Medical Team Departs March 6 to Haiti
Tuesday Mar 2nd
Haiti Medical Mission Team
Team Members: Susan W. Cook,RN, JoBeth Boyles,EMT, Robin Inabinet,RN, Kelly Jacobus,PA, Pierre Rouzier,MD, William Moye ,RN, Jenifer Andrews,LPN, Daniel Pierce, MD, Paul Gerstein, MD,Will Moye, RN, Christine Marsh, Pharmatist and Mohana Amirtharajah, MD and other volunteers from the University of Notre Dame.
Where Where are we going?
Our destination is Leogane, located 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Leogane is a coastal city located on the Gulf of Gonâve in the southwestern part of Haiti along the north shore of the country’s southern peninsula. A former French colonial town, Léogâne has long been the centre of a predominantly agricultural region. Léogâne was at the epicenter of the January 12 earthquake, and was catastrophically affected, with 80-90% of buildings damaged and no remaining government infrastructure. Nearly every concrete structure was destroyed. This community continues to struggle with the devastation from the January earthquake. The damage was reported to be worse than the capital. The military estimated that 20,000 to 30,000 people had died from the earthquake in Léogâne alone. People have congregated in ad hoc squatter camps and relief has taken longer to reach Léogâne. Before the earthquake, Leogane had limited health care as the main hospital (Hopital Ste. Croix) in Leogane remained closed due to factors beyond our control. Without the hospital, child immunization programs in the region have suffered, and severely ill children have died. Because of the field hospital, we will be able to offer medical care in villages far and wide.
We will work under the partnership of World Wide Villages, The Children’s Nutrition Program, Save the Children, University of Notre Dame and the Nursing School. Because of this partnership we help to continue the essential tools of FOOD, WATER, COMMUNITY and HEALTH.
March 5th and 6th , Friday and Sat: One member will depart from San Francisco, CA on Friday night while the remainder of our team leaves from their departure early (like 3:30 am ) to arrive in Miami early Saturday morning and then on to Port-au-Prince, arriving early to late Saturday afternoon. Please pray the team can sleep while on the planes. Also pray that all team members will be able to connect in the PAP airport as we all are coming from different directions from the United States. We will need prayers to pass through Haitian Customs without difficulties. After collecting our personal and team supplies, pray we will be greeted by our drivers to take us to Leogane. Security is an issue and we covet prayers. This will be the first time JoBeth, Dan, Robin, Christine, Pierre, Mohana, Paul, and Will have been to Haiti. The sights, sounds and the aromas will be new and maybe even overwhelming to the rest of the team as smells may still linger from the earthquake. We will see buildings, churches and homes in ruins and tent living continue by most if not all of the Haitians. Pray this team will be able to take all of this in. The travel day will be nearing dusk when we arrive at Leogane. We anticipate a grand welcome by departing team #7 and the Haitians living in and around the tent cities. We will unload our supplies and begin to settle into our new home for the next 9 days. WE will either be in tents or covered areas of the Filirious House or maybe the Nursing School. The living conditions are still unclear at this time. If time allows, we will take a tour of our new employer for the week and may even begin our work time then (depends on what is happening in the medical facility at that time).
At the end of the day, the team will be tired and hungry. WE will have to prepare our own dinner which will be rice or whatever the team choses to eat for themselves. Pray for a good night’s sleep with the distracting noises that compete with our rest. Thank Goodness for IPODS!!
March 7th Sunday: Hopefully this morning, we can take an early walk to sight see and visit with the community but this depends on what is going on in the hospital and how well the security is covered. After breakfast of rice and your choice of freeze fried food, hopefully we can go to a local church to worship with our Haitian brothers and sisters as this will be a great way to begin our week!! Worshipping with the Haitians is always a moving experience. Pray we can be flexible to what the Lord has planned. Help us to understand that cultures are different, not inferior or superior.
March 8th Monday: Our day will start as we are not sure!! We will have early morning meetings with the team to discuss what needs to be discussed. We hope to begin our work (if not already) – again we must be flexible. This will probably be a hard day for everyone as we are unsure what we are doing and how the clinics operate. The crowds outside, which have gathered since our arrival, will hopefully be orderly as I hope will be controlled by the UN security troops. People will be desperately trying to find their way into the area of medical care. Ask the Lord to send his peace and His control and to give the Haitian helpers and other appointed workers the ability to know how to enforce what needs to be done. Each day, pray that the people with the most urgent needs will make it to the clinic and hospital. Pray for the medical volunteers to have wisdom to know how to diagnose and treat each person whether young or old. At the end of the day, the team will prepare their meals of rice and whatever else is available prior to discussing the pro’s and con’s, disappointments or highlights of their day. We will then do whatever is necessary at that time.
March 9th Tuesday: While food, water and health for the team are carefully planned these are always concerns. Pray the food will be enough to strengthen our bodies for deliverance of medical care to others.
March 10th Wednesday: Continue to pray for crowd control and hopefully we can do mobile clinics and work at the Leogane Orphanage. Pray for understanding that the Haitians are the most important thing – not the work results.
March 11th Thursday: Pray the crowds of Haitian adults and children do not get discouraged. Nor do the team members. Pray for understanding of what our gifts are and the encouragement to use them as needed and where they are needed.
March 12th Friday: Pray for the ability to share God’s love with others and pray for the ability to receive God’s love from others also. Pray for the hospital to continue to operate on a daily basis for the next 5 months and thereafter as the process of this medical facility is rethought for better and future use. Pray for God' loving provision.
March 13th Saturday: As our week is concluding, pray the Holy Spirit will calm our spirits and look into the desperate eyes of our Haitian Brothers and Sisters. Pray for them to remember that they are the hands and feet of Christ as well as our team.
March 14th: Sunday: Hopefully we can worship with the Haitians again – remembering why we came to help them in such a desperate time of need. Pray for the team as we conduct our last day of medical care in the hospital. Pray for complete healing of all patients we have cared for this week. Help us to continue to be flexible and to prepare ourselves to carry over the care for the next team arriving tomorrow. We will complete our time of sharing together as we discuss the meaning of this week and to praise God for His work in the Leogane area.
March 15th Monday: WE will leave early for the Port-au-Prince airport. We will say our final “good-byes” to all who have helped us make the most of our week together. Pray all goes smoothly and that we arrive at our final destinations safely.
World Wide Villages along with the Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti Is commented to bringing Community Health Initiative Recovery in the Leogane area. Food, Water, Community and Health are all essential parts of a successful recovery in Haiti. Now more than ever, our help is needed to rebuild this community. Please help us spread the word of the essential tools that are needed. Prayers are needed to enable this to be effective. With help and your skills, lives will be saved for a brighter Haiti!!
While in Leogane, I will do my best to post reports through Mark Ebert of the Moravian Board of World Missions www.moravianmission.org. I hope to also post updates on my Facebook.
In Christian Love,
Susan W. Cook
Member New Philadelphia Moravian, Winston-Salem, NC