Mohammad Afzal Arain, MD Trip Report

The following trip report was written by Mohammad Afzal Arain MD, a general surgeon in private practice in Madera, California.

After the disastrous earthquake and loss of life and property I wanted to go to Haiti and help the people of Haiti.  I have gone to help people during most of the disasters.  I needed more pages in my passport and also I had a planned visit to Bolivia with Madera Sunrise Rotary.  Even with urgent fee payment it took more than three weeks to get my passport. I went for a two week trip to Bolivia with our local Rotary club. I found out that there was immediate need for a general surgeon at the Adventist Hospital which was a functioning hospital in Port Au Prince Haiti.  Alex Sokolov at Loma Linda University's Global Health Institute facilitated my arrangements to go to Haiti. I had to pay all the expenses myself.

On May 7, 2010 I left Madera for Haiti and went directly to hospital.  The hospital had very minimal and basic accommodations. Volunteers either brought their own tents and slept on the roof of the hospital or slept on folding cots with provided mosquito nets.  Accommodations were available in a nearby hotel but at night there were no street lights or any lights on the street shops. There were flooded roads with deep holes all over.  I decided to stay in the hospital so that I could be immediately available for any emergency situations.  On the fourth night I had to save the life of three year old boy who was brought with a strangulated bowel and nearly in a coma. I operated him at ten o clock at night and  the boy was discharged by next afternoon.

My daily routine was to get up 5am and have oatmeal (I took with me) and coffee for breakfast.  I made rounds with the other specialists and went to surgery clinic.  Haitians mostly speak French, so with the help of interpreters and sign language I was able communicate with the patients. Due to years of neglect and lack of medical care I saw patients with visible deformities and pain and suffering. My interpreter would give numbers to patients and I'd see 40 to 50 patients and would pick the neediest ones for surgery. Every day I would do surgeries in the clinic and in the operating room. One patient had waited almost 12 hours to be seen and operated on.  At ten pm he told me he fasted all day with the hope to get surgery and had no money to return home.  I gave him money for food and tap-tap fare.  The next morning he was again waiting for me to get his surgery done.  I performed 50 major and minor surgeries during the time I was in Haiti.  I remember coming back home when I saw a a patient who had about an eight inch long protruding mid abdominal hernia.  She had been coming every day and waited with empty stomach hoping to get operated on.  I had to apologize through the interpreter and told her that I had a flight in two hours and that she would have to wait for next volunteer surgeon.  I still can’t forget the disappointment I saw in her eyes.  I can’t forget the time when I operated on a young boy and his uncle said he could not pay me anything. I told him I came as volunteer and I was happy to operate on the young boy.  At end of the day he brought me a few mangoes. I just looked at him and could not say anything.  I gave away all the things I had brought including my clothes and returned home with only clothes I was wearing the, list of the surgeries performed and my travel documents.

After surgery when I discharged a patient, they requested if they could leave after lunch or dinner.  I realized that some of them had no food at home and wanted a have a meal before leaving.  On the day of my return home, I finally left the hospital and took an hour tour of the disaster area. I did not see any signs of reconstruction.  There were numerous tents all around the city with damaged buildings all around. Families were packed in 8x8 ft tents with scarce toilet facilities.  The streets were flooded with unrepaired and broken pipes. It rained almost daily and created more flooding of the  streets.  People were very nice and appreciative of all of the help. I wish the world powers could make some plans to help develop an infrastructure and long range stability for these unfortunate people.

It was a great experience. I admired Dr Nelson's dedication to humanity. In the end I want to congratulate Loma Linda University for the unparalleled charity provided to the people of the world.  For all the surgeries I performed it must have cost them half a million dollars.  They have provided ongoing service from day one of the disaster and continue the exemplary services. I will be honored to work with them anytime anywhere I can be of service.