SEEING

Vanessa and I have finally gotten a chance to spread our wings and drive ourselves alone further than Belmart and the orphanages. It may not sound like a lot and in the states, maybe not, but here it is a big accomplishment to feel ok driving across town (like 6 miles =45 minutes) in Haiti traffic not following the big white truck or relying on others to take care of us. We worked at a medical clinic on Tuesday for Child Hope International through some connections at church. We were there to help, but also to see how they run things in their clinic as we prepare to run ours. It was good to work with some others who have been here for a while and also reaffirming in what we are doing and that we are doing things "right" if that even exists here.
Friday we ventured to Canaan to run a clinic for the first time without having a team here. Things couldn't have gone smoother except for the shear number needing to be seen. We went thinking we would see 15 people, that turned into 35-40ish. We left promising to see the other 36 when we return in two weeks. We can probably safely assume there will be another 35 on top of that waiting.
I am amazed at how we can visit a place like Canaan for so many months and totally not even see past the surface. There is so much need there we didn't know existed. Beyond the poverty. Beyond the brokenness of loss during the earthquake. Medical needs we didn't see. Education needs we didn't see. Discipleship needs we couldn't see. Our pastor at Port-au-Prince Fellowship says "Missions starts with SEEING". Now we SEE at least better than we did before.


In our medical clinic, we can treat people for anemia, worms, scabies, headaches, and some infections. But it can't end there. People need to be educated on such basic things as hygiene, hydration, and vitamins in order to prevent the illness they are being treated for from reoccurring.


A mom has to be taught not only how to treat her 3 year old with scabies, but also hygiene practices to prevent other family members from getting.

A young mom comes in whose 5 month old appears to be 2 months weighing 14 lbs. The baby is clearly not thriving and now has a fever. This new mother comes to us asking "what do I do?".

Another young woman comes in severe pain with some kind of abscess/infection under her arm. How has she managed to get through the last 3 days with this excruciating pain? She couldn't even lift her arm. No tylenol, advil, vicodin.

We teach what we know, we encourage, we give medicine, instructions & some vitamins and send them on their way. Back into their world. Their world of poverty, heat, no electricity, no fans, not enough food, food with very little vitamin content, insufficient water and hope when we SEE them next month that what we've done has made a difference.
What did these people do before we were involved? Some gathered resources to get to a doctor. Some sucked it up, others prayed, some used cultural natural remedies. These people are resilient people. They are resourceful people. They amaze me.


As hard as it is to SEE, I'm thankful AWAKENHAITI was chosen to SEE and can be used to help in a small way.


The task is big. But our God is bigger.