Back for a visit

I am just home from just over a week in Haiti. As you know I left a month early and very quickly due to a couple of circumstances and I really felt I never got a proper chance to say goodbye to alot of people and see them before I left. So that is exactly what I went back to do. On top of that I also got to take my fiancee back with me for him to meet my friends there.

I just got to spend a week in Haiti, not very many people knew I was coming so it was exciting to see their reactions when I walked into the clinic when they had no clue that I was coming. I got lots of time to visit with different families who I was close to when I was there. I worked a little in the clinic, some physio, some cleaning, some pill counting and we also got the chance to do a mobile clinic.

Our mobile clinic was just an hour's drive away in the church of one of our ECC pastors. It was a bit of last minute planning but with the help of lots of people we got it all organised. We ran the clinic with both Dr Rodney and his mum (who is a nurse) consulting,  other nurses taking blood pressure, a few in the pharmacy, Pastor Jean-Marc and Pastor Devacoeur sharing the gospel. While the patients were waiting we had Rachelle, Kate, Wadner and Gesner running a kids club.

As soon as we arrived and set up some people brought in a wee 5 year old boy who had really swollen leg. Turns out he had fallen just about a week ago and the family had no money to take him to the doctor (which would have been a 15 minute walk and over an hours motorbike ride). Dr Rodney knew immediately that his leg was broken, so he splinted it up and when we left for the day we brought him back to our clinic with us. Hannah took an X ray and Dr Rodney was right he had a very bad break in his femur which will require surgery. We gave his family some money and sent them off to the hospital in town for his surgery. No matter how long I live in Haiti I will never get used to the suffering people go through due to poverty. This wee boy had been in agony for over a week, unable to get essential medical care because of money. At the end of the clinic the pastor's told us three people accepted the Lord that day.

If God only sent us to do the clinic for that one boy then it was worth it. I'm not sure what would have happened if we weren't there, he may have got an infection, he may even have lost his leg but the Lord's timing is perfect. For both Hannah and I this was a very last minute trip and one of the things we wanted to do was a mobile clinic.

This was a big thing I saw the whole year I was in Haiti, God's Providence and his plan. How he puts you in situations with different people so you can be used by him all for HIS glory.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was spending time with my wee family, Dr Rodney, Vedane, Wood, Oly and Alisha.  None of them knew I was coming (although it may have been better to tell them, Oly was shocked and didn't talk for the whole rest of the day that I arrived!!) it was exciting to surprise. I was down at their house every night just spending time visiting and playing with the kids. They have some very exciting news which I will share about in the next blog.

I left Haiti on Tuesday, feeling ready to go home but also sad to leave. I have no idea if God will ever call me back to Haiti I am just trusting in him for his plan he has for the future.

1 year later

12th January 2010........a date not one single person in Haiti will ever forget. One year ago today the 7.3 earthquake hit Port au Prince and devestated the whole country. In just 35 seconds......

Over 300,000 people died
Over 500, 000 injured
Over 1 million left homeless......still homeless one year later.

I don't think I will ever forget where I was when I found out, I had just left home on my way to Haiti stopping at Greenwood Indiana for cross cultural training before heading to Haiti. That night I checked my email wondering why people were asking if I was ok, then I saw online what had happened.

It was devstating to watch, every night I was trying to find out as much information as I could, check if my friends and other missionaries were ok, then all I wanted to do was to be there to see what I could do to help.

I remember just thinking why?After living in Haiti before I knew how difficult life was........already, how terrible housing  was........already, how terrible the health care  was........already even before the earthquake Now things had just got a million times worse. And I couldn't get my head round it, I questioned God and couldn't understand why God would let this happen to an already suffering nation. I arrived in Haiti on 3rd February and was straight down to Port to help with some mobile clinics. The scenes were awful, the smell was awful but the people proved to be strong and resilient. I would say between being in Port and working in Milot hospital with patients from the earthquake I have spoken to over 350 people who were in Port on 12th January and not one single person said why did God let this happen. Not one. Every person I spoke to said 'Its only by God's grace I am alive today.' What a challenge.

Since then I heard miracle upon miracle of how people lived through 12th January.  One young girl, Rose Marie in Milot trapped under rubble for 15days with no food and no water yet survived. A friend of mine, Anice traped in the 3rd floor of his school, found at midnight that night and amazingly amidst the chaos was found by his family two days later after sleeping in the street again with no food and no water. My wee friend Sterlina lived 6 months thinking her whole family was dead and was placed in an orhanage then found by her family who were all alive and well.  Joesph who lost both his legs, now walking with 2 prothestic legs by himself.

