Today we were scheduled to make 2 water truck stops and visit General Hospital. I thought I had this in the bag and that I would know what to expect. Boy was I wrong!!!
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| Breakfast Helper - Becca! |
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| Breakfast Helper - Erin! |
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| Getting ready to head out to deliver water in Cite Soleil! |
I was looking forward to the water trucks this time because I knew what I would see and I didn't think I would be as emotional. I was right on that front but I wasn't prepared for the pure and utter desperation. The 1st stop was different from the stops we had on Tuesday. We saw a lot of the same. The kids greeted us with "Hey You" and outstretched arms wanting and waiting to be held. I couldn't wait to get my hands on them!!! I held and loved on kids for a bit and took in everything around me. The line seemed extra long and the people seemed extra pushy and angry. This place seemed a bit more poor to me - if that is possible. The street seemed extra narrow and there was a lot of commotion. There was a lot of yelling and I saw lots of buckets being thrown at this stop. There seemed to be more naked kids.....Chaos can erupt quickly if a situation gets out of hand and that is what I was afraid was about to happen. If the crowd gets too disruptive or doesn't "follow" in the line, the water truck drivers or interpreters throw the buckets or turn off the water to show that they mean business and that they can/will leave at any time if things don't run smoothly. This would be for our safety only. When we left is when I found out this stop hadn't had water delivered in a week. I simply could not imagine going even a day without water, let alone a week. AND, for the week, they get a few buckets of water at best. My heart was broken. We drained the water truck at that stop. We believe everyone got water, as people were coming back a second time.
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| This is how you are greeted - kids smiling and excited to see you! |
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| LOVE! |
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| Tracey |
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| Sara |
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| Jen |
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| Justin |
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| A look at the neighborhood from the top of the water truck. |
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| Justin filling the buckets. |
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| Amanda |
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| Kelly (one of my favorite pics of the whole trip!). |
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| Pouchan - one of our interpreters. |
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| Carol |
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| I believe this is a school in the neighborhood - if you look close they are thanking Healing Haiti and saying how much they love Jeff - the founder. |
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| Erin |
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| Sara |
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| Grant |
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| Chris |
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| The garbage that litters their neighborhood. |
The second stop of the day, knowing it was my last for this trip, was sad for me. I didn't want to be done. I knew this part of the trip was coming to an end. It had impacted me so greatly. It was one of my first experiences in Haiti and it made one of the biggest impressions. We held kids, some sang and danced. We helped fill and move buckets. We laughed, hugged and cried. We met a man named Solomen. I'm not sure if it was the 1st or 2nd stop but he was very proud to talk with us. He lives in Cite Soleil and is educated (which, I'm guessing is rare). He spoke English rather well and he just wanted to talk about his love for Christ. I was happy to listen. I was sad, however, that he thought just because I was white that I "hated" him because of the color of his skin. He talked at length about his love for all people. That's what the people of Haiti have - love for everyone and they thank God for everything they have. Remarkable!
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| One of the kids at the water truck filling station. |
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| Chris and me playing with the kids at the water truck filling station. |
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| The kids at the filling station. |
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| Carol |
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| Solomen and Me. |
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| Sometimes it feels almost dangerous trying to get out of the tap tap - you think you are going to step on the kids...or fall on them!! |
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| Sara |
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| Roaming right amongst their homes. |
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| Tracey |
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| Kelly |
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| Erin |
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| Jen - this boy hugged her the whole time we were there. |
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| Becca |
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| Kari |
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| Tracey and Me |
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| Again - what you see getting out of the tap tap - an image you will never forget! |
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| Carol |
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| Grant |
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| Tracey |
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| A view of the neighborhood. |
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| Kelly and Carol |
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| Becca |
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| Tracey |
