Ms. Camite is my idol. If I was a teenage girl and American Idol came to Haiti, I would vote for Ms. Camite. Not because she is young and cool (she is the latter not the former) but because she can work a crowd. She performs everyday for a tough crowd too: A room full of malnourished children with varying levels of cognitive ability and their chronically malnourished mothers and caregivers.
Having worked at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti (HAS) since before I was born, Ms. Camite is a staple in the pediatric malnutrition ward. But she is not stuck in the ways of the past. Having never touched a computer until a month ago, Ms. Camite can now update the electronic medical records (EMR) at a speed that would put my childhood years of competitive typing with my sister to shame. Her grown children, not believing their mother can now update a child’s file and track their progress online, have even come in to marvel at her unparalleled abilities.
Working a computer though is only one of her many traits. At the end of 2010 we began updating the entire nutrition program here from screening at the community level all the way to treatment at the hospital into one integrated program. As the nurse in charge of the malnutrition ward, she understood quickly that she needed to learn the new skills fast. Like with the computers, it took her no time at all before she could measure a child’s mid upper arm circumference, an indicator of acute malnutrition, without getting the child to cry (a feat I have seen few master).
She spends her morning tending to the medical needs of the children in the ward, which, with the rainy season approaching and food reserves from last year’s harvest diminishing, has been steadily increasing. After the daily weighing of the children (which she enters into the EMR in record breaking speed), she passes out the daily ration of Plumpy’nut, a magical peanut butter paste fortified with vitamins and nutrients that cures acute malnutrition when used correctly. With the children happily eating peanut butter (and really who doesn’t love to eat peanut butter), Ms. Camite gets to work with the mothers. First on her agenda is talking about cooking nutritious foods. Outside behind the ward is an open air kitchen where the mothers help her cook a nutritious meal including rice, beans, and fé (a spinach like food). While their malnourished children only need the Plumpy’nut to get better, the mothers are learning how to use ingredients they can find in the market at affordable prices when they return back to their village when the child is better.
At this point in the day she’s got me hooked. I touch a computer and it breaks and I’ve had one my whole life. She touches one for the first time at age 52 and she is a pro. She’s got the moms hooked. She never yells at them or judges them for having a malnourished child but instead talks to them like a friend who just found an online deal on how to get the best things for cheap.
But what about the kids?
Well, Ms. Camite wouldn’t be the next Haitian Idol for nothing. The woman can sing! At 3 pm on the dot every day, once the little munchkins are all bathed, she spreads a sheet down in the middle of the room where they sit surrounded by murals of breastfeeding mothers and giant avocados. Each mother is given some baby oil and the caressing and singing begins.
Karès karès karès timoun yo
Karès karès karès timoun yo
Karès karès karès timoun yo
Pou yo kapab manje
Pou yo pa malad
The English translation is “Caress the children so that they can eat and they are not sick.” Human touch is a magical thing but sadly the cycle of neglect from one generation to the next still continues. 50 years ago when babies didn’t get vaccines and died of illnesses like neonatal tetanus, mothers didn’t want to bond with their children because the chance of that baby dying was so high. Today though, that lack of bonding still persists even as the rate of neonatal mortality drops. Ms. Camite is breaking this cycle by teaching the women how to engage their children, how to be affectionate with them and how to physically show them that they are loved.
So Ms. Camite, if the day ever comes for you to get up there and sing your heart out about loving your baby for the entire country, well you know, you have my vote.