It has been three days since we returned from the medical mission trip in the lower peninsula of Haiti in the mountainous area. I still struggle with how to put the experience into words. May I begin by thanking all of you who offered prayers on behalf of our team during our efforts to serve God’s people. I knew before I went that it would be an emotional roller coaster, and that it was.
Part of the difficulty was the length of the trip and the conditions of the roads. It took nearly nine hours to get to the location which we called “home” for five nights. The roads were so treacherous that we all felt like our bodies and brains had been jarred and bruised permanently. The last four hours of the drive up into the mountain had steep drop offs, sharp curves and the road was made up of very large pieces of rock, huge pot holes and sometimes a foot of water! Going ahead of us was what we would call a huge dump truck – which carried all of our supplies and bags.
Arriving in the dark, exhausted, and hungry made the first night a bit unsettling. Four of us were given the Pastor’s home which was a one room building, smaller than my bedroom, with a tin roof. There were many bugs I had never seen before on the walls and crawling about. We had to walk thru a trail into the woods to find the outhouse. It’s conditions made me queasy, so I claimed a little area of my own in the woods which became my “spot” for further needs in that area… Cold bucket baths behind a brick wall was a challenge for me, as well.
Our first clinic was held in a small building across the street from where we were sleeping. By 8:00 a.m. many people had gathered. One man was brought on a homemade stretcher – carried by family members. Once we had established our “stations” for the clinic, being: patient assessment, wound care, scabies treatment, and the pharmacy we opened for business. A triage of the 100’s waiting was performed and what appeared to be the most in need came first. The man on the stretcher was seen right away and it was determined by his symptoms that he was suffering with TB (tuberculosis) and after a five hour wait we gave him the finances to go three hours away to a small hospital for treatment. He was accompanied by a man 36 years old whose abdomen and lower legs/feet were so hugely swollen that he could barely breathe, walk or sit. It was decided he was in liver failure and also needed a hospital setting. The third patient was a four year old boy whose mother died in January and his father has been caring for him. He, too, had swelling of the face and lower extremities. It was determined that he was suffering with a severe form of malnutrition where the lack of protein eventually makes the body begin to break down. A clear liquid was oozing from his feet and hands. (He and his father remained in this building for four nights waiting to come back with the team to get medical treatment – hoping the boy would not die before we could get him back to Port-au-Prince. Together they slept on a thin mattress - rarely seeing daylight in the darkness of the room. The little boy has improved slightly here at New Life in the one tiny, room used as a clinic. This dear boy has not yet smiled, but keeps a firm hold around his father’s neck. The love shown by his father makes me cry.
There was also a young woman who came to the clinic in labor. It was determined that we could not send her back home, so she joined the man with his child in the back, dark room of the building. There happened to be a mid-wife (toothless old woman, whose thighs were the size of my upper arms) in the crowd which had gathered who began massaging the woman’s pregnant tummy along with other unusual customs – namely tying a piece of thin material right above the woman’s pregnant stomach. She continued to adjust this material as the pregnancy advanced (?).
We ended up treating over 300 people that day and we were all pretty exhausted and speechless at what we had seen and experienced. After dinner a few of us walked over to see how the woman’s labor was progressing. By 8:45 p.m., and without the slightest “peep” out of the woman in labor, we witnessed the birth of a baby boy by flashlight and an oil lamp brought by the family. Other customs came to play which included putting a tight wrap of material around the infant’s abdomen, three layers of clothes and two hats! (While each of us was dripping with sweat!) THEN the midwife hung the child upside down by his feet and swung him around, followed by throwing him up in the air and catching him three times in a row. I did very poorly handling that part and had to turn my back and cover my eyes as I screamed repeatedly, “NO!” It was very upsetting to watch. By the next morning our newborn baby, mother and family were on their way – with the prayers and hope that we wouldn’t see the little child at a future clinic. What will become of baby Samuel?
On day two, after driving up the mountain for nearly an hour we came to the village for our second clinic. We immediately went into action as we found a 10 year old girl who just that morning had a seizure and fell into a fire used for cooking. Her burns covered most of her right side, left hand and face. Somehow we had enough supplies and antibiotic ointment to carefully cover her wounds - a sterile technique wasn’t even a choice! Her mother’s screams were so heart wrenching to hear. The adults and children at this clinic presented similar conditions: malnutrition, stomach aches from worm infestation, abscessed teeth, ear and body aches and many elderly so frail with no food or care. There was also a family who desired to give away their two year old daughter. Many other parents wanted us to take their children as well. Three more sick children were brought back to our “home base” and lived on the floor by our father and son, waiting for the day we would be returning to New Life.
The young girl with the burns was taken to a “hospital” in a town called Pestel. We had to bring ALL of her supplies and needs, from the sheet to lie across the torn mattress and rusted hospital bed, to all dressings, food and even pain medication. The hospital consists of one room with rusted bed frames and an old dental chair for seating. (This is the hospital/clinic that Impact for Jesus purchased a pickup-truck for a Dr. and sends monthly money to purchase needed supplies.) Because there isn’t a medical facility for miles – there is NO way they can keep any kind of supplies on hand. I could barely leave this listless child and distraught mother behind.
