After our morning prayer, I then would take a seat in my office (slightly imaginative office) and with a smile call for the next person in line. It took about a week to learn the few Creole phrases to properly check in a new patient. I may even say my knowledge of those few phrases may have even fooled some patients into thinking I was a native Haitian. Of course this ended when they failed to stick to my structured set of questions and ventured off on a tangent about who knows what, my secret was then revealed and a look of confusion and sometimes astonishment would wash over their face. But thank God for my trusty translator Carlin who was ready to bail me out of any jam I got myself into.
After checking in a new patient or locating a regular patient’s file, my next duties consisted of taking their temperature, blood pressure, and weight. After checking in all the patients I would then re file the files of patients from previous days and then offer any help I could to my medical clinic buddy, Jenny, in the pharmacy. 
Each day was different at the clinic. Some days we were able to finish up with patients a few minutes before lunch, while other days the clinic didn’t close until 5:00 PM. One day we had a record number of 50 patients, which may or may not seem like a lot to those of you in the states, but it was pretty impressive for our little clinic. The patients varied also…old, young, just born, sick, maybe not so sick, and some sad stories.
This month I was also able to participate in the program run through the clinic, called Medica Mamba. Medica Mamba is a medicated peanut butter offered to malnourished children (mamba means peanut butter in Creole). Children age 6 and under needed their height and weight to be in the “red” in order to qualify for the program. Measuring the height and weight of the children was no easy task. For one, in order to measure the height of most children, we had to physically hold the children down on our measuring board, which did not bring ease or comfort to them. Although some children disliked the process, I saw some awesome success stories. Each week we would track the childrens’ progress. If they weren’t gaining weight at the appropriate rate, the parent or guardian was given a scolding, and if too many offenses occurred, some were kicked out the program altogether. This was a difficult thing to do, but it usually meant that the child was not the only person eating the peanut butter, and sometimes they did not receive any at all. Fortunately there were many more success stories than offenses.
Some of my most unforgettable memories this month at the clinic and Medica Mamba:
*Louisa: Louisa is a sweet girl I met in the Medica Mamba program. She has some form of down syndrome or other mental condition. However, Ms. Louisa was the life of the party and a true blessing from God.
(Her belly is so large and round from parasites)
*The motorcycle accident- One day a boy around the age of 12 came into the clinic with a large corroded hole in his right leg. We were told he had been standing by a motorcycle when it backfired and blew a hole to the bone in his leg. Unfortunately, the boy waited 2 weeks before getting any medical attention. Because of this, Elsie had to perform a mini surgery (ok, maybe not so much, but it was exciting!).
*The day I was able to intermix my Creole and Spanish speaking skills while checking in a patient. Im not gonna lie, I was pretty proud of myself.
*The almost daily sweet serenade Carlin and I gave to the patients as we checked them in…my favorite probably was our rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.
