Hello from Haiti, this is Michael Goolkasian.
We are well in Haiti, having arrived yesterday at the airport.
So far so good. Our team from Partners in Development PID, Gail and her staff met us. After a crazy time rounding up all the luggage, we were off in the tap tap (a Haitian wagon) to the compound. We have 2 large buildings here, one with a complete clinic for hospital care and the other building is our sleeping bunks, complete with 60 percent electricity and running water (but not to drink). There is also a small tent area, a well, an incinerator, and wash room. The weather is a cool 101 or maybe 102 lol but there is a fan in the room.
After settling in and arranging our stuff, we headed off for a tour of downtown- the area that was hit by the earthquake. The city has many tent cities surrounding the area, with piles of rubbish, and abandoned cars. In the city itself are many falling and crumbling buildings. The driver circled the entire downtown area trying to avoid man-size pot holes, on-coming traffic and an abundance of people walking or biking unpredictably.
It is comforting to see tents set up by the UN, UNICEF, and World Vision. We also saw the home of Doctors Without Borders which was also comforting. T
he tour lasted 2 hours which left us feeling speechless and a little sick from the heat, road conditions and lack of comfort. The motto for the week is drink and drink then drink again and drink. (water that is..........)
Our blessings were complete when we arrived back to base camp and had a nice meal of home cooked rice, beans and chicken. We sat around our dining area with a mixed group of staff, volunteers and locals who were there to help out. Many of the volunteers were also from the North shore area and we got to chat and get their feelings of our week ahead and what their duties were. We found that our common goals are to spread the love of God and help in any way we can to serve the Haiti people.
The evening was long this first day as temperatures are quite high and extremely humid. We were blasted with a rainfall that lasted about 2 hours. Some even took showers in it. During the evening time we could hear loud music, dogs barking, and goats walking and stirring around.
We awoke to the sound of roosters and barking dogs at 5am and the start of our first full day of service as we were off to construction and clinics for work.
Michael
Day Two -
Hello everyone! Rob here.
We’re very happy to be back on the grid and able to update you all. Thank you so much for your prayers and support – they are working. The conditions are pretty extreme for both the construction crew and the clinic helpers, but God is faithful and He is doing His work in and through us.
I am on the construction crew and I have never sweated more in my life. We worked a four-hour shift this morning, after a half-hour walking tour of a few completed PID homes. We are helping to re-build a home for a family whose home came down in the earthquake. That means that we aren’t starting from scratch, we are starting from rubble. Our job today was to remove the last remaining portions of the faulty foundation (a previous team had removed the rest). That meant sledge hammers, pickaxes, shovels, and a wheelbarrow. We had to break apart the concrete and rebar and stone, stack it off to the side (nowhere else to put it), and dig down to three feet.
Everyone was dedicated, but the heat really nails you. By the time we broke for lunch, we were literally working five-minute shifts. You just couldn’t do any more. Fortunately, it rained hard at the beginning of our afternoon, two-hour shift and the rest of the shift was worked under cloud cover. That made a huge difference and we did the lion’s share of the work then. Our crew chief from PID was very pleased.
We have had a chance to meet many of the family members whose home we’re helping to re-build. It’s hard to figure out who is who when: a) you speak no Creole, and b) the sweaty white men are the entertainment for all the kids in the neighborhood. Still, you see the conditions they are in – most toddlers clothed only in shirt, playing barefoot and mostly naked around piles of rubble and garbage. There is no running water, no waste disposal service, yet these beautiful children love to play and interact and laugh as I slaughter basic Creole phrases. I spent most of the morning wondering why they all had the same first name with different middle names. The answer: their first name was Creole for “My name is…”
The medical clinic crew shared some of their experiences with us and, to be honest, I am glad I have the job I do. A miscarriage, an 18-day old baby with AIDS, an 18-year-old girl beaten and left naked in a puddle on the street – the work here is both primitive and heavenly. Primitive because the most difficult human experiences imaginable are in abundance. Heavenly because God’s love not only shines upon these people, but most of them know it and praise Him that He continues to provide for them in the midst of these trials. When we leave the compound in the morning, one of the Haitian PID leaders is leading the waiting room in singing hymns and praise choruses. God’s grace is sufficient for all needs.
For our team, pray for continued good health. No problems except Mark was switched to clinic duty as his malaria medication was making him feel real dizzy and winded. They took him off it and he held and fed a four-pound twin baby for much of the morning. You can also pray that God would help us know how He would use our experience here. If you like, you can read through the book of James one chapter a day and you will be doing the same devotions we are.
I will sign off. Last night we had a downpour right before bed and, taking my soap outside, that was my shower. Tonight, no such luck, and it’s much too hot and muggy to go to sleep without one
Love to you all (especially to Christy, Elijah, and Isaiah). Thank you for making this trip possible and please know that through our church and this team, God is bringing hope in a very real way to one family and comfort to the over 200 people who come to PID’s medical clinic every day.
In Christ,
Rob