Our team then went via a homemade boat across the sea to one of the Haitian islands. The people on this island have NO medical care and NO drinking water! The children half dressed, with naked bottoms ran to greet us. They were so excited to see anyone coming to give them attention. We administered worming medication to over two hundred children and left vitamins and boxes of food. The Pastor who traveled with us talked to this large group of children about Jesus Christ and gave them an opportunity to accept Christ. Many children came forward for prayer. I commented that while we don’t know what is in the hearts and minds of these children, I know there will come a day when at least one of these children will share their testimony about how a missionary came to their island when he/she was a young boy/girl and accepted Christ as his/her Savior – who has since been the center of their life!
That evening a few of us decided to drive back to the hospital to see if the young girl was doing OK and to buy food for her and her mother. We found that she actually had an IV in place to replace the oozing fluids, but unfortunately had a very high fever. The Dr. on duty said he had a bigger problem in another room. He had a young pregnant mother in labor. The Dr. suspected that the baby was hydrocephalic and the head was too big to clear the birth canal. Again we went into action and after some deliberation put a small mattress on the floor of our vehicle and took the woman back to the boat we had used and they were able to take her on a 20 min. boat ride to another town to a facility that hopefully had the ability to perform a c-section. Without a c-section, both the mother and child would die. (We learned the next day that the mother and child were fine and the child merely had a large head. Again, God provided the means and directions for us to be in the right place, at the right time.)
On our last day of clinic a mother brought her three month old baby who had burns on both cheeks of her buttocks. A lantern had fallen onto the child who was lying nearby. Please keep in mind that the people living in these areas are living in huts made out of woven sticks or dried palm leaves with mud floors. Few have bricked one room houses. This baby was in such pain and she, too, needed to be treated at the Pestel hospital. Five of us took the baby, mother and grandmother to Pestel – another 60 minute jarring drive. I’m not proud of myself – but it was at this hospital visit my anger for the conditions and lack of supplies took on a voice – MINE! This infant needed IV fluids. An attempt was made with the one and only IV needle – which wasn’t a success. I did my best to support and encourage the mother who was visibly shaken by the screams of her dear baby. And, if you know me, my tears began flowing, too! A Dr. asked why I was crying and I made it quite clear that I feared I was leaving both the infant and young girl to die. NO antibiotics, not even Tylenol! Can you imagine the number of people who DO die because there are simply no supplies or available places for medical care? Just look at what we experienced in THREE days? What must it have been like every day before we arrived and every day hereafter?
As the week continued – our room that seemed unbearable on day one became our anticipated abode at the end of a tiring day. One evening when we returned, we heard that a man had come during the day. He had learned that there were medical people present. He was unable to urinate and was very distended and uncomfortable. The following day, we unexpectantly found a lone catheter in a supply bag! The man was catheterized and taken to a hospital about five hours away. We learned that he died the next day.
When it was time to return back to New Life the big truck was reloaded with supplies. Only this time there were the five children, each with a parent loaded in the back, as well. We all successfully made the longggg journey back which seemed to last forever.
Renee Plaza and her cousin Lori, who were valued members of the team, returned home yesterday. I really miss them. I am staying for another week and intend to spend some time with the children here. One of the children we brought back who was totally listless and unable to hold his head up or walk (age 5) began walking in the clinic here today. We all clapped and encouraged him. His mother beamed. She thinks that the food he has received has made him stronger. A Dr. will be coming tomorrow to examine and evaluate the children.
It has been a quiet day as I tried to re-group and digest this past week. I am happy that I went on the mission and was able to see God in the midst as He placed specific people in our path to help. We have had to focus on the people who we WERE able to help, not those we didn’t. We estimate that about 1,000 people were seen in the various clinics. Without having anything but over the counter medication to offer, I question how many received what they really needed. But what I do know is that each one received individual attention and hopefully our presence made them see that they haven’t been forgotten. I’ve realized my passion is interacting with one individual at a time. I strived to stare into their eyes and offer a smile, to point to the heavens and proclaim God’s love for them. As we started down the mountains and I stared at the shacks, half dressed children, people barefooted carrying plastic jugs to go get water miles away, young children riding donkeys on make shift saddles, and little ones sitting in dirt returning my wave with such excitement, tears streamed down my cheeks, as they are now. The depravity is bewildering. Not just in Haiti – but many places around the world. Why them – and not me?
We must keep trying. We must continue to work as one body praying for God to continue to direct us and keep us on His path. His heart has to be broken, too. He asked us over and again to take care of His children – so that is what we shall continue to do. The Haitian people’s smiles, their labor to prepare and serve us food, them giving up their home for us, and their words of thanksgiving and hugs were the gifts that God delivered to me. They were far greater than anything I gave in return.
Humbly,
Patty
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