Unshed Tears

Yesterday a mother sat outside our hospital with pictures of her and her children... she was not asking for money or food... she had a sign in English asking someone to adopt her youngest child because she had no way to continue feeding him.  For eight months she has been breastfeeding her son, as he is growing her milk is no longer enough to satisfy him.  This woman, who obviously cares and loves her child felt if was better to part with him than to let him starve.

This evening two women working at a local orphanage explained to me that several of the children at the orphanage were left by parents who were unable to take care of them.  The mother of one of the babies who was a patient at our hospital came every day and night to take care of her baby, yet had to leave her when she was discharged from our pediatric unit because she does not have a place to live, much less money to care for her.

I spent the better part of one hour listening to one of the hospital employees telling me how she is beginning to get discouraged, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.  My conversation with this strong beautiful woman started when I saw her studying English, within 15 minutes of our conversation I could see that my friend was not her normally happy self, that something was bothering her. When she began to share with me her discouragement I had no words,  saying "I'm sorry" felt inadequate and "I understand" did not ring true either.   She is currently living in a tent on the hospital ground with her only son.

It is eight months after the earthquake; money is scarce , food even more so and people are still living in makeshift shelters or if they are lucky under a tent.

Almost every day it rains here in Haiti, when I ask how they endured the night the common response is " we survive". 

I wish I could end this blog on an upbeat note, give me a day or two... but for now... ;(

Traveling Light: Singing does help after all

Traveling Light: Singing does help after all

Singing does help after all

Tuesday Night

Tonight one of my patients who is a paraplegic was crying because she was in so much pain because of the spasms in her legs. The mother of another patient and I decided to sing to her as I massaged her legs. We told her that the singing would either be really good or just bad enough to make her forget her pain. At that point the only thing we could do was make her laugh. We sang for almost an hour until she fell asleep. I'm not sure if she the singing was good or bad but thank God something worked.

Not to be a downer, but for some reason tonight my heart hurt as I looked around and saw all these children with serious injuries, some orphans, and some with parents living in the hospital
with them because they have nowhere else to go. I keep thinking of what is going to happen to them when they have to get discharged... where will they go...

Wednesday Night.

Last night as I was in another patients room having a small worship with them, in the middle of singing I saw a big stinking spider crawling around the room... that was it for me... I swear I almost tossed the kids off the bed trying to get away from the thing...that is until this 11 year old boy with this massive wound on his leg with metals and screws coming out of every which way asked me "do you believe in God?" I replied "yes" (all the while keeping an eye out on the spider), then he asked "so why are you letting the devil distract you with fear?" Dang it... that little bugger was right. What came into my head was Philp 4:6-9 be anxious for nothing...
I am sitting here worrying about so many things and forgetting to give it to God. Why am I letting the devil distract me...

This morning I woke up with a song in my heart and for at least one hour before I left my room, before I interacted with anyone else... I decided to sing.

Marc
S.A.L.T (sisters actively living the truth)

Out of the Rubble-Haiti story.

Out of the Rubble from Loma Linda University on Vimeo.

Living Love Out Loud

This week I have seen what real love looks like. In the middle of their suffering two women put aside their personal pain to to help someone else. There is a young girl at the hospital who suffered a spinal cord injury that left her a paraplegic. After going though several surgeries at another hospital she was essentially cast aside. She later developed multiple decubitus ulcers, on her right hip and on both her heels. This young lady also has wounds on both her legs which she explained to me were caused by rats. She described to me how she could see the rats eating away at her but did not have enough strength to call out for help. She is now at our hospital in Haiti receiving care.



For a long time Mai Mai's (pronounced my my) family were unable to come to the hospital to visit or take care of her for various reasons, Two ladies that are in the hospital saw that she did not have anyone to take care of her decided to cook for her, buy her food, clothes and even wash and turn her several times a day. The amazing thing is that neither of the women knew the young lady previously and neither had any source of income. Out of their meager savings they decided to share what they had with Mai Mai. One of the women has a baby girl in the hospital to take care of and the other is a post op patient who still has not regained her full strength. Both of these women saw a need and have quietly gone about to take care of this young lady to the point that I believed them to be family. It was only as I was giving out some instructions pertaining to the girls' care that they quietly informed me that they were not related to her.
I wish you could see how these women are treating this young lady as their own, with such tenderness, they treat her like a beloved family member.






"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing,therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."
- Stephen Grellet,

Three days and counting- two months and counting

I am visiting my family here in FL. Since I came I have spent every waking moment with my niece and my nephew. Wow, I did not realize how much I miss them. I have three days left to spend some quality time with my family before I head to France, two months before I head to Haiti.

Found an apartment in France

OK. I think this is it. I found the place that I am going to stay in France, however the host is asking me for my ID and to send the deposit ahead of time. Do you think this is a scam. I told them that I will only give the deposit after I am in the place. I hate the fact that I have to be suspicious, I want to trust everyone but in this world there are so many dishonest people. Arrrrrrrhhhh. What do u think am I being too paranoid?

New trip...New country...New adventure

Two weeks and counting.... yes it is me again. Man I am bad at this blog stuff. I promise to be better this trip around. Getting ready to head to Haiti to work, but first with a stop off in France (wee wee) wait that is something else ... I ment "Oui, oui". I am back living with J until I leave again. ( this is becoming a habit) seriously. for the past several months I have been trying to find a place in France to rent for the months that i will be there. Man there area a lot of scams going on, but shall push on. it is now 1 am.. will update more tomorrow. Ciao