Caprice is from Cazale and has lived here his whole life. He is 32 years old now. His father has passed and his mother still lives in Cazale. He has 3 brother and 4 sisters. Two of his siblings are in Haiti and the rest have moved to other countries.
Jocelyne is 35 years old and is from a mountain area called Dangoula. Her parents are dead and she moved to Cazale many years ago when she was young. She has one sister and one brother. One lives in a nearby village and the other lives in a different country.
Caprice and Jocelyne began working at RHFH during the early days of the cholera epidemic. Caprice worked security at the gate, lifted heavy things for us, did maintenance tasks, transported patients, and anything else needed. Jocelyne started out doing laundry, but eventually jumped into helping with patients and became a caregiver. Though they knew each other already, they started talking and dating after they started working together.
They have 4 kids together – 3 girls and 1 boy. They range in ages from 3-8 years old. They own their own house made of rocks and cement with a tin roof. It has 2 rooms and a porch. They also have a niece of Jocelyne living with them as well. They are in the middle of building a house with block and cement with a cement roof that will have 4 bedrooms (8 rooms in total). They have piped water that comes into their property so they can easily get clean water.
Caprice’s job has changed to where he works some nights as the clinic security and some shifts at the CTC (cholera treatment center). The CTC doesn’t care for patients now, but we hope to repurpose it into the clinic and rescue center by next year. There are still staff to maintain and secure the grounds as some of the construction workers for the new buildings on the land (“Planting Hope” construction project) sleep and eat there. Jocelyne moved down from the CTC to work in the clinic many years ago. She does a variety of jobs at the clinic now – cleaning, organizing, helping direct patients, measuring & bagging up the HTH bleach powder to make sure we have correct concentrations, helping other clinic staff members when needed, and more.
Caprice likes his job because he mostly has night shifts. Parts of some of his days he is able to drive his motorcycle taxi and make more of an income for his family. He doesn’t like the people that are malicious, deceitful, and bad because it makes his job harder. Jocelyne says that she likes all of her job except people that haven’t yet learned how to use a flush toilet because that makes her job difficult.
Caprice tells two stories that he will always remember that show the extremes he felt while caring for people with cholera. Caprice was coming to work one day when he met a motorcycle taxi with 4 men – driver, 2 brothers, and their dad. Their dad was in bad shape with cholera and the motorcycle couldn’t get up the slick muddy hill. Caprice saw how bad he was, picked him up off the moto, and carried him to the center. Once inside, he laid him down on a cot and called the nurse. He was already dead before they could start to work on him. This was devastating for Caprice because he wanted him to live so much. They had come from so far and almost made it. He says this illness caused so much devastation, but the CTC helped Cazale and so many villages for miles around. If it weren’t for the CTC, many people would have died. In contrast, there was another man with cholera trying to get to the center. By this time, we had a phone and they called us explaining where they were and that the motorcycle had broke down. Caprice is a very strong guy and there is nothing that he wouldn’t do to save someone. He ran with a cot to the location and secured the unconscious man on it. He and another man ran the cot to the center. I’m not sure why, but part of the way they carried him on their heads. He got to the center in time. After a few days of IV fluids and treatment, he was feeling great and was discharged. All of that man’s kids came on that day to celebrate and thank Caprice and the other staff for what they did to help their dad. The lows are very low, but the highs are very high.
Jocelyne recalls a lady that was about her age that she really connected with during her stay in the cholera center. She helped the nurse start the IV, cared for her when she couldn’t stand up, and encouraged her that she would get better. Within a few days, she was discharged and so happy!
Both of them work four 12-hour shifts during the week. During a typical shift, Caprice gets report from the person he is replacing at the gate. They talk about any problems or tasks needed to be done and he gets the keys. He walks around the property and in the buildings to see how everything looks and make sure that all is well. He’ll check in with other staff – nurse, nannies – and see how they are doing. When in the CTC, he weeds, carries water, cleans, moves boxes, opens/closes the gate. In the clinic, he makes sure that everyone coming in wears a mask, takes temperature, and washes their hands. Jocelyne opens all the doors in the clinic, sweeps, mops, and cleans before the other staff arrive. She makes sure there is enough water to drink, flush toilets, and wash hands. She cleans the clinic as needed through the day. When needed, she will hold children as they are getting a procedure done (sutures, draining abscess, injections, IVs, and removing things from ear/nose). When the pharmacy needs an extra hand, she is eager to help. There are so many small jobs that Jocelyn does that she said that she couldn’t list them all. She is willing and happy to help RHFH any way she can.
They say that their jobs help them to care for their children and put them in school. This is very important to them and they are proud that they are giving their children the opportunity to attend school and learn. Caprice knows and feels the weight of his job and says that he hopes that his job helps others by protecting the staff and children. Jocelyne thinks that her job helps others by protecting them from disease by creating a clean and hygienic clinic. They are happy and proud that their jobs allow them to protect others, although in different ways.
They enjoy living in Cazale because it is mostly a peaceful village. Compared to other towns in Haiti, Cazale is safe and quiet. There is less pollution and they feel like it is better for their family to live here. They feel at home here with family and friends.
They both see that RHFH helps the area by creating jobs, encouraging people to live better, and helping the sick people. Without the level of healthcare that RHFH has brought to the area, they are certain more people would have died. They are excited about the “Planting Hope” construction project that will provide more room and give improved service to patients.
Jocelyne says that her one regret is that her parents died before she was got this job. She would have liked to have been able to help them more and care for them. She wishes that they were here to see her and her family and what they have been able to become in their lives. She thinks that they would have been proud and that encourages her to keep doing the best she can.
Neither attend church regularly, but send their children. They would like for you to pray for their younger daughter, who recently had malaria, to recover fully. Their hope is for their kids to finish school, get good jobs, and help their country. They also said that we could pray for their whole family.