First day of work!

At the guest house, slept in the bottom bunk. Almost all homes are constructed of concrete, even the ceilings. The bottom bunk felt safer. A missionary told us there has not been a major earthquake in 200 years in Haiti. This was totally unexpected. The guest house provided lots of fans. Woke up hot at 6 a.m. We are 1 hour ahead of home time. Powdered milk and Cheerios for breakfast. All meals are under Tiki huts on the back porch. Our hospitality lady is an American young woman named Amy , who rides everywhere on a 4 wheeler. She has been here 9 months. She runs the guest house. Our main cook is Madame (Mrs) Tijon, and her helpers are Claudia and Dede. They speak only Creole and are very nice. One of the house rules is that no Haitians are allowed in the gated area except the staff.

Had a nice visit with Dan Shoemaker, President of RMI. Met our interpreter,Mary Franz. A very nice, tall , Haitian woman. I like her. Benson comes to take us all to the hospital. One of the doctors here was sick all night (stomach), but we all load up to go to the hospital. We are in a truck. Main travel is by foot, then scooters. Even the taxis are scooters.

We wear scrubs, but the Haitian nurses wear white starched dresses with white hoes, very professional. We were told to be careful not to make the Haitians "lose face". Even if we know how to do something better, don't. The ride is very bumpy, but only a few minutes. Lots of people around the hospital area. Hospital named La Mirre, meaning the light. It is a christian hospital. Inside we are told by the head nurse,Jetti, to make bandages out of a huge roll of gauze. We sit at the nurses desk in the middle of the floor and make bandages for 3 hours. We are surrounded by many people. The patients, 2 to 90 years old, most with horrible injuries. Their families are responsible to remove waste, and to feed them. Doctors and nurses of many nationalities working with the Haitians doctors and nurses. There are lots of people, noise, flies, heat, and smells. There is a hum with some Haitians yelling "Why" repeatedly. Mary tell us that is how Haitians scream. These people have lost their government, their homes, families, friends, food, and neighbors. Their whole way of life. Susie and I thank God for the opportunity to make bandages for these people.Please pray for the Haitian people.

At lunch we go over to a young Haitian man who had been singing Christian songs all morning in Haitian. His name is George, he is 19, he has a badly broken leg fixed with rebar as fixators, and he says he knows Jesus. With our translator we pray with him. At amen he squeezes my hand and, with his eyes he says thank you.

After lunch we go to a mission house that has lots of stored medical supplies locked behind locked gates. We divide them into 3 piles. One for the General Hospital in town (state hospital). One for Bonne Fin, hospital up the mountain. And one for La mirre. It was hot work. We took water breaks. The Red Cross recommends 1 quart of water a day. Trucks load for the different locations. We go to a mission house to use computers.

Back to guest house to eat supper. Goat is main meat here. We had goat for supper. Susie had cake!Ha! I really isn't bad, very spicy. Off to another mission where the missionary kids have school, for a prayer meeting. The pastor says he is glad so many are turning to God during this hard time. He heard voodoo drums for the first time the other night , and he prayed for them to stop. 5 minutes later there was an unusual downpour. PTL

Back to the guest house for a great cold shower and bed.

Pray for all the missionaries here.