Posted 2:31 pm Saturday, February 27, 2010
People Of Haiti Give Inspiration
|
By LEXIE WATERS
Special to the Tyler Morning Telegraph
Special to the Tyler Morning Telegraph
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Beneath the thousands of collapsed houses and buildings in Port-au-Prince, people were trapped for days and weeks after the Jan. 12 earthquake. Those who didn't die prayed for rescuers to come and finally for some, they did. Many of those people were children and their stories are sad and understandably frightening.
HELPING HANDS: Lexie Waters and MercyWorks volunteers have been helping the Haitian people.
Jenny Ladouceur, 7, was at home on the day of the earthquake. She was on the second floor when her house fell down. Jenny was pulled out the same day, but wasn't able to see a doctor for four days. Even then, they gave her only medicine for her broken leg. When she went to a local hospital, St. Camille, for three days, they put a cast on her right leg. Unfortunately the cast wasn't good, so the hospital sent her to the University of Miami field hospital for surgery. There they removed the cast and placed pins in her leg. She is now a patient in the post-op clinic, where MercyWorks volunteers Dr. Alyson Denson and Dr. Sandra Lako have been assisting.
"It's inspiring to see children who are so brave. In spite of what they've been through, even now during daily wound care that can be painful, they endure it with courage. It's the smiles on their faces that keep us going," Dr. Lako said.
Affectionately known by the doctors as "our little knight," Francellot has bi-lateral femur fractures in both legs. Before the earthquake, the 6-year-old lived with his parents and two siblings in the family home. When the quake hit, a wall fell on him and he sustained the fractures. His family now needs a new home because they lost everything.
PEOPLE LIVING IN RUIN: MercyWorks, based in Lindale, has been in Haiti to assist its people who have been injured and displaced due to the earthquake.
When asked about her favorite patient, Dr. Denson says, "How can I choose a favorite? They're all great. These children have lost everything, yet they still face the world with a smile."
Another MercyWorks group takes a clinic out to tent cities on most days. The mobile clinic consists of a few suitcases of medicines and willing medical volunteers. The tent city, like many others here in Port-au-Prince, consists of shelters of wooden poles and plastic sheets. Trash is strewn around and the mud surrounding the tents will increase as the wet season gathers strength and the risk of disease increases.
As soon as the team arrives, people crowd the makeshift clinic of outdoor chairs jostling for position, because they realize even now not everyone will be seen in the available time. Overweight hogs and skinny cows wander throughout this particular tent city and even the occasional snake is spotted, causing much uproar among the waiting line of patients.
The town of Leogane (above) is located 3.7 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake.
When it comes time for the clinic to finish, the people become louder as they are asked to return the following day. Everyone in Haiti has a measure of desperation, which can quickly evolve into explosive exchanges. Our team is safe, though. Our facilitator, Rodney, tells me, although Haitians can yell and scream, it's not until the weapons start coming out that we need to worry.
On that same day, a chance meeting with a helicopter pilot enabled two MercyWorks volunteers and myself to fly to the community that was located closest to the epicenter of the 7.0 earthquake. The entire area has been flattened and I can see that reconstruction teams will be required on mass. As we descend towards the field we will share with goats and donkeys, I see a line of people stretching approximately two miles. From our height, the people look like ants heading to a single semi-trailer and I realize that these people are waiting for food and/or water. There are hungry people all over Port-au-Prince waiting in lines, so that every day their families can keep going. The portion of the Lords Prayer that reads, "Give me my daily bread" takes on a whole new meaning here.
Answers for Haiti are not easily found and the problems and task ahead overwhelming. However, the only way to move forward is by taking single steps. Though for now my time here is drawing to a close, the time we will need to spend investing in the people of Haiti is not. This nation needs our ongoing support and prayers for the turmoil in which they find themselves.
