*Guest blog by Bonnie Kearns, Canadian Red Cross delegate and volunteer from Sarnia Ontario
I’m home, it’s snowing and I’m sitting by a fire very relaxed. But as I sit here my mind wanders to Haiti.
I had bought a new pair of rubber boots from Canadian Tire to take with me to Haiti and I was glad I brought them. It is vital to prevent the spread of cholera by ensuring that your feet and hands are always disinfected when coming into or leaving a cholera contaminated area. So the boots kept my feet dry when I walked through the chlorine foot baths. But the boots didn’t keep my feet from getting sore. They were covered with Band-Aids to pad the blisters I got from wearing the boots 12 hours a day. I would get up, put on my boots and wander through the hospital sometimes as early as 4:00 am to see how things were going. By the time I went home those new boots were beaten up, the colour was mostly gone and a layer of rubber had sloughed off from the constant exposure to chlorine. I left them behind, but I was safe and I was grateful that I had the boots to wear.
All the memories drift through my mind, like the ribbons of smoke that drift up the chimney. I remember sitting on packing boxes as my colleagues showed me how to prepare the self-heating rations that were our meals. I remember feeling the pull of tears as I hugged a mother whose child was very ill. And then smiling with her when he recovered. I remember a little girl laughing when I put stickers on her arm to encourage her to drink one more glass of the Oral Rehydration Solution.
I remember climbing into my mosquito dome so exhausted that I had trouble falling asleep. I remember the Haitian Team that I worked with who continue to make a difference in the fight against cholera.
Yes, I sit here by the fire but my mind is often back in Carrefour where I worked with some of the most creative, hard-working, dedicated people I’ve ever met.
I like the fire and the snow is pretty, and I’m glad to be home with my family but I miss my boots and I miss hunting for Band-Aids to cover my sore feet.