Hey everyone! I did make it back from Haiti week before last and I'm sorry for taking a little bit to post something to everyone. I hit the ground running ever since I've been back and I literally haven't had a chance to write until now. That being said, I thought I'd tell you guys a little bit about the trip and how it all went.
We flew out of Nashville on a Tuesday morning and arrived in Santiago, Dominican Republic that evening. Since Port-A-Prince is so damaged and flooded at the airport, our main way to get into the country was to fly into the Dominican Republic and then travel by bus and foot to and across the border. That night we stayed at a good hotel in Santiago and I roomed with a guy named Toby from Lafayette, LA. He is a great guy and works as a pastor there in LA.
Wednesday was spent mostly traveling and getting settled in. We woke up early and drove in a mini-bus a little over three hours to the border with Haiti. Once we got there we were dropped off at the Hotel Massacre. From there we had to walk through part of the town and then across the border into Haiti. The orphanage we helped out at is called "Hope for Haiti Children's Center and is located right across the boarder in a town called Ouanaminthe. After getting through customs we arrived at the orphanage by foot and started to get our bearings. The main compound of the orphanage is really nice and contains the school, the church, the cafeteria, and rooms where the older boys stay. There are a couple of other houses down the block that are either owned or rented by the orphanage. One house has the regular girls that live at the orphanage full time, another is the "missions house", and the third is the Little Boys house (where I stayed).
Our team was made up of some awesome people from TN, GA, LA, FL, and KY. We were the group that was coming into help associated with Visiting Orphans. Once at the orphanage we joined a few other teams from across the country. One group was from NC/VA and the other was from CO mostly. Dr. Eric (a pediatrician from Memphis) and myself were the only two from our team to stay at the little boys house. The little boys house is the house that has around 20 somethings younger boys that range in ages from around 4-10 or so. Later that afternoon we also got to meet Danita (the lady that started the orphanage by herself years ago). She had just gotten back from Port au Prince a day or so before with the first group of new orphans. You could tell that she was very tired but some how had the energy to still speak to everyone and to go around and speak to the children. All together it was a very busy and tiring day but we were glad to be there and to start to settle in.
On Thursday morning I woke up early to noises of roosters crowing, kids and other people talking on the other side of the wall, and motorcycles and trucks rumbling down the street. Since the last time I was in a country like this was when I lived in Sudan, I had forgotten the sounds that you hear during the night and while you're laying in your bed. For example, who knew that roosters crowed day and night, and never really sleep somehow I think. I think that you learn to love it after a while. In the US you don't get these experiences because of our insulated walls and windows keep out the outside sounds and some how separate you from your neighbors just a little bit more.
I got up a little earlier than expected and before anyone else woke up, so I decided to go ahead and hop in the shower for my first ice-cold shower of the week. Boy they sure do wake you up. Since I was done first I spent a little time on the front porch with the younger boys who were a lot of fun to be around and hang out with. From there we met up with everyone else at the compound and started to figure out what we would do for the day. Throughout the first day we all really did whatever needed to be done at the time. You see there were already 75 orphans there full time and this first group of kids had added in an additional 40-50 kids or so from Port au Prince. The new kids were a mix of backgrounds.
Some were already orphans from other orphanages that had collapsed during the earthquake and didn't have a place to go. Others lost all of their family in the earthquake and had nobody left. There ages ranged from a couple of infants to around 13 years old. In the first group there were three kids that had amputations and other injuries from broken legs. The rest of the day I helped to watch the kids, put together new bunk beds, and other things that needed to be done.
That night I also was selected to be one of three team members that stayed with the new kids who were sleeping in the church at night. We had to be there to make sure that they didn't run off or use the bathroom in the floor at night. For many of the new kids they had never had three meals a day, a bed to sleep on, or even had been on a swing before. So, a lot of the days were focused around trying to get some structure in their lives.
On Friday morning I got up after not really sleeping the whole night and helped get the kids up and going to start the day. Some of them had already started to rustle a little bit before the sun came up but I had them to stay in their beds until it was a little before 6am. The morning team came to relieve us and I went back to our room at the little boys house to take a shower and change. The rest of the day was pretty laid back for me because I was in the church the night before so I wasn't assigned any other tasks for the day. So, most of the day I played with the kids and just helped out where they needed me to throughout the day. Also, Danita had left that morning heading back to Port au Prince to try and find more kids who were left in the hospitals without anybody or roaming the streets without any family or food.
The stories I had already heard about the things going on in Port au Prince to the south of us were just as bad or worse than what you heard on T.V. back home. I learned that three of the five major hospitals in Port au Prince had collapsed instantly when the earthquake hit. If you were a kid with two broken femurs after the earthquake hit but they were sticking out of the skin, then you essentially weren't an immediate priority and were passed in line for people with worse injuries. None of the children that had had amputations that were with us had any anesthesia during their surgeries. There were more and worse stories than that, but I'll hold off on that for now.
I know that I'm only through Friday for now but I think I will stop here since I have already written so much. In fact, if you've read this far I hope that you don't need glasses now because of me. I think that I will break this story up into two posts and will try and post the next one tomorrow or Saturday. In the mean time, if you would like to see my pictures from the trip you can click here to check them out. Have a great morning and thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers while I was gone!
