Bec In Haiti
Medically serving the under-privileged in Haiti
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Foto City
Bonjour!! I have finally sorted through my 2,000+ photos and only narrowed it down to about 500 ;-) For those who want visual details of my time in Haiti, please feel free to check them out. Thanks again for following!! :-)
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Sunday, October 15, 2017
Top 15 Haitian Tidbits
15. There are no speed limit signs. It is a survival of the fittest traffic
system—a large game of chicken with motorcycles weaving in and out to make it even more interesting.
14. Anywhere there is water, bathing is fair game.
13. Most places are BYOTP….bring your own toilet paper
12. Kibby is delicious—it is like a mini hot pocket of deep
fried beef with a breaded
cereal coating.
11. There are only 2 MRI machines in the whole country.
Water Bags |
9. Drinking water is commonly bought in little handheld
vacuum sealed bags.
8. To get rid of motion sickness, Haitians believe in
licking the tire of the vehicle.
7. There are still
gapping holes in the mountainside as evidence and constant reminder of the 2010
earthquake.
6. There were 70,000 people in Port-au-Prince alone that
had to undergo amputations after the 2010 earthquake.
5. National power is turned off nightly not because there
is a lack of resources, but in the political realm it increases need and
economy for things like generators.
4. Sweet Mickey was a music artist and pop star before he
became president. He put a pause on his
shows while president and is now back at it performing concerts. I don’t recommend googling him though—the
cleanest of his acts is mooning people.
3. There are 23 different varieties of mangoes.
2. We use duct tape to fix everything…they use machetes
;-)
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Colorful Bookends
Verse of the Day: “Lord,
tell me your ways. Show me how to live.
Guide me in your truth, and teach me, my God, my Savior. I trust you all day long.” Psalm 25:4-5
Sunrise over Port-au-Prince |
One last morning in this beautiful place. Getting up and watching the sunrise in the
“cool” of the morning (still about 80 degrees) was a special time of seeing
God’s beauty shine over these people. I
am such a sucker for color in the sky and love getting to experience it in
different countries—something about realizing how much God’s love can and does contagiously
spread anywhere in the world. We then
got to bookend the day with these beautiful sunrays beaming over New York City
as we made it back safe’n’sound!
Sunset over New York City |
Our team with Pastor Jay & Fedrique |
It has been an amazing blessing getting to know and work
with people who are so passionate about what they do! We are all a little crazy
tired, but super blessed to have gotten to share this experience together and
meet some amazing people with a huge heart and passion for what they do. A special thank you to all who supported me
financially, prayerfully, and/or with donations as you were an integral part of this team and ministering to those in
need in Haiti! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
What a crazy awesome week!! |
Two Left Feet
Verse of the Day: “Anyone
who speaks should speak with words from God.
Anyone who serves should serve with the strength that God gives so that
in everything God will be praised.” 1 Peter 4:11
Dancing for joy like I've got 2 left feet ;-) |
Today was another mish-moshed day where we did a little
bit of everything but also spent a lot of time on the bus taking in an
outsiders view of what life is like day in and day out for them. These sights of daily life represent only a portion of the hardship that is going on. The mountain clinic that I spoke about the
first day was where we started because this was a new area for us and follow-up was
needed on the medicines prescribed earlier in the week.
Hopital L’Eglise de Dieu Reforme |
It was a shorter day though so we were able to spend some
time visiting Hopital L’Eglise de Dieu Reforme, the hospital I spoke about
yesterday. It is an amazing setup that
started as a very basic clinic in 1995.
It was awesome to hear how the community was behind this as well and
worked on fundraising to contribute—they raised $65. The goal is for this to be a completely
self-sustaining hospital. It is
currently employed by an all-Haitian staff and the cost is nominal compared to
what they would be paying in the city hospitals. For example it costs US$2.50 to be seen by a
doctor and includes any prescriptions given and with their prosthetics lab they
provide above and below-knee prostheses for US$17! The doctors and nurses that serve here also
make a sacrifice because their salary is not as high as they could receive in
the city hospitals. This hospital has a
pediatrics unit that sees about 80 kids/day, a wound care room, internal
medicine, an xray machine complete with equipment to develop the films, a prosthetics
lab, two OR rooms, a dentist, an eyeglasses room, and I’m sure I’m missing a
few things. They even team up local
broadcasting companies that record in their space to share the gospel. There unfortunately is no real cardiology anywhere
in Haiti, but their next huge goal is to open an ER to allow for 24 hour care
availability. They currently have all
the commitments from the staff and space set aside to do it but are waiting on
God’s timing for the funding to get it operating. They have seen over 150,000 patients since
first getting started in 1995. It was
such a blessing to see Kathy & Mark’s passion for this people and the ways
they are seeking to come alongside and provide avenues for meeting those needs
in a way that is not just a “hand-out”, employs and equips local medical staff,
and is a source of providing follow-up care.
We wished we could have stayed longer but had to get out before they
closed down one of the roads for a protest.
The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing having some
quality time and laughter with all of our translators. They have been an enormous blessing to us
this week and it is evident that they have a passion for helping their own
people as well. Most of them have come
from orphanages or missions themselves and are a band of brothers that stay
connected. Even though they have a lot of
fun with each other and put a lot of smiles on our faces, their struggles are
very real—life is tough down here. It
was a real blessing to get to meet each and every one of them and a privilege
to have them as a part of our team!
