Anita insisted that I call this post Cockle Doodle Doo because of the rooster that keeps everyone awake most of the night! And to top it off, last night Kim started singing in her sleep! She had her Ipod playing in her ear buds, & unknowingly began singing aloing with the tunes! Really freaked me out- I never heard of sleep-singing before!
Today we all walked down to the Quisqueya Chapel, the English-speaking church about 4 blocks from the guesthouse. Travis walked down a half hour earlier to Dee Dee’s house so he could take the boys to church. The weather is just perfect- temperature probably in the mid 80′s, lots of sun & a few puffy clouds. Travis held little Kenny through most of the service, while Abby was smitten with Patrick, who spent 10 days on the roof of a building in the city of Gonaives, which was hit hard by a series of hurricanes this past Fall. He is estimated to be about age 4.
After services, Anita connected with Dr. Ed, who isn’t really a doctor but a Physician’s Assistant who has been practicing medicine for 35 years. He does surgeries, tooth extractions- you name it, he’s figured out a way to improvise getting it done, simply because there is such a systemic lack of basic medical care. While the rest of us headed out to a buffet lunch at the Visa Lodge near the airport, Anita & Ed went to a clinic he runs every Sunday. About 1800 kids from the poor neighborhoods are invited- fed a meal, & then those with any medical needs are assessed & treated. Anita estimated she probably saw about 35 cases, mostly with scabies (a skin irritation resulting from insects burrowing into the skin). She also had to lance a blister under a girl’s fingernail, which resulted in alot of screaming! Some of Dr. Ed’s improvised medical treatments include turpentine & veterinary medicine adjusted for humans!
Joining us at the Visa Lodge were Karen Bultje, a Canadian medical missionary who also runs an orphanage for older children; Dorothy who runs the infant rescue misssion; her nurse Kizz & her friend from Maryland, Maggie; Dee Dee; Dottie; me & Kim; & Travis. We worked on what our schedule will be for the next 4 days. I am most excited about Tuesday- the plan is to rent a pick-up truck & go to a village about 45 minutes east, on the road to the Dominican Republic. That is where Mich & Eddie are from. Karen is well trusted there, & it will be a good exposure for us to typical Haitian country living- mud huts, no electricity. Also on Tuesday (SHE asked!) we’ll be going to Cite Soleil, one of the worst slum sections of Port au Prince, & for years, the most dangerous section of the city because of the widespread prevalence of gangs. But the UN Headquarters is now there, & some improvements are being made to the roads & infrastructure. Several Christian missions are also active there, one is a soccer mission with the goal of giving boys something else to do with their time than join gangs. We all watched the video, Ghosts of Cite Soleil, before our first trip; now we’ll see this rough place for ourselves.
Travis & Abby stayed behind at the Visa Lounge with Kizz & Maggie, & ended up jumping into the swimming pool with their clothes on! (Kizz & Maggie had brought swim suits; we had no idea there was a pool there.) Abby was thrilled to see a Canadian flag & posed beneath it; but then she also posed beneath the US flag as well. (Traitor!)
Kim & I ran down to the church to get a 40 foot extension ladder so her electrician, Dino, could climb the pole & reconnect her line which was cut by a dump truck dumping a load across the street. He wore no gloves, used no electrical tape or wire nuts- merely twisted wires together & left them. When the power still didn’t work (later when the city power came back on) he had to return & switch the wires at the box on the house. From what I can see, there is no municipal utility company that you can call for stuff like that. And the people that do the work are completely unregulated & unlicensed. Just a little bit different from home!
Shortly after Anita came back from her clinic with Dr. Ed, another man from church came by quite panicked over a 16 year old squatter boy who lives next door to him. James has had a fever, shaking, & severe pain in his jaw. Although his ears had infection, he said they didn’t hurt. Anita couldn’t see any absess in his mouth, but gave him tylenol & antibiotics & told him to go to the dental clinic on Wednesday to have that tooth looked at more closely. She said it was no wonder Jesus came healing people- she was moved today by how appreciative people were, & she can see how receptive they are to someone who so obviously cares about them.
Dr. Ed invited ME to the dental clinic on Wednesday too- he promised I could pull some teeth! Since one of my good friends is a dentist, I’ll be sure to get that on video! How hard can it be?!
We had an awesome team devotion time tonight up on the patio. The moon is still full, & because of its present orbit, is HUGE! We shared about how the church service affected all of us, & then how the day was, & also a little bit about the sermon topic, which was Melchizadek (Hebrews 7). It was Anita’s turn to share scripture, & she read from 1James 1:27 (joke!) 3 about thereligion which God approves is taking care of widows & orphans, & keeping yourself from being polluted by the world. Then we all had an awesome prayer time.
Oh, before that, we had a blast playing on of my favorite games, Crack the Case, where everyone has to solve a mystery case that is read to them. Tons of fun!
Tomorrow we all head to the Barefoot School, & in the afternoon, Travis & I will head to Dee Dee’s to put up a hand railing so Mickey can maneuver down the hallway easier; we’ll also attempt to repair a leaky toilet valve. Hopefully we can change it out without ripping the rusty pipe out of the wall & flooding everything!
