i have lived amongst poverty. i have seen people die from a lack of basic human services. but i haven't seen destruction of this level in my life. even the acting country director who has responded to all of the major disasters in the past 15 years says that this is the worst he has ever seen.
yesterday was the first day i drove out to a town called leogane. they say about 80% of it was devastated. it's true. nothing on TV could ever do it justice. i saw tall buildings made of concrete flattened on the ground. no one had a chance if they were there- there's no way. flat as pancakes. the camps that were set up- with just hundreds and hundreds of people- who had what little they had taken away from them. my heart broke as we drove past these buildings and onto our own compound. last night- i was talking with a co-worker, Flor who was just talking about how depressed she was when she saw that. her heart broke too- we both kind of got discouraged- feeling as though no matter what we did- wasn't going to be good enough.
today, i got to go back to leogane and another co-worker ian and i worked on building 2 latrines- 6 stalls each. i don't know what it is- but i love being in latrine pits- only when not filled of course- but some may find this quite odd. :) i also learned how to cut a coconut. but i don't think haitians are used to seeing a mid-20 something year old woman putting up latrines- it caused quite a crowd to form.
we ran into some logistical issues- but we got 12 total stalls done on our site and i think another 12 stalls done on another site. we're slowly getting things up and this village came out to see what was going on. it's nice that we can provide them something tangible in these camps where there are hundreds of people and no bathroom. the days are exhausting. we usually have about 12 hour days- starting at 6:30 and fully coming to an end after our team meeting about 7:30 every night.
we feel tremors sometimes and it can get kind of scary if you let it- but i'm a part of an awesome team that doesn't let it do so. and we were talking in devotions tonight (we have devotions every night) and we were talking about how sometimes we can get fearful if we let it and one guy mentioned Psalm 23 in the NLT which begins with "The Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need". how is it that some Haitians who have been through disaster understand that better than I do?
in the midst of disaster, there are glimpses of beauty and of hope. in the midst of a collapsed building, there grows a beautiful flower. in the middle of an IDP camp full of hundreds of people, you hear children laughing. i truly, truly believe that haiti will grow to be better than it once was before. i think of romans 5:5-which says- hope does not disappoint.
i know that we as humans tend to live in a way- where if it's out of sight, out of mind. but please don't forget about haiti, the people, and those who are working here. we felt tremors last night and today they still come every other day if not daily- up here at the sub-base where we are. it is quite a weird feeling when you feel the earth move-especially when it triggers such bad memories for those who are still here, when fear runs through your mind that there is a possibility that something can happen. even during distributions our staff have faced many obstacles and safety concerns in an attempt to get food out to a people who are desperate for basic needs such as food and water- who can blame them?
so, yes, please continue to pray for the people of Haiti, those who lost their loved ones- which includes so many people, for continued strength and guidance for ALL relief workers here, not just SP and most importantly for a renewed sense of hope....in all of us.
love,
Patty
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