decision to travel the thousands of miles to offer her expertise in the relief effort. Following are her reflections on healing.
Tulsa therapist Amira Al-Jiboori offers relief to a Haiti earthquake victim.
A few months after Jan. 12, 2010, the date of the tragic 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti, the press and other sources on the Internet reported the great need for physical therapist volunteers. I searched the Internet for different organizations asking for volunteers and found the “Advantage Program,” whose mission is to meet the physical and spiritual needs of persons with disabilities in Haiti in the name of Christ.
The organization’s goal is to provide long-term, sustainable assistance to those who need it, regardless of religion, creed or ability to pay. The Advantage Program provides physical therapy, orthoses, prostheses, wound care and other related services at the hospital in Les Cayes, located 140 miles southwest of the capitol and where most of the direct physical devastation occurred. The population has doubled since the earthquake due to the relocation of part of the more than 1 million people who are now homeless.
I arrived in Haiti on Aug. 15 and met up with the other physical therapist and nurse volunteer who would be helping during my week there. Once in Les Cayes, my job was to provide physical therapy at the hospital in a small outpatient clinic, as well as at a small short-term stay center where women with disabilities live.
Two full-time Certified Prosthetist/Orthotist worked in the clinic, so we treated many patients with amputations, working on improving their strength, gait and overall functional status. I treated patients that had resided in the hospital, ambulatory patients with general orthopedic injuries and neurological difficulties such as stroke. The clinic was similar to a small outpatient clinic here in the U.S., but with less resources, staff and organization. Many patients waited several hours to receive treatment.
The needs in Haiti are numerous and overwhelming. To say that Haiti needs quality health care is a huge understatement. The demand is much higher than the supply right now. So many procedures that are “routine” here are difficult there due to the lack of skilled health care workers. Most fractured bones were treated with bulky external fixators, because the surgeon lacked the skill to perform an open reduction internal fixation. I worked with one woman whose femur and tibia were both fixated externally. She fell, so they transported her to the hospital in Port-au-Prince for a more skilled surgeon to examine her. Thankfully, she did not experience any new major fractures, but due her lengthy time not bearing weight on her leg, she had developed osteoporosis, making her bones weaker and her leg painful. Sadly, this type of story is more common than one would hope because most fixators were left in too long, so the patient would experience complications such as these.
I truly enjoyed my time in Haiti meeting the people, experiencing the culture, learning the language and providing physical therapy care. At times I felt very overwhelmed witnessing and hearing about the vast needs of the country, but this has spurred me on to share with others who can help and hopefully return one day to volunteer again.
