Typically …we start the day with morning prayer at 5:50 am.
Right after prayer it’s a short walk to Sacred Heart for mass. Mass usually
starts around 6:15 and is in French, with some of the hymns sung in Creole.
Then back to the house for a quick breakfast. If I’m going with Sister Isabel
for the day we generally leave at 7:30 as the traffic seems to increase
throughout the morning. That’s about where the predictability of the day ends …
When I’ve accompanied Sister Isabel to the amputee clinic I’ve
shadowed the prostheses technicians. During my visits the technicians were
watching people walk with their prostheses and making the necessary
adjustments. The objective is not to get the leg perfectly straight, the
objective is to align the prostheses so that the person can resume their
natural way of walking. The number of adjustments that are necessary,
especially when the person has an artificial knee, are amazing.
On a recent visit I met Manoosh. Manoosh had to endure two
rounds of surgery before she was successfully fitted with a prostheses. When
Sister Isabel broke the news to Manoosh that she would need additional surgery,
she cried but then consented to the additional surgery. Now, six months later
Manoosh was able to walk not only on the level sidewalk in the clinic courtyard
but also on the gravel road that runs alongside the clinic. To truly walk in
Haiti one must be able to trod the unstable surface of a gravel road. We all
celebrated Manoosh, her perseverance, and her great accomplishment.
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