Saturday, January 16, 2010

haiti update - january 16, 2010

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
Psalm 46:1-3

On Tuesday afternoon while we were preparing for the arrival of visitors who would be arriving the next day an earthquake struck Haiti without warning at around 4:30pm. A forceful shaking started (around 7.0 magnitude) and I yelled to everyone that it was an earthquake and to get out of the house. The house was shaking and it was difficult to run. We all got bumps and bruises getting out of the house but by God’s grace the house didn’t collapse. People in the neighborhood were screaming and prayers were lifted up to God. The quake ended after only about 2 minutes. 3 of our walls surrounding our property are down or partially down. The wall separating one of our neighbors is completely down.
We went over to Sherri’s house to find that her house had collapsed at the back. One of the children died but everyone else escaped before it fell. There were many injuries and also many deaths in all areas of Port-au-Prince. Fonise Cadeau’s father was hit by a falling wall on Delmas 31 near our house and his son who runs the boutique across from us came asking for help. I will never forget the look on all the people’s faces. It was one of shock. Frenell told me that his father’s leg had been severed almost completely just above the ankle and he asked if we could transport him to hospital. After we went on the street others came running up with injured and we piled everyone into the truck. We tried going to Delmas 33 at Hopital La Paix first and it was chaos there. The medical staff at the hospital fled the building and no care could be provided inside. There was traffic on the streets that made it difficult to advance. We then tried to get to Medecins Sans Frontieres with the same answer. There was nothing open and traffic was heavy. We saw so many large collapsed buildings that we thought were well built.
Several people in the vehicle were severely injured and I was frustrated that they would all die because we couldn’t get medical care for them. Our last idea was to go the Missionaries of Charity on Delmas 31. They took in the wounded and provided care for them. They worked around the clock for the next few days taking care of the wounded. So many of the injuries were amputations and severe compound fractures. We went through the neighborhood and made continuous trips to the Missionaries of Charity with injured children and adults from the Delmas 31 area. When our vehicle was full we told other walking wounded to make their way to the Missionaries of Charity. During this time the Haitian people helped one another and are still doing so. There was an electricity pole that fell on the street leading to the Missionaries of Charity home and we had to carry people the rest of the way. I would ask men who were walking by to help carry and not once did anyone refuse. One man whose eyes were swollen shut from his injuries asked us to help him walk, as he couldn’t see well. People tried to remove rubble with their hands to get at people buried alive under the rubble. The church across our street was destroyed. The 2-story house on our street corner was destroyed killing 3 people inside. People removed dead bodies and set them out on the road. The Haitian press is estimating that 100,000 people died in the earthquake. Many more people were injured. We have been working all week transporting injured to makeshift clinics. Since the earthquake it has been unsafe for people to stay in their homes (that are still standing) because of risk of aftershocks. I am trying to find out when this risk of aftershocks ends. We are camping out in our yard now along with about 80 refugees who come in to sleep at night. We took in one mother and her 3 children who lost her home. Staying here are infants, children and families, mostly from Pastor Marcelin’s church. His church as well was destroyed in the earthquake. Many schools have been destroyed. 2 people who are part of our Coram Deo family that live here are missing and presumed dead. Samuel Marcelin who is a teacher at Adoration Christian School and Jackenmy Millien who is the teacher of our handicapped class here at Coram Deo went to their university that they attend in the afternoon to write their exams. GOC University is a large 3-story building. Samuel’s classes are on the 3rd floor. When the earthquake struck the building completely collapsed. Pastor Marcelin is his father. The family has been going every day to the university site to find news of the rescue/removal efforts going on there. Keep everyone here at Coram Deo and their families in prayer. Amos Marcelin is Samuel’s brother and he has been strong in dealing with his brother’s death and also working to help injured people. He is an amazing person.
The day after the earthquake we visited people we knew to see if they were okay as telephone communication wasn’t an option. We went on foot because we didn’t have much fuel and no gas stations were open. There were lots of bodies lying on the sidewalk. People were hoping that someone would pick them up but nobody did. We were walking down Delmas 33 and we approached what I thought was an artificial leg for a child laying on the sidewalk. We got closer and found it to be the lower leg of a child with the shoe still on the foot. That was all that was there. We walked in front of the state hospital Hopital La Paix. The entire courtyard was full of dead, dying and injured people. Lying on the sidewalk by the road near the hospital gates we saw what we thought was an “albino” Haitian. I took a closer look and saw that it was a missionary and someone that I knew. Barb Lataillade had been brought to Hopital La Paix with a lower leg injury caused by her collapsing home. Her leg was almost severed. A tourniquet was in place. She had been in the yard of the hospital waiting for medical care for the entire evening without any medical care being given. She had asked the person who was with her to put her out front out on the sidewalk and find transportation to go somewhere else. She asked if we could drive her out to Blue Ridge Ministries. She told me that she knew that she would probably need an amputation and just wanted to get to the United States by airplane and get into a hospital there. Mimi of Lamp Foundation was there as well and she found a van driver willing to bring her. We later found out that she made it out of Haiti alive and is now in hospital in the United States. Pray for all those who are suffering.
The entire city of Port-au-Prince is a refugee camp with people sleeping anywhere they can. Yesterday we started visiting refugee camps in the Delmas 31/Cite Aux Cayes area searching for injured people. One large camp in the Cite Aux Cayes area has around 3,000 people there who have lost their homes. Bed sheets are their walls. At first we got harassed a little bit from some of the tougher guys but when they saw we were going to injured people they then walked by and said “Respect”. The Belgian government has opened a tent hospital next to Hopital La Paix on Delmas 33 and we brought a lady from a refugee camp there, as her cut foot was infected and smelling. The Haitian people are thankful for everything being done. Everyone is struggling to get by but are persevering. The security situation is difficult, as all the prisoners have escaped from prison. Wednesday evening a thief armed with a knife entered into the refugee camp by the Apostolique church not far from Coram Deo and the people together killed him. Everyone is in survival mode and the word that is out is that if you steal you will be killed. Prison is not an option. Last night there was a lot of gunfire in the neighborhood. We are keeping the gates locked at all times and controlling access to the yard. We have anything that can be used for defense outside and the guys are monitoring the yard. The guys have an axe, machetes and baseball bat handy. Right now we are our own security. With the amount of people in the yard we have security in numbers. My cousin Jeff is approaching Haiti through the Dominican Republic. He is attempting to cross the border today. My sister Tanya is coming along with a team from Angels to Haiti on Tuesday. They are also traveling through the Dominican Republic and entering Haiti by bus. There are armed guards on the bus to make sure that their passage is secure. Pray for all the work that needs to be done here in Haiti and for the Haitian people during this time. There are a lot of unknowns for the future of Haiti but the Haitian people are strong. Pray for all the missions that are working to help improve the conditions of the people.
That is all the news for the day. So much more has happened but I’ll write another update later.
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