Baby Jeffely born 6 months after the earthquake after his mum was trapped under the rubble for 5 days. The light on the hill.....Where we ran our mobile clinics with over 600 people coming to the Lord. The church is going strong with people getting baptised and growing in the Lord. Right up their in the middle of tent city. A miracle.

I am praying for Haiti, God is the only thing that will change Haiti. Please join me in prayer, not just for physical help  but for spiritual help. Haiti's roots are in Voodoo and only the Lord can change that. Pray for all those people who gave their lives to God after the earthquake that they can raise up a new generation who can change the beautiful but suffering nation of  Haiti.

Great is thy faithfulness

Due to a couple of personal circumstances I have decided to leave Haiti a month early before my term ends and head home. I am going to try and keep writing on my blog experiences I have had and ways I have seen God move even as I am at home. There have been so many things I would have loved to have shared but just didn't have time to write.

When I begin to look back at this year the big thing that stands out to me is God's faithfulness. This year has been difficult for me, maybe even to be honest the hardest year of my life and it started right from the beginning. I left home on 9th January to go to Greenwood Indianda and on 12th January I heard news that my granny had died and also Haiti had suffered from a huge earthquake. I wanted to be in either of those places and instead I was in the states. When I think about the situations I have been in this year, if you had have told me before that I would be able to cope with them, I would have said no way I could never do that.  Situations like listening to stories and praying with people who lived through the earthquake and lost everything they had including their family, going on trips to Port to work in tent villages, sharing the gospel boldly, working with patients with Cholera to simple things like driving a 15 seater van (with 15 people in it), being brave enough to kill cockroaches and sleeping in the same room as a rat (one of my least enjoyable experiences). YET God was faithful and give me the strength for all these situations and many many more.

I like to think I am tough but I am not really, watching the film My Girl or ER makes me cry and this past year I have spent each and every day with people who are suffering, suffering because of the earthquake, because of cholera, because of poverty, because of illness, because of death YET again God had given me the strength to build relationships with these people, to help them physically and spiritually and to help carry some of their burden. Before this year I have never really experienced death in my life and this year I have experienced to much death that I care to even remember........I have even watched a 4 year old child and a 23 year old girl die of cholera right in front of my eyes, YET again God remained faithful and unchanging giving me the strength I needed to cope with those situations.

To be honest there are many things about Haiti which I will not miss, the pothole covered roads, wearing skirts, bean sauce, the smell of cholera, flip flops, sweating, the sound of car horns, motorbikes, wheelbarrows, chickens, goats, pigs (basically all those things which are on the road which should not be there!!), mosquitios and hearing Celine Dion's my heart will go on at full volume!!

Saying all that there are many things I will miss, Haiti is so very close to my heart and God has given me a love for the people rather than the actual country. I find it hard to love a place where people are suffering so much everyday but I love the people, I love speaking and listening to Creole and usually if I am not feeling very good walking down the street and someone saying 'Bonswa Cherie' to me usually brings a smile to my face. The thing I will miss the most are my good friends Dr Rodney and Vedane and their beautiful kids. I probably spent time with them everyday, Vedane has become one of my very best friends. I will miss going down to their wee house and Oly greeting me with ' Hello missionary.', Alisha's huge smile as soon as I walk in the door and Wood jumping on top of me as if he hasn't seen me for months. Dr Rodney is a very special man clearly chosen by God to help his people. He has taught me a lot about Haiti and its culture. He has also made us laugh so many times with his Dr Love consultations!!!

Even though the next wee while is going to be difficult I know God will remain faithful as he has been in 2010 and will give me the strength I need for each day. God promises he will never give us more than we can handle and I know that to be true. Here are some of God's promises I have had to depend on over and over again this year.

Psalm 46 v 1 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.

Isaiah 40 v 28-31

Hvae you not known, Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth

He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable 

He give power to the faint and to him who has no might increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted

but they who wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, 

they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not be faint.

