Haiti March 2010 Day 1: Fort National

Fort National is at the bottom of a hill, a community of about 700 people. The area was hit hard by the  earthquake, and there still hasn’t been any significant relief there.

We left this morning and found ourselves among many who were sleeping outside, sheltered only by tarps, surrounded by rubble. What we saw was a re-building of the community by those who took it upon themselves to make a better place for themselves.

Within an hour of arriving, we had the clinic up and running, the pharmacy running smoothly, patients moving from registration to the medical examiners, then to counseling and pastors then to pharmacy. We even had water purification lessons.

In less than 5 and a half hours see saw 360 patients. We go back tomorrow. The stories:

-a father who is wearing his son’s shirt that his son had on when he died in the earthquake; he wears it every day.

-a grandmother who is caring for the last of her eight grand children, 7 who died with her daughter, the children’s mother

-a man who asked for counseling and prayer who on the night of the earthquake, gave up his bed so his cousin could sleep, and he slept outside that night; the building collapsed and she died; he is ridden with guilt

So for what it’s worth, it was a good day. Among the devastation, there is a ray of hope, a smile or two, a laugh heard among the tears. The team felt it all. The team saw it all. And they were touched.

                         

In all things give thanks,

David