©InfoChoute Eloude, 33, is learning to read and she was in school when Haiti was struck by the earthquake on 12 January 2010, which pulverised Port-au-Prince.
“The school came crashing down on me and I was trapped underneath for an hour until I was pulled out. I felt like I was going to suffocate as I couldn’t breathe and it was a good thing that they came to get me when they did otherwise I would have died,” Choute said.
“They had to use a car jack to get the rubble off me and after they pulled me out they took me to the hospital. On the way there all I had in my mind was: thank God someone helped me, and as I had not died under the rubble I thought that I was going to survive and be alright.”
Emergency operation
“After I was rescued, I was taken to some place near a hospital and left, but I couldn’t find anyone to help me. Then some people from the Dominican Republic came and they took me back to their country for an operation,” Choute said.
Choute was then returned to her home in Croix des Bouke, Port-au-Prince and started attending the Japanese Red Cross health clinic, which is based at Auto Meca camp.
“My ribs were injured and the blood got trapped inside. It was all down the left side that I was injured and where my thigh was fractured badly the skin went rotten, which left a big hole. In the surgery they cut some of my bad skin away and now I’m waiting for it to heal,” Choute explained. “I have to come to the clinic for regular check-ups and to change the dressings.”
Healthcare access
The UN’s 2009 Human Development Report ranked Haiti 97th among 135 countries on the human poverty index. According to a 2009 report from the Haiti Children Project, around 80 per cent of Haiti’s population live in extreme poverty, while over 60 per cent of the population lack access to even the most basic healthcare services.
Choute is a single mother and has three children to support – aged 13, seven and two. She sells food – rice and beans – from the balcony at her house.
She said: “Thank God, all my children were okay and my house was not destroyed. The Red Cross is now taking care of me very well.”
The Red Cross has treated more than 91,000 people in its healthcare facilities with up to 2,000 patients being seen daily in its basic healthcare units. In addition, it has sent more than 16 million mobile phone texts to people, giving them key health awareness messages.
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