1 Peter 5 v7 

Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

Psalm 46 v 10 

Be still and know that I am God.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not:
As thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness, Morning by morning new mercies I see: All I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Loss

Wednesday  was a hard day for us in the clinic as we lost three patients. We went down to the clinic on Wednesday morning and the night nurses told us we lost one of the old ladies during the night. The lady had been there from the day before and was continually pulling out her IV fluids. Later that morning we lost another patient, another older lady who had come the morning before severely dehydrated and it took a long time to find a vein for an IV. A few times throughout the day we had to change the IV for various reasons and we just couldn't get  fluid into her as fast  as she was losing it.

Later that  afternoon we lost a little girl who was just  four years old. This was the hardest  for all of us, she came in that morning dehydrated but awake, drinking and talking....screaming even  while the doctors were trying to put an IV in. They  tried and tried but couldn't get one, we continued to give her oral rehydration solution continually. Around 3o'clock her dad told her to the bathroom, had diarrhoea  and she lost all the fluid she had in her wee body and stopped breathing right there, the doctors worked on her for nearly an hour but sadly there was nothing we could do.

It was a particularly difficult day for all our staff and especially the families of those patients who died. Please lift them up in your prayers. It just showed me how awful cholera is, I always thought once you get to  a hospital, get fluids in you will be fine however that is not always the case. The key is time, as soon as someone gets sick they need to get to a hospital as soon as possible. And we need to keep working on educating people on how they can protect  themselves against  cholera.

It  reminded me how fragile life is and how at  any  moment for any of us we never know what is going to happen. One minute that  little girl was sitting up talking and drinking and just  a few minutes later she had stopped breathing. Life is so fragile and not just here in Haiti. We really  need to have an urgency about telling people about God and about what He has done for us and how He alone can save people.

On a different note Hannah and I are thankful to have a team here this week from the states, the team includes 2 doctors and 2 nurses. I don't know what we would have done without them this week. On Tuesday the results of the election were announced and people weren't happy. Wednesday and Thursday brought rioting and roadblocks in town meaning very few of our clinic staff  could come to work. Which would have left me, Hannah  and Dr Rodney in the clinic but thankfully God knows what you need in advance. Things are quiet in the cholera 'hospital' this morning and Hannah and I are taking the opportunity to have some rest  before the team leave tomorrow.

We really need some more help down there, the cholera problem isn't going to go away anytime soon. If you are a doctor or nurse or a physio who knows how to change IV bags and flush out IV's would like to come on a short term trip to help in our clinic please get  in touch with me. We need people asap and I would say willl be needing them for at least the next  couple of months.


On days like Wednesday its hard to look at the positive side of things, but we have treated well over 100 patients some of whom have come in very close to death yet  they have got better and walked out of our wee hospital which we praise the Lord for. On little girl, Neissa was there last week when she came in she wasn't very very sick but we got her IV in and kept her in, she got worse and worse with cholera. Basically you have to let cholera run its course through your body and staying hydrated with IV fluids, antibiotics don't do much because usually patients just throw them up again. Anyway she had 3 full days of being very sick gradually got better. I was out in Vaudrieul the other day and I heard this litte girl say hi Julie, I looked at her said hi and walked on. I never think much when people do that, they always say hello Julie and I never have any idea who they are or I can't remember them!!Anyway I thought about it and figured she just  was one of the loads of kids who know who I am. I stopped to visit someone at their house and she came in. I looked at  her and said 'Neissa' she said yes Julie. I couldn't believe it she looked like a completely different child I didn't even recognise her.

So we are grieving with those families who are grieving over their loss but also rejoicing with those who get completely better. I am thanking God for his strength, if anyone knows me they know I need a lot of sleep and I don't have very much stamina!!!However the only place I am finding physical and emotional strength from is in the Lord and he is enough for what I need. Every now and then I just  look at the things I have done in Haiti this year and if you told me that before I came I would have said no way I could never do that. Yet when you are open and willing to be used by God he gives you what he need for what he has called you to do.

I have quoted this verse a few times but Im just reading through the Christmas story and it comes up right there.....
Luke 1 v 37

'For nothing will be impossible with God.'

Christmas, Culture shock, Cold and Cholera!!

After being at the clinic for too many hours everyday and night working with our patients who have cholera I hadn't even thought about Christmas. However on Thursday Hannah, Matt, Stacey and I had to go to the Dominican to renew our visas. We have to leave Haiti every three months and unfortunately for us the quickest and cheapest place to go is the Dominican Republic. Hannah and I were more than ready to go on Thursday afternoon when Matt and Stacey came to get us as we were both in need of some rest.

