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| SCPS Kindergarten teacher Amy Justice with a patient
at the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission medical clinic in St. Louis du Nord, Haiti |
As we began our dissent into Port-au-Pai, Haiti, out of my tiny window on the plane, I saw a man rush out to run the goats, pigs, and people off of the dirt road in front of us. I am not quite sure that the shock of that hit me until I realized we were landing on that dirt road. So in my mind I am thinking, “Okay, God what have we gotten into?” So began God’s life lessons for me and Him proving to me that He has a great sense of humor.
Two years ago on September 21st, one of my role models and favorite people in this world, Carol Moore, was killed in a car accident. God and I struggled with this together and I questioned many things. In the end, God won as He always does. He showed me how precious life is and how we need to value that and live every day for Him. He also added in there, as an after thought to Him I am sure, by the way you are going to Haiti.
Now when I told my parents I was going to Haiti, the first question my dad asked was, “Do you even know where Haiti is?” Thank you to Mr. Dave Corbett and my World Geography class right here at SCPS, I knew the answer to that one. Wendi Patrick, our fantastic PR person, made me promise to not bring back any funky diseases and so the adventure began.
So there we are, 10 of us in a small (really small) plane landing on a dirt road in the poorest 3rd world country. When I stepped off the plane into the dirt, heat, and stench, I knew this is exactly where God wanted me. No doubts. We all loaded on a tap-tap (small pick-up truck) and took the 5 mile journey to the mission. Five miles sounds easy but it takes about an hour and half just to go that distance. Along the way, I sat in awe of my surroundings. One moment you would see plush green trees and mountainous landscape and in the next breath there would be desolate poverty. The roads are pure dirt with large potholes about every 2 feet or so. When it rains (which seems like every day) the potholes fill with water which makes them like a small pond. Trash fills every crevice, hole, and empty space of a town. It literally looks like they took all their trash for a week and just opened up the bag and dumped it in the street. When you walk down the street, you are walking upon layers of trash and dirt. I am
not sure there is a distinction between the dirt and the trash. It just all seems to blend together to make some hard surface to drive and walk on. The majority of the homes have no electricity or running water so the sewage flows beside the street. Once it rains, as mentioned basically every day, the sewage flows into the small ponds in the street so you may be walking in rain water or you may be walking in sewage. At this point, you may be asking yourself if I had doubts now once I had seen first hand the devastation. Absolutely not one doubt.
After the long, arduous trip on the tap-tap we arrived at the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission or as I like to call it a haven among the despair. We began performing surgeries the day after we arrived and kept going until the actual day we left. Surgical teams only come to the mission three times a year. The capital city has a hospital but they require you to pay in cash and often do not have the facilities needed to service most injuries. When word spread that doctors from America were coming, these people came. They will walk for hours sometimes days just to get to the mission. Once they arrive, they must sit for another 8-10 hours on a hard concrete bench just to be screened. One of 3 options then takes place: we can perform surgery and schedule it for later in the week, we perform “minor” surgery with no sedation right in the room, or we send them home. I am not sure anyone can imagine the heartbreak of seeing a lady arrive on the back of a donkey appearing to be pregnant with twins only to find out that she has an inoperable tumor and we must send her home.
During our second week, a little boy who was 2 ˝ years old came to us with a distended belly. After many tests, the surgeon decided to open him up and do a biopsy. Many hours later we found out the little boy was so hungry that he had been eating rocks. His belly and intestines were filled with tiny rocks. As the surgeon walked out of the operating room with his head hung low, I could see tears streaming down his face. Most children in Haiti only receive one meal a day and that is if they are lucky. I cannot imagine a 2 ˝ year old little boy having to fend for himself and thinking that dirty rocks were his only saving grace.
Grace. Grace and love. Two major reasons we went to Haiti for this great adventure. Before I left for Haiti, I spoke to all the Kindergarten children and explained to them where I was going for two weeks. Explaining to a five year old the devastation and poverty that exists seemed like a difficult task. However, it was essential to me that they grasp how little the children in Haiti actually have. I asked one class why they thought I was going to Haiti. One little girl, Claire, raised her hand and said so eloquently, “God loved you first and you love God so you are going to show them how much God can love them.” Isn’t that it? A five year old summed up my whole reason for going. We went to share the love of Christ with them. However, when they are hungry, have no clothes, and multiple medical problems, how can they listen? We came to bring them food, clothes, and medical supplies so that they might see His abounding love through us.
After all was said and done: still no doubts, not a single one. I now know that it is not a question of IF I will go back but simply a matter of WHEN I will go back. God truly has created a special place in my heart for some Hugs from Haiti.
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