Praying over our amazing translators |
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Tap Tap City
Verse of the Day: “Be
strong and brave, because the Lord your God will go with you. He will never leave you or forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6
Riding in Style |
Today was a bit of different day where no clinic visits
were scheduled. We instead had the
opportunity to visit some of the local orphanages. But the day started at the church I talked
about on the first day, Pastor Jay’s church that sits on the compound. Daily there are many that meet for 6am prayer
and worship time. Since we are usually
eating breakfast and packing up for clinic at that time we haven’t been able to
go yet, but were very blessed to be able to attend this morning. God has been putting Pastor Jay and his
church on my heart. I went on a walk
last night and looking over the houses in the valley below my heart became
overwhelmed. When God does things, Satan
attacks. God is doing amazing things
through Pastor Jay and I felt very led to pray against any attacks Satan may
have on him or his church. I ended up
prayer walking around the church 3 times and this morning during prayer time
this was again all I could think about.
So I just went up to the balcony and prayed—prayed protection and life
over the vibrance of it’s people. I have
no idea why this was on my heart and I don’t need to know—but I love knowing
God is faithfully working behind the scenes!
Riding in a Tap Tap |
Our first stop was made via a local “tap-tap” which is a
pick-up with 2 benches, a covered top, and an open back that at least 12-15
people cram into as their taxi system.
We went to a mission school that 2 of our translators (Wilgins &
Prophet) started. We got to see their
classrooms and interrupt their learning for a hot second. It was awesome to see bot
h of them who grew
up in orphanages themselves with such a passion to give back to their community
in this way.
We then got to meet up with what may be an amazing
connection in the future. Kathy & Mark Fulton are missionaries down here
running medical missions. They have started Hopital L’Eglise de Dieu Reforme
(Reformed Church of God Hospital) and are in the process of starting smaller
mobile clinics with the goal of establishing the ability to host short term
teams. To further confirm that this was
another one of the million “God things” this week, they just so happen to be
having a reknowned eye surgeon coming to visit who will likely be able to operate
on a patient we saw earlier this week with a retinal blastoma (eye cancer) that
would otherwise likely not be able to be treated! In addition they have inherited a full
prosthetics lab and clinic developed from leftovers after a lot of aid flooded
the area post the 2010 earthquake. In
God’s timing he allowed their paths to cross with our team and both parties
benefitted from the encouragement that ensued.
View at lunch |
With every ounce of energy we had left we ended the day
with a huge soccer match with our translators.
So we didn’t get absolutely creamed, they were kind enough to split the
teams evenly and the scores ended fairly close.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
So Will I
Verse of the Day: “Love
must be sincere. Hate what is evil,
cling to what is good. Be devoted to one
another in love. Honor one another above
yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal,
but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,
faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Romans 12:9-13
I think I found a future PT |
Today we fittingly added to the wide terrain of clinic
visits and headed off into the desert. Getting
closer to the community, it is unique to see the variations in people
groups. Kids and adults alike all waved
as we drove by—reminded me a lot of home and driving by the Amish kids
actually ;-) Mahalia is a local woman here who has it in
her heart to give back to her people.
She has employed several local doctors and nurses and they are the ones
serving follow-up care in the clinics we visit.
Mission Mantana is the name of the compound we were at today. In addition to an orphanage that is currently
housing 74 kids, it has a small school and a large building that we were able
to use for our larger clinic setup.
Mahalia told me today that this has been the first
time there has ever been in PT serving in their clinics. As in a lot of countries like this, PT is
either non-existent or only for the very rich who can afford it. So this is bridging new territory to a people
who need
The kids singing for us to end out our clinic day |
Overlooking Port-au-Prince |
One of my new favorite songs is “So Will I” by Hillsong
United. It is a beautiful song telling
the story from creation to revelation in a way that reflects God’s worthiness
of our worship in so many ways. As I
walked around tonight capturing gorgeous views of the city around me I was
reminded “I can see your heart eight billion different ways, every precious
one, a child you died to save. If you gave your life to love them, so will I.” I was reminded my natural heart does not go
there--it is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of treating pain that I
forget the human behind it all. I am in
desperate need of God’s heart to stand in place of my own.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Sovereign Placements
Verse of the Day: “Examine and see how good the Lord is.”
Psalm 34:8
Andreina |
There was a God reason I didn’t have any patients the
first chunk of the morning. Today’s
setup had various rooms for the different providers and I found myself toggling
between different areas as team photographer and praying over where I was
supposed to go. One of the first places
I ended up was being able to hold the hand of a woman getting a very painful
abscess removed. About an hour later I
was in a room with Mike as he examined a 22 day old infant that had a deformity
on her skull. He determined that she had
a malformed occipital plate and, although imaging can be hard to come by, would
really need a CAT scan to determine the extent of any brain damage as the
underlying tissue was protruding out. He
talked with a local doctor and found that it would cost US$100 to have the
imaging done.
Now let me back up a bit and tell you about the church
service back home the week before we left.
Pastor Rex was preaching on compassion and giving to those in need in
the name of Christ. To support his point
he placed a handful of envelopes with $100 each in the seatback pockets of the
church and assigned whoever got them to pray about what God would have them do
with that money to bless someone in the name of Jesus. Well, in God’s will, I
received one of those envelopes. I knew
quickly that He wanted me to utilize the money in some way in Haiti but was in “stay-tuned”
mode for exactly how. It became quickly evident that I was in that
room at that time for a reason, when a very specific need of $100 came up. I am overwhelmed in thinking of God’s sovereignty
at work here stretching from my pastor’s heart for compassion all the way to
this infant’s need in Haiti. Oh, and by
the way—the woman with the abscess that I was with earlier that morning was the
infant’s mother!
Feel bad for me, this was my view today |
Our full crew |
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