20 comments:

Allan and Alice Buist/Plug said...

We will keep praying for you all. God will give you strength.
Alice

cindy hodge said...

Karen, you have our prayers and support. Dr.Karen is working on a trip soon. Stay strong in
the Lord and the power of His might. You are a miracle! See you soon! Nurse Cindy

cindy hodge said...

Karen, We are praising God that you and so many survived! Truly a miracle. Dr. Karen is working on a trip soon. We are praying. Stay strong in the Lord and the power of His might! See you soon, Nurse Cindy

Unknown said...

Karen, we are praying for you and thinking about you constantly. We are in touch with Tim Bos daily and are trying to find ways to spread your personal news. Brian contacted the London paper and a story was written about you. We have emailed everyone we know with an appeal for aid. Karen, just know that the response here has been amazing. Max is involving himself with fundraising at his school, as I am at my school as well. You are strong Karen, and you are an angel of God. We call your actions "the miracle of Karen".

Erin, Brian, Max & Lucas Dalrymple

Unknown said...

Karen, we are praying for you and thinking about you constantly. We are in touch with Tim Bos daily and are trying to find ways to spread your personal news. Brian contacted the London paper and a story was written about you. We have emailed everyone we know with an appeal for aid. Karen, just know that the response here has been amazing. Max is involving himself with fundraising at his school, as I am at my school as well. You are strong Karen, and you are an angel of God. We call your actions "the miracle of Karen".

Erin, Brian, Max & Lucas Dalrymple

Anonymous said...

