My friend the RN back from Haiti

witzend

Well-Known Member
I thought you might enjoy her update as to how the trip went for her and her daughter, who is a brand new RN. husband's Rotary group sponsored quite a bit, and the luggage may have been more of a blessing from us than a "miracle", but then again, this is how many miracles happen, I think...

[FONT=&quot]Haitian Trip Wrap Up, Or is it Just the Beginning?[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Dear Supporters and Prayer Warriors,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The Haitian medical mission team returned to the USA on Sunday early AM, 3/28/10. We had the most amazing time and met the most amazing people; Haitians, Americans, volunteers. We had an experience of a lifetime. God wove an extraordinary tapestry of people and events together to make a beautiful completion of events that has changed our lives. We want to thank you all for helping to make this trip possible. The Haitians we ministered to, truly seemed appreciative and genuinely grateful. To sum up the experience in a short letter is impossible but we can try to give you an overview of what we did and experienced. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]First of all, our whole team met in Seattle, WA on Sunday evening, 3/21/10, except for one team member and Troy and Brian from the ministry met us in Miami. We miraculously did not have to pay for any of our checked luggage and supplies! We totaled about 25 checked bags with an approximate total weight of supplies around 1200lbs. The charge to check all these bags would have been hundreds of dollars.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]We arrived at the Port au Prince airport on Monday March 22nd. There were a few military planes and helicopters present as we arrived. Some of the team from Light Ministry met us at the airport. Terry, the pastor from the ministry helped us to clear customs with just a wave through after a frenzy of re-gathering of all our bags and supplies. The bags were put on rickety carts, and we all caravanned through the hundreds of Haitians gathered at the outside gate. They were vying for our attention and wanting to assist for some $$ in return. We were safely escorted to a waiting ministry van. There were to be two vans but one was broken down. We all piled in the van; there were 13 people in the van along with about 40 pieces of luggage and personal bags! It was quite packed and claustrophobic. We made our way through Port au Prince on our way to Carrefour. We had to make several detours due to traffic jams, etc. We went by the damaged “Palace” and many destroyed buildings, vehicles and piles of rubbish and debris. We finally made our way to the ministry house, that I call the “compound“. You could only get in by a big metal gate that was guarded. The house and ministry property was surrounded by a high wall. Part of the wall had been destroyed in the earthquake but plywood filled in the holes. The house miraculously escaped any earthquake damage. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]
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[FONT=&quot]The ministry compound had people living in tents and a bus since the earthquake. Some of the people worked for the ministry and their homes were now uninhabitable. We got settled in our temporary housing and took off to check out “the clinic”. The clinic was in the foyer of the ministry auditorium/church, about three blocks from the house. The clinic had been set up and manned almost weekly by medical teams since the earthquake. It was about 15x25ft and covered in dust that came from the road through the open metal gate that separated it from the street. We returned to the house, had a good dinner and settled in at the house for our first night.
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[FONT=&quot]Every day after this we would get up early, eat a good breakfast and head to the clinic dressed in scrubs to see the people lined up to obtain health care. Our set up at the clinic consisted of some chairs, tables and basic medical supplies. We had a long table full of medications and manned by our pharmacist and Haitian assistants. We deposited all the bags of supplies we had brought and added them to what was previously there. We had rooms on the floor above us that contained supplies that we were not currently being used but easily accessed as we did throughout the week. We had four stations set up with a nurse and interpreter to triage and treat the Haitian patients. The nurses became very good at assessing and treating the patients as directed by the Haitian doctor that worked with us. The nurses would send on their patients to see the doctor if additional evaluation and treatment was needed. If we could not treat the patient due to the severity of the medical conditions they went to the Red Cross hospital. We saw approximately 700 patients during the course of the four days that we worked the clinic. We worked from 8 until 6 on days that we did not have church, and on Wednesday and Friday we closed shop early as the clinic chairs were needed back at the ministry compound where they were currently holding church while the auditorium was being repaired. We saw many different ailments that needed attention, from little malnourished children, people suffering from stress related illness, to typhoid fever, yellow fever, malaria, puncture wounds, feet and leg wounds, etc. The work was hard, it was very hot and very dusty. It was medical care “by the seat of your pants!”. It was wonderful to help them to receive comfort and attention.
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[FONT=&quot]Our week quickly came to a close. We were able to take an hour of time to take a trip around Carrefour on Friday afternoon. Carrefour was the epicenter of the earthquake. There was a six story building that had housed school children that we walked by every day on the way to and from the clinic. It had collapsed in the earthquake and there were still about 150 children entombed there. We saw people living in tents, in tin sheds and on the street. There were even tents set up on the divider of the highway where people were living. We saw piles and piles and piles of rubble from cement and building debris. The roads were opened because the debris was just pushed to the sides of the roads. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The Haitians are lovely, hearty people that have been through so much. They didn’t have much before but have even less now. Even though they have little and have been so traumatized we saw love and laughter in spite of the heartaches. We can’t thank you enough for your generosity to the Haitians and for blessing B and myself with prayers and financial support to help bring this Medical mission trip through to completion. We definitely have Haiti in our hearts now. We still have monies for this trip and we will bless the ministry with the rest of the funding so that it all goes to helping the Haitians recover from this devastating earthquake. May God bless you immensely and give you abundantly more than you could ever ask or think.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Love,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]B and K S.[/FONT]
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
What a lovely heart and brave soul she and her daughter has. I saw on the news the other night that the rains have made the place a complete mudslide in Port au Prince and the people are being forced to live in conditions unfit for most US animals. It would be nice to hear that other countries around the world were pitching in to help the Haitians rebuild so these poor people could have a decent home instead of a cloth over their heads and mud under their feet. I can not imagine what they are going through still. Thank goodness for people like your friend and husband's Rotary club Witz.
 
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