from Carrie Davidson in Haiti with Global Orphan

January 24, 2010

> we are here at the orphanage, and having a blast! there are around 125
> haitian orphans here at Ebenezer, which is a transition village. (it seeks
> to give these kids safe housing, food, clean water, etc while trying to find
> their parents. if their parents or family comes, great! we've reunited one
> family). the leadership on the team here is wonderful, but they are
> basically starting this place from scratch again, as a result of the
> earthquake. not to mention their child population has doubled in a week.
> right now the focus is obviously just keeping these kids safe (we're walled
> in, guard at the gate, armed), getting them enough food and water (haitians
> eat two meals a day...beans and rice. so thats what the kids eat and that's
> what we eat too! if we're hungry in the mean time, we snack on things we
> brought), a place to sleep, letting them be kids (they play a lot during the
> day! no schools...destroyed). during the day we make runs into Port au
> Prince to the hospitals and see if they have orphans that we need to take.
> they have no room for them. and as long as they are medically cleared, then
> they can come back here (they can come with clinic-level care. not hospital
> needs.) we also go to villages and do mini clinics ( :) that is
> interesting. :)
>
> i'm doing well. healthy and safe! i've been working here, seeing some
> mildly injured kids at the orphanage. other than that, been helping on the
> logistical side of things too...organizing a health office for them, helping
> them put together some sort of registration for all orphans that come, so
> that they have some way of tracking them. today i went into Port au Prince
> to go to church with a local pastor (me and three others from Global Orphan)
> and cried the whole trip. the devastation and destruction is unspeakable.
> i don't know what else to say about it... starting to wonder if i ever
> will. i mean, the smell alone is enough to make you sick. that's people's
> bodies rotting inside these buildings. and to see the buildings you are
> seeing on tv in real life is more emotional that i would have guessed it to
> be. like the palace. its absolutely staggering in real life. its
> horrific. what else can i say. and people are running out of food and
> water. really. as in...theres no more coming. apparently there is false
> information being relayed and being reported on back in the states that
> theres so much more food/water coming for these people, and the truth
> is...there is no way to get it here. containers can't come from the states
> to the D.R. and cross the border to haiti. apparently there is some
> breakdown there. so people that have figured ways around that breakdown
> (this orphanage) by using a crazy amount of manpower and time just for one
> container that will feed these kids for maybe a week or two are now being
> looked to to feed other people. in a very short time, no one will have
> anything. THAT is when things get really bad. riots, violence, more
> death. i don't even want to imagine it.

> there is a possibility i will volunteer some time at one of the local
> hospitals. they are terribly short on nurses. i will be overworked. but i
> can be of some help i think. right now, at night there are 2 or 3 nurses
> caring for some 400 patients. ALL ICU LEVEL PATIENTS. wow. i take 2 icu
> patients at home, and that's enough. here... no choice. or they will die.
> so if i can help at all...that is the goal. right now i'm helping a lot at
> the orphanage and so i'm tossing that idea around to them. it would mean me
> being campus for a period of 24-48 hours. here's the good part about that:
> sleeping (while not much) will be in tents. military presence is
> HUGE (10 or so of the 82nd airborne are outside gate, and i don't even know
> how many are inside. its very very safe. safest place in haiti right
> now.) i would eat MRE's. so that's why i'm even considering it. i would
> be in very good hands. we'll see. if that is the case, i'll let you know,
> and then you won't hear from me in a few days, because i won't have a way to
> email you. and i probably will only eat, sleep and work! :) it sounds
> like, though, that they are in desperate need of nurses, and especially
> trauma ICU background.
>
the UN has made a deal with United airlines where they are flying people > americans) home to the states
> after having served here for FREE. medical personnel get first priority. i
> think this is their way of trying to get us (medical people) in to meet some
> of the immense need.
>
> this morning i went to a church in Port au Prince. the actual structure had
> a back wall collapse, so they are not in that anymore, but the body of
> Christ is very much alive!! some 125 or so people came. of course when we
> arrived, they'd been having praise and worship and prayer for almost an
> hour. then we had some more praise SO COOL TO WORSHIP WITH THEM!!!! in 2
> languages at once. wow. andon the songs we didnt' know, i mean, just to
> hear these people praising a God that they KNOW loves them, and hears their
> cries. they praise Him because He is able. He is powerful, He is
> sovereign, and is not surprised by these events. Jesus is risen, and they
> truly find joy from these things. EVEN after what they have been through!
> wow. it was a powerful service. a lot of little haitian boys and girls
> stared as the white girl with puffy eyes cried during their praise time.
> note: the pastor at this church had two boys in school the day of the
> earthquake. the school collapsed. one son made it out by tearing his tie
> that was caught on something and escaping just in time. the other didn't.
> they still have not found him. his mother is going to look again tomorrow
> (like she has been everyday) because someone thought they had seen his
> booksack somewhere near. can you imagine? she just wants to find him. she
> knows he's dead. but just to find him. wow. and yet, the pastor gets up
> and delivers a beautiful sermon, preaching the gospel, and truly smiling,
> joyful. 14 people accepted Christ today at that service. God is at work
> BIGTIME.