Market Day

June 09, 2007

It’s Market Day in Dessalines; the normal chatter of the neighborhood has moved about three blocks down the street to “Le Mache” for the day and we are relaxing over a cup of smooth Café Rebo. For an agrarian community Market Day is a necessary time to purchase foodstuffs and other essential items as refrigeration is limited at best. Fresh goat can be purchased (one must be careful, it is best left to Elange) along with portions of the hog that turned “commodity” in the early morning hours and a smaller selection of fruits and vegetables. If you find yourself a bit hungry there are “fast food” opportunities with fried chicken, pork and the ever available plantain “bites” and hot relish on every corner.

Painting is at a lull momentarily as we have exhausted our last batch of 55 gallons and the paint store is 4 hours away over roads accessible only with a four-wheel drive unit. I will find out after this is over how many might have been applied in this last three weeks – I’m not sure I want to know prior to that time. Restock is on the way and should be here by 10AM and all are actually relishing the down time.

Today is a heartbreaker as I must make decisions as to what will not get painted this trip; my original thought is that we paint the 6 “boxes” or consultation rooms where patients are seen prior to treatment. This has been difficult as we are painting in an “active” hospital and there is simply no room that can be closed off as we work – it is a matter of “where are the least people affected...”. We have determined to paint the boxes as it will impact the doctors positively; that means the surgery and ICU will not get a coat of paint and there is a chance the nurse’s station may not get painted as the color in there is different and must be custom blended using what we have on hand.

We have been fortunate to have a Seattle-based electrician visit with us this last week; he has literally salvaged parts from wherever available and restored lighting to many rooms in the hospital for the first time in years. Walking through the courtyard last night on our way home we noted the impact of the lighting on the evening shift – amazing difference.
Lights in the shop area have been restored as well although not on the inverter and consequently a loss of city power (each evening) and lack for generator make for cleaning of painting equipment in the dark almost impossible.

Our time is almost over; the thought of leaving so much undone is as difficult as the country itself. We plan on working on Sunday (not a standard by any means) as we are simply out of time and must return to Port au Prince within a day or so in order to complete arrangements on that end prior to leaving for home.

Pray with us as we close up for this period that God will send competent workers to the field for this purpose. Ever thought you might be called to the mission field? There is no place on Earth that could better prepare you for what you might expect – frankly, if you can handle this environment, most areas of the world would be child’s play in comparison. Pray for those willing to come and spend a vacation learning about life and what it means to another culture. Pray for Fanya that God would protect her and provide her an opportunity to see life as a child before it is over for her. Pray for the equipment, personnel and supplies to make this an effective, efficient medical facility; for the staff that make it function using what is available.

Pray for Gregg and Gail that the Lord would maintain their desire to continue; that they would “rise up and soar like eagles” in their quest to see health care provided for the thousands impacted in this area. Pray for those called on a long term basis to serve in Haiti.

Until we see you next:
“Woch nan dlo pa konnen doule woch nan soley” which literally translates to “The rock in the water does not know the pain of the rock in the sun” or more loosely “there is no way to fully comprehend another’s pain”.

Our hearts are broken at your generosity and prayer support; we can only bring you stories and a few pictures until we see you here with us next time. Our trip has been memorable; it could not have been possible without you.