After lunch we got cleaned up and headed out to General Hospital in Port Au Prince. If you read my blog about the Home for the Sick and Dying Babies and Children, this is the type of place I thought I was going. Not the people, rather the physical structure. I thought I was going to a hospital setting, something made of concrete with individual rooms and maybe a nursing station, and if we were lucky some air conditioning. I thought there might be wings (or hallways) and a couple floors to it. None of our team members had ever been there so no one knew what to expect. We had no idea what was waiting for us when we arrived. The structure (if my memory serves me correctly) seemed to be made of plywood with holes cut out for doors and windows. The floor was busted up cement. The smell was awful. It was hot (it always is), with little airflow. It was crowded with crying babies and families everywhere. We divided into 2 smaller groups and went to 2 different parts of the hospital. My group was with children. The "wings" we went to housed about 15-20 beds/cribs with pretty sick kids in them (it was 2 rooms). I initially saw what appeared to be a new baby laying on a desk, being checked over. I next saw a child (maybe 4-6yo) who was screaming for his "mama" as he was being held down while the staff was trying to attempt an iv. No gloves, no alcohol preps (whatever else might be needed for this). It seemed as if they attempted this several times, I'm not sure if they were ever successful. I saw a child with a chest tube that was draining into something that resembled a gas container. All of this out in the open. No precautions of any kind. The saddest thing I saw was a child (maybe 10-12yo) who was all by himself at the end of the room in a large sort of crib (it had sides so he couldn't get out) - he was very distraught. One of the Haitian parents of another child (I believe) was trying to tell me something. Our interpreter said, this child was left by his parents and they haven't come back. I was so sad for him. I saw a baby so malnourished that she appeared to be about 3 mo old and unable to hold her head up on her own.....she was actually a 9 month old. There was a woman (this baby's mother) who was showering outside of her baby's window and getting dressed. It took me at least 30 minutes to feel even a little bit comfortable enough to try to do something.....anything with these children. I finally approached some of the kids' parents and motioned to them that we had coloring sheets, markers and bubbles. The parents allowed us to play with their kids. We were able to get several smiles and giggles. I was fortunate enough to talk with one of the doctors - he was a 3rd year resident, I believe. He were talking about a specific patient that I (and Erin) were spending time with - this child was probably positive for TB and also was HIV positive. I just simply couldn't imagine what is in store for this poor child. As I walked around the 2 rooms we were allowed in, there were several parents sleeping on this busted up concrete floor and just sitting with their sick kids. The other team saw mice in their rooms. The conditions were simply unbelievable - we were all very far outside our comfort zones. Our hearts were broken wide open! Our interpreters shared with us that General Hospital is Government run. We were told that it is the worst of the worst. It appeared as though parents need to stay and care for their children and if medications were too expensive, parents needed to go out and get the meds and bring them in. The experience was unreal and we were all left feeling very emotionally overwhelmed. As we spoke that evening in our group time, we all realized how much this experience touched each of us - it was by far, the most difficult place for me. I feel so fortunate to have access to GREAT medical care. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures at General Hospital.
Please take time to read the following info from the Healing Haiti website - it is pretty powerful stuff!
According to the Healing Haiti website,
"According to UNICEF, only 30% of Haitians have access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. Without clean water, even if they have food, children die from malnutrition because of parasites and bacteria in their unsafe drinking water which causes nutrients to flush out of them through diarrhea.
In Cite Soleil, the poorest slum in the western hemisphere, Healing Haiti is delivering fresh water, bucket by bucket to thousands of families each day, six days a week, without charge... people who have no electricity, no toilets and no running water. Healing Haiti runs two water trucks that deliver 63,000 gallons of chlorinated water every week. That equals 3.276 million gallons every year. Healing Haiti delivers each five gallon bucket of water for less than 3.5¢, while at the same time employing four Haitians to run and manage the truck so they can provide for their families."
"1 in 8 children in Haiti will die before their fifth birthday from curable or treatable diseases—many of which are caused by dirty or unsafe drinking water. Did you know a five-gallon bucket of water weighs 45 lbs.? Imagine having to carry that load for any distance. In Haiti, women and children are responsible for collecting and carrying water."
"Healing Haiti partners with Reiser Relief to deliver over 3,376,000 gallons of clean chlorinated water in the slum of Cite Soleil each year.
Cite Soleil, Haiti is the poorest slum in the western hemisphere. People living there are living on less than $1 a day. In Cite Soleil, if you drill a well, you hit salt water so there are no wells in Cite Soleil. Water is big business in Haiti and many companies deliver water to cisterns in Cite Soleil that is resold for up to 20 cents per bucket. Many people have to walk for many blocks, 2, 6, even 12 or more to get a bucket of clean water.
Healing Haiti runs it's water trucks into the very worst part of Cite Soleil... where the roads end and the shanties begin. We are serving the poorest of poor in the poorest slum in Haiti. Healing Haiti employs Haitians living in Cite Soleil with a livable wage to run the trucks and deliver the water. We not only deliver life giving water but also are creating jobs that allow these men to care for their families.
We run 3 loads a day per truck, six days a week, 52 weeks per year."
