Hurricane Matthew

"A hurricane is coming! It's name is Matthew!". Such was the neighborhood talk leading up to the storm this week. Everyone wondered if the blans (whites) knew just how bad this one would be and just when it would arrive. Walking to clinic on Monday morning, we wondered what our day was going to be like. We thought either we would have a really big day, or else small. To our delight, it was the latter! We had 13 patients who braved the light rain and wind. By early afternoon the street was quiet. Everyone had gone to their houses to try to stay warm and dry. The Hurricane didn't start with all of its furry until around midnight on Monday night. Around that time, the wind and rain started to really pick up speed. I can't find the words that I want to describe to you what all happened in the next 24 hrs. Alyssa, Rachel and I mopped up water, and more water. The tin on the one corner of the house started to make a rather odd noise, so we alerted the guys and they soon risked the wind and rain to come try to see what was going on. They tried their best to fix the problem and hoped that it wouldn't get any worse. It was around 4 am when a sudden down pour of rain made water come into our living room and it was too much for us girls to keep up with all the mopping so we called for the guys to come help us. Andrew went outside to see if he could create a water way so it wouldn't flood the living room again. Hans told us girls that it wasn't safe for us to even go outside, because of all the flying debris. I wondered really how much more wind our house roof was going to take. If you watched close, it would go up and down with every fresh gust of wind-and it felt like the wind was only getting stronger. We waited for dawn to arrive so we could really see what it looked like outside. The sight that we saw was awful. It looked like a war zone. It looked like someone had taken a shredder or something over the whole valley-stripping it of its beauty. The wind and rain continued to pick up speed, and soon after 8 am the roof on the girls house couldn't take it any longer. The feeling of looking up and seeing the dark sky where there is supposed to be a roof over your head, isn't something I want to experience again. We ran and grabbed as many valuable things as we could, and ran to Donnys house since it was very unsafe for us to stay in the house. The next few hrs felt like 2 days. As the strong wind and rain continued to pound down on the house, we begged God to have mercy on us, and to calm the storm. Finally around 3pm it slowly started to slow down some. We soon ventured out of the house a little to investigate the damage. It was devastating. 

The clinic has been very slow since the Hurricane. Everyone is busy trying to get their places back in order. 

Thank you so much for praying for us, but please don't stop now. We need wisdom and direction on what is the best way to help these dear people.

Mis Ellamae

 Top: After we clean up at Clinic. Bottom left: was Monday morning. Bottom right on Wednesday afternoon.  

Top left: Girls House after the right side of the roof came off. Top right: inside the house. 

Bottom: during the Strom. 

Top left: Girls house. Top right: the coconut tree that fell over on to Donnys house.  Bottom: during the storm. 

The clinic