Remembering Haiti

This week marks 2 years since my mission trip to Haiti. And I can feel the emotions all over again. I felt God's call as soon as I heard about the earthquake and prayed for God to present a way for me to go if that is indeed what He was calling me to do. Well He did just that. And just a few weeks later, I received a fateful email inviting anyone with a medical background to join a team with the NC Baptist Men to go to Haiti. I was ecstatic, knowing full-well that God was sending me to do His work amongst a people devastated by poverty, destruction, and hopelessness. I really had no idea what I was getting into but I was prepared for anything. Having just had surgery on my femur only a few months before, and just finishing up rehab, I really didn't know how my legs would hold up for the "24 hour shifts" we were told to expect, but really, I didn't care. I knew God was sending me so I knew He would be my strength. And because I had no doubt I was doing exactly what He wanted me to do, I knew I would be ok. He would make it ok.  And just as I expected, I had no pain at all! God's provision was amazing.

 I was only there for 7 days but came back with a heart forever changed by what I had experienced during my short time there. I could never describe the magnitude of what I witnessed on this trip.  There was devastation and poverty beyond belief, but there was also a nation of people with resilience and determination unlike anything I had ever seen. It was surreal driving through Port au Prince imagining what the streets must have looked like that afternoon when the earthquake hit causing buildings full of people to collapse in a matter of seconds. Everyone we met had a story of loss, heartache, or traumatic recollection from the event. That part of it made the trip quite emotional just trying to fathom what these people must be going through. To have already had so little to begin with and then to lose it all within a matter of seconds was just hard to even wrap my mind around. Many of them went from having a small concrete, dirt floor structure above their heads to having nothing but a sheet to spread across 4 sticks staked in the ground. And some of them didn't even have that.

I really could go on forever describing my experience in Haiti but could still never fully explain what we witnessed or the work God did through our team. I long to go back and see the people again and see what has changed/stayed the same since we left. We worked with a wonderful group of Haitian people who are committed to the Lord, believe in His Word, and serve Him by serving their community. I know God is using them and the other missionaries from NC Baptist Men to demonstrate His love and bring more people to a knowledge of Him. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to work in that country!



The picture below is the clinic I worked at the 1st day. I was assigned to this clinic as the only licensed provider with 2 other nurses working with me. When I received this assignment the night before, I was so overwhelmed and prayed for God to just work through me because I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. And God made His presence known early one. The next morning when we arrived at the clinic, we had a short time of prayer and devotion for the people waiting in line for the clinic and after an invitation, 4 men walked up,  fell on their knees in the mud, and accepted the Lord. It was an experience I will never forget.

The clinic - notice the homes made of sticks and sheets

People waiting to be seen

This was one of the orphanages we visited. We checked each child for health problems and just spent time playing with them. Each one of them had some sort of health issue ranging from ringworm to malaria. 

The girls were so mesmerized by us white people and would just stare at and rub my arm.

They loved looking at the pictures we took of them on our camera. There were no mirrors so we don't think they ever see their own image. 

PRECIOUS children!! All girls, except for 1 little boy!

Saying grace before their meal.

They were singing to us. Such a sweet sound even if you can't understand the language.

 Church service - it was an amazing 2 1/2 hours of praise and worship! God was definitely among us!

 One of the tent cities where people retreated for shelter after the earthquake. The area in the middle is one of the clinics NC Baptist Men had set up to provide medical care. This was one of our first stops after leaving the airport on our way to the the mission house.

This is me working to re-organize meds with Merline, one of the Haitian doctors. 

One of the clinics I worked at - we were assigned to a different one every day. The guy on the left is my interpreter, Mike and the guys on the left were patients.

Here I am working at one of the private hospitals. I saw all the pediatric patients there that day. There was another doctor who was seeing all the adults. I was so overwhelmed by this task but it went better than I expected. There wasn't resources to diagnose and treat these people like we needed but we did the best we could and had to get creative in ways to treat them. This hospital had structural damage from the earthquake so was not able to house the patients - you can see their makeshift hospital rooms in the background of this picture. This is where the inpatients received their care - for example, amputees who had just had limbs removed slept on wooden palates on the ground, for months!  And even worse, when they became well enough to leave, many of them didn't have a home to go to or even family members alive to care for them.  I could not imagine!

Some of the earthquake damage. 

The Palace - equivalent to our White House