The recent week in Ouanaminthe was a great success and enjoyable experience for all the Medical Team. This was partly due to the excellent preparation and provision by Drs Niall and Maria who had ‘begged, stole and borrowed’ very comprehensively to kit out our surgery extremely well. The personal responsibility taken by the majority of all the volunteers, regarding their health, also meant that the medical team were not overwhelmed with trivial or self inflicted complaints; this freed up the medical services for the purpose which we were there.
Finally the excellent standard of food and hygiene maintained by Alan and the catering team meant that the dreaded ‘gastro outbreak’ did not occur. Thankfully there were no major traumas or injuries during the week nor were there any serious medical emergencies – all who ventured out – returned.
Many of the Medical Team were therefore able to assist other teams for several days with us contributing to the Catering, Painting, Carpentry, Plumbing, Masonry and Water teams – an experience which was hopefully beneficial to both parties! Certainly the carpenters had a good laugh on several occasions at my expense and Cillian was the most auspicious apprentice the plumbers ever had! The overlap also meant that first aid / medical expertise was on hand throughout the site which was in retrospect, a good idea.We enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to and with the other ‘Build it Week’ teams to hopefully bettering the lives of some families in Haiti. We look forward to 2010.
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