The Dump Truck!
Day 2
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Oh Praise Jesus! Another day is almost over and what a day it was! We were up by 5:15 am., to get ready for the day. The truck did not appear to be fixed, but we loaded it up anyways. We ate breakfast, re-loaded the truck, had a little devotional and got ready to try to find a comfortable spot in the dump truck. Hannah, Cory, Samantha, Hope, and Pastor Kevin did not go on the dump truck excursion with us. They headed to the pharmacy to pick up the remaining medicines that we would need for the clinics. Then after that they would head up the mountain via motorcycles. Our destination today is Seguin which is somewhere between 3.5 and 4.5 hours away depending on road conditions and the truck.
Breakfast was a good meal of bananas, bread, eggs, and coffee-which did not taste like coffee at home!
We made it a whopping 25 feet out of the driveway of the church yard before the truck broke down! The wheel was making funny noises last night coming up the mountain, and now the sounds were even worse! So those that had some automotive experience tried to figure out what the problem was
with the wheel. We were about to have to call to try to find a different dump truck to take us up the mountain, but somehow someone managed to find the pieces we needed to fix our dump truck. We
had carefully driven the truck down the road to an automotive repair shop...that really means a yard with a bunch of broken vehicles in it! However, God was good, the repairs were made, and on ward
and upward we went. There were thirteen of us on the back of the truck along with a bunch of totes, backpacks, a generator and other supplies that were needed for the week. It wasn't the most comfortable ride in the world as we went up and over the roads and the load shifted. You could find a
fairly comfortable spot for about ten minutes and then the load would shift demanding that you move some part of your body to avoid being crushed or bruised.
I woke up this morning with a terrible headache probably due to lack of sleep, no caffeine, lots of emotions and a comfy (or not!) ride on the back of a dump truck. It was so hard yesterday to drive through Port-au-Prince and see people with so little. The images that my mind processed were a bit overwhelming to try to process with an intense headache!
By the time we were an hour into our ride, my headache was so intense that I thought I might throw up. I think the bouncing around, the smell of lots of diesel fumes, and the smell of onion and garlic was almost too much. I took more medicine, drank more water, tried to be as still as possible, and prayed for grace!
We stopped of a potty break (in the shrubs) at one point in time and we realized that the strong smell of onions and garlic was coming from one of the food bags! The plastic container had probably been sat on or something too heavy placed upon it and it was everywhere! It had oozed out over several suitcases and backpacks, which is another reason I am glad that I put all my clothes in ziploc baggies! We cleaned up the mess with our limited resources and carried on. One of the guys also noticed that
the back tail gate was not shut properly. I just praise the Lord for his protection as that could have been a bad accident if the generator and people had fallen out the back!
We went through a village that was having a market day. The Main Street was so crowded that it was hard to navigate the dump truck through the congestion. One person was hit in the head with the side mirror and we hit a motorcycle, but we didn't stop. When in Haiti, do as they do!
My headache finally started to abate a little bit, which was a welcome relief. As we started to ascend the mountain, the houses became even smaller and the vegetation more sparse. But the people that we passed seemed happy to smile and wave even though they have so little.
At one point in time on the trip, I asked Micah how much farther it would be. He replied that we were probably only about half way! I told him that if he couldn't say anything nice not to say anything at all! 😀 I was kidding...mostly! All in all everyone had good spirits and we got along well with lots of laughs along the way.
The Lord had his hand of protection upon us as the sides of the dump truck are not welded together very good. Although the back of the frame broke, and the front weld broke, and the sides were creaky, it did hold together enough that no one fell out. We arrived safely in Seguin.
The team members that had gone to the pharmacy passed us before we arrived at the mission house in Seguin. The children are adorable up here, although some do not have proper attire for the mountain region. We brought what we could, and we will help as we can. These people are among the poorest of the poor, but their spirits are happy and bright. Definitely could take some lessons in contentment from these people!
Once we arrived, we spent several hours on the mission house project. We moved rebar, and wood, and lots of other stuff. We cleaned and swept (my first time sweeping with a broom made from leaves) and found everyone a place to sleep with night time came. We are tired, dirty, and gearing up for a full day of medical clinic tomorrow. To God be the glory great things He hath done!
Day 3
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Honestly, I had to think about what day of the week it even is tonight. We are all so tired both the
construction team and the medical team. The medical team saw over 200 people today at the clinic, and we worked well past the daylight hours finishing up the clinic by flashlights and lanterns.
We arrived at the clinic about 8:00 am, and there was plenty to do right from the start. The clinic was held in the church building. The people came into the main meeting room to hear the Gospel message. Meanwhile we cleaned out the two Sunday school/education rooms from construction stuff and worked to set up places for the nurses to see patients and a spot for all the medicine. We had
carried all the medicine down from the missions house to the church's building...and it was a lot! We are at an altitude above 6000 feet so walking can be difficult and it's made much more difficult by
adding weights walking. I'm thankful for all those miles I walked at home with Emma on my back!
The most severe patients we saw today were a grandma who appeared to have had a stroke, a baby
with diarrhea and mal-nutrition, a baby with some type of lump on her spine, a woman with a bad case of shingles, and many patients with worms.
My favorite part was seeing the children, and they are beautifully cute! I handed out lots of animal crackers, wiped runny noses, and gave out small treats. The babies I held were damp because they don't wear diapers and are wrapped in blankets, but I certainly enjoyed holding them anyways!
Hannah has a great gift in her medical field. She does a good job of assessing the needs of the patients and figuring out what medicine would be best for them. Each of the nurses on the team are very helpful and great with people. We also have a physicians assistant, Cory, from Georgia and this is his second year on this medical trip. The medical team was brought together of the Lord and it is truly a delight to see Psalm 133:1 fleshed out in reality. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."
It was a crazy, busy day. I am so tired, but so is everyone else. 😀When we came up the hill to the mission house for lunch, we had to bring up these metal poles that they needed for support beams for the construction team. That was a work out! I carried up two...mostly because I wanted to make sure that I could do whatever Kristen could do. :) Kristen is from Montana and she is a hard worker. She's also young and strong, so I will work at it to keep up. 😀
We worked well together as a team today. It's so awesome to have a group of people who love Jesus's and are willing to serve wherever needed.
I was the official "pee" dipper today. Sometimes we take a urine sample to see if any types of infections show up in it. Basically t hat means that I learned how to read a urine test strip and dump urine in the weeds.😀
We separated out the medicine tonight into two different piles. Tomorrow we will be going to Chota which is quite literally not on the road. We will drive in the truck for a little over an hour, and then hike up the mountain to Chota.
I'm looking forward to a great day tomorrow!
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