We got through the border no problems even though Hannah and I had been working with cholera patients just a few hours beforehand. As we were driving through the DR it started to get dark and then I saw the first Christmas tree. After that every time any of us saw one it was like look at that one, look at those decorations....it was like we were kids again and amazed at everything. We had the Christmas music on looking at the Christmas trees, then we arrived at the ridiculously cheap all inclusive hotel. As we pulled up we saw this huge Christmas tree, straight away we had to get out and look and take photos of the tree.
of course then as soon as we got back home we put our Christmas tree up in the house. Its so hard to even think about Christmas in Haiti especially with people suffering so much. The other reason is because it is hot and sunny and it really only feels Christmas at dark time when the Christmas lights go on.

Our christmas tree

Back to the hotel, while we were waiting for our rooms to be ready the guy at the desk told us to go and eat.  We went into the huge dining room and all 4 of us just wondered around for a while (Im sure we had our mouths open) before we even knew what to do. There was so much food, we didn't know where to start so we started with the drinks. Hannah was the best, she went over to get some coke, it was like the drinks machines you see at Mcdonalds. Hannah filled one glass up, drunk it and continued to do the same thing over and over again....it was hilarious!!Finally we chose something to eat, thing we could not get in Haiti.....Pizza, pickles, fries, cucumber. and strawberry ice cream.

Talk about culture shock. On paper the Dominican is a third world country yet I felt like I was in the States. The roads were all paved, all the houses had electricity (with christmas tress!!), there was road signs, traffic lights,  the shop was about the size of Tesco's and you can find everything you need. It was just overwhelming to go from working in our cholera clinic and just that morning seeing a little girl arrive with cholera who was already dead in her dad's arms. To a place where we could eat whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted and lie by the pool, go to the shop and find what we needed or just what we wanted (granny smith apples!!). It actually made me wonder how the human mind copes with that sort of change in just a few hours. I felt so far away from Haiti........yet it was just a 5 hour drive away.

One of the things I find hard being in Haiti is being a 'blanc' and all the things that come with that. No matter how long I live in Haiti if I speak Creole perfectly, carry things on my head, hand wash my clothes do everything Haitian I will always stand out just by being white. Being in a resort full of 'blancs' it was so nice not to stand out. Saying that we were the only people wearing jeans and hoodies in the evenings when everyone else was out in their summer dresses!!! The next day it was cloudy and overcast, still crazy british people were out by the pool in their swimming stuff and then us, the missionaries from Haiti feeling cold!!Jeans and hooides again for everyone.We were sitting by the pool with Lily (Matt and Stacey's daughter who is just 22 months), there was a lady beside us reading a book and Lily went over and said 'is that your bible?' It was too cute and she was very dissapointed to find out it wasn't, the lady actually apologised because Lily looked so sad. Maybe we didn't blend in as much as we thought!!!

The trip was mainly to renew our visas but we also got a time of rest, we had lots of fun together especially as we dont see Matt, Stacey and Lily much because they live in Sakenvil at the seminary. We were also able to buy lots of supplies for the clinic thanks to a very generous donation to some people from home. There are so many supplies which we need in the clinic which are so difficult to find in Haiti and if we do find them they are very expensive. We were able to buy lots of baby formula, nappies, baby bottles, baby wipes and sheets all of which we desperately needed.

We are back to work in our chlolera clinic which still has a steady flow of patients. In the past 2 weeks we have treated over 60 patients and all of them have got better and been sent home. Thankfully this week we hae two doctors and two nurses here on a team which is great. We are thankful for the rest, for the supplies we were able to get for the clinic and that we had no problems getting there or coming back.

More on Cholera.....

Cholera is the thing everyone is talking about right now. It is now present in all 10 departments of Haiti with the North department (where we are) being the worst affected. People are so scared of getting cholera because of what they have heard and seen of people dying quickly. As I have said before educating people is going to be the most important thing. People are believing all kinds of things they hear on the street and they are willing to believe them because they are so scared of getting cholera. Here are some of the things I have heard.....

