Whew! For those that felt like yesterday was a long day, today was longer! It was almost a five mile hike this morning to Chota, but we did get to ride part of the way on a motorcycle! The road goes farther than it did two years ago, so that meant that the motorcycles could take us further. Chota is a walk-in community...either by foot or by donkey.
The original plan was to take the vehicle that the Falde’s bought recently with the bags of medicine and the nurses and the doctor. However, in Haiti things rarely go as originally planned! We were up by 4:15am to get ready for the hike, but by 5:30am, it was apparent that the truck was not going to start. We had two motorcycles and about 26 people plus medical bags that needed to get to Chota. Some people were going to work in the clinic and others were going to be painting the church building. Well, it looks like walking for all of us this morning!
We left the mission house around 5:35am, and it was still dark outside. The two motorcycles started hauling the bags of medical supplies and the men who were going to be preaching to the crowd. Some of us walked farther than others, but we all walked some! The motorcycles would take people to the end of the road, and then come back to haul more people to the end of the road. I actually really enjoy the hiking aspect of the day, and the hike to Chota is a beautiful one. Generally the hike going to Chota is upbeat, chatty, and fun. But the hike back to Seguin is more like just putting one foot in front of the other. Today we were thankful for the two motorcycles so that we all were in Chota by around 7:30am. By 8:00am, the pastors started preaching the Gospel message to the people, and by 8:30am, we were set up and ready to go. We saw over 300 patients today- actually 326 people in the clinic! It was a crazy day!
Chota is a very poor community, and we saw a lot of children that suffered from malnutrition, underweight children, and pregnant mamas. Hannah and Moriah helped one of the Haitian medical helpers drain an infected knee. Hannah took a close look at a toddler who is about 18months old, but only weighs 12 pounds! He clearly needs some help gaining back some weight or something as simple as a cold could kill him. That was heartbreaking to see! He didn’t seem to be interested in food, and he needs some very dense nutritional meals to help him. Hannah and Pastor Kevin told the grandma to come to Seguin tonight and Hannah would try to help the young child. Apparently the boys mama had just passed away on Sunday, and this little one is being taken care of by his grandma. This little boy is practically starving to death.
We handed out lots of medicine for scabies, and a lot of RUTFs for children. We gave away every single snack that we brought with us, and we could’ve given out 1000s more. By 10:30am, we were all really hungry as we had already climbed several mountains and walked a few miles! We ate lunch in shifts so that we could keep seeing people in the clinic. By the time I walked to where lunch was being served, there was a little old man licking out the pot! Oh well, I need to lose a few pounds anyways! Emelie and I managed to find a granola bar, and Hannah had some fruit snacks. Emelie and I took a quick bathroom break, ate our granola bar and headed back to clinic.
We needed to be leaving Chota by 3:00pm, so that we could get back to the mission house by dark. It was probably closer to four when we finished and got on the trail again, but there was still plenty of light. We started down the trail and shortly down the trail, Ashley realized that she had forgotten her phone at the church building. So Hannah and Emelie went back to the church and Pastor Falde, Amanda, Moriah and Ashley kept on hiking, and I waited by the bags of other supplies for Hannah and Emelie to return. Hannah and Emelie came back shortly but said that the phone was no where to be seen! We are still praying that the phone will show up, but we will see what happens. It’s unfortunate that items get stolen, but just like anywhere else in the world, it happens.
Update on our bags: Our missing bags are back in our possession today! They had never made it off the plane in Jacmel, so the bags had ended up back in Port-au-Prince. Today someone picked up the bags for us off the MAF Flight to Jacmel and brought the bags all the way to Chota. I feel sorry for whomever was chosen to carry those heavy bags all the way down the trail! That’s 100 pounds of stuff that people carried down a mountain trail!
We made it up the trail to the road where the truck was parked. The Falde vehicle had eventually started, and now this truck was waiting to take people to the mission house. By the time we arrived at the vehicle, the truck was already loaded with all the medical bags, five American people, the Haitian grandma with her malnourished grandson, and then three more of us showed up! Oh, and plus the Haitian nurse (one who works in Seguin sometimes) and another Haitian helper who needed a ride! Hannah and Emelie stayed behind to wait for a motorcycle while the rest of us piled into the truck- 10 of us! We had only gone a short ways when a motorcycle came to take more people to the mission house. Amanda and I offered to ride on the motorcycle, and I was thankful as it meant a quicker trip to the mission house. While I wouldn’t want to be the driver, it doesn’t bother me to the rider. Motorcycles are a way of life here so hop on!
We arrived back at the mission house around 5:00ish, and we were all like dead on our feet-tired and hungry! The construction team had also come to Chota today and they had worked on painting the church building. I have to give them a lot of credit as they painted for hours! Garett was practically covered in paint, and I know he grew weary of it, but they made great progress on painting. The painting people had left before the clinic people so they were back at the mission house before the medical team arrived. When the truck with the rest of the people and medical supplies arrived, we unloaded bags. Some showered, some sat from tiredness, and some began preparing for the next days clinic. I know that God must have given Hannah special strength to keep on going. When we come back from a clinic, everything has to be taken out of the bags and we have to repack for the next day. Moriah and I can help some but Hannah has to figure out how much of each thing we are taking, how much medication and how much we have left for upcoming days of clinic. Exhausting!
After supper and some more preparing, Hannah and Moriah worked to put a tiny tube down the nose of the little boy’s nose. He needed nutrition around the clock, so that he could be fed more often. It was not an easy or pleasant task, and the baby fought against it, but Hannah did it. The baby was able to get started with some nutritional formula. The grandma, the baby, the baby’s dad, and someone else all stayed the night at the mission house. Our church back home had sent Ashley and I with some hygiene packets (towel, toothbrush, comb, bandaids, soap, etc) and wow those bags came in handy this week! We’ve had guests at the mission house who’ve needed a bag, we sent some home with families that have kids with lots of scabies, and those gallon ziploc bags have come in handy!
Ashley still does not have her phone, and I know that it is a bit distressing to her but she’s been a really great sport about it. We are still praying that it will be returned.
It’s been a long, long day. It’s almost ten pm. Hannah went to fed the baby again, but realized that he had been able to pull the tube out of his nose. It’s late, the baby did get some nutrition, and Hannah will figure out something in the morning.
We’ve now seen over 600 people in the two days of clinics! I know Hannah is concerned about running out of supplies. We just keep praying that we will have exactly what we need when we need it. God always provides wisdom and direction when we ask Him. 33 people accepted Christ yesterday, so we are rejoicing over that. God is good!
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