This is one of the churches that will need to be rebuilt. I did not know at the time but learned later that 60 members of the congregation lost their lives in the quake. We passed Judan's, our regular Port-au-Prince driver, house-at least the remains of the building that once contained his family and their lives. Now they like thousands of others slept on the streets with a few sheets as covering. We stopped and picked up Judan's young son so that his foot could be dressed.
Judan's wife was already at the clinic and helped us all afternoon with medications. And it was only after the patients had been seen and we were packing up supplies did she mention the wound to her heel and request a dressing change for herself.
Crossing the threshold of a school classroom my eye's adjusting to the dim light thankfully lite on Miss Vero-and soon I received a much needed hug from my friend. Her presence and smile told me before I could voice the question that her 12 year old son, Kevin, who attended school in Port had escaped major injury. She hadn't seen him yet though having come to Port to search for him while someone else delivered him back home to LaGonave.
Also at the clinic I reunited with Diane, new missionary to LaGonave who is a PA. Joel-a short term volunteer who arrived in Haiti only 2 days prior to the quake, and Dr. Jim who had been working on LaGonave during the quake.
We ended up with 4 stations, an area of medications, area to clean tools and lots of action packers of supplies along the walls. I don't know how many people we saw but we did finish seeing all those who waited. The other folks had started a few hours before my arrival, and we knew that we needed to be packed up and ready for Pastor Carl by 4 p.m.
Many of the cases consisted of wounds that needed through cleaning, dressing, pain medications and antibiotics. By the early afternoon we were treating more general medicine complaints, taking blood pressures, giving out assurance. We repacked the supplies, cleaned up and talked a bit with the people. We did not know where we would be the next day.
Loading all our stuff into Carl's truck took a bit of time. Driving with care around rubble piles, downed power wires and people in the street took time. It still didn't seem real. Bags of corn meal falling out a second story building-untouched. Car fenders sticking out from under collapsed building fronts. The head board of a bed visible but the bed it's self covered with bricks several feet high. Child's toys, clothes, cooking utensils, books small bits of people's lives now lay abandoned and scattered among bricks, walls, tin and wood bits.
The smell of decay also reminded us to often that many bodies remained trapped in the rubble. We drove by many crews who were still working though the rubble -some with the help of heavy equipment and protective clothing including masks. Other times normal people using their hands or just a hammer with the same goal-getting though the rubble to someone or something that held importance to them. Heartbreaking.
We stopped at the CSI, Christian Service International, guesthouse where I had stayed many times over the years. At first it looked deceptively whole as I could see all the floors standing. However as I walked though the gate I could see that the first floor had lost a few feet in height. A neighbor and structural engineer just shook her head and said it needed to come down. Greg,the director of CSI, reported thankfully that no one had been hurt and jokingly asked if anyone wanted to buy the place. Many of the guesthouses used by missionaries and teams alike in Port-au-Prince were destroyed or heavily damaged. We had stopped to see if Greg knew of any large trucks that could be used on Monday-he did not.
It is to early to know if and when the various guest houses will rebuild and be open to host the many visitors that normally pass through Port on their way for business or short term mission trips. Up to this point, all types of government business like renewal of residential visas, adoptions, embassy business, vehicle renewal were all conducted in Port.
We drove by the Caribbean supermarket-it's front doors now blocked with debris. It represents another issue that the earthquake has caused. How many locations that sold food and supplies have been destroyed? How long before these supporting businesses relied on by so many missionaries in various parts of Haiti for supplies reopen?
On our way to Carl's, he noticed an empty truck driving in front of us. Inspired by the moment Carl passed the truck, attracted the attention of the driver, talked to him after both vehicles pulled over and rented the truck for tomorrow's trip.
Trish greeted us at Carl's with a hug and warm dinner. Other's had also sought refuge at the house so by the time I found my way upstairs to the bedroom I had to use my flashlight to climb into an upper bunk. Normally I don't have any trouble with bunk beds but having to discern between aftershocks or normal lower bunk movement does not make for a restful night.
At one point the six of us awoke because of an aftershock and I spoke to Vero in Creole-causing some confusion among the ladies who had already been in bed prior to our arrival. Questions were asked and in my innocence of the acoustics of the house-I was answering them when Trish came upstairs to remind us that it was the middle of the night and that the whole house could hear us. Sorry.
The team needed to be up early to ride to the airport to leave country. I helped out by holding flashlight on the stairs, helping Carl with a few things, opening the gate and helping to close it. Another day had begun.
For a different prospective on the TiGonave clinic-Dr. Steve Edmondson's blog is cultureandsensitivity.blogspot.com
Caribe Atlantic Area: gpcaribeatlantic.com
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