Trapped in Haiti ? Part 2 of 2

The people of Haiti continue to endure unbelievable hardship. January?s devastating earthquake rocked a nation that already led the western hemisphere in poverty, hopelessness and absence of human development indicators. Only 15% of the $5.3 billion pledged by the global community for earthquake relief has reached its intended beneficiaries.Hurricane Tomas exacerbated a burgeoning cholera outbreak and it threatens to further bring the country to its knees. And now, flawed election results have brought the country to a virtual shut-down as burning tires, barricades, marauding gangs and desperados roam the streets. 

In Part 2 of this series chronicling the work of Hope Force Reservists in Haiti?s Cholera Treatment Centers, Teresa DeWolfe describes the dynamics of having a team forced to stay put while airports are closed, streets are impassable, and violence threatens most every major section of the country.Click here if you have not read Part 1.

Port de Paix ? Day Five 
I can rely only on God?s divine providence and trust His leading as we are now trapped in Haiti due to the outbreak of political violence.  The team is getting restless and anxious to get back home but I am confident in the fact that we have been given more work to do here.  

I can keep on working at this cholera clinic for as long as I am kept here.  I?m comforted by words from Isaiah 41:10, ?I?m with you.  There?s no need to fear for I?m your God.  I?ll give you strength.  I?ll help you.  I?ll hold you steady and keep a firm grip on you.?  I really feel it like never before!  My husband told me, ?There?s no better and safer place to be than in the center of God?s will?, even when there is danger and chaos around me.  

One question though for the Lord - Why did you need to create two-inch cockroaches?!?  What is the purpose for them?  I was thankful that Randy was here to step on and crunch it with his sock foot when I saw it running towards my bedroom.  Did my guardian angels quietly laugh at me as I jumped around to avoid that huge cockroach?  Not really funny Lord.  I?d appreciate if they were kept out of my sight for the rest of this trip.  

Port de Paix ? Day Six 
I was supposed to go home today but the airport is closed in Port au Prince, all roads are blocked and American Airlines cancelled all flights.  I?m really stuck.  Today my prayer is that God will protect Immanuel from the violence in his village which is five miles from where we are.  He said he couldn?t get to the clinic to translate last night because there was shooting, fires, rock throwing. Even worse, there was a prison break and all of the inmates escaped! 

We wondered why there wasn?t any traffic on the roads and then we heard that the road to Port de Paix was blocked with burning tires. It is raining so hard!  It?s coming down in sheets not drops.  I?ve never seen so much rain at one time.  No one will venture out to the clinic today unless they are desperately ill and can find a way to get there.  When it stops raining the clinic will be full.  It is a muddy mess at the clinic now.  The tarps are sagging and water is pouring over the sides.  They are trying to keep the patients dry.  Why do we have a nice dry guest house to live in with tiled floor, clean beds, a bathroom and shower, food and cleanwater???  We are beyond blessed and they have it so hard.  

The situation with the prison break ?tipped the scales? for the aid workers in the region and suddenly at 2:30 pm we were told to pack and be ready to leave in 15 minutes! Our period of waiting to leave came to a sudden and abrupt end as our team of five scrambled to put our few belongings together and get out the door. 

It seemed like we were already airborne as our truck flew through the streets of Port de Paix.  It was like Mr. Toad?s Wild Ride at Disney World!  There were lakes of water in the road after the downpour.  We were dropped off at the airport as I remembered it has been labeled as one of the most dangerous airports in the world.  Where was our helicopter that had delivered us less than a week ago so skillfully? We boarded a small plane and took off down the gravel runway.  

I saw evidence of the riots with burned tires and debris in the streets upon arrival in Port-au-Prince, an overturned burnt car and several UN and police vehicles patrolling. But the streets looked calm.  

Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo to ? Home
Haiti is the land of waiting.  Our flight out of Port-au-Prince was supposed to be leave at 11 a.m.  but at 1pm the plane itself had not even arrived. Somehow I don?t think the airlines here compete for the most on-time flights.  

We eventually are airborne and I can say with honesty, ?Good bye Haiti and thanks for a great life experience.?  I hope it?s OK that there is smoke coming out of the floor underneath the seat ahead of me!  I don?t like these little wanna-be planes where the wings feel like they are flapping sometimes.  I like big, REAL planes.  

Of course the flight delays mean we?ve all missed our flights to Miami.  The cab ride was crazy.  I don?t know why they have traffic lights at intersections cause no one even looks at them.  There were cars going horizontal, vertical and criss cross and all of them were honking.  

It is Sunday, December 12 and we are finally on the flight to Miami.  (Did I mention I like big, REAL planes?)  What a journey this has been.  It seems so long ago that we were at the clinic.  I?m wondering how many patients are there and how the Haitian nurses are doing.  I pray for Poppy.  He?s probably still there with nowhere to go and no one to care for him.  I hope they just let him stay at the clinic.  I find myself so very thankful to God ? thankful for using me to show His love to others, thankful that he allowed us to be used to bring healing to so many people.  

Post Script: The situation continues to deteriorate in Haiti & we are asking you to pray with us for God's mercy. HFI has an urgent need to deploy Paramedics, RNs, and MDs into Haiti for thecholera response effort. We have been sending rotating teams, and will continue through the end of December. We are also looking at dates in January and February. Medical personnel do not need to be Hope Force Reservists to deploy, however they will need to go through a screening process and a phone interview prior to deployment on a HFI Rapid Response Team.