7/29/10
Mm what a night.. You’d think Haiti would be hot, but last night was actually cold. There was a massive wind storm that kept us up a little and even blew our tents over partially. Thankfully we have awesome people taking care of us who nailed in some new stakes and we survived. And I made it through the cold by snuggling up to my little sister space heater. Then as the sun rose around 5 it became hard to sleep so I woke up and got ready for the day. Our shower/bathroom is a bamboo structure with tarps as the walls. There are big rocks for the flooring and the toilet is a bottom-less 5 gallon bucket with a “luggable loo” seat top. He became our best friend. The shower half is just rocks for the flooring as well and a bucket of water used to wash off. It’s quite the camping experience. Usually we have someone stand guard as we take showers or wear a swimsuit because the Haitians really enjoy just watching us as we’re in our camp. We had plenty of time to sit around, chat, do our morning devotions, and drink coffee because the sun came up at 5, but we didn’t have breakfast til 8. This, as our first morning on the mountain, they decided to provide a very Haitian breakfast.. spaghetti.. but not spaghetti with sauce, spaghetti with ketchup. For breakfast!! It was really good, but so weird still. Then after breakfast we circled up and prayed for the coming clinic. Today and tomorrow we would hold the clinic from 9-12, then break for lunch, then more clinic from 1-4. So we needed God to be with us! Each of us had jobs to fill. I worked in the outtake station. The people coming in started in a line outside the door of the church where a few guys were stationed as bouncers and only let a few people in at a time. Then they would get their blood pressure, temperature, age, and problem taken and written down at the intake station. They would then, based on their problem, either go straight to the pharmacy or wait for the nurse. Angel and Hannah were our two nurses, and my mom ran the pharmacy. Everyone who came through would get vitamins and a hygiene pack along with any medication they needed. There was a pastor who worked in the pharmacy to explain to everyone how to take their medicine. Then they would come to Sarah and me at outtake. We checked their number and paperwork to keep it filed for if they ever came back and a doctor needed to see what we had given them already. It was so neat to see all the people come in and be helped. Our expectation was to see around 60 people each day and just today we saw 228 people!!!! It was completely a God thing. I couldn’t believe it. Our Lord is absolutely amazing! I’m in awe every single second of the day because of how he’s working. It’s indescribable. Today when we were praying after the clinic many of us started crying because of how utterly thankful we are for the help of the natives, the support from our church back home, and God’s hand in it all. I can’t say enough how humbling and even breaking it is. Wow. Then the evening was interesting. I got to play my guitar with some of the Haitian guys and sing in both English and Creole, which was easily a major highlight. I was just playing and they asked me to sing too so I started singing “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” in English and they recognized it so they joined in with Creole, and I got to learn it. It was so cool and I was grinning the whole time. I mean, language, music, and praising God, what could sum my passion in life up better than that?! Then dinner rolled around: rice, beans, French fries, and fried bananas, again. But even having it every night it’s still delicious. Ruby and I watched the sunset together tonight just talking and enjoying the view. Over the mountains is absolutely gorgeous. Plus the clouds were rolling down from the top of the mountain like fog and it looked incredible. Of course it did rain again monsoon style: downpour for maybe an hour with major thunder and some lightning, then calm again as it got dark. God has blessed us and allowed most of our stuff to stay dry. I got to have some down time to play cards with Olivia, Jesse, and Jacob tonight. We played “President” which was new and interesting, but very fun even though I lost every time. Now I get to chill in the tent and chat with my little sister about all the Creole words we’re learning and the awesome people we get to hang out with all week. Morning comes fast around here, and I’ve got to be ready for clinic round two, so keep the prayers coming, God is surely working!!
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