Until We’ve Actually Seen It First Hand , It’s Very Difficult to Wrap The Mind Around It… And Even Then….
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“As I reflect on our shared experience I am reminded of a quote by Mother Teresa....."we can do no great things, only small things with great love". Our days at the clinic in Cayes Jacmel were overwhelming, the need was so great. But God doesn't ask that we care for the whole world, but to care for one person at a time.”
Nurse Kim, our newest member here on Thy Daily Bread commenting in a recent email about our trip to Haiti..
I’ll apologize ahead of time if I seem like I’m jumping around in my reflections at times. While I am trying to share as events happened from January 12th until now, I’m also hopping, skipping, and jumping around as things come to mind that I feel called to be share ahead of time. So please bear with me and hopefully I’ll remain clear throughout these reflections as to what time frame I’m speaking about at any given time.
So before I go much further I really do want to take a moment again to thank everyone who made charitable contributions towards this trip and towards HTFH, to everyone who stood behind me and supported me, and especially for all of your continual prayers which have meant so much and were really felt. Our humanitarian efforts would not have been possible without all the help we received. Thank you..
Our nurses and medical personnel on this trip were outstanding by the way! I want to take a moment and really applaud them because it was the combination of medical experience and expertise on this trip that worked so extraordinarily hand in hand with such great compassion and tender care that I believe is what made all the world of a difference while we were in Haiti. Everyone who came on this trip did so as a volunteer. There was no paycheck. Time was taken away from daily routines, jobs, and families to travel to Haiti wanting to help. And as a witness on this trip, a person myself who has no medical experience and sometimes felt extremely limited in what I had to offer, I also bear witness to the loving care and compassion that was shown by our nurses. They were awesome! I probably need not say much as the numerous pictures I will be posting throughout these reflections will tell it all… Although I will share much more on the wonderful work our nurses did during our time in Haiti in the post's to come.. But for now just wanted to take a moment to commend them on their wonderful efforts and rather large hearts!
From January 12th over the next few weeks until it was time to leave I joined thirteen other local volunteers who were beginning to prepare for this potential trip to Haiti. And when I say ‘began to prepare’ there is a lot to be said about this kind of planning… Not just physical planning but mental, emotional and spiritual planning just the same. And in so many ways I wasn’t even sure how to go about it except for the continual information coming in mostly via emails from our Coordinator Steve Mcdougall who we are all grateful for the tremendous help he offered us in taking the time to brief us both before and during the trip. Steve summoned several meetings in the basement of a local Church Jo-dee had arranged for us to meet at.
It was during these meetings the most that we would come to learn about what to expect when we reached Haiti. It was also during these meetings that we would begin to come to know one another and what we each had to offer... though I'm not sure anything could really prepare us for a lot of what we were about to witness.. And I must admit I felt inadequate during the first meeting as we went around the table and introduced ourselves taking a moment to share in brief our credentials for lack of a better word. Almost everyone in the group was offering some kind of medical experience. When it came to me I could offer experience in construction and experience in helping troubled teens. To me it wasn’t enough.. But to the rest of the group including our coordinator Steve and two other board members Keith & Marcia they felt I could be of help. So I thought, well, if they felt I could be of help then I will trust that and continue in preparations.
During one of the initial conversations I had with Steve over the phone he told me that I would need to start on shots immediately. Mostly the Twinrix shot because I would need to have it in your system weeks in advance before going to Haiti. Well, for someone like me, this was the tell-all & end-all that would determine just how serious I actually was about making this trip. Anyone who knows me knows how extremely petrified I am of needles! I run the other way at the mere mention of shots.. I’ve been that way ever since I was a little kid and as an adult I’ve never seemed to overcome that fear. So if I was going to get shots in order to make this trip then I needed nothing short of a miracle, a tremendous outpouring of God’s graces. I went to a nearby clinic that same day and inquired about the Twinrix shot. No sense in procrastinating. They were ready right there on the spot to take me in and start me on the first of three doses but at the moment I didn’t have the money on me so I opted for an appointment the following day. A single Twinrix shot would cost $71.00.. I would need three before I left.
Also needed was an updated Tetanus shot. And according to the CDC’s website it wouldn’t hurt to get a shot to fight against typhoid as well although typhoid at that time was not of great concern. At the doctors blessing I skipped the typhoid shot but did eventually get the three Twinrix shots and the Tetanus shot. And upon getting the last of three Twinrix shots I also began taking Malaria pills. And at the suggestion of my doctor I took an oral dose of Dukoral, a medicine to fight against Diarrhea, a common occurrence among those travelling to 3rd world countries especially who are not accustomed to the foods and surrounding environment.
I went to my appointment as scheduled and when it came time for the shot I lifted my sleeve and like a good trooper turned my arm towards the nurse and the needle she held in her hand. “Okay, go for it!” I said with a smile… followed by, “Ouch! That hurt!” As the nurse gave me the shot I tensed up and moved a bit just as the needle went in.. Truth was though, I was still eager to get this shot… First time in my life I ever felt eager to have a shot. And despite the sharp bruising pain from accidentally moving I still had that eagerness on my next visits.. The eagerness was in wanting to see this through to go to Haiti.. Whatever it took.. Whatever I needed to do..
