Today’s entry will cover Tuesday, January 22, 2019, which was our second day of medical clinics.
Today’s clinic will be held right here in Seguin. The clinic will be in the basement of the mission house, so we wont have far to walk! That is probably a good thing because I’m pretty sure that most of the team is tired out from the 4+ hours of walking yesterday!
I’ll have to wash some clothes today, which will be interesting! The water pressure pump hasn’t seemed to be able to keep up with the demand of water use. I’m sure something will be figured out! (Since we were in Seguin today, Moriah did the laundry) The mission house has a washing machine but before you get all excited, it’s not like your washer! The washing machine has to be moved to the shower and set up in the shower. It doesn’t make my laundry smell like home, but its way cleaner than it was! I’m thankful that Moriah was willing to do some laundry for Hannah and I along with laundry for their family.
Garett seems to be doing just fine. I know he is tired too, but today will be a bit of a rest day for him as we will be here in Seguin. I know that the Faulde kids will be working on school work, so I’m sure that Garett will be able to sit down and do some reading.
I forgot to write it down yesterday, but we did also see a child with what Hannah thinks is Cerebral Palsey. He is so incredibly tiny for his age and weak, and to be honest, there really is nothing that can be done. That’s the hard part for me. It hurts my heart, but this child will probably be seeing Jesus soon. It doesn’t hurt my heart that he will see Jesus soon, but the fact that our resources (and the resources in this country) are so limited. Even if we did pay to send him down to the hospital, they wouldn’t be able to help him either. He doesn’t walk, doesn’t chew, and seems to be a bit paralyzed on one side of his body. However, a peace floods over my soul to know that Jesus loves each of these Haitian children just as much as He loves mine.
Ready to serve. Happy to help-another day of clinic is here!
Evening entry:
We are back from the clinic. We finished up with flashlights and lanterns and then the gernerator was turned on. What a day! By the time we started the clinic at about 7:30 am., people were lined up waiting. A few people had come from a bit of a distance away, and had spent the night at the pastors house. Hannah did some figuring, and she estimates that we saw about 280 people yesterday in Chota.
Today was such a full, full day! We saw 445 people today in the clinic between 7;30am and 6:00pm. The people were eager to come to the clinic. The Haitian nurses did our triage again today and the people waited patiently for the most part. Hannah and Josh’s church in Maine had provided funds to help feed the people who came to clinics. A lot of the stomach problems probably stem from hunger (and worms). Today’s lunch for the patients of clinic went a little smoother than yesterday, and more people were fed. Word of mouth spreads about food available, so a lot of people waited around the mission house until they had a plate of rice and beans. Guess what? That meant more trash for us to pick up later! It just boggles my mind how trash is just thrown down!
Tara had a patient today who was pregnant and experiencing labor pains. It was a bit scary as the mama was only at about 30 weeks. She was clearly uncomfortable and in pain. Before we went to lunch, Tara had her lay down on one of the bunk beds in the basement. The mama was about 50% effaced and 1-2cm. We had her rest on the bed while we at lunch. She did have an infection so Tara gave her the first dose of antibiotics while she rested. The mama slept the majority of the afternoon even though she was in a room with lots of people talking and moving around. (It was a bed that was probably way more comfortable than her straw sleeping mat at home).
After lunch, we were all a bit tired. But the people were still coming at a steady pace. In the mid-afternoon, Pastor Kevin came to tell Hannah that a mama was coming in and she needed to be seen immediately. The problem wasn’t with the mama, but with her little daughter. This little girl had some very bad burns. The mama explained that her husband had told her to go work in the garden. The mom had already been gone for two days (probably taking food To market) but her husband made her go work in the garden. The mama had taken her little girl to the grandparents house. However the child had been left unattended as the grandparents had left her there and went somewhere. Its unsure whether or not the child had fallen onto the cooking fire grate or had been pushed, but either way she had fallen backwards unto the grate. This little four year old girl had terrible burns on the back of her lefts. Hannah cleaned and dressed the wounds, and the child hardly even whimpered! Hannah told the mom that she would need to bring the child to the mission house tomorrow evening. In the States the child would have been immediately admitted in the United States and treatments done instantly. Here all we can do is the best we can do and try to encourage the mom to help the child drink plenty of water. It was painful to watch the mama have tears in her eyes, and I had a hard time not crying too.
Garett spent the day outside playing with the kids, passing out candy to the kids, writing in his journal (because all the other kids were doing school work) and helping to water the newly planted trees by the mission house. He’s got quite a sunburn, but he is still smiling. I am praying that God is working in his heart.
I am also very thankful that although my suitcase is still missing, I did pack both our carry ons full of snacks. Ive been able to help provide snacks for Emelie’s kids and their friends. It also seems like the amount of food to the amount of people is not proportionate. If there are only 12 chicken legs and 16 people, well, someone is not having chicken. I’ve certainly got plenty of weight I don’t need, so I can certainly do without. Our cook does the best that she can, and if nothing else I could always fill up on rice and beans. (I’m also thankful that we have a lot of variety of food in our diet in the States!) so having the snacks has definitely come in handy. I gave Garett and Josiah a chunk of sausage. They disappeared to a closet and came back with noting but wrappers! But you know what? No one on our missions team is starving, and we all have plenty of food to go back to at home. However, these Haitian people really do know the meaning of hungry. They know it in a real and personal way that affects them every single day!
Even though it was a long day, it was a good day. God provided wisdom, direction, and he allowed us to be having clinics on the day that the child was burned. Maybe through the medical help we can give the child the family can be reached for Jesus Christ.
In the Gospel message today about nine people raised their hands saying that they wanted to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I praise the Lord for each person saved for eternity!
Tara rechecked her pregnant lady at the end of the clinic day. She has stopped having labor pains, and she seems to be stable. That’s good because we really don’t want to deliver a baby that’s only 30 weeks! Its possibly that the labor pains came on due to dehydration, the infection, and a bumpy motorcycle ride to the clinic!
Prayer requests:
1) For discipleship for those who were saved today
2) For continued wisdom and strength
3) For God to continue to meet our needs as we continue on without our bags
Praises:
1) Another good medical clinic
2)For the Gospel seeds that were planted
3) Unity and Harmony even as we are tired
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