"Amidst destruction, God has a vision for Haiti. He will restore beauty for ashses and you can hear it and see in the joy and laughter of the children."
- Lynn Sellin, Team Member
"He told them to take nothing with them except a walking stick — no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. "
- Mark
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep .."
- Matthew
The OnCall Medical team of eight went to Haiti to help people who had nothing and expected even less. It turned out that they had something and we came home with more than we expected. Hearts that were changed by the experience.
Each day we loaded the back of a truck with medical supplies and traveled the rough terrain through the war-torn roads of Delmas to three different tent cities of approximately 6,000 - 20,000 people. We set-up medical base camps and we were immediately met with lines of people wherever we went.The conditions were really quite stunning and more so in person as we have all seen the pictures on TV, but you cannot smell a photograph or feel how heavy the air feels as you snake through the cramped narrow crooked alleys bisected by mini aqueducts of sewage and sludge that connect the tents.
So that is why we went…to do our part and make a contribution however small. One person at a time, the country is being healed. As the story of the little boy throwing one starfish back into the sea from a beach teeming with thousands of starfish struggling to live goes: the man asks the boy why he is wasting his time to try and save the life of one star fish among the struggling thousands on the beach that cannot possibly be rescued and he replies: It may not matter to you, but it sure matters to this one starfish I am throwing back into the ocean to live. (paraphrased)
If you want to know what it would be like to be there yourself read the daily blogs below and we will do our best to take you on this journey with us as you walk through the door to another world in the western hemisphere...
February
2011
Haiti February 2011: Day 8
I am leaving Haiti for the airport with no suitcase; and most of what I did have with me as carry-on luggage I am leaving behind. I cannot tell you how freeing and calming it feels to be leaving with nothing but a purse essentially. I am reminded of the verse in the gospel of Mark that goes…”He told them to take nothing with them except a walking stick — no food, no traveler’s bag, no money.” We are leaving refreshed with hearts of expectancy having witnessed…[read the rest]
February
2011
Haiti February 2011: Day 7
The OnCall team was joined by a medical team from Boston at a new location that was at an abandoned house that had an empty swimming pool. The once glamorous, empty, deserted pool with three boys playing in it looked bizarrely out-of-place next to the depressing tents. The OnCall Team went to see the six metal houses that the BrickThink team built this week. The families were so thrilled to be in their new homes. On the drive home, I noticed men swinging electric wire lines from the poles along the road…[read the rest]
February
2011
Haiti February 2011: Day 6
We are closing in on the end of our week so let me jump right in! So far, the OnCall Team has seen approximately 700 patients. This morning we went back to the smaller Tent City Clairville to finish seeing patients there. As it would be our last day there, one of our hosts, Sylvie, walked us through the camp to visit individual families in their tents. I imagined what they looked like inside beyond standing at the tent entrances, but again, imagining and standing in one looking into…[read the rest]
February
2011
Haiti February 2011: Day 5
Today our team of eight was reduced to seven as one of the doctors needed to head back to NYC. We said our goodbyes and after praying we loaded up the truck to make our way again through the roads of dust and rubble back to Mega4 Tent City. The drive is kind of like air turbulence on the ground: if you are riding inside of the car you could not read your blackberry for instance (I try!) and if you are riding in the back of the truck, you must hold on…[read the rest]
February
2011
Haiti February 2011: Day 4
Here we are at Tuesday DAY 4 and we are living full 24 hour days with short sleep stops in between. You may think that perhaps that is an exaggeration, but it is not. My comrades our counting pills for our pharmacy and syringes and needles as I write. Today we saw over 200 patients and as I mentioned there are seven of us with a group of support for security, translation, security and more. We were more prepared emotionally today as yesterday was our first day on…[read the rest]
February
2011
Haiti February 2011: Day 3
It is Day 3 and today was the OnCall Team’s first day on the field. What does that mean exactly? Seven of us from the OnCall Team with eight other people (security, translators, driver) loaded the back of a truck with medical supplies and traveled the rough terrain through the war-torn looking roads to Mega4, a Tent City of approximately 6,000 people while the largest is approximately 50,000 people and reportedly 1.3 million people are homeles. We set-up our medical base camp and we were immediately met with lines of people….[read the rest]
February
2011
Haiti February 2011: Day 2
Today is day 2 and we have a better sense of our surroundings. I assume that you are reading this blog because you are interested in what is happening in Haiti, but also because you want to know what it would be like to be here yourself so I will do my best to take you on this journey with me as you walk through the door to another world in the western hemisphere…Last night we went to sleep in our white mosquito net ensconced…[read the rest]
February
2011
Haiti February 2011: Day 1
The OnCall Team safely arrived to a hot, sunny, blue-skied Haiti from the freezing, blustery weather in New York. February 2011 is the first time that the OnCall Team was joined by the BrickThink Team to make a team of 16 total. The two teams are going to have more togetherness than originally planned as the BrickThink house was not available in the end so both teams are staying in one house with approximately five sharing one bedroom. Unity at its finest! As this is day one,…[read the rest]
