Well, it had to happen; the sustained levels of activity have about consumed us from a physical perspective. Today is the last day with the group from Seattle with them leaving at noon for PAP; they are quite unaccustomed to the heat here and the Lord has sustained their efforts up until the day they must return to the States. Jane and I have shared each evening on what a wonderful answer to prayer these three have been for our project; without them I fear we would not have accomplished nearly the interior/exterior work that has been completed.
It has been an adventure; we have managed the entire exterior of the hospital; we have managed a coat of paint on the main building interior – and all in a “working” hospital. Jane pointed out several nights ago that the rooms we needed to access went “empty” for the exact amount of time we needed to complete them.
No sooner had the furniture been returned to its position than the beds filled – amazing. We had been concerned as we worked the “boxes” (consultation rooms) last afternoon that the rooms in ICU would go untouched this trip as there were 3-4 patients that were not prepared for discharge. By 4PM they were emptied and by 6:30PM they were “first coated” – second coat to be applied this AM at 7.It is now 5PM; work has stopped for the day and the review is pretty amazing. We have painted the entire exterior security wall; exteriors of six separate buildings; the main hospital ward (both inside and outside); the ICU and Surgery rooms; the Pediatric ward; a guard shack and a feeble looking dog that fell asleep against the wall shortly after it had been painted – she is still green on one side. Human possibility aside, this has been an amazing accomplishment and God has answered our every need. Tomorrow we’ll finish up a second coat of paint on the nurse’s station and some trim work in the Surgery Prep area before my local guys move on to the Maternity building for a fresh coat of interior paint; after that are roughly three dozen metal chairs; two or three dozen hospital beds and who knows what else.
Jane has been working feverishly at sorting and filing many thousands of records – too many thousands to even attempt to count – 240 boxes of them to be exact. I really do not know how she has done it but her work is commendable and cannot be denied.
All she has done is now sorted by city, gender, alphabetically and perhaps additional criteria as well; I cannot tell you other than to say the bright colored labels on the fronts of the boxes are simple enough that even I could find a patient if needed! The work that can be accomplished when God is in it is incredible; pictures and words just simply cannot make this clear to the reader of this memo. Jane has committed to returning in August; I am out of vacation for the most part having used up several months worth between here and South Africa last November. Anyone interested in joining her? We could use an electrician, a plumber and a carpenter – licenses are optional. There remains much to do and the work is reasonable but tiring in the heat of the Caribbean summer.
The house project is moving forward; slowly, as is the custom here in Haiti. The land has been identified; believe it or not, surveys are required here – simply unbelievable in a country where “possession is nine tenths of the law”.
This is going to end up taking considerably longer than I had anticipated; I only hope we can complete the work before the little old woman goes home to be with our Lord.Materials for the house will be obtained locally for the most part with the sand coming from the river; the gravel coming from huge boulders that have been hammered into pieces roughly 1.5-3.0 inches in shape. Blocks will come from PAP or perhaps the facility in Gonaives up the road – I tried to buy that business once just after the flood in Gonaives in 2005 – obviously, I failed to persuade the owner even though they still have it running at about 15% of capacity.
The Haitians have a proverb “Deye mon, gen mon” which translated says “Behind the mountains, there are mountains” or “If its not one thing, its another” – having spent the month here in the mountains it carries a larger meaning.
Bondye Bon (God is Good)
Randy
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