Earthquake

It was an interesting feeling when, in my room, the earthquake started. Nobody likes earthquakes, but I’ve felt so many in my life, I don’t worry about them anymore. I did wonder at the length and strength, and of course there was screaming and calling from all the kids. This was a sensation many of them have never felt before.
They were all scared to sleep in their houses, so last night all of them (except the missionaries) slept in the middle of the yard, squeezed onto mattresses and blankets (on our rocky ground). Even now, any slight tremor (which we still got today) sets off their nerves.
Today, Pastor Henri and I went to Port au Prince. He was concerned about his family. We hurried and saw the 17 patients that came to the clinic, and were done by about 9:30 and all the nurses were also able to go see if their families are ok.
What I’m feeling right now is indescribable. I have never seen what I saw before. PH says he would rather have 9 hurricanes than half of this earthquake.
As we were driving to Port, going through Arcahaia and Cabaret, the towns hit by the past hurricanes, we were shocked at seeing the broken houses, but on our way back, we barely thought about them. It was nothing compared to Port au Prince.
I wonder if there is one house that hasn’t been touched. A lot of them look ok but if you look closely, you can see cracks in them. Because of the danger of the houses still falling, they have closed every business for 72 hours. Do you know what this means? There’s no food!
There are people EVERYWHERE! Hardly any tap taps are going so people walk everywhere. The streets were surprisingly empty of vehicles, considering how they are usually. But so many people! Some are just sitting there; others walking – mostly up the mountains. Whether it is fear of being in the lower city, or whether they are going home, or visiting I don’t know. Men, women, children, babies, pregnant women…. Many of them with a bag or suitcase, probably the only things left to them. And everybody with the same expression – kind of a blank, slight frown. The only smiles were of the ones we gave rides to – gratefulness to the extreme that we saved them miles of walking.
The worst was all the dead bodies lying everywhere. Randomly or laid side by side. Probably hundreds. Then of course the disaster in buildings was unbelievable too. I will try to post pictures (I have 157 of them when my batteries ran out) but the internet is really slow so it may take a while. The Palace is broken up; lots of banks down; the army barracks and other government buildings; hospitals; markets; schools; churches; homes; stores; everywhere. We couldn’t drive without seeing broken buildings at all. Only once we were past Petion-ville did it start to lesson.
First we went to see if Pastor Henri’s 80+ yr old mom was ok. Her house is standing but there are some cracks. We found her not at home, but at her sister’s where she had spent the night. She was on her way, leaving yesterday with a niece when the earthquake hit. A piece of concrete wall fell on the front of the car. A feet or two more and it would have hit where she was sitting. It is still sitting there, partially covered.
We drove PH’s cousin home, since it was her car. This I think has made her think and PH was able to answer some of her many Bible questions.
We went to SG’s mom’s house, where her brother from the States is staying. He apparently barely escaped last night too, leaving a market or something as it was hitting and panic ensued with all the people there. Some of their windows fell out, but basically the house is ok.
Then we drove around to the palace. Just every bit of the way, we were astounded at what we were seeing. The beautiful palace is a disaster! It is unrepairable!
On our way back, we saw a lady sitting on a board and guys trying to stop someone, so we took her to a hospital. Being as it was probably a couple miles away, it is needless to say how grateful they were. It just felt like there was so little that we could do to help.
I had taken some Herbalife protein packages and pediasure along, so we would hand them out to moms with little children. We had to be very careful though, because we would get bombarded if people saw it before we got away.
We saw people around a hole right in the city – burying their dead. At least they were getting a burial. MANY are still lying in the streets, waiting for somebody to pick them up.
With no food, gas or other supplies, there’s going to be a lot of suffering. I’m trying to imagine help coming in. I have no idea how emergency relief feeds several million desperate people at once….. We don’t have gas to go to Port again, but even if we did, I’d want to stay out if possible. Today was ok because people were still in shock and not so desperate. But who knows after 2 or 3 days?
Since a lot of the staff have gone home to check on family, it’s time to go organize tonight’s sleeping arrangements. Not an easy thing to do with the children’s hyper feelings.
Keep praying for Haiti! A lot of people are suffering. The parks and any available space, including the prime minister’s yard are full of people sleeping out tonight.

p.s.
we're still feeling tremors