At the beginning of 1963, the Hodges family left for a six month vacation in the States so I took over management of the hospital and Dr. Bob Masters filled in for Bill. A volunteer lab tech from California filled in for me.
One afternoon I sat in the pharmacy talking to Mme. Dessinex, Celamise’ mother, who had run the pharmacy for years. The hospital waiting room in front of us had only a few people waiting to see the doctor. The others had gone home and most would return the next day, hoping to get an appointment.
As I looked at Mme. Des I saw a few gray hairs. She was in her fifties but she had no wrinkles and she had the energy of a younger person.
I said to her, “Mme. Des, Haitians seem to look young longer than white people do. Most people laugh and joke a lot even though they have hard lives. Why is that?”
She replied, “Bon Dieu knew what he was doing when he put white people in a cold climate where harder to get food and stay warm. He also made them rich where they can buy houses and coats to keep them war. We have a warm climate so we don’t have to worry about staying warm.”