Update from Mackenzie

October 4, 2022

Hello from the rolling mountains of Haiti! The last blog post I wrote was introducing myself and telling you a little about myself. Now I have lived in this beautiful but broken country for four months. I'll tell you a couple lessons I learned in my first four months here. One lesson is that we live in a broken world, and there is death and hurting all around us. I knew this, but it became so real as I worked with the sick and hurting here. Let me tell you a story that illustrates what I mean a little better. I am not a writer so bear with me...it was Monday evening, and Jacinda poked her head into my room and said there's a baby about to be born at clinic if I could go up and help. I crawled out of bed half waking up because I had been sleeping due to being up all night Sunday night on a transport. As I walked into the room, I heard moaning as she tried to deliver her baby. She was young...19 years old. I thought to myself... Wow! I could be the one having a baby! I'm almost the same age as she is. I grabbed gloves and started assisting Mis Simose. We helped the mom trying different positions and techniques but still no baby came. We laid our hands on the mom's stomach  prayed for the baby, for God to be glorified, for the mom to have strength, and wisdom to know what to do next. As we all prayed out loud, the family also prayed and poured there hearts out to God. At that moment, I could feel God's presence, and I knew He was here with us. We decided to transport after no progress. Since I had went on a transport the night before, two of the other nurses and Clyde headed to Fond de Blanc. When they were about half way there, they could see the baby was coming soon. Thankfully, they were near a clinic in Villa. They drove there, and the baby was born as soon as they layed the mom on the bed. The baby had a weak heart beat but did breathe, so the doctors started CPR right away.  The baby unfortunately did not make it, and they returned to the clinic, so the mom could recover. Another lesson I learned here is to focus on the joy of the little things. One day I did not have many patients, so I went and sat on a bench with a couple of parents waiting to be seen by one of the nurses. I started talking to a little girl who was approximately 3 years old, and she had the cutest smile! It made me realize that there is so many little moments of joy in each day that I take for granted by focusing on the hurt or problems that look so big to me but not to God.  Bob Goff wrote, "When joy is a habit, love is a reflex" (Everybody Always by Bob Goff). 

              The day we accidentally matched


            The little girl who brought me joy 

This is a sunrise from that I took on a transport to Fond Des Blancs 

Mis Mackenzie

08/25/22

It was a fun light evening of sitting around boss' kitchen table playing beans, drinking tea an eating fiber balls. When 9:30 rolled around, we came up and crashed in our own beds; but then there was a gate knock.  It sounded like a stitch job, so Mackenzie, Clyde and I went out and met the guy at the gate. He had a cut about an inch long on his cheek. Mackinze washed the wound while I gathered the stitching supplies. I numbed the wound with lidocaine and then put in the 3 small stitches. It looked good, and the black thread matched right into the guys wanna be beard. As we washed the bed and got the room looking tidy again, James brought in a patient having an asthma attack. He had taken the machine up to church and brought them down to clinic. Miss Leida was with them too.

The patient was breathing hard. It took all her energy to get a breath of air.

In a panic she grabbed her legs as she sat on the emergency bed while James held the nebulizer for her. 

Wheezing hard as she gasped for air. We stayed with her giving her care till she was stable and then gave her a bed in the hospital room for the night telling Osley to come knock on the gate if her breathing got to hard again. It was fun to work with Miss Leida (she has worked at the clinic for the past 20 some years as a nurse)

Mackenzie assisted her, and I jotted down the vitals and time.

After we did everything we could, we waited  until the medication started working. Miss Leida rubbed and patted the patient's back, singing and then praying for her making the emergency room into a worship center! At 12:30, we headed back home a little sleepy but the cool night air waking Mackenzie and I up again making us realize that we were both hungry so befor bed (and the long chat we had) we ate bread with some of Mackenzie's   precious jam she got in the mail from family... 

Though we slept the rest of the night away it felt too short, and 6:30 came too soon! 

Sometimes I forget about life out side of our little compound that sits in between the valley of the mountains. For the twenty some weeks that I have been here so much has happened. The good and bad, the hard an rewarding, staff that came and went.

It's all a part of of life down here. But through it all we continue to see the faithfulness of God, prayers that are heard, and hearts that have been redeemed! Whatever happens next, we find peace in knowing that God is in control; and if we call on him, he will answer!

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the LORD who has compassion on you.     Isaiah 45:10

Mis Marla