Thursday's Haiti Report

Rev. Ronald Hester and Kenneth Davis of Bladenboro and Gerald Williams of Fayetteville are in Haiti as a cooking team and support group for a medical team representing the NC Baptist Men. Hester has been providing a daily summary of their activities.  The group will return home Monday.  Here is his report as of late Thursday.

Today has been another busy long day. We arrived back at the campus near 8:00 this evening. Our surgeons today operated on a club foot baby to straighten the foot and provide him opportunity to have a more normal life.

Another surgery was done that really took long hours. Our feeding operation was somewhat better today as we managed to get around the throngs of adults and went to the children. When we had finished serving there was some burned rice sticking to the bottom of the pot. A young boy went over and took the serving spoon from Ken Davis' hand and began to scrape the rice from the bottom of the pot. He was really tickled to get that portion of food.

Coming out of town after dark is another experience. The streets are lined with people who are out for whatever reason. Apparently they don't have much TV etc. and I have yet to see a newspaper on the streets. Of course I could not read it if I found it, but I find it somewhat strange that there is so little access to news.

Well, it is getting late and I need some sleep. I pray that all is well on the home front. I look forward to seeing all of you soon. Pray for the people of Haiti. They are an industrious people, but the opportunities are so few. They line the streets trying to sell something to get a little bit of money. They are hurting badly. I really would like to reach out and try to do some small things to help them, but if you help one there will be 100 just storming on you for the same consideration. I am proud that the buckets of hope are coming, but I fear the danger to life for those who will distribute the food.

Two of our doctors stayed at the hospital tonight to continue care to the late surgeries. Tomorrow they are moving one patient to another hospital to do surgery on a broken bone that needs plates to set it. Community Hospital does not have any plates on hand.

Ronald Hester