Haiti Update – Day 1

Yesterday we left Miami (very) early and arrived in Port au Prince in less time than it takes some of us to commute to work. Amazing that such a poor country exists minutes from the US. Navigating the airport was an adventure in and of itself. We drove through PAP and saw the massive destruction caused by the earthquake and the thousands of tent cities. By all accounts nothing has changed since January. The human misery grows day after day. Trash and sewage line the streets and the poor try to survive amid desperate circumstances.

We arrived at the GCA guest house and had a nice lunch during our orientation. Afterward we visited 2 orphanages. At the first, called New Jerusalem, 39 children are cared for, 20 of them deaf. Until last week they were sleeping on springs. The pictures will tell the story. The 2nd orphanage Tu Tu, was even worse. Raw sewage and cardboard for beds are the home of 13 kids. The sewage problem is being corrected this week thanks to donations from local churches. Most of the children are barefoot. Our doctors treated an infected wound on the foot of Rosalyn a sweet 9 year old girl who cut her heal last week. The foot was let’s say in suck bad shape that it required minor surgery. Without medical care she could have lost her leg.

We returned to the guest house and prepped the meds for today. This morning people started lining up al the local church to see our doctors before sunrise. Please pray for strength for the team and effective treatment for the patients. More to follow -
J. Reynardus

Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 9:49 AM in Justice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.