During Christmas break
three members of the class of 2016 and Dr. Kevin Thomson, a
veterinarian from North Texas, set out to the Republic of
Haiti. This trip was organized through Christian Veterinary
Missions, who sends veterinarians and veterinary students abroad to
treat animals and educate people about animal husbandry in areas
that lack veterinarians. Haiti is a country that has
struggled greatly in recent years. In 2010, Haiti suffered
from a massive earthquake, resulting in a death toll exceeding
100,000. The country is slowly and steadily recovering.
Shortly after we arrived in Port au Prince, Haiti, we met up
with Dr. Kelly Crowdis, an American veterinarian who has lived in
Haiti since 2006. She was our host, teacher, and guide for
the week in the country. We met hundreds of people and
treated over 1200 animals. Here is just a small sampling of
some of those interactions:
Our journey to Haiti started bright and early on a Saturday
morning. Even though we all started from different airports,
we met up Fort Lauderdale, FL, to continue on to
Port-au-Prince. When we landed in Haiti, standing in a crowd
of bustling Haitians was an excited Dr. Kelly Crowdis. We
loaded up all of our bags into the truck and then set out to what
would become a daily adventure of facing the crazy Haitian
drivers. Throughout the town, large numbers of people were
walking and numerous little stands were set up selling anything
from water to toothpaste. After settling into Dr. Crowdis’s
house, we had our first Haitian dinner made by the local girls that
live in the house as well. That night we had the joy of
getting to know one another, discuss life in Haiti, and talk about
the plans for the week before turning in early.
On Sunday we started the day attending a Haitian church,
repacking our bags, and eating lunch. We organized all of the
veterinary supplies and loaded the truck once again to make the
long journey over the mountains north to the village of
Pignon. In Pignon, we were greated by Mounssanto, a Haitian
veterinarian living in the area, who was gracious enough to take us
into his house for the next couple days. He had organized our
job sites and advertised our services in order to spread the word
that we were coming. We spent the night discussing the work
for the week and getting to know Mounssanto and his family.
Monday started the first day of vet work in the villages around
pignon. Little did we know when we woke up just how hectic
our days would be. After a delicious Haitian breakfast, we
loaded up the trucks and drove out to a small village outside of
Pignon. Once we arrived, there were animals, children, and
Haitians everywhere waiting for us. You could here the pigs
and goats squeal for miles away. We quickly broke into
groups, ran through treatment protocols, and got to work. It
wasn't long before each of us had our first chance to do surgeries
that week. Dr. Kelly showed us her techniques for field
castrations, and while the Haitian owner held his pig, Alyzabeth
quickly cut in to start the day. That day, we each had the
chance to castrate mules and pigs, and also split the work of dogs
and goats. We will never forget what it was like to do
surgery in the middle of a field with a simple bucket of water,
betadyne, a scalpel blade, and some suture.
Our first day held two f the most memorable cases of the
week. The first involved a down cow that had recently given
birth and could not get up. The large animal team quickly got
to work giving electrolytes, vitamin B complex injections, and
more, and before time she was up to sitting and looked much more
alert. The second case involved an abdominal herniation on a
mule. While he was anesthetized for castrating, Mounssanto
had the chance to learn how to correct a herniation. Dr.
Thompson and Dr. Kelly talked him through, and he could not have
been more excited to learn another surgery he could offer the
people of Haiti.
After a long day of work, our exhausted group drove back to the
house, took a freezing cold bucket shower since there was no
running water, and prepared for bed. Since Mounssanto had
recently gotten in to the egg laying business, we had the chance to
walk down to his chicken houses and tour his coops. It was
extremely interesting to see how agriculture was different in
Haiti. Once we got back to the house, we quickly jumped into
bed to recover for the next day.
Our second day of work was by far the busiest. By the time
we arrived at the work site, hundreds of animals were lined
up. Even though there were people everywhere, each waited
until they could be seen. This village was one of the most
grateful for our help.
One man had brought his mule for us to look at the saddle
sores. He told us he had been watching them and tried
everything he could to keep them from getting worse, but could not
afford to see a private veterinarian if there was even one
available in the area. He thanked us deep from his heart for
our help and had a smile spread from one ear to the other.