If you drink lots of alcohol you will be protected against cholera.
You can buy a medicine in the street which will protect you against cholera.
You can get cholera from the dust in the street

 

Where we put our first patients

Which all of course are not true. This week Bethesda began to treat cholera patients. At first we had put them in a tent outside which was fine for one day but not good enough. One of our other missionaries Jane had the idea of using one of the old houses which is just beside the clinic. When we went to look at it, it was perfect for exactly what we needed. On Wednesday we arranged the house and brought over all the supplies we need. Thankfully we were able to get more IV fluid in town, this is the main treatment for cholera and last week we we unable to buy any in Cap Haitian.

 

our new 'hospital' for paients

Since Wednesday we have had a steady flow of patients, mostly children from a number of different areas, and mostly brothers and sisters. We have had a few difficult cases where they have been so dehydrated it has been really difficult to find a vein to put the IV fluids in. One little boy I would like you to pray for especially, he came on thursday morning severely dehydrated and it took our nurses over an hour to find a vein to place an IV. He was given fluids all day and all night and seemed much better on Friday afternoon he was also drinking alot. However he continued to have diarrhoea through the night on Friday and by saturday morning he was severely dehydrated again, as our staff worked on him they couldn't find a vein as he was so dehydrated. We continued to give him fluids by mouth as we were able. Dr Rodney then had an idea of IV into the bone which I have never heard of before but he did it (it was his first time ever...he had just read about it!!). Thankfully we had the equipment and with alot of praying going on at the same time Dr Rodney got it in and the IV started. Since then it has been running, we have been giving him oral fluids aswell all through the night however he is still having continuous diarrhoea and is losing alot of fluid. Please pray today we will be able to find a vein, give me another IV which is so desperately needs so we give him more fluids than he is losing.

Its scary how quickly cholera can dehydrate someone, especially kids. The continuous vomitting and diarrhoea removes all their fluid very quickly. If someone gets cholera time is really the important thing. Friday we had a young girl come in who just started getting sick that night around midnight and by 8 am the next day she was very very unwell. Dr Rodney started two IVs and within 20 mins she was awake and talking. Her mum was crying as her big brother was in the clinic aswell, as soon as she woke up she said 'mummy don't cry for me just pray to God for me,' It was very cute and today she is a million times better eating and drinking.

Thankfully all our other patients are responding well to treatment. My role in the clinic had definitely changed from just a physiotherapist!!Please pray for us as we treat patients, for continuous supplies, for strength for our staff especially Hannah, Dr Rodney and I (please!!) who have been in the clinic long hours and though the night.

This week Bethesda is starting two special weeks of 'Combat Cholera'. Each day the patients will be educated on how they can protect themselves against cholera. Each patient will be given soap, A bottle of chlorox (bleach) and oral rehydration powder. We also have a fixed price of 250 goudes (about $5 US) for each consultation and any medicine which patients need. We expect to have alot of patients and on top of treating cholera patients its going to be hard work!!However we will be able to educate alot of people and give them materials on how they can protect themselves and their families agaisnt cholera. Plus we have a medical team arriving next Saturday from the states which will be great.

**I wrote this yesterday and didn't have chance o post it. Today we have even more patients and our 'hospital' is nearly full. Please continue to lift us up in prayer , also among the business we will have time to share the gospel with our patients.

Noise!!

I never thought I would be happy to hear the sound of a horn on a huge truck in Haiti. Just to explain a wee bit.......driving in Haiti is a bit crazy and the rules are, if you want to be seen beep your horn, if you want to overtake beep your horn, if you want someone to move beep your horn......if you just feel like it beep your horn and for as long as you want!!!. The other rule is if you are bigger you have right of way!And what generally happens is these huge trucks come along with their hand on their horn for a good 15 seconds to get everyone else in their way to move. Everytime I drive past one or hear the horn from my house (which is often) it does my head in, there is no need for it to be that loud and that long....its not like we don't see the HUGE trucks coming!!!

When one of these drive towards me with their hand on the horn I very quickly move out of the way!!

Anyway today we have heard lots of loud horns and cars and people and Haiti is back to being noisy!Which is great, all that means,  things have settled down after 4 days of rioting in and around town and after people being confined to their homes it nice to hear some noise outside. We have heard the rioting is mainly due to the cholera outbreak and people want something done about it and also there are rumours that the UN are responsible for bringing cholera to Haiti and most of the rioting was against the UN.

We thank God for the peace today, please pray it will continue. Pray for elections which will take place next Sunday (28th), pray that the right people will be chosen for the positions here in Haiti.