A Heavy and Rejoicing Heart

Today my day ends with a heavy and rejoicing heart. We saw around 500 patients today and it was probably the most emotional. We received a 14 month old baby who was unconcious and barely breathing. Her grandmother brought her in. All of the doctors from a children's hospital in the USA got right to work. The baby was extremely dehydrated and hypoglycemic. It took about 10 attempts all over the baby's body to find a vein to put an IV in. She was so dehydrated it made it almost impossible to find one, at one point she began seizing. Myself and another woman just began praying, singing and declaring life into this baby. Finally the IV went in and they pumped fluids and sugar into her body. Right away her breathing eased and she opened her eyes and began looking around. We sent her off in an ambulance to another hospital with supplies that will help her to recover.

We also saw a woman today who we thought we might have to amputate her finger. After consultation with her and her cousin she consented to it being removed if it was necessary. In surgery the doctor found that the wound was actually doing very well and that if she was in the States she could easily get a skin graft and recover well. But being in Haiti, it is unclear what her aftercare and follow-up would be and ultimately she would lose the finger anyway. It was a tough call to make, but the decision made was to send her to a hospital ship off-shore to see if she could get the care she needs. When the woman woke up she was surprised to see her finger still there. She began to tell us how thankful she and all of the people are that we are there. They can tell that we really care about them. The head police chief of the entire city actually came to us and asked us if we would replicate what we have there to all of the police stations in the city because he sees that we really care about the people and he wants that for the entire city. What an amazing testimony of God's heart flowing through us for these people.



Two nights ago, in the tent city next to us, refugees began worshiping and singing praise songs for hours. Around 11pm about 50 people started walking through the street singing a song in Kreyol(the local language). Some doctors were on the roof watching and listening when a woman they had never seen before and haven't seen since came up the stairs and translated what they were saying. "Satan you will not defeat us, you will not defeat us this way." The resillience of the Hatian people is absolutely amazing. We have translators come to help is everyday with a huge smile on their face while at the same time they had lost their home and family members in the earthquake. At the end of each day we make sure to send them home with food, water, and clothing. I heard the UN is starting a program to hire 100,000 Haitians to help clear the rubble from the city. We already saw people begin to work and even stoplights were functioning today. Haiti is moving forward and looking to the Lord on High for their hope and future.



Today was my last day at the clinic. Tomorrow I'll be driving back over to the Dominican Republic, and Saturday morning I fly out. Im still looking for a ride from San Francisco to Redding, otherwise I'll be paying $200 to rent a car for 4hrs. Let me know if you or someone you know could help me out.



Keep on praying. This weekend a whole new batch of doctors are arriving. A few of the doctors with us have been passing some kind of virus around and are taken out for a day while on an IV. Pray for strength, health, and peace for everyone here; doctors, Hatians, everyone.



Thanks for praying and taking the time to read.

Bless you,
Janet

Location:Port au Prince, Haiti