Reflections by Glenda Alexander, HFI Reservist

Most of us remember where we were when we heard the news of the terrible quake that had just hit Haiti. I knew instantly that Hope Force would be going and I began praying and seeking the Lord's direction about where I was to land in this. Sunday evening, as I was sipping coffee with my husband Steve, I received the S.O.S. call from Cherie Minton & Sue Duby in the Hope Force office, requesting help with logistics. The controlled chaos had already begun, as a medical team was already preparing to deploy. I told them I would pack and be on my way within a few hours.

When I got off the phone I will never forget Steve?s face. He said, "Honey, don?t pack light. Plan to be there awhile and see this all the way through. I will come up to visit on the weekends and help."  

And that is how the following seven weeks of my life began!

We would spend ten-to-twelve hour days, seven days a week in the office, and when we finally called it a "day" and went home for the night, the phone lines were transferred onto our cell phones, which Cherie and I would answer throughout the night. It was a flurry of preparing files, making sure all the medical teams had their credentials...while staying aware of which of the three time zones our volunteers were in. I could go on and on.

A few highlights for me personally during this time:

• Watching the response from the Hope Force Reservists when the "Call for Help" went out. What an awesome opportunity to be a part of the Body of Christ that responds to such a need! 

• A local Nashville ER nurse and her husband took two duffel bags and filled them with emergency medical supplies and brought them to the office. I later met a local midwife/nurse late at night in the office stairwell to hand over the filled bags for her to deliver.  She was meeting up with a medical team the following day for their flight to Haiti. I was so excited and amazed when we received word back from the field of how this midwife was used to deliver several babies, as trauma will cause the onset of labor. Because of her skillset, along with others on the team, they recognized a serious life and death situation, and orchestrated a transport via a U.S. helicopter to a U.S. naval medical ship offshore, where surgeons delivered a set of twins. Mother and babies were fine, but would have most likely been lost without the intervention.

• Smith and Nephew, a company that produces orthopedic supplies, was so gracious during this time. Their donation--millions of dollars in supplies--was desperately needed by the surgeons already serving in the field. Our job was to find a method of shipping the supplies into Haiti. After a lot of work, we finally found a plane out of Florida to fly the supplies into Haiti, and someone else in Haiti to pick up and deliver the cargo. To make the adventure all the more dramatic, Nashville was having one of the worst ice storms in a decade. I can still see Brian George and Steve Alexander trying to load the van in that storm. Brian was our champion driver, battling the storm, and driving all night to get the supplies to Florida in time for the flight.

Looking back, there are so many other stories I could share. I am overwhelmed but so honored to have been a part of helping the people of Haiti during this horrific time in their country. Now, five years later, I have already started planning my sixth trip back to Haiti. Little did I know that when I heeded the call for that January 2010 deployment, I'd now know so many Haitian people by name... and call them friends.  

Written by HFI Reservist, Glenda Alexander