So the grace was certainly there! Remember, God tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I would go to Haiti, it only made sense He wouldn’t abandon me in the process but make sure I was given the grace and strength needed to fulfill what He was asking of me… And it was this way for all of us who made this trip. Perhaps not in terms of getting shots so much but in so many other ways different for each individual. Getting time off work, pre-arranging things for while we would be gone… everything just seemed to fall into place for us as we continued to prepare. Even arranging for police clearances and updated passports at the last minute for a few individuals in the group fell into place in perfect timing.
I do realize so many of the pictures are sad and can be difficult to look at.. And believe me, I’m not showing them to make anyone feel sad as almost unavoidable as that may be. In so many ways the whole journey to Haiti was sad and difficult for all of us who went to witness which is why I’m struggling a bit myself these past few days to try to write about our journey. I usually don’t have difficulty journaling about my experiences at least in the same manner I am right now. I usually don’t struggle to reflect as I live them…I can get writers block like anyone.. But this is different. I’ve pretty much written a book already over the past three years or so about my conversion journey even though it’s no where near its end… And I’ve written pretty much with ease about the joys of traveling to Medjugorje on two occasions.. But this is very different in so many aspects… But mostly, simply because of the inner sadness one is left with witnessing such devastation and how it has affected these poor people.
Yet for those of us who have been to Haiti… Well, we carry a message for the suffering soul… We made a promise to bring back home and share this message with the rest of the world in hopes of acquiring more help. Not just more help but continual help for years to come. We bring to our society here at home an S.O.S. if you will on the behalf of our new Haitian friends… and make no mistake about it, it’s a very legitimate and urgent one!
A few days before we left to return home, a few young Haitian boys who had been working around the clinic as translators came to me with a plea. Actually it was an idea. One that I thought was brilliant and rather commendable coming from 16 year olds. They wanted to know if I could get them some early level school exercise books in English… Simple grammar books at an elementary level… perhaps grade 1 or 2 level. Having began to learn English themselves they want to take what they are learning and teach English to the younger children in their village. Many of the children are not in school right now and there is no immediate sign that they will be attending school any time soon. In some cases it’s a result of the Jan 12th earthquake but in other instances school is just not available especially to the younger children. The intent of these young boys is to give the children of their village a head start.
Every young Haitian wants to learn English because they know in the end this opens the door to a better life… A life they can only dream of… Yet all they desire is a fair chance in life to crawl out of the impoverished life they’ve had no choice but to cope with and live thus far. I thought, “How noble of them!” to want to give back to their community what they are being blessed with. I suggested they make a list of what they might be looking for and I would look into it once home. Well, the next day they returned with a list of items that they felt would be beneficial to their efforts and in big letters across the top of the paper it read “DON’T FORGET US JOHN”
I am looking into getting them what I can on that list. The greatest challenge though is not so much acquiring the items themselves but rather getting them to Haiti. The cost’s for shipping are astronomical! But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, the plea is for basic school books and learning tools that can help these young students to help the younger ones within their own community have a chance to better themselves. This is just one of many examples or ongoing issues the Haitians face. Lack of food.. Lack of clean water.. Lack of medicine.. And a lack of education and jobs… And when you have such simple and basic necessities missing in a society compounded with disease and illness, there has to be a sense of hope for the suffering people of that society.
The thing is, being forgotten is the Haitians greatest worry when it comes to trying to survive by relying on foreign aid... It’s a potential nightmare for them. It’s not a matter of Haitians asking for the world. It’s a matter of asking that the world not forget about them… simply because in being forgotten naturally comes the feeling of abandonment which leads to hopelessness.. When we feel abandoned it only goes to reason we feel hopeless.. It’s about having nothing or very little and trying to cope with the little you have with no light shining on the future.
Garbage was a common scene throughout the city of Port Au Prince.. It’s not as easy as summonsing garbage trucks right now. There simply are none. In most cases the local people are raking and seeping the garbage into piles along the streets and burning it which creates a horrible smell I can only describe as similar to burnt hair… But what else can they really do at the moment.
When we visited one of the tent cities in Jacmal, a population of 955 families, we were escorted around the grounds by one of several young Haitian men working as a security guard. He told me of how some other humanitarian aid workers had come through the tent promising help but they never heard from them again. One thing a humanitarian aid or group does not want to do is make a promise they cannot keep. Because of the dire needs Haitians are coping with even saying, “I’ll see what I can do.” is a promise to them. When you are down and out and struggling to survive all the help you can get is extremely vital to your very existence. There can be nothing worse than to be promised help and the promise be an empty one. So for reasons such as this it is extremely important to the Haitian people that they are not forgotten. And it is for this reason that for those of us who traveled to Haiti our mission did not end the last day of our trip. Our mission continues to be a mission that bears witness to the suffering we have seen and to bring what we have experienced to the rest of the world so that aid to this poor nation will continue as needed. It’s one step at a time... One task at a time… One effort at a time.
