Day 26: A Day on Shift

I woke up at 7 am today to the announcement that we had 150 guests. I spent the morning running around the office fielding phone calls, pinning up travel arrangement forms, and helping people with medical emergencies. 

Around mid-morning, a pregnant Haitian woman who was four months along told me in half-Spanish half-Creole that she was having contractions. Contractions at four months didn't sound good, so we reached out to the midwife we have on call to get advice. She picked up the phone and told us she was in the middle of delivering a baby and that she would call back soon. 

With 150 guests and over 70 travel arrangements to make, the phone was ringing off the hook. I had to keep track of flight confirmation numbers, bus shuttles pick-up times, and people with four or five complicated names that I had never heard before in my life. 

Before the midwife called us back, a different pregnant Haitian woman on crutches came to the office in tears. Her husband was detained and she had no idea where he was. She had his cell-phone and money. 

I called the El Paso Processing Center and was told that I wasn't allowed to speak with her husband. I then looked up his name in the ICE online detainee locator system and found out he had been deported to Haiti.

My heart sank, but I didn't tell her right away. She was standing in the middle of the office crying uncontrollably. 

I said that the Processing Center was closed, and that we'd try again soon. 

As I navigated guests and calls, flocks of children occasionally came to the window of the office to beg for "dulces." I gave them bags of sugar-free gummy bears and sent them on their way.

There were moments of panic. I had to wake up a man and his son who almost napped through their flight. A young girl had a bad case of bronchitis, and we debated calling the ER. Four bags of popcorn spilled in the dorm. 

At the end of the shift, the midwife called back and said that based on the pregnant woman's symptoms, she just had a bad case of morning sickness.



(The Franklin Mountains and the famous L&J Cafe.) 

Comments

  1. outdoor59June 20, 2021 at 3:05 PM

    What a day! Phew! Never a dull moment and so much responsibility you have!

    ReplyDelete

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