Haiti
My new-to-me biological family is made up of some incredible people, if nothing more than for the fact that they've completely opened their hearts to me as if I was never a stranger. One such person is my dad's brother, my uncle Nate. He just returned from Haiti and I was included on the e-mail list for his journal. I asked if I could share it with others, since it's a pretty good first-hand account of the devastation.
We’re back! Thanks to those of you who prayed and carried us in your hearts. While I was gone I kept a mini-journal of each day’s happenings. Rather than re-write everything we experienced, I thought I would simply give you the raw outcome of our days there. We had a great team of MD’s and nurses. They served their hearts out and I was proud to serve with them.
February 1:
We made it all the way here for free. 2 Dallas businessmen loaned us their lear jets and flew us down here. Talk about the favor of God! There are military planes all over the place. The airport is standing but unoccupied due to cracks in the walls. Waiting to be picked up by our hosts.
Feburary 2:
Had a great night’s sleep on the floor. Took a bracing 3 minute shower. Cold oatmeal in a glass for breakfast. I’m ready to go! The Special Forces have set up their HQ in the same compound where we are staying. We leave in 1 hour for Carre Four, the town where the orphanage was that Fox News found us working last week.
Just got back from Carre Four where we treated 175 people and prayed for healing over each one. Saved one lady having a heart attack. I was sent to the hospital with her in the back of a pickup. I held the IV and bounced all over the place. We got back to the base just before dark.
February 3
Hey friends! Today we only saw 110 patients because some cases were more serious and took more time. A dying baby, a couple ladies with eye infections that had to be lanced, etc. I am so proud of the team. They work hard without a break all day sweating under the sun and without complaint. We are doing general health care and changing some dressings from wounds sustained in the earthquake. People were suffering here before the earthquake.
February 4
Today we drove thru a lot of desruction to a town 3 hours away. In some places the road was cracked on 2. About 20 of us cramed ourselves and 2500 lbs. Of gear into a beat up rejected old school bus. I think each wheel has about 3 lug nuts. We arrived at the town and immediately began seeing patients. These docs and nurses are amazing. Fixing ugly wounds, sowing hands back together often in 85 degrees and no electricity. I've been using my French all day helping to translate. The US marines are here building a shed that we will use for an OR. We are sleeping in tents here. Thanks for praying.
February 5
Today started at 6:30am with the birth of a baby girl and ended at 8:30pm with the birth of a baby boy. The boy was born right after another aftershock shook the building. We saw almost 400 patients today. A couple times things stated getting rowdy with crowd control but the Marines would walk through and everyone straightened up quickly. They finished building our OR. Go Marines!
The hardest part of the day was treating an 8 year old girl. I have managed to get through 4 days without getting my heart broken, but this little girl wrecked me. So sweet and with little in her life to give her hope. Her dad died a long time ago. Mother lives in Dominican republic and has only seen her once. And her grandmother takes care of her. She broke her leg in the earthquake and has not been treated. If she does not get treated soon she will walk with a permanent limp. She was in a lot of pain but was sweet all day. We finally put her in a truck that would take her to a hospital 3 hours away. I held her hand and prayed God would heal her. It was all I could do.
February 6
Today started out calmly. By 3pm we had seen about 275 people. Several cases had to be evacuated to a hospital 3 hours away. We all got our bucket baths and sat down to eat around 5pm. Then it started. Multiple wounds from multiple vehicle accidents started pouring in. People brought the injured on motorcyles or in the back of trucks. We are not a hospital! We are a team of people working under mango trees! But we became an ER only without electricity. Headlamps were our lights.
Dust was everywhere. 2 pregnant ladies showed up having problems. One was in need of an ICU. Then 2 separate burn victims came in. We were at capacity. Irate or worried family members also showed up. The person who caused the accidents being treated next to the ones who were injured. Tempers flared.
The Marines next door caught wind of our dilemma and showed up to provide some security. That’s a good feeling! The night finally slowed down and the Spanish military took our critical pregnant lady for us. A chopper touched down and they evacuated her to their ship anchored off shore.
After a 17 hour day on our feet we are exhausted. I hear the chopper flying over right now. It took them a while to find a landing zone and then get to us. I’m ready to hit the sack!
February 7
Today we treated only 120 patients before we had to leave. A truck resembling a paddy wagon, complete with a cage, bounced us back to Port au Prince. We were happy to be back at our base to shower and eat a good meal. The Special Forces guys rigged up a satellite and a 10 foot screen for us so that we could watch the superbowl. Now that’s watching it in style! I ended up meeting several of these Special ops guys - it was an honor.
Afterwards we jumped back into our paddy wagon and loaded up our stuff again for a ride to the airport. Once there we were sent out on the tarmac to wait for an empty military cargo plane that would take us back to US soil. Some of us laid on the ground trying to sleep. It’s hard to do that when large military aircraft are rolling by, their turbines screaming in your ears.
Finally at 4:30am a soldier informed us that an outgoing C17 had room for us. We grabbed our gear and headed for the plane. It was a blast to ride home courtesy of the US Air Force! We arrived into Charleston, SC and managed to get ourselves a flight back to Texas.
