Last Day of Clinc/Last Day in Haiti

Wow. Its been quite a journey. One home has been built for a family who lost their house in the earthquake, and we have finished our last of 5 days of clinic for this trip. Today we saw 179 patients. That makes a grand total of 965 (WOWZA). That is an AMAZING number of people that we were able to impact during our time here. None, however, were probably more impacted by this trip than the members of this team. We came to minister to the people of Haiti, and we leave very much being the ones who were ministered to. So tonight we pack our things to go home. Our luggage load will be lighter; the supplies have been delivered. We will exchange emails and phone numbers with the new friends that we have made and say good-bye. Two teams came together from across the country to work together and not once has there been a problem between team members. God had been at work orchestrating this journey for us and He will see us home safely tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers and we will see you soon.

missed pic

been trying to get a pic of Shirley on here and have been unsuccessful so far. Hopefully I can get this a pic uploaded here.

the pics

Clinic Day 4

We saw the most patients that we have seen since our time here. We saw a total of 189 patients today. It was busy but not crazy. We were able to drain infection from one woman's neck. We listened to several baby's heartbeats in utero; one woman was pregnant with twins. One of our team members, Shirley, was able to take some gospel packets with bead bracelets to the classrooms at the MTM school. She was able to help lead 2 young boys to Christ. AMEN! I'll add a picture tonight of the boys. Erland and the rest of the crew were continuing to work on rebuilding the home of a family here on the mountainside. All it needs is some framing for the doorways/windows and a roof.

more pics

Church and Port Au Prince

Today was a great day. This morning we went to church and worshiped Haiti style. It was crazy awesome. The singing was amazing. God's presence was there and we felt it. It was overwhelming. They had a choir there that walked 3 hours that morning to get to the church. They were great. We loved every minute of it. 2 little boys even climbed into two of our team members' laps. It was very precious.

After church we were able to take a tour of Port Au Prince and a few orphanages. I don't even have the words to describe the devastation that we saw. There were so many collapsed buildings. The tent city, which used to have about 5,000 people living there even before the earthquake, now has about 60,000 people there. Little children were coming up and asking for food or for $1 U.S. We just had to keep saying "no" because if we would have given one child something then we would have been mobbed by the rest of them. It was really sad to see. I'll post a bunch of pictures, but they won't even do justice to actually seeing the scope of the issues in Haiti.

The last part of our day involved 2 orphanages. The first is run by MTM and does not allow any adoptions. The kids there ranged from 7 to 13 I think. They were so much fun. We gave them bubbles, balls, and suckers. They even sang for us. The second orphanage had about 6 children. The primary focus was to adopt those kids out to Christian families. They were cute as well. We loved our time there as well. It was sad, but also heartwarming day.

Clinic Day 3

Another day down. Another truck ride. At this point I'm not sure how many patients we saw today, but we for the most part only saw patients in the morning. It was a busy morning for sure. One of our patients we thought possibly had appendicitis, so she was referred to another clinic for surgery. Please pray that her appendix does not rupture. Tomorrow we are hoping to go to Port Au Prince to survey more of the damage, but are unsure if we can get gasoline to make the trip. Gasoline is a very precious commodity in Haiti. I have just a few more pics to share with possibly more to follow. Enjoy!

a little video of the road up to MTM

Clinic Day 2

Day 2 went much better than day 1, but we also saw fewer patients. ONLY about 140...which is still a ton of patients for one day. Today we had baby with pneumonia and had to give her some IV fluids and antibiotics. She perked up some after treatment and is supposed to come back tomorrow for follow-up. Hopefully she continues to do well. Several of us decided to walk down the mountain and back up to where we were staying. It is a good and strenuous hike, not walk, but a big hike. We were all definitely sweating by the end. Hope you enjoy the pics.

1st Day of Clinic

Looking from afar, the road up to the clinic looked fairly steep, but nothing could really prepare you for the trip up the mountain on the back of a truck. It was a wild ride. We made it there safely and after getting organized, we saw about 170 patients. It was certainly a busy day of trying to figure out all of our roles, but we did what we could. Tomorrow will likely go much more smoothly.

The afternoon was spent unloading/organizing suitcases which were filled with various medical supplies. It felt like we had a small pharmacy as we organized medications to dispense at the clinic later in the week.

WE MADE IT!

Well, we finally made it. It was a long journey from Chicago to Haiti, but we are here safe and sound. We only had a few minor mishaps along the way. Our luggage made it safely here. The trailer that hauled it the airport apparently fell apart on the way back to the air port, though. We all made it through security, however some peanut butter, sunblock, bug spray, and Nutella was not spared. Guess they should have all been in our checked luggage. It was 90 degrees when we arrived and the customs area was even hotter. Our group of 25 people strong, plus 55 checked luggage, plus carry on's all made it through without too much issue. The ride up to Mountain Top Ministries (MTM) was crazy as most of the group sat on top of the luggage on the back of 2 trucks for the 45 minute journey. We got a good view of the city and the devastation that the earthquake caused.