This is a post by my lovely fellow intern Amanda who is a brilliant photographer and writer. Her blog is myjourneyinhaiti.blogspot.com
This morning started out great! We’ve been meeting as a group in the mornings at 7 for a little devotion time and then to talk about what were doing that day. Vanessa has been wonderful in encouraging us girls to pour our all into what we’re doing. Brad and Vanessa are the president of MOH and are incredible people.
I got to go back down and teach the hope house mommies. There is a guy named Frantz who is the supervisor of the kids in the orphanage and he is so amazing! When he found out that my dad died a while ago he decided I could be his daughter. He greets me every morning “Goodmorning daughter!” How precious!
After lunch all the interns went down to the warehouse to organize and sort through medical supplies, food for the guest house, and the most random things you’ll ever find. It was a lot of fun but draining at the same time.
We all came back up to shower and get ready for dinner… then our day was thrown a curve ball. We were sitting upstairs talking to Vanessa and just hanging out after showering when Brad yelled up the stairs that an accident happened and they were coming in to the clinic. All the medical personnel rushed down as fast as they could. After thinking about it, we decided to go down there to see if we could help too. We got down just as the patients were arriving.
A tap tap is a form of public transportation. Many tap taps are different sizes. This one was a size of a bus. I’m not sure how the people were sitting on it. They usually sit on benches that line the sides of the tap tap or they pile on top of it. Sometimes they’ll be sitting on the side of the window. Not exactly the safest form of transportation, let alone in Haiti. Apparently this tap tap hit a cow, which caused them to swerve and sway until they hit a truck coming the opposite direction. Terrible accident.
I had no idea what to expect. The first few patients were covered in blood but were walking. Then some of the worst came. One man had both feet torn off and they were dangling barely. His feet looked as if they had been shredded to pieces. He is currently having both feet amputated as well as possibly his arm if they couldn’t salvage it. Another man had a broken leg, shoulder, and possible back and neck. It was overwhelming to say the least.
I didn’t know what I was going to be able to do, if anything. I put gloves on and as I was standing around waiting I went over to a group of people and got us all together to pray. They started moving patients from the trucks and ambulances onto stretchers, beds, and boards. It was pure chaos. After we got done praying I went over and started filling out charts for the patients. Jotting down their names (or what I could understand of their names) and if they had been given morphine or any drugs yet. It was crazy! When that was done we helped holding IV bags, comforting the patients, and grabbing supplies that were needed.
I sat down next to this guy named Jean Phillips Mario, he went by Mario though. I sat and prayed with him and then was “assigned” to stay with him while he was there. I sat and held his hand for a good 2 hours just reassuring him that he would be okay and just letting him know that I was there. Every time his pain got really bad he would squeeze my hand. Come to find out he is the same age as me. Breaks my heart. He had an injury to his hip and a ball of blood was gathered above his nerve behind his hip and it was causing shooting pains down his side and leg. It also affected his kidney, which could have ruptured, but they haven’t figured that out yet. I felt completely helpless holding his hand while he muttered to me how much he was in pain and seeing his face tighten up every time pain would shoot down his leg. I wished so badly that I could encourage him more, but language barriers made that difficult. The only words I could utter to him were “desolei”-“I’m sorry” or “mwen kone”-“I know” or “Jezi renmen ou”-“Jesus loves you.” I tried a couple of times to ask him if he knew Jesus but I couldn’t understand what his response was. Finally we got a translator and after asking him about church and if he knew Jesus and telling him about Jesus he decided he wanted to accept Jesus into his heart! :) I can’t even begin to tell you what I was feeling in that moment. We all prayed and he prayed and then we talked about how just praying doesn’t save you and how it is how you live your life following Jesus. He got really happy and excited although while in very extreme pain. The pastor of the church came by and gave him a bible and talked to him a little. It was unbelievable! I stayed with Mario until he fell asleep. There were also a few other people in the accident that accepted Christ! :) Praise the Lord!! Crazy to think that sometimes things like this could happen, a tragedy, yet something so beautiful could come out of it.
