Jimani, DR...a place God led us to

I honestly have no idea what to say. I, first, must THANK YOU for your prayers! I know that that is the only thing that got the team of 7 through those days. Please know that amazing things were accomplished...and it was only through Christ. Everything seemed to have an amazing story and I am not sure how to organize my thoughts. I'll just tell from my perspective and tell stories I guess.
OVERVIEW: Arrived Tuesday, drove a very bumpy 8hrs to Jimani, told by the hospital that they would call if they needed us, there was plenty to do, obvious need, people everywhere, we left some supplies, found an orphanage and played with the kids a while, but they were fine. It was getting too late to do anything else and the church was full of Haitians so we drove 1 hr to Devaje to sleep. It was a bed and I was grateful. We ate dinner and prayed a lot, hoping to find the orphanage (in need of food and water we had heard about) in the morning. All in all, I would be lying if I didn't admit to being a little discouraged at the end of the day. I had paid a lot of money to be there b/c I truly felt like it was what God was calling us to do...so where were we supposed to go from there. Thursday morning we got up and went in seach of the orpahange...only by God's divine direction did we find the Good Samaritan. (Basically the Lord led us to that place. 5 MD's from TN had this vision and started building. The upper building was built to be a outpatient surgery and clinic, the lower building was built to be an orphanage for Haitians. It took five years to complete the orphanage b/c the guy that was building it wanted it to be earthquake proof and at one point fired a whole crew for not building it the way he wanted it. It was just completed about 6 months ago but since DR/Haitian relations are so bad, they weren't able to yet get the kids from across the street over to the new place. Well Praise God b/c it housed all our refugees!) We offered ourselves up and all of us were put to work. I was placed in the ER. I wish you could see it with your own eyes b/c you need all your senses to take in this place. It's hard to explain and frustrating to know that no one will understand it. There were people everywhere in controlled chaos. Charts consisted of paper tied around their necks like a neckace and then someone brought in folders and paper. (Makarios actually ended up buying more admin/office supplies for everyone with donated money.) In a matter of five seconds I saw a young girl with a leg amputation, a 12 yr old boy with blown out eye injury that lost his eye, multiple femur and pelvic fractures, wounds everywhere covered but in need of cleaning, everyone had broken bones with casts or external fixators, so much to do. I started IV's, emptied foley cath bags, debrided and dressed wounds, worked hand in hand with the doctors to get our pt's to the OR or up to the Ward when they were stable. At one point I had just taken a bedpan to dump it in the bathroom and on my way back I looked around with a dirty bedpan, saw a truck unloading food and water, Haitians sleeping or laughing with family, 1,000 things to do and the only thought that came to my mind was "God is so good!" It literally stopped me in my tracks as it seemed like such a weird time to have this thought, but tears welled up and I kept going thankful to see beauty among ashes. Amongst so much suffering and overall disgusting tasks, there was such joy and people that God had sent there. I felt honored to be a small part of it. We worked hard all day and found a place to eat and sleep...another bed! No floor! And a lovely pipe sticking out of a wall for a shower that felt like the most magnificent thing I've ever felt in my life. Friday we got up early, went straight back and went right to work. There was more organization than the day before and organization seemed to be the goal. Darren had 55 pt's and he, a nurse and a MD worked 12 hours to not only see pt's but get their meds together, explain use and discharge instructions, and get them ready for discharge. In the ER, we had a great little system going and I had an AMAZING team to work with. I grew close to my pt's over the day as I was constantly checking pain levels, giving antibiotics, shots, IV's, draining things, Changing dressings, feeding babies, and just loving on them. Blood administration was started upstairs, Surgeries were proceeding, each ward had about 7 rooms, each room had 12-20 people inside. I said bye to all of my pt's, which was one of the hardest thing I have ever done, they all wanted to know when I would be back, why was I leaving, what my name was, how to find me, and hug after hug after hug. All I could say, as I was holding back tears was, Merci (thank you) to them. Then it happened...one of the top 3 scariest things I have ever experienced in my life..and I don't know what the other two are yet! It was time for us to leave when someone asked me to run upstairs quickly to go see a woman that was "shaking", I was thinking seizure or septic...septic it is. The doctor asked me to run up to the main pharmacy grab some meds and come back to start them while the iv was started. By the time I got back, the other nurse had tried twice and needed me to start the line. The pt's and their families were laughing and joking, some singing and praying while I started the IV. I had just finished taping it down when I heard a loud boom and got knocked around a bit while 20 people ran for their lives out of the room. The woman I was starting the IV on grabbed my arm, trying to climb up me to get