food & patients

OK, so I can’t soak my feet in my foot massager cause it’s in someone else’s room; and just when I thought I’d do it, even if I only have about 10 minutes left on generator power. Oh well, I don’t need it to complete my day, do I? But it was something I had just set my heart on after doing one of the worst jobs I can think of – cleaning up vomit in a carpeted truck! I was bringing home a 12 yr old patient I had taken to the hospital today to get his casts changed, and I wasn’t past the hospital gates when it all came out. Swallow. And go on. I think I must have matured some since I was a teenager cause I didn’t yell at anyone. Lol
This morning, I loaded up 4 patients and their families whom I dropped at Pierre Payen hospital for checkups/cast changes, etc, and about 6 of our teenage girls, some staff and Sister Gladys and headed off to St Marc. The girls went to buy shoes; Second hand shoes. And some of them were still asking $26.00 US.
While they did that, SG and I went to the UN base to see how we can get help in putting up our barbed fence for the tents. We didn’t get that, but we felt God opening doors. We met with the person in charge of the World Food Programs, and they’re looking for more NGOs that can help with food distribution in this area. Between SG and pastors, we’ve got to know 80% of the people or more. That’s the kind of people they’re looking for, who know who has needs. They want to work under a big organization’s coverage though. I understand a little better what they’re doing. I kept thinking these distributions aren’t going to everyone. Right now that’s not their goal. The prices for food have been going up and that’s a problem for everyone, so their goal is to flood the market with so much food that it’ll bring the prices down. We told him we’ve ordered $5,000.00 worth of food from the DR and he’s like why did you do that, we’ll give you. We’ll see (and use this for different locations that they don’t cover, like Leogane).
While sitting there, we met the Major of the Argentina military, who are in charge of the security of the St Marc zone we live in (and loved that I speak Spanish), and we also met the chief of the Canadian police (some of whom live at Club Indigo a few minutes from us) (As soon as they heard I was Canadian, they’re like “you gotta meet him). Both of them as well as the Haitian police, patrol the area past us and they’re willing to help with security as far as making 3 or 4 patrol trips by our place every day. It would be a sense of the presence of armed guards at least. It would be good, but we still need someone to provide us with the barbed fence.
The patients weren’t all done so I ended up making another 2 trips to Pierre Payen after we got back. (THANK GOD for the road they’re making. It’s almost ready for asphalt to PP. You guys just don’t KNOW the blessing that is to us. The bumpy 20 minute trip will soon be done in a smooth 5 minutes or so.)
After we got back, I continued training a new girl I’m trying out. Right now, I’m just going to have her work the Convalescence place. It’ll give them more attention, which will be good, and take a load off me a bit. She’s still in nursing school – was suppose to finish her second last year in March and graduate next year, but now, who knows! So she’ll work for 6 months or so, and see if the school will be running again for fall. We’re trying her out this week to see if it’ll work.
I felt blessed this evening as I was returning from bringing the last boy home around 8:30, when one of the patient’s mom said I must be so tired and she just showered me with blessings from God – not in a religious way but just verbally. That was a new thing for me – that the people of Haiti bless me (other than PH and SG). Made it all feel worthwhile. We have some really sweet people recuperating here.
Around supper time, I got some visitors – Henry Reimer and Elisha Byler. Henry ended up being my second cousin – his mom and my dad are cousins. They’re from Mexico. They’ve been preaching in the tent villages, and apparently it’s been quite good. I’ve often wished there was more preaching going on. The people are quite receptive now – everybody is taking life more serious; And especially now that the aftershocks are still coming.
We’ve had a few, though they’re only 4.7, that really rocked the people. It’s kind of like these heavy balls used to break buildings – they don’t have to hit hard but a swinging steady rhythm will bring it down, especially if there’s one that’s a tad stronger. That’s what’s happening to some of these houses. The constant minor aftershocks are just weakening structures. They say in the Leogane area they’ve had aftershocks every week yet. The people are pretty much back in the streets again for nights.
In my last blog I wrote about Migerose and her sister; they both had Typhoid. I don’t know the reason for it, but a couple days after being at the hospital, they took both girls back home. As far as I know, neither had gotten treatment. I’ve been pretty upset about it, and angry at the non-existing health care system, and wondering how to change the ignorance about health in a country. Did they think it was hopeless anyway? Did they not expect me to continue helping them? Did they think the money I gave them for food would hire them a taptap back up the mountains? We’ve tried calling the leaders of the community, but the phone service up there is sporadic.
Ok, time for bed has long gone by. I better follow.