Nov 9, 2015
We woke up bright and early on Sunday morning, Nov 8, and headed to church about 30 minutes from here. It was a time of lively praise and worship, a wonderful sermon about the importance of having Christ-centered families, a testimony from a woman about her son who was near death but now is healed, and even had the entire congregation pray over our team. Tonya expressed how powerful it is to have so many people simultaneously praying over you in a language that you can’t understand. It’s always so moving to see how deeply the Haitians care about us!
On Sunday afternoon we held a blood pressure clinic. It was encouraging to see a good number of people show up and was a nice way for our team to ease into the trip in a more relaxed atmosphere. Sunday evening was spent preparing for our first day at the school, along with playing a little bit of Fizz-bo!
This morning we made the trip to Chardene, where we were welcomed with the kids singing “Father Abraham” for us! We first saw the students that needed the most attention and were thankful for how smoothly we all transitioned into our roles as we worked to assess them. We saw a lot of stuff that we were expecting to see, along with some things that were a little more severe, and it’s always such a blessing to be able to help these sweet people.
Amber, who is experiencing Haiti for her first time, said that the highlight of her day was spending time with the kids. She loved their smiles and their orneriness as they played with her stethoscope, looked at her watch, and of course wanted her to take their pictures!
Nov 10, 2015
Today our team hiked up a mountain, crossed over some water, and visited Dupin! We were very blessed to have several Haitian men who were willing to carry the heavy stuff for us, and I'm happy to report that no one fell and rolled down the hill! :) It's always humbling to have the men help us; you really see their servant hearts through the way that they carry things for us, hold our hands as we walk up and down steep hills, and show us which rocks to use as stepping stones while we're crossing over water. We saw a lot of students in the morning, all with varying sicknesses.
This afternoon we held an OB clinic for some of the pregnant women in Dupin. The women were really appreciative of the teachings and it was a good eye-opener to all of us as we learned just how different our cultures can be when it comes to caring for unborn and newborn babies. Tonya got the neat opportunity to let the women hear the heartbeats of their babies! It's always such a sweet moment to see the ladies' faces light up and to see the other women in the room celebrate the moment with them!
Nov 11, 2015
The past 24 hours have been full of conquering things. First, we conquered a huge spider (It was roughly the size of our heads! Okay maybe not quite that big, but it was big enough!) with the help of a sweet Haitian man. I'm sure he got a good laugh out of us being so scared! This morning we conquered climbing up another mountain to visit the Degeance school. Several students from the school came down the mountain to help us carry our stuff; it was so sweet of them, and once again we were blown away by their thoughtfulness. We saw a lot of students this morning, and even though it was crowded and hot, we felt so privileged to have had the opportunity to lay hands on these kids and give them some attention.
In the afternoon, we had another OB clinic for some pregnant women in Degeance. They were a really fun group of ladies; they had some wonderful questions and offered a lot of information about how they deliver babies in their villages. They did a wonderful job learning how to do CPR on their babies if it was ever needed, and were excited to receive their OB kits!
Nov 13, 2015
We didn't get a chance to post yesterday, but it was a great day! We visited Lanzac school right away in the morning where we saw a very sick little girl. Luckily we were able to treat her and explain to her mom and principal exactly what the problem was. It was such a blessing that we got to be there that morning to help her.
After Lanzac, we made the long and dusty trip up to LaHatte school. And boy, was it hot! We were encouraged by how organized it was and how well the kids did during their physicals. They're always excited to receive any type of attention and love, so while some of us did an OB seminar with the pregnant and/or new mommas, Amber, Rene, and Hannah took the kids outside and played with them! Despite the incredible heat, it was a great time playing and singing with those kids! The other half of the group had a great time with the ladies, and we even got to take turns holding a beautiful pair of one-month-old twins!
It's so hard to believe that today was our last full day!
The week has gone so fast, and we've seen God move in so many cool ways! After we were done at MPCA this afternoon, we gathered in the back of the truck, along with our translators, nurse and pastor, to join hands and pray together. It was so neat for them to pray for us, and us to pray for them. One of the coolest things about these trips is seeing how we get to build relationships with people, and re-connect with people we've met on previous trips!