I'll follow-up soon.
We flew out of Nashville on a Tuesday morning and arrived in Santiago, Dominican Republic that evening. Since Port-A-Prince is so damaged and flooded at the airport, our main way to get into the country was to fly into the Dominican Republic and then travel by bus and foot to and across the border. That night we stayed at a good hotel in Santiago and I roomed with a guy named Toby from Lafayette, LA. He is a great guy and works as a pastor there in LA.
Wednesday was spent mostly traveling and getting settled in. We woke up early and drove in a mini-bus a little over three hours to the border with Haiti. Once we got there we were dropped off at the Hotel Massacre. From there we had to walk through part of the town and then across the border into Haiti. The orphanage we helped out at is called "Hope for Haiti Children's Center and is located right across the boarder in a town called Ouanaminthe. After getting through customs we arrived at the orphanage by foot and started to get our bearings. The main compound of the orphanage is really nice and contains the school, the church, the cafeteria, and rooms where the older boys stay. There are a couple of other houses down the block that are either owned or rented by the orphanage. One house has the regular girls that live at the orphanage full time, another is the "missions house", and the third is the Little Boys house (where I stayed).
Our team was made up of some awesome people from TN, GA, LA, FL, and KY. We were the group that was coming into help associated with Visiting Orphans. Once at the orphanage we joined a few other teams from across the country. One group was from NC/VA and the other was from CO mostly. Dr. Eric (a pediatrician from Memphis) and myself were the only two from our team to stay at the little boys house. The little boys house is the house that has around 20 somethings younger boys that range in ages from around 4-10 or so. Later that afternoon we also got to meet Danita (the lady that started the orphanage by herself years ago). She had just gotten back from Port au Prince a day or so before with the first group of new orphans. You could tell that she was very tired but some how had the energy to still speak to everyone and to go around and speak to the children. All together it was a very busy and tiring day but we were glad to be there and to start to settle in.
On Thursday morning I woke up early to noises of roosters crowing, kids and other people talking on the other side of the wall, and motorcycles and trucks rumbling down the street. Since the last time I was in a country like this was when I lived in Sudan, I had forgotten the sounds that you hear during the night and while you're laying in your bed. For example, who knew that roosters crowed day and night, and never really sleep somehow I think. I think that you learn to love it after a while. In the US you don't get these experiences because of our insulated walls and windows keep out the outside sounds and some how separate you from your neighbors just a little bit more.
I got up a little earlier than expected and before anyone else woke up, so I decided to go ahead and hop in the shower for my first ice-cold shower of the week. Boy they sure do wake you up. Since I was done first I spent a little time on the front porch with the younger boys who were a lot of fun to be around and hang out with. From there we met up with everyone else at the compound and started to figure out what we would do for the day. Throughout the first day we all really did whatever needed to be done at the time. You see there were already 75 orphans there full time and this first group of kids had added in an additional 40-50 kids or so from Port au Prince. The new kids were a mix of backgrounds.
Some were already orphans from other orphanages that had collapsed during the earthquake and didn't have a place to go. Others lost all of their family in the earthquake and had nobody left. There ages ranged from a couple of infants to around 13 years old. In the first group there were three kids that had amputations and other injuries from broken legs. The rest of the day I helped to watch the kids, put together new bunk beds, and other things that needed to be done.
That night I also was selected to be one of three team members that stayed with the new kids who were sleeping in the church at night. We had to be there to make sure that they didn't run off or use the bathroom in the floor at night. For many of the new kids they had never had three meals a day, a bed to sleep on, or even had been on a swing before. So, a lot of the days were focused around trying to get some structure in their lives.
On Friday morning I got up after not really sleeping the whole night and helped get the kids up and going to start the day. Some of them had already started to rustle a little bit before the sun came up but I had them to stay in their beds until it was a little before 6am. The morning team came to relieve us and I went back to our room at the little boys house to take a shower and change. The rest of the day was pretty laid back for me because I was in the church the night before so I wasn't assigned any other tasks for the day. So, most of the day I played with the kids and just helped out where they needed me to throughout the day. Also, Danita had left that morning heading back to Port au Prince to try and find more kids who were left in the hospitals without anybody or roaming the streets without any family or food.
The stories I had already heard about the things going on in Port au Prince to the south of us were just as bad or worse than what you heard on T.V. back home. I learned that three of the five major hospitals in Port au Prince had collapsed instantly when the earthquake hit. If you were a kid with two broken femurs after the earthquake hit but they were sticking out of the skin, then you essentially weren't an immediate priority and were passed in line for people with worse injuries. None of the children that had had amputations that were with us had any anesthesia during their surgeries. There were more and worse stories than that, but I'll hold off on that for now.
I know that I'm only through Friday for now but I think I will stop here since I have already written so much. In fact, if you've read this far I hope that you don't need glasses now because of me. I think that I will break this story up into two posts and will try and post the next one tomorrow or Saturday. In the mean time, if you would like to see my pictures from the trip you can click here to check them out. Have a great morning and thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers while I was gone!
I'll follow-up soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment