Haiti Update Through the Eyes of A Volunteer

Rev. Ronald Hester and Kenneth Davis of Bladenboro, and Gerald Williams of Fayetteville have been in Haiti for about a week working with NC Baptist Men as a support unit for a group of Medical workers volunteering to assist in Haiti in the recovery, following the earthquake.  Others from Bladen have been on similar missions and more are slated to go.  Hester has been sharing his thoughts of the trip.  This may his final report from Haiti, for this trip.

His comments;

Well, it's packing time now. we will leave the compound at about 6:30 a.m., travel to the hospital, drop off the new team there, return to the airport and begin an extended check-in time. We have had a lighter day today. The new team has arrived and we took them over, showed them the ropes, got through the noon feeding and left to view the area. We traveled into Port au Prince to the epicenter of the quake and really saw the devastation. It is almost beyond belief to see what has happened. The Legislature  building is damaged severely, their presidential palace is virtually destroyed and the city is beyond belief. It was amazing to see the buildings that sandwiched as the floors fell one onto another. The largest shopping complex was not in Port au Prince but out near where we worked. It has just crumbled. It is reported that more than 1,000 people died in this building. The stench of death is still very evident in many areas that we visited.

Well I don't have to cook anymore so I have some time to relax. It is so warm now that I do not want to take a shower yet.  Hopefully it will cool off some before bedtime. It's a good feeling to see the things we have accomplished. We have seen people who have not walked since the earthquake walking again. It's amazing to see people who got a new prosthesis this week now able to walk again. The prosthetics people were not with our group, but our people were working with these patients. It's so special to see those who had extended pins (that's not what they call them) removed and their beginning to use their arms and legs again.

It's special to see the children with such a smile as they have seen their situation improve.

I will share more when I get home. I apologize for not getting an email out last night. For some reason I could not get my email to pull up. It was about 9:00 p.m. when we got back to the house. The doctors were involved in detailed surgeries, one correcting a club foot, and the other removing a tumor from an arm. Finally, one of them chose to stay at the hospital and we came on in.

It's been a good week in a lot of ways. It's been difficult in some ways. I am glad that I came. I have met some people who have changed my thoughts and opinions about people. I have met some amazing people who are living under a difficult government situation. Pray for them that we will be able to find a way to minsiter to them more effectively.