Day 8

Today began with a trip to the Bojeux Parc amusement park.  I'm not sure what it looked like before the earthquake, but it's now a medical clinic.  That's right, it's the greatest place on earth to be sick.  You can see political signs on the legs of whatever character that's supposed to be, and that fellow who made an unsuccessful run for the presidency of Haiti started this clinic when the larger more formal hospital he was building was shaken to the ground.  His nephew Aesop was our tour-guide for the morning.

Triage area

It continues to run as a free clinic, but Aesop said that his uncle is running out of money, so they're looking for some generous benefactors to contribute the $3,000 per month required to keep up the good work.  Yes, I said "$3,000".  A group of doctors and nurses are arriving soon to help-out and it is hoped that they will take-on the funding of this facility.  We prayed for Aesop that funding would come.

Because of the numbers of medical professionals arriving, they needed more accomodations, so we put-up two of the Shelter Boxes (supplied by Rotary International) on their property.

It's just like camping back-home.  As soon as you try to put-up a tent, the wind comes up.  And boy did it blow!  There were the five of us and Aesop, (who mostly supervised and rolled large bolders to ancor the ropes to.)  At various points all of us were scrambling to hold the tent down and spike it into place before it took-off to Oz.  I've gotta say that Yvette sure can plug a spike!

It's kind of surreal to see a medical facility in an old amusement park.  The cars and games that used to amuse kids are set-off to the side, the popcorn carts are used to cradle sick babies, the admission gate is occupied by armed guards, and few signs remain of the joy that once eminated from it.

They no longer have a surgeon on staff, so the doctors mostly refer surgury to the appropriate facility.  Their former E.R. is still used for minor procedures.  If you want to know what it's like inside the surgical tent, just think M*A*S*H.

They take great care of people and have a good reputation in the community.  They have a pharmacy there, and with donated medicines, they can often give people the meds that they need, but they give in small quantities so that they're not tempted to sell them on the street.  There are a few family members who work there;  mostly because
 of security issues.  No matter how trustworthy a person is down here, the level of desperation sometimes will lead someone to pilfer a box of this or some of that in order to fulfill one of the many profound needs.

That's Aesop in the picture next to the popcorn baby carts.  He's an ex defensive lineman, so when they do travelling medical clinics, he can easily keep lines orderly.

In the afternoon, we did more sorting.  I wouldn't have to explain this to Brian Rafferty who used to work at the Salvation Army thrift store, but when people are generous enough to donate goods, they need to be sorted and a system developed for distribution.  We (mostly Jana and Yvette) unpaccked serveral suitcases full of new and some gently used clothing, categorized, labeled and tallied everything we had so that it can be distributed to folks in the tent city.  Jean (the organizer at our particulat tent city) will have to come up with some sort of system for advertising and organizing the orderly distribution of said clothing.  Much work comes after the donation is made!!!

While Yvette and Jana worked on sorting and organizing clothes at the base-camp, I went over to the church to practice with the worship band there and install a doorknob.  Apart from the wind it's been a great day here in Haiti.  Actually the breeze is usually quite welcome as long as we're not putting up tents.

Pray for Yvette whose cold isn't letter her get good sleep, and Jana whose tummy is giving her a bit of discomfort.

See you all soon!