There was also a 13 year old boy who I believe had a fractured femur and he kept saying that he didn’t know where his mom and brother were but he thought his mom died. She did in the accident. My heart breaks for this boy so much. My heart breaks for all the family members that lost a loved one in this accident. Toward the end of the night when things were calming down, there was a man who couldn’t sleep because he had a bad head injury so he was singing. It was beautiful. He was singing, “God, bless my soul” and “I know Jesus loves me”. Unbelievable to think that after this accident, a very traumatizing one, this man was singing to our God. So beautiful.
I was supposed to go for a ride in the ambulance to take two patients to a hospital, but I could tell the Lord was telling me to go spend time with Him. Its currently 11:25 here and I’d still be on my way in the ambulance if I had gone. It was a hard decision because I want so desperately to do what God wants me to do and to have no reservations and do anything! But my emotions started running and what I saw started to hit me.
So here I am, writing. I’ve never worked with medical before until tonight. I can honestly say it was the Lord’s strength in me. My stomach was never weak, I never felt lightheaded. The Lord sustained me and I’m so grateful. My desire is to be the hands and feet of Jesus regardless of what it requires of me. Whether that is to hold an orphan baby or help take care of accident patients-I’m serving the Lord with all my heart and will hold nothing back.
Please be praying for all the people involved and affected by the accident. And please continue to pray that the Lord will use the accident to further His kingdom like He already has!
EDIT 7/9/10: I am seeing the Sovereignty of our Lord more and more every single day. Yesterday morning, the day of the accident, I read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 which says, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." I cannot explain to you how perfect this fit for yesterday. In my weakness, in the moment I thought I was useless and couldnt help, the power of Christ enabled me to do His will. What a Mighty God we serve. Now, this morning, as we are all processing what happened last night and the things we saw, I read this verse: "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." Isaiah 26:3-4. Perfect. On the day where we feel shaken up and brokenhearted for these people involved in the accident, the Lord reminds me to trust in Him and I will be filled with peace that surpasses ALL understanding! Although this morning my heart is still hurting for these people and my mind is registering what happened, I see that the Lord is good. I see His mighty hand through all and in all. I am blessed to be His child.
I got to go back down and teach the hope house mommies. There is a guy named Frantz who is the supervisor of the kids in the orphanage and he is so amazing! When he found out that my dad died a while ago he decided I could be his daughter. He greets me every morning “Goodmorning daughter!” How precious!
After lunch all the interns went down to the warehouse to organize and sort through medical supplies, food for the guest house, and the most random things you’ll ever find. It was a lot of fun but draining at the same time.
We all came back up to shower and get ready for dinner… then our day was thrown a curve ball. We were sitting upstairs talking to Vanessa and just hanging out after showering when Brad yelled up the stairs that an accident happened and they were coming in to the clinic. All the medical personnel rushed down as fast as they could. After thinking about it, we decided to go down there to see if we could help too. We got down just as the patients were arriving.
A tap tap is a form of public transportation. Many tap taps are different sizes. This one was a size of a bus. I’m not sure how the people were sitting on it. They usually sit on benches that line the sides of the tap tap or they pile on top of it. Sometimes they’ll be sitting on the side of the window. Not exactly the safest form of transportation, let alone in Haiti. Apparently this tap tap hit a cow, which caused them to swerve and sway until they hit a truck coming the opposite direction. Terrible accident.
I had no idea what to expect. The first few patients were covered in blood but were walking. Then some of the worst came. One man had both feet torn off and they were dangling barely. His feet looked as if they had been shredded to pieces. He is currently having both feet amputated as well as possibly his arm if they couldn’t salvage it. Another man had a broken leg, shoulder, and possible back and neck. It was overwhelming to say the least.
I didn’t know what I was going to be able to do, if anything. I put gloves on and as I was standing around waiting I went over to a group of people and got us all together to pray. They started moving patients from the trucks and ambulances onto stretchers, beds, and boards. It was pure chaos. After we got done praying I went over and started filling out charts for the patients. Jotting down their names (or what I could understand of their names) and if they had been given morphine or any drugs yet. It was crazy! When that was done we helped holding IV bags, comforting the patients, and grabbing supplies that were needed.