May God keep you safe in his arms as you continue your calling in Haiti. You, your family there, and all of Haiti are in all of our prayers. May God bless all that you do and may He give you strength in days to come, that you may carry on. We hope to see you in the not to distant future to help out as best as we possibly can. God Bless.
Dan, Ange, Cole, Rylee & Trenton Vis

Shaun and Karen DeJonge said...

Hi Karen
You are in our thoughts in prayers, can't imagine what everyone is going through. We know that we can lean on the Lord for everything, which is such a comfort. We are having a prayer service in our church tomorrow as well. Wishing you all the best and much strength as you try to provide relief.

Anonymous said...

Karen,
We are praying for you and for all our Haitian family in Christ. May God go with you!
Kristen

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for that in depth report of things so far! We are praying here in the DR and will continue to do so. It was great to help Jeff on his way - I think he should be there now. We will be praying and looking for updates as well. Blessings. Mike &Judi

bschanhals said...

Tante Babs and myself (Babsy) from Colorado are praying many times per day for you and your loved ones. God Bless you and protect you. I just read your blog and weep.

Anonymous said...

praying for the Lord to fill all your needs, keep us posted
VanRootselaar family

Unknown said...

*hug*
I am glad to hear you are alive and OK, Karen!

Jackie Bultje said...

hello dear jackie and kids i'm with Karen now. Her area is very bad collapsed houses everywhere about a 1000 dead in this area alone. things are very bad for the who have no foreign connection. the only food is the food that private org. have brought in. Karen has enough food for 9 more days. The day of the quake she received a skid of poptarts, strawberry flavoured luckily, we are networking with other groups to get more food.All the food brought into the country by other gov't is still in storage someplace they are still getting organized. I slept well last night with about 100 others in Karen's yard. When I go out of the compound I'm armed with pepper spray and a taser gun type thing I don't think I'll be using it much. Last night there was lots of gunshots and rioting in Karen's area . I hope you get this try skyping I'm not such a good typer as you can see. love you all talk soon.

Barb Foekens said...

Karen: I will try this again. We have been praying for you and everyone else involved with you constantly. We pray that God will continue to give you strength and patience in the weeks to come. We are so thankful that Jeff is there now and is able to help you out with his crew. Thank-you for all the pictures and updates. Barb

Rob Van Alphen said...

karen and Jeff

Jim asked me if I would be willing to go to Haiti to help. Let me know if you think a dentist might be of some help down there. I can do other treatments (amputations, sutures,wound dressing etc.) Let me know what you think.

We are all praying for you.

Rob
robva@nucoplastics.com

joanne Rowland said...

I am a physiotherapist in Peterborough Ontario and your blog is the best coverage I'v e seen thank you for being there and helping so much.Can you give me a contact name of someone in the orthopedic area that i might be able to help with crutches ,canes walkers,prosthetics ...i live near Trenton where there is a military base and perhaps stuff could be sent that way...i can only imagine the great need for these items...thanks and keep well Joanne Rowland fiverowlands@hotmail.com

where's the manual said...

I am from Chatham Ont. and I have been praying and praying for you, your work and your cousin, Jeff since I heard he was going to you.
May God Keep you all safe. God Bless you and yours Karen.
Ann Malone

Picard Family said...

Hello Karen Bultje,

Thank you for your daily updates. My family and i here in NYC are praying for the country. Ourselves, we haven't heard from our 92 yr old aunt and her daughter. Their names are Fanesse Inelia Lareste and Marie Maude Perpignan. Their residence is Delmas 31 # 3 Between Rue Biassou and Louverture. Their phone is 509-2249-8109. We can be reached at 917-531-2078 or 908-523-8804 or via email
smitty6820@yahoo.com or
mona718@aol.com

We would appreciate any lead from anyone who is reading this post.

Thank you and again my God be with you all.

Smitty Picard and Yva Pinard

Anyone in the USA reading this , please donate and help the country.

http://clintonbushhaitifund.org

Anonymous said...

Karen, you are in our thoughts and prayers...
Psalm 46:1 ~ "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." We pray that knowing this may give you strength in this time of trouble.
Tim and Teresa Kieft

Anonymous said...

Dear Karen,
Letting you know that a lot of people are praying for you. We pray God will keep all of you safe and give you the stength to get through each day. God bless you!
E & F de Haan
Abbotsford, B.C.