Glad to be home! We ended up treating somewhere around 1000 people. It was a moving experience to see such devastation. The media does no justice to the need or the plight of these people. I’m glad we could be a part in a small way.
We’re back! Thanks to those of you who prayed and carried us in your hearts. While I was gone I kept a mini-journal of each day’s happenings. Rather than re-write everything we experienced, I thought I would simply give you the raw outcome of our days there. We had a great team of MD’s and nurses. They served their hearts out and I was proud to serve with them.
February 1:
We made it all the way here for free. 2 Dallas businessmen loaned us their lear jets and flew us down here. Talk about the favor of God! There are military planes all over the place. The airport is standing but unoccupied due to cracks in the walls. Waiting to be picked up by our hosts.
Feburary 2:
Had a great night’s sleep on the floor. Took a bracing 3 minute shower. Cold oatmeal in a glass for breakfast. I’m ready to go! The Special Forces have set up their HQ in the same compound where we are staying. We leave in 1 hour for Carre Four, the town where the orphanage was that Fox News found us working last week.
Just got back from Carre Four where we treated 175 people and prayed for healing over each one. Saved one lady having a heart attack. I was sent to the hospital with her in the back of a pickup. I held the IV and bounced all over the place. We got back to the base just before dark.
February 3
Hey friends! Today we only saw 110 patients because some cases were more serious and took more time. A dying baby, a couple ladies with eye infections that had to be lanced, etc. I am so proud of the team. They work hard without a break all day sweating under the sun and without complaint. We are doing general health care and changing some dressings from wounds sustained in the earthquake. People were suffering here before the earthquake.
February 4
Today we drove thru a lot of desruction to a town 3 hours away. In some places the road was cracked on 2. About 20 of us cramed ourselves and 2500 lbs. Of gear into a beat up rejected old school bus. I think each wheel has about 3 lug nuts. We arrived at the town and immediately began seeing patients. These docs and nurses are amazing. Fixing ugly wounds, sowing hands back together often in 85 degrees and no electricity. I've been using my French all day helping to translate. The US marines are here building a shed that we will use for an OR. We are sleeping in tents here. Thanks for praying.
February 5
Today started at 6:30am with the birth of a baby girl and ended at 8:30pm with the birth of a baby boy. The boy was born right after another aftershock shook the building. We saw almost 400 patients today. A couple times things stated getting rowdy with crowd control but the Marines would walk through and everyone straightened up quickly. They finished building our OR. Go Marines!
The hardest part of the day was treating an 8 year old girl. I have managed to get through 4 days without getting my heart broken, but this little girl wrecked me. So sweet and with little in her life to give her hope. Her dad died a long time ago. Mother lives in Dominican republic and has only seen her once. And her grandmother takes care of her. She broke her leg in the earthquake and has not been treated. If she does not get treated soon she will walk with a permanent limp. She was in a lot of pain but was sweet all day. We finally put her in a truck that would take her to a hospital 3 hours away. I held her hand and prayed God would heal her. It was all I could do.
February 6
Today started out calmly. By 3pm we had seen about 275 people. Several cases had to be evacuated to a hospital 3 hours away. We all got our bucket baths and sat down to eat around 5pm. Then it started. Multiple wounds from multiple vehicle accidents started pouring in. People brought the injured on motorcyles or in the back of trucks. We are not a hospital! We are a team of people working under mango trees! But we became an ER only without electricity. Headlamps were our lights.
Dust was everywhere. 2 pregnant ladies showed up having problems. One was in need of an ICU. Then 2 separate burn victims came in. We were at capacity. Irate or worried family members also showed up. The person who caused the accidents being treated next to the ones who were injured. Tempers flared.
The Marines next door caught wind of our dilemma and showed up to provide some security. That’s a good feeling! The night finally slowed down and the Spanish military took our critical pregnant lady for us. A chopper touched down and they evacuated her to their ship anchored off shore.
After a 17 hour day on our feet we are exhausted. I hear the chopper flying over right now. It took them a while to find a landing zone and then get to us. I’m ready to hit the sack!
February 7
Today we treated only 120 patients before we had to leave. A truck resembling a paddy wagon, complete with a cage, bounced us back to Port au Prince. We were happy to be back at our base to shower and eat a good meal. The Special Forces guys rigged up a satellite and a 10 foot screen for us so that we could watch the superbowl. Now that’s watching it in style! I ended up meeting several of these Special ops guys - it was an honor.
Afterwards we jumped back into our paddy wagon and loaded up our stuff again for a ride to the airport. Once there we were sent out on the tarmac to wait for an empty military cargo plane that would take us back to US soil. Some of us laid on the ground trying to sleep. It’s hard to do that when large military aircraft are rolling by, their turbines screaming in your ears.
Finally at 4:30am a soldier informed us that an outgoing C17 had room for us. We grabbed our gear and headed for the plane. It was a blast to ride home courtesy of the US Air Force! We arrived into Charleston, SC and managed to get ourselves a flight back to Texas.
Glad to be home! We ended up treating somewhere around 1000 people. It was a moving experience to see such devastation. The media does no justice to the need or the plight of these people. I’m glad we could be a part in a small way.