Sunday Feb 28 Report from Keith Canwell in Haiti

Last night, our last in Haiti, we took a hundred or more meals to people in one of many hundreds of hovels/tent dwellings--down one of thousands of crowded roads in Port-au-Prince. It was raining pretty hard, but when we stopped and called out "Food!" kids and old people, mothers and others, came streaming out to receive food. In two minutes we were out, soaked and leaving. Headed home now.

Friday, Feb 26 Story from Kris Darby

Kris Darby & Dr. Ted Flaiz
Sherry Wiedeman, Ron Tilley, Dr. Flaiz

Dr. Scott Welker

On my first day in Port-au-Prince I was working with Dr. Hooper's team at a mobile clinic when a two year old girl arrived in the arms of her parents and had uncontrolled salivation. Dr. Hooper examined her and found her to have a partially obstructed airway of unknown etiology. He stated that the child needed to go to the nearest hospital and wanted me to take her. I looked at him and asked him where the hospital was. His answer was, "I don't know, I don't live here, but you need to find one." I looked at my interpreter, Leo, and asked him where the hospital was and he stated, "I'm not from this part of Port-au-Prince, I don't know." Dr. Hooper then stated that the child needed to go now before her airway became completely blocked. Leo picked up the child, I grabbed my jump bag and we began to walk into Port-au-Prince.

During this time the child began to drool more and had further difficulty breathing. After about 1/2 hr of walking we finally were able to flag down a taxi. After Leo negotiated with the driver he loaded the three of us, and the child's parents into a beat up Honda and drove us to a small hospital. As we got out of the taxi the driver demanded to be paid. I told Leo to tell him we would pay him AFTER he took us back to the mobile clinic since we were both lost and would not be able to find our way back.

At the hospital there was a pediatric surgeon and a general surgeon who took over care of the child, whew...we had made it and the child was now in good hands. The taxi driver took us back to the mobile clinic and I paid him six US dollars for the taxi ride. We really made a difference in that child's life, who knows what would have happened if care had not been given and my interpreter Leo really shined for me. Quite an adventure for an American in Haiti...find a hospital indeed. We did........

Sun Feb 21 Moving Story by Keith Canwell

Keith tells the following story that was shared with him by Dr Pedro.

"A christian man came in for treatment with injuries to his lower body. As the doctor treated him the man began to tell him his story. His little son was lying on his lap when the quake hit. A wall fell on them, pinning them down. The boy was pinned down on his lap, with his little arms outstretched. The father was unable to move to help him at all. And he had to lay there helpless for three days as he was forced to watch his child die.

The imprint of the child's bones were still in his father's lap as the doctor examined him. When the doctor was finished he told the man how very sorry he was that this tragedy had happened to him. He told him, "I cannot fully comprehend the pain you must feel. I've never lost a child. "But the doctor said to me, "I think God gave me the words to say next. I told him, 'But I know someone who does fully understand your pain. God himself watched helplessly as his son died, arms outstretched too. He understands your pain very personally.'"

The doctor said the man's whole countenance changed as he began to realize that God really did feel with him in his grief. It was just what he needed to hear. He went away greatly comforted. The doctor was grateful God gave him such a thought to share."

Sabbath Feb 20 Update on Haiti Accident

Ron Tilley just called to give an up-date on the three injured yesterday. Thanks to all your prayers they didn't have broken necks, but they did have fractured skulls. Two have returned to their team and plan to stay and work with their team. The third person is returning home, but he is able to do so on his own power.
Three of our team, Jean, Kris, and Scott will be leaving Monday to come home as planned. Please pray that a flight can be arranged for the remaining team members to fly out of Port-au-Prince on Feb 28 so they don't have to make the long drive to Santo Domingo.

Friday Feb 19 Serious Accident

This evening our group was traveling ,in an old bus, in a convoy with other volunteers back to Port-au-Prince. The bus in which they were riding hit an unmarked speed bump or possibly something from the earthquake at a high rate of speed. Three members of another relief team were in the back seat, which evidently had no seat belts. When the bus hit the bump, they were launched upward, hitting their heads on the roof of the van with such impact that all three may have suffered broken necks. They were taken by ambulance to one of the best hospitals, operated from Miami, in stable condition. Dr. Scott Welker is with them.

Please pray as they get medical attention. Though they are not part of our team from Walla Walla, and we don't even know their names, God knows who they are and where they need to be to get the proper treatment.