By Alexander Germanis
There is a word usually only uttered when the weather is perfect, the scenery is beautiful, no work needs to be done, and one does not have a care in the world: paradise.
For maxillofacial surgeon Stephen Doran, DMD, and his assistant Maggie Barr — both of Doran, Capodice, Efaw, and Ocheltree, LLC — the island nation of Haiti provides only two out of four of those paradisiacal criteria.
As for not working or not having a care — that could not be further from the truth. Working and caring are the precise reasons Dr. Doran and Maggie started traveling to Haiti in the first place.
In 2011, after hearing about the example set by Richard and Barbara Hammond — founders of the Friends of the Children of Haiti organization — Dr. Doran realized it was his turn to do something as well.
At first, he refused to let his assistant accompany him. “He didn’t want to take me,” Maggie shares. “I asked him if I could go and he said no; I was pretty hacked off.” Maggie understood Dr. Doran’s reasoning though. Because of its status as a third world country, he initially feared for her safety.
Dr. Doran admits now that he need not have been so protective. “The media does not portray Haiti appropriately,” he says. Because the political situation has been so out of control for such a long time, the nation is perceived as chaotic and dangerous. “People are scared to go down there; they shouldn’t be. The Haitians love their kids, want to educate their children; they want clean water, decent housing. They’re no different from anybody else.”
While Dr. Doran’s experience working in Haiti has not been one of constant peril, he adds, “It is easy to forget you’re in the Caribbean. It’s not exactly a resort.”
That is an understandable perception, considering what the Haitian people undergo just for some basic medical treatment. Fortunately, Dr. Doran and Maggie have made their trips to Haiti such a regular occurrence — twice a year, for two weeks at a time — the people find out quickly when they are there.
They never stop coming. “We put a rope out on either side of the gravel lane road,” Dr. Doran describes. “On one side are the medical patients coming for a follow-up. Then there’s another area for medical patients with new problems. On the other side of the road are babies, newborns, and all the dental problems. In the morning, I examine them with a flashlight and tongue blade as I walk down the line. I pick 20 to 25 of the most at risk: kids, young women with babies, people with swollen faces, etc. I go out after lunch to get more for that day.”
“In the beginning that was the hardest part — the triage,” he continues. “It’s still hard. You develop the attitude: just take care of one person, then take care of the next person and the next.”
The problem is, there are always more people who need aid. Maggie states, “They get poorer and sicker as the clinic goes on.” After the first week, she explains, those who live further off start arriving, some walking several miles over mountainous terrain.
So desperate are they for medical aid, they will wait at the clinic for days. “They just sleep out there on the ground,” Dr. Doran says. “We put shelters up there for them, but the Haitians are unbelievably generous with each other because they all feel like they’re in the same boat. We put a tent up, but you won’t see healthy Haitians under the tent. You’ll see the elderly or the kids. The stronger, healthier ones just sleep out near the road, and they are there the next morning. It’s really sad.”
Therein lies the purpose of participating in the Friends of the Children of Haiti. It is about helping to make the island nation a little bit more of a paradise for those who already live there.
There is a way to help. To see how you can make a difference and add to those life-saving resources, visit the Friends of the Children of Haiti at fotcoh.org.
To learn more about the people who work tirelessly to bring better healthcare to the Haitian people, read “Healing Haiti, part 4” in an upcoming issue of Healthy Cells Magazine.