her out and begging me not to leave, save her or help her (I don't know, it was Creole, but her eyes said it all!!!) Another older woman was left in the room calling on Jesus as if she had just accepted she was going to die or God was going to deliver her. I looked out in the hall and just saw people running, dragging mattresses, carrying beds and people. For a split second I had the same fear (do I need to get out of here right now, how do I get these two women out, it's just me left here with them!) I tried to convince the lady I was coming back and ran out into the hall, a teenage girl with just a short t-shirt and underwear on grabs me to help her, she was sobbing and shaking, she couldn't even move. Her bandages had come loose and I could see all her scars and wounds, I just held her and looked down to try and find someone from the group. ROBIN! Praise Jesus I saw her as hundreds were running out. I was yelling for her and she yelled back that it was an aftershock but everything was fine, no damage, I didn't feel it (I did feel the one a few hours later). I took my girl down the three flights of stairs, weaving through people, wheelchairs, beds and belongings. In a matter of five minutes every single person was out with everything they had, including IV poles with IV's still running...how did they manage that!?! I felt like that point in the movie where the character is standing still and the camera is just swirling around her in circles. I frantically searched for my pt's from the ER to make sure they were ok, knew we were safe, and to comfort them. I found Darren and he was stunned as he told how he felt the pile of bricks he had his hand on move a little and then not a second later watched a man (who only had an eye injury) jump off the second story balcony. Not look down, not hang over the edge...just straight ran and jumped. He landed and Darren ran over to help him, he couldn't walk and ended up having compression fractures. Can you imagine? That was just such a small taste of the fear these people will live with for the rest of their lives, and you felt so helpless, and all the organization? Out the window. I was surprised at how many people still had their charts...they knew they were important. I've never seen people move so fast, helping others so fast, calling to Jesus and singing so fast. When they all got out, that was the first thing they did. It may just be cultural, but it was encouraging none the less. We worked for another 2-3 hrs to get people in rows and organized outside...they were not going back in out of fear that the building would fall. My heart broke when the translator I had been working with just looked frustrated and exhausted as he was trying to explain. "To you, this is not an earthquake, but to us, to Haitians, this is an earthquake. It is to us, we just lost everything, our homes, our families, our arms and legs, I was holding my sister when our house fell and killed my brother. To you it's not, but to us it is, don't blame us for reacting this way, I'm sorry" Some in english, Erika and I in spanish and Robin in creole couldn't convey enough that we understood, none of us were mad, and we were so sorry for what he had gone through.If i had just lost my arm or leg and watched a building kill my whole family, I would run too, no question, and a bunch of white people holding their hands up saying "No, it's ok" wouldn't make me change my mind. He grabbed my arm, took me to his sister and asked me to cover her arms...there were basically chunks missing and he and I both knew they need to be cleaned and covered before infection set in and being out in the open air with dust and other people, the chance is high. I hugged him and told him I would do it, no problem. I got her taken care of, moved some more pt's around and we were getting ready to leave when a woman came up to me and handed me the medication I had ran for with the tubing. Are you kidding me!?! I was amazed, the only thing missing was a needle and with all the running and mayhem, I couldn't believe that not only the medication made it, but that the tubing (a completely seperate package) was still with it! It was an IV medication and can only be given with the proper tubing! She led me to the women, I hugged her and explained to her new nurse what happened and why she needed it. We finally reached our limit and were beyond exhausted. It was time to go. We went back to the hotel with our keys that we had kept only to find out they had given our rooms away. They offered a house for us to stay in, but after we saw it and saw the neighborhood, we decided to just drive a couple hours to the nearest midsize city and get a room there. We traveled back on saturday, Darren and I had to say goodbye to the rest of the team as they headed back to Puerto Plata and we stayed in Santiago for our flight in the morning. On both of my flights we ran into doctors we had worked with and it was great to hear how God was working in their lives as well. I was planning on being back in time for church, but the weather in ATL had a different plan. After sitting on the plane for 2 1/2 hrs and being told it would be another 2 hrs before we took off I was at the end of my rope, I got a coffee, a cinnabon and cried for about two minutes. But God works all things for good and I was able to share what I did but also WHY I did it with three people...the gospel! Again, God is so good!
Alright, that is all I can process right now...but it will be storytime as days go by...I was told many and experienced plenty and they all deserve to be shared. Here are a few pictures...