I sat down next to this guy named Jean Phillips Mario, he went by Mario though. I sat and prayed with him and then was “assigned” to stay with him while he was there. I sat and held his hand for a good 2 hours just reassuring him that he would be okay and just letting him know that I was there. Every time his pain got really bad he would squeeze my hand. Come to find out he is the same age as me. Breaks my heart. He had an injury to his hip and a ball of blood was gathered above his nerve behind his hip and it was causing shooting pains down his side and leg. It also affected his kidney, which could have ruptured, but they haven’t figured that out yet. I felt completely helpless holding his hand while he muttered to me how much he was in pain and seeing his face tighten up every time pain would shoot down his leg. I wished so badly that I could encourage him more, but language barriers made that difficult. The only words I could utter to him were “desolei”-“I’m sorry” or “mwen kone”-“I know” or “Jezi renmen ou”-“Jesus loves you.” I tried a couple of times to ask him if he knew Jesus but I couldn’t understand what his response was. Finally we got a translator and after asking him about church and if he knew Jesus and telling him about Jesus he decided he wanted to accept Jesus into his heart! :) I can’t even begin to tell you what I was feeling in that moment. We all prayed and he prayed and then we talked about how just praying doesn’t save you and how it is how you live your life following Jesus. He got really happy and excited although while in very extreme pain. The pastor of the church came by and gave him a bible and talked to him a little. It was unbelievable! I stayed with Mario until he fell asleep. There were also a few other people in the accident that accepted Christ! :) Praise the Lord!! Crazy to think that sometimes things like this could happen, a tragedy, yet something so beautiful could come out of it.
There was also a 13 year old boy who I believe had a fractured femur and he kept saying that he didn’t know where his mom and brother were but he thought his mom died. She did in the accident. My heart breaks for this boy so much. My heart breaks for all the family members that lost a loved one in this accident. Toward the end of the night when things were calming down, there was a man who couldn’t sleep because he had a bad head injury so he was singing. It was beautiful. He was singing, “God, bless my soul” and “I know Jesus loves me”. Unbelievable to think that after this accident, a very traumatizing one, this man was singing to our God. So beautiful.
I was supposed to go for a ride in the ambulance to take two patients to a hospital, but I could tell the Lord was telling me to go spend time with Him. Its currently 11:25 here and I’d still be on my way in the ambulance if I had gone. It was a hard decision because I want so desperately to do what God wants me to do and to have no reservations and do anything! But my emotions started running and what I saw started to hit me.
So here I am, writing. I’ve never worked with medical before until tonight. I can honestly say it was the Lord’s strength in me. My stomach was never weak, I never felt lightheaded. The Lord sustained me and I’m so grateful. My desire is to be the hands and feet of Jesus regardless of what it requires of me. Whether that is to hold an orphan baby or help take care of accident patients-I’m serving the Lord with all my heart and will hold nothing back.
Please be praying for all the people involved and affected by the accident. And please continue to pray that the Lord will use the accident to further His kingdom like He already has!
EDIT 7/9/10: I am seeing the Sovereignty of our Lord more and more every single day. Yesterday morning, the day of the accident, I read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 which says, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." I cannot explain to you how perfect this fit for yesterday. In my weakness, in the moment I thought I was useless and couldnt help, the power of Christ enabled me to do His will. What a Mighty God we serve. Now, this morning, as we are all processing what happened last night and the things we saw, I read this verse: "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." Isaiah 26:3-4. Perfect. On the day where we feel shaken up and brokenhearted for these people involved in the accident, the Lord reminds me to trust in Him and I will be filled with peace that surpasses ALL understanding! Although this morning my heart is still hurting for these people and my mind is registering what happened, I see that the Lord is good. I see His mighty hand through all and in all. I am blessed to be His child.
The man with the mangled feet died two hours after being accepted to another hospital after two refused him-- including the main hospital in the country. Why is America so fortunate? That would never happen in America... No hospital would ever turn that man down. So why is this so in Haiti?
I know that God works in every bad situation and brings as much good out of it as he can.
