Our day started very, very early with a morning Praise
Service at the Tent Church. Freedom of Worship took on a whole new meaning. The
chairs were empty as people walked around the area with raised arms praising
God. When the Pastor asked people to pray for one another, no one was left
without a prayer partner, even us!!! This was a strong foundation for the rest
of the day; little did we know how much it would be needed!!
After prayer and a hearty breakfast prepared by Phonice, Brian
and David set out for Grace Village to work on the Pizza Oven (they called it
Shadrach). The rest of us climbed into the tap-tap for our first stop of the
day being the “Hands and Feet of Jesus” delivering water to the Haitians in a
tent city (a permanent refugee camp which was suppose to be a step up from Cite
Soleil). Our group did amazing work together as a team. Karl began with a
reading of God’s word, John 7-24, (translated to Creole by Jonas) prior to
turning on the water spigot. Our
team was able to pass and deliver water to the tents for some of the women who
were elderly, pregnant, and also small children, unable to carry the 5 gallon
buckets that had been filled with water. We knew how heavy the buckets were as
we lifted them onto the heads of many. Glimpses inside the living conditions of
the tents were beyond description. Similar to our other water stops, there were
many children, anxious for our attention, to be held and loved. “Hey you” was a
term we have all come to love, as it is the cry we hear from the children as we
arrive.
Arriving back to the guesthouse, we prepared for our
afternoon visit to the General Hospital. We packed what we thought was a
sufficient amount of bags with candy, stuffed animals, toiletries, diapers,
crayons, etc, etc. Boy did we underestimate the need!!!
To get to the hospital, we had to drive through “streets”
where there was remaining earthquake damage. It was like driving on dried riverbeds
of rocks, rubble, trash and masses of people.
The hospital was not one building but multiple buildings and
it was never, ever like any hospital Kathy or Sandie (the RN’s of the group)
worked in, or anyone had ever visited.
How can we even begin to explain the deplorable (not even a sufficient
adjective) conditions we encountered?
We started our visit in the buildings housing the babies and their
families, if they were fortunate to have any. You could tell the babies that
were orphaned because they didn’t have a sheet on their crib but were left to
lie on the plastic mattress in the Haitian heat with no ventilation and
surrounded by trash. They had no names; the labels above their cribs only told
where and when they were found!!
All the rooms
were dark with chicken wire on the window frames. IV lines were strung across the walkways between beds as
poles were shared between several children. Cardboard was used to splint IV sites. You had premature
babies, babies with feeding tubes; Oxygen was hooked to a huge tank, with no
flow meter!! There were approximately 30 babies in the Intensive Care Unit. Parents were also there so conditions
were extremely crowded. Some
parents slept on the floor with their babies. We started passing out the bags we made but it was so
obvious that our attempts at relief while well intentioned could not match the
overwhelming need.
We were then allowed to visit the “Emergency Room”, which
was in a different building. It
turns out people arrive here and just stay until they get better or die. Families must provide everything- food,
sheets, care and even prescribed medications. This building like all the others was not air-conditioned so
the common ailment of heat stroke and dehydration added to the other illnesses.
Our last stop was the Elder Care building. This housed that had no family to care
for them so many slept on blankets or cardboard directly on the concrete
floor. One patient that had no
bowel control was set naked outside.
Four lovely Haitian Christian women volunteers come each day to care of
them. They had no staff. We were
blessed as we spoke and prayed with these abandoned adults.
This could all be summed up in one word, stunned. Stunned that such a place and
conditions can exist in our world.
On our way back to the guesthouse we sang of God’s goodness. He is good
and what a blessing to know that though we could not meet the needs of all
those we met; He knows and loves each one.
Please pray for those in the hospital and those that are working
to make a difference. What an
emotional day, please pray for us as well.
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