Haiti Part 2

The next few days were miserable because of the flu I caught. I guess it was going around Haiti since half of the people that came into the clinics had flu symptoms. But to have the sickness in the heat was something else. I was out for 2 days lying on a cot under the shade of the trees. But it was ok because the only thing I missed were class days. God is good ;)

Halloween came out of nowhere, and most of us were wishing we could be back home and have fun on this one day. It was also our day off, but there really wasn't anything we could do. Transportation was too expensive and we had to stay together. But here's the thing. We spent Halloween, which is an "evil" holiday with satanic origins in one of the most satanic environments possible! That was weird and a little twisted I thought. The pounding of the drums and chanting during that night made for an interesting night. For some reason, my ear plugs kept falling out and I would wake up in the middle of the night and hear the voodoo ceremonies still going. I'd have to stay a quick prayer to still my beating heart and try to fall back asleep. Without a doubt, spiritual warfare was present.

The next day was another clinic day! So we suited up and dawned our scrubs which made us look legit!

Like i said, LEGIT!

We arrived to the clinic and luckily, it was under some sort of shade, since the sun was beating down on us today. I got put on the diagnosis team today. So this is what I did. I sat there from 10:00-4:00 PM and had people sent to us where we would listen to them talk about their symptoms. We would ask questions and then prescribe them medicine if we thought they needed it. We found a lady with a blood pressure of 270/130! We got her to the hospital ASAP. There were also a lot of STDs that we gave injections to.  I would honestly say that half of the people coming through were lying about their symptoms. What they would do, was talk to others who had gone through and had gotten medicine and ask them what they said to get it. So we got a lot of repeat symptoms. And honestly, I began to get angry a little. I didn't want to waste time on liars while there were people out there who really needed the attention. And it was really easy to be apathetic with the Haitians and harden my heart. But later that night I was talking to my awesome leader Lori about it. And she shone some light on what I was feeling. You see, these people have been through so much more than any person should go through. They have nothing. And whatever drugs that are available in Haiti are too expensive for most of them. They need a win ; something that can bring them up from the brink just a little. And if we can smile at them, show compassion, care, and honestly love them, then perhaps we can give them hope. That hit me hard! And right there I changed my attitude about the entire thing. We weren't just bringing medicine to the sick, we were bringing Christ's unconditional love to the lost and hurting. A smile and human touch can sometimes do much more than any medication can.  

Diagnosing Station

Our 2nd Clinic

The next day, I was able to skip class and go to another clinic close by with just a few of us. We were there for about 5 hours going non stop. We got home and enjoyed each other's company for the rest of the evening. That night we were hit with some interesting news. Lori got us all together and told us that a hurricane was approaching Haiti and would hit right on us. Hurricane Thomas was a category 1 which would consist of 70-90 mile per hour winds. That doesn't seem too bad. But when you think of half the country living in make shift tents and then those winds whipping through the tent cities, you can see the problem. There would also be major flooding which would bring diseases like worms etc. . Many people back home were worried for us, because Leogane was on the news back home as the target for the hurricane. Now don't get me wrong. I didn't want the hurricane to hit because the devastation that it would leave in its wake, but I was really excited to be there during it. I wanted to help. Thankfully the hurricane shifted directions and headed towards Cuba. During those times I was listening to "Hurricane" by NEEDTOBREATHE just to get into the mood. We got hit with a tropical storm instead where it rained hard for two days. We took this opportunity and took nice long showers as lightning streaked across the sky.

The best shower available

We headed out again to another clinic after a day of classes. When we arrived, we were surprised to find that the spot was an orphanage. Unfortunately, we didn't really have any medicine specifically for children. So we had our hands tied on this one. We sat around waiting for the commands of what to do. While we did this, I took my camera out and starting getting the attention of some of the kids. Anywhere you go, kids love cameras! This was no exception. We eventually had all the older kids come through. We did the clinic for a good 5 hours before driving back in the middle of the tropical storm.

Just me and My Boys

We woke up the next morning, greeted by the rain and the flood that it brought. Luckily for us guys, we moved into the house to escape the deluge of water that would have surrounded us in our tent. We were told that the clinic wasn't happening today. I was tired. So I was ok with that. And then for some reason, our bus driver appeared for no reason. And then the clinic was back on. So we packed up and headed out. We arrived at a developing church in the middle of a tent city. Thank God we would be under shelter! This clinic was like many others. We got asked if we did abortions which was just weird. Again, we got a lady with a blood pressure of 283/120! Their diets are terrible and full of sodium. 

At one point, I had a guy that complained of morning nausea everyday. Jokingly I said, "Well sir, I think you might be pregnant." My translator didn't translate it but instead burst out laughing. Unfortunately for me, I was sitting next to my leader. After the patient left, I apologized for being out of line. I put my foot in my mouth a lot because humor is a way that I cope with certain situations like these. 

Later that night after falling asleep, I had a weird dream. And I'm glad I wrote it down. But in the dream, there was a pastor who told me of this man named Jorge who was under voodoo and demon possessed. He said I was divinely appointed and wanted me to pray and rebuke the demon. So I started. And as I began, my chest tightened, and in the dream I screamed, "I rebuke you in Jesus' name!" Unfortunately, that scream didn't stay in the dream, and I woke up to me screaming it our loud at 2 AM. I remember having trouble breathing in the midst of that. I never met a man named Jorge, but it was just another reminder of how much spiritual warfare is going on in Haiti. I asked the next morning, and most of my team said they heard me scream in the middle of the night. I laughed.

We had one more clinic in Leogane. I'll skip the details. But afterwards, we got the tour of downtown Leogane after the tropical storm. I felt like I was in Venice, Italy...well maybe a post apocalyptic Venice. The streets were no longer roads but rivers. The water was probably a foot high and like rivers. It was insane. All the tents around there were flooded. It was just pure crazy!

Leogane or Venice?