From Haiti: A Photo Series

From Catherine Malizia, Midwives for Haiti.

This photo series and story is about how we got from place to place. We would start each day with a vague plan of an area of the mountain to walk to that we hadn’t already reached. As soon as Sheila started educating one woman in one house word of mouth traveled so quickly that by the time she was finished with the education portion of the intervention we had someone waiting to lead us to the next house. We would pass men farming who heard we had planning or were helping women who were pregnant and they would ask us if we could go to visit their wife, sister, or relative. When a group of school students walked by we asked if they knew of any women near their homes in need of our services. Each time we were lead by someone wearing thin flip-flops or barefoot who climbed without breaking a sweat as we huffed and puffed our way behind them.

In this photo we were at the home of the woman sitting. She was in her first trimester and receiving education, a bug net, and condoms. While Nurse Sheila was educating her on Zika the woman standing behind her and the woman in the polka dot dress paused in their food preparation to come over and hear what Sheila had to say. All three women and some young girls were listening in when the woman in the blue tank, who happened to be walking down the street at the time, came over to join us. After Sheila was finished educating the women she asked the woman in blue how far along she was in her pregnancy. She was in her second trimester and qualified for some education at her home and a bug net!

So began the trek to her house…

She didn’t even break a sweat as she lead us and she’s pregnant and wearing flip-flops!

Once we got to her house her husband and children greeted us with the biggest smiles, a chair to sit, and fresh coconuts to refill our water bottles.