A lesson a day helps the fear slip away...

So you're probably wondering what kind of volunteer work I'm doing while I'm here. The answer is that it varies from day to day but in general, both Doucette and I tend to work in a medical setting and also plan to eventually do some work distributing goods and working in an orphanage in addition to our clinical work. We have been working with a man named Dr. Joey and two other doctors on the team, Dr. Gina and Dr. Jackie. (All of the doctors down here go by their first name it seems). Dr. Joey is the one who runs the clinic and Dr. Gina is visiting from the states so most of the time Doucette translates for Dr. Gina when she sees patients. On the other hand, I get to switch between all three helping with small procedures or just being there to learn how to diagnose. My main job however, has been offering counseling. While we are with these patients, often they will describe their symptoms and we will get to "When did you first start having these symptoms?" and find "The headaches and not eating started after the earthquake" or "I haven't been able to sleep since the earthquake" "I'm scared to be in my house since the earthquake" etc. That's where I come in. Dr. Gina has me in the room and once we hear that I let Dr. Gina probe a little further before turning to me to have me say something for Doucette to translate.

The first day we were doing this, I was not with Dr. Gina, it was only Doucette and I and Dr. Jackie was sending his patients to see me because he said almost everyone is traumatized and whateverd do to help would be great. Although I was a little nervouse, because I wanted to make sure not to cause any further harm, I was also excited to try to help make the patients feel more at ease in any way that I could. It started pretty basic, asking them if they wanted to talk to me, what they wanted to talk to me about, what was bothering them, anything they were scared of etc. I reassured them that I was there to listen and offer support. Although each patient had slightly different fears, all seemed to share fear of having another earthquake (a completely reasoe fear). One woman told me that she was scared if there was an earthquake that she would die and leave her kids all alone. I told her that while I couldn't guarentee there wouldn't be another earthquake, I could help her feel a little more secure and in control of her own fate (which seemed to be what everyone wanted, a sense of control because all of them seemed to feel powerless and vulnerable and that's what was fueling their fear so I thought if I could just offer them some piece of mind it might help). I first started by asking her and other patients first, what sort of things in the environment around them would trigger fear. The most common ones were loud noises, trucks passing by and shaking the ground, enclosed spaces, etc. After that we would talk about what things around them would help them relax, were there any things they saw or did on a daily basis that made them feel a sense of relief and most of the time they would answer yes and then tell me about those things and I would ask them to try and focus on those things when things got tough. Then I would ask about a support system they had, who were they living with, could they talk to the people around them? Did they have a church group they belonged to where they could go when they felt alone? etc. One we got through that and other case specific details, I would ask them if they knew what to do to try to keep themselves safe if another earthquake hit. I was shocked to hear each and every single one of them say no! That's where I attempted to help give them a sense of control over their fate. I would tell them that if another earthquake hits they could try to keep themselves and their loved ones safe by running outside and getting from buildings and other structures that could fall. If at all possible bring something or use something nearby to cover their head to help add protection. If they couldn't make it outside, I told them to try to go under a bed where the mattress would help provide some kind of protection.

While I couldn't erase fears completely in one sitting (obviously) I was happy to see a sense of calm and relief come over their face and hear them tell me that made them feel better. The woman with children who was worried told me she would very much like to talk to me more and even asked for my number so that she can call me when she feels scared. It was an awesome feeling and such a powerful tool, education, to help bring about a sense of relief! I think that it was helpful just to have someone to talk to so I told everyone who I talked to whereto find me if they felt the need to talk again. I reassured them that they were not alone and that this was something many people are struggling with. It was a very powerful experience that first day of work but there was no telling what the days to come would bring.