Chik is Chic

     May 6. I’m sitting on the porch of the priest’s house in Baradères while I type out my blog. There is a steady stream of people and animals on the road making their way to the Saturday morning market. Young men, women and children lead donkeys laden with bananas. They balance containers with dry goods on their heads as they walk. It is not yet 10 am and the day is sunny and hot.

     After lunch, Father Jacques came to tell me that a girl came to the house with Chikungunya. Could he give her some acetaminophen? Sure. We brought dozens of large bottles of acetaminophen to Baradères for this reason. How much should she take? I told Father Jacques to check her age and read the label on the bottle. Twenty minutes later, a man greeted me on the porch. I didn’t recognize him though he seemed to know me. He said he was happy to see me again. We exchanged a few words, in Kreyol, and then I ran out of things I could say. He said good-bye but before he left the porch he turned and asked me if I could give him some acetaminophen. I told him to ask Father Jacques. Later this afternoon I translated for Cynthia as she spoke with the graduating students of the Philo class. The girl whom Father Jacques told me about earlier was there. She looked a little tired but clearly was able to move. From what I heard about the symptoms of Chik, the joint and muscle pain is so severe that it is incapacitating. Does she really have Chik?

     There is no doubt that Chik is really here. The Ministry of Public Health and the Population (MSPP) declared its arrival earlier this month. Mille is in the mosquito room every day preparing his traps to take out. I asked him what he has found so far. Chik. Now all the Haitians believe Chik is here. The Haitians all think they have it, too, and they all want acetaminophen. Back in C’ville Pastor Raymond said that it is “chique” to have Chik. Everyone says they have it. And no one is really sure, not until we can start doing some surveillance testing for it.

     June 14, 2014 – I spent the weekend in Baradères to attend the graduation ceremony for the “Philo” class of le College St. Jean Baptiste, the school that my church in Silver Spring supports. We again hear stories of people suffering from Chik in Baradères. The epidemic continues. After my return to C’ville from Baraderes, I learn that a good friend of mine who works at an orphanage near here came down with Chik. Matt is a big guy but Chik laid him out with fever and muscle pain so bad he could barely walk. Three days later, he was back in the dining hall looking and feeling much better. Chik is making the rounds. I’ve lost track of who has had it.

     July 5, 2014 – I received an email from Sister Denise. One of the sisters in her community died of complications from Chikungunya. I had heard about many cases but no fatalities until now. Chik is not “chique”; it is for real. Sister Denise’s email went on to say that one of the candidates whom we had interviewed for the lab tech position in Baradères died. Malaria. Yes, I remind myself. These diseases are real and real people are dying.