Education was also an important part of the day. Even though
we saw over 800 animals throughout the day, Mounssanto found the
time to gather a group of Haitain men and their horses to teach
them about the care and prevention of saddle sores. Each
person was engrossed in the conversation as their horses are their
livelihood. Without the help of their mules, horses, and
donkeys, they would not be able to plow their crops, take their
products to market, or transport themselves on a daily basis.
A big part of the continuing efforts in Haiti is educating the
people on animal care in order to continue rebuilding the country.
On Wednesday morning, we woke up to shops being set up outside
the house. Various women in the village had heard of our trip
and brought their art and souvenirs for us to buy. After
buying some trinkets, we got ready for a long day of work. On
our last full day of work, we had the opportunity to do lots of
castrations and other services we had not had the chance to do
early in the week. Several cows came in to be palpated,
putting our abilities to the test, and numerous dog castrations
sharpened our surgery skills. By the third day, we were
experts in treating the animals. Vaccinations went smoothly,
deworming was a breeze, and castrating was not nearly as
scary. Each day we felt more confident in our skills and
needed less guidance in treatment.
Bright and early Thursday morning, we left to treat the local
animals of the village. Before breakfast, we treated numerous
cows, equids, goats, pigs, dogs, chickens, and cats. After
about an hour, we left vet supplies with Mounstanto and some of the
local vet agents and headed back to the house for breakfast and to
finish packing. We loaded the truck up and started the
journey back to Port-au-Prince.
The highlight of the day was getting to see the Christmas
pageant at a local school. Even though we could not
understand what they were saying most of the time, the children had
us doubled over laughing at their skits and singing along to each
of their songs. We spent the rest of the day talking to each
other and adoring the new baby that one of the girls living with
Dr. Kelly had a few months earlier.
Trip Memories:
One of my favorite memories involves a down, nursing cow. It was
the first day and we were just getting the hang of things when a
man came up to us because his cow had fallen down and would not get
up. She was very anemic (her mucus membranes were nearly white),
dehydrated, and lethargic. Dr. Thomson’s main concerns included
parasites (a prevalent problem in Haiti) and hypocalcemia. We
dewormed her, gave her a Calcium and Vit B complex injection, and
tubed her. Then, we had the owner get a bucket of water and showed
him how to use the pump to rehydrate his cow. You could see his
face light up having been given the opportunity to help save his
cow. As the water level lowered, there was a stray leaf in the
bottom of the bucket. He stopped pumping, carefully removed the one
leaf, and finished giving his cow water. This was a beautiful image
of what veterinary medicine is supposed to be.
– Sarah Burch;
Class of 2016
Each place I travel truly gives me a new sense of the world, and
Haiti definitely taught me gratitude. My favorite part of the
trip was seeing the smiles on the faces of the people whose animals
we treated. Since Haiti is a very poor country, many are not
able to seek veterinary care. Veterinary trips such as ours
are the only time many are able to bring their animals to get
vaccinated, dewormed, and castrated. The Haitians took the
time to thank us for our help before moving to help the next person
bring up their animals. Most people stayed around all day in
order to help hold animals and organize the crowds. I loved
seeing how something as simple as veterinary care could light up a
community’s day.
-Alyzabeth
Looney; Class of 2016
After spending the morning working on animals we were driving back
to Mounssanto’s house to get food and in the middle of this bumpy
dirt road was a donkey who was laying completely on his side his
legs stretched out in front of him with a load of food and charcoal
on his back. Three women were standing over him trying to get him
to stand back up. So the two veterinarians and three vet students
immediately stopped got out of the truck and went to help this
donkey and his owners. We checked the color of his gums, listened
to his heart and looked for any other injuries. We did not see
anything out of the ordinary so we took off his big heavy pack and
let him lie there for a minute with it off. After a few moments he
decided to stand back up again on his own and seemed to be doing
better. When we were sure he was okay we put the pack back on his
back, the women thanked us and kept walking down the road with
their donkey. This was a reminder to me to take the time in the
midst of our chaotic lives to help others when the opportunity
arises.
– Sarah Zeisler;
Class of 2016