haiti update - may 24, 2009

“For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.” Psalm 72:12

Hi! This week was a busy one with the medical program. We held our first medical clinic in the mountains of Kenscoff on Saturday! Pastor Pierre has a couple of churches that are far in the mountains. Because of the distance we are not able to bring a large group of people and supplies to their area. These people do not have access to medical care and the only solution that we could come up with was to set up a clinic and have them come to us. Pastor Pierre visited the outlying areas ahead of time to invite people to the clinic. Some made the journey over 2 days. Pastor Pierre is responsible for 2 churches. The first one we know of as the far church and the other one as the new church, which is closer to the Kenscoff area. The people from the community of the far church traveled on Friday and slept overnight at the new church location. Pastor Pierre slept there overnight with them and at 5:00am he started the journey with around 50 people from the new church site to the clinic site. The trip for the medical team to the clinic site was also a challenge. It was a rainy week in Haiti with a storm system hanging around. I was praying that we wouldn’t have bad weather for the clinic. Saturday morning there was a blue sky in Port-au-Prince and this encouraged everyone. The medical team members all come from the Kentucky area. There were also Haitian doctors, translators and helpers as well. The team loaded the supplies onto the school bus and we started heading up the mountain. The school bus went ahead up the mountain road and had trouble a couple of times overheating. We drove in Kimosabee and he had no problem going up the mountain road. We waited at the Baptist Mission in Fermathe for the school bus to catch up with us and when we heard that the bus overheated again I sent Lukner to check up on things and told Pastor Pierre to wait by the road and call me on the cell phone when he saw the school bus. I figured there was just enough time to run inside the restaurant there and enjoy a strawberry sundae. I don’t get the chance to enjoy that treat here in Port-au-Prince and it sure tasted good!
Pastor Pierre beeped me just as I finished the last spoonful and I ran back to the pickup truck. We then made it as far as the bus and Kimosabee could go. All the boxes of medical supplies, tables and chairs were unloaded and everybody started to carry the stuff. It was about a 1 km hike uphill and was very challenging but everyone was enthusiastic and determined to make it up to the clinic site. When people needed to catch their breath they stopped and when they had their wind back continued on the upward journey. Pastor Pierre had people from his church come down to help with the carrying of the supplies. We reached the site and everything was unpacked and the tables and chairs were set up for the different stations – patient registration, consultation, and pharmacy. We opened with prayer and everyone got to work. As each patient was registered a couple of the team members prayed over the person before he/she went on to the consultation area. Lukner handed out evangelism tracts to people who were waiting outside. A few of the team members were young people and they played soccer with some children from the community. The team also had balloons and bubble blowing activities for the children. Unfortunately though it was cloudy and foggy where the clinic site was and the rains started at around 11:00am. There was a tarp that provided some shelter for people waiting to get inside the clinic. We had rain showers for the rest of the day. The team worked hard and saw 215 patients. The team provided medications as well and this was a real blessing for the people. The goal was to be finished the clinic and heading back down the mountain by 3:00pm and we were able to meet this goal. Because of the rains the way back down was very slick and it was a challenge to keep your footing. At least it wasn’t raining though for the descent. A couple of people wiped out and took a spill but at least they landed in the mud and not in the piles of animal droppings that were along the way. Pastor Odvin was one of the people who wiped out. Pray that his sprained wrist heals quickly. Some of the women did not have the proper footwear for the journey and had trouble with the hike. One of the young people had flip-flop sandals and her feet were very sore. One of the team members carried her for the last part of the descent. I felt bad that I didn’t remind everyone in the beginning to make sure that they had the proper footwear. The people of the mountains were very thankful that visitors were willing to come up and help them and I hope that we can do this again another time. The people appreciated their determination and efforts at bringing the medical supplies and clinic up to them. I don’t think that the medical team will forget their journey up and down the mountains of Kenscoff! We give the Lord thanks for visitors willing to accept challenges in serving the Lord here in Haiti. When I got back home I bribed the children with money to clean my muddy hiking boots for me.
Rainy season officially starts in June but 11 people died in flooding in various parts of the country this past week. Pray for Haiti, as the country has still not recovered from last year’s storms.
Bill Clinton has been named as the UN’s special advisor on Haiti. Hopefully he will help to raise interest and encourage investment here in Haiti. Haitian people still continue to try to reach the United States and other islands in the Caribbean by boat. 10 Haitians drowned off the coast of Miami this past week when their boat capsized. The mentally handicapped lady disappeared from the emergency room waiting area at General Hospital last Sunday morning. She walked out on her own. When we went there to check up on her I met a man who has also been hanging out on the General Hospital grounds for the last month. He was eager to talk with me and explain his story. He spent 18 years living in the Dominican Republic and is a naturalized citizen of that country. He showed me his paperwork. He studied civil engineering at the university there. From the Dominican Republic he went on to the Bahamas and was deported from there back to the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic didn’t want him and deported him back to Haiti. His 3 children are still in the Dominican Republic. He was crying when he told me this. Pray for this man as he tries to get back on his feet. He has no connections to Haiti and is sort of stuck right now.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo