The team got a chance to experience the "back roads" of Haiti today by going to nearby villages of Dariverger and Big House. Only about 20 minutes from the guest house, but not really on the way to anywhere else, the roads are always rustic to the point of not being what we would call roads - apparently even more so after the hurricane damage. They got to see what that part of Haiti looks like now without even the beginning of clean up attempts, and it was striking to see large sections of what had been lush and green just gone and flattened. They had a bird's eye view of it all from the back of the pick up trucks they use for transportation from place to place. Bumpy, but no obstructions!
This is one hard working and well ordered team - four doc stations with intake, triage, pharmacy and a procedures area all feeding into and out of them. They estimate they saw at least 125 people today from the two villages, perhaps as many as 150. Various needs were met today but the striking thing was severe infections. One woman had a terribly infected stab wound she'd received in a fight for food in the hurricane aftermath when things were so desperate. Another child had an infection of some kind, and the team is sure that both would have died if left untreated for much longer. It is a good reminder and encouragement that while every need can't be met by any one team, the needs they met today saved lives, and that is something to rejoice in. Again, rampant scabies were in evidence, which is partly due to the remote location and also because so many people have nowhere else to sleep but on the ground.
The team is benefiting from the assistance of a group of Haitian men who work with ESMI as translators. Each with their own story of loss that reflects the harsh reality of life in Haiti, they use their English fluency to earn money to support themselves and their families. One is a young man with aspirations to study in America, Louinel; another a man who has lost everything - including his family and his livelihood a few times over - in cholera epidemics in the past, other health crises, and the recent hurricane. His name is Antoine. There is also a nurse on the team this time who was born in Port au Prince and is fluent in Creole. Another blessing.
The team is proving to be made of tough stuff! The heat is oppressive and the working situations crazy, but there are no complaints. Just the opposite. Everyone is pulling together to do amazing work. They are getting tired, as you would expect, but are looking to finish well in the next couple of days as they work at the orphanage down the hill from the guest house. They'll see LOTS of children and as many community folks as possible.
Please pray:
This is one hard working and well ordered team - four doc stations with intake, triage, pharmacy and a procedures area all feeding into and out of them. They estimate they saw at least 125 people today from the two villages, perhaps as many as 150. Various needs were met today but the striking thing was severe infections. One woman had a terribly infected stab wound she'd received in a fight for food in the hurricane aftermath when things were so desperate. Another child had an infection of some kind, and the team is sure that both would have died if left untreated for much longer. It is a good reminder and encouragement that while every need can't be met by any one team, the needs they met today saved lives, and that is something to rejoice in. Again, rampant scabies were in evidence, which is partly due to the remote location and also because so many people have nowhere else to sleep but on the ground.
The team is benefiting from the assistance of a group of Haitian men who work with ESMI as translators. Each with their own story of loss that reflects the harsh reality of life in Haiti, they use their English fluency to earn money to support themselves and their families. One is a young man with aspirations to study in America, Louinel; another a man who has lost everything - including his family and his livelihood a few times over - in cholera epidemics in the past, other health crises, and the recent hurricane. His name is Antoine. There is also a nurse on the team this time who was born in Port au Prince and is fluent in Creole. Another blessing.
The team is proving to be made of tough stuff! The heat is oppressive and the working situations crazy, but there are no complaints. Just the opposite. Everyone is pulling together to do amazing work. They are getting tired, as you would expect, but are looking to finish well in the next couple of days as they work at the orphanage down the hill from the guest house. They'll see LOTS of children and as many community folks as possible.
Please pray:
- For continued health and good rest for the team, and for electricity and adequate water for showers.
- For the team's stamina to see them through two more very full days of ministry.
- For the hardworking people of ESMI, who have been going full bore for the last 5 weeks since the hurricane. All have got to be exhausted, and yet rebuilding efforts and maintaining food supplies for the orphans drives them. Louis and Dony St Germain remain in the middle of the efforts, Louis in Cayes and Dony in Jeremie, which was probably the area hardest hit by the hurricane.
- For interpreters Louinel and Antoine, and so many others like them, who are beginning again from practically nothing. Ask that God give them encouragement and provide a way for them to meet their family's needs.
- For the desperate all over Haiti. Ask that God give hope instead of people lashing out in violence and frustration in their need.
- And lastly but most significantly, that the healing love of Jesus would enter the hearts of those who don't know Him in this sick and wounded country.
Thank you for praying!
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