A Night Off

I keep promising a more comprehensive update.  I shall fail to deliver yet once again.  I realize I keep saying I am exhausted but the reality is, I am.  Tonight is Wednesday night.  The missionaries have a Wednesday night Bible Study.  I normally go when I am in Cayes, but tonight I opted out.  I’ve been exhausted since I returned to Haiti on January 5.  The first two days I was back, I had major planning to do for events that would occur over the next three weeks.  I was up way too late (sometimes 2 or 3am) and then up early the next morning. Then I was out with the team; one night I couldn’t sleep because of the goats, dogs, and roosters another night it was the dog, locked in the dining room, right next to my room.  The walls were not finished and so only went up maybe 8 feet.  There was lots of empty space between the top of the wall and the ceiling which meant plenty of opportunity to hear the dog screaming and yelping and crying at top volume.  He finally got released around 12:30am.  And then there was the night that we were awakened at midnight by the shaking and then at 3:30am by the Pastor. 

The things that I lost sleep planning for never happened.  Instead, we had an earthquake.  Since then, days have been backwards, forwards, upside down and sideways.   And I’m just tired.  I have no reason to complain.  I’m just stating the facts.

Things are OK here in the city for the moment.  Nothing major to speak of that I know of, but sometimes I feel very sheltered here on the mission center and have to rely on what others in the area share.  I have heard nothing note worthy. 

I went and spent a little time at the hospital today.  I saw Fernel he looks good and is holding up OK.  I heard he may be going home soon.  I am happy to hear that for his sake, but will miss his sweet face greeting me when I walk in his “room”.  My roommate Beth works at the hospital and has befriended him as well.  He asked her today if she would bring him home- to live.   I also spent some time with my little friend.  I have to admit and apologize, I suppose for, something.  I had her name wrong.  Sometimes it’s really hard to understand and remember what they say because the names are so different.  I saw the name Molienne on her entrance papers but apparently someone had written her mother’s name where the patients name should go.   Today, I asked her dad to write her name down for me, just to make sure I was spelling it right and he wrote "Migline” and I heard him call her mother, Molienne.  I am glad God knows who we’ve been praying for.  She was supposed to have surgery today but when I made it to her bed to visit this afternoon she had yet to have the operation and her mom and dad didn’t know when it would be.  Her mom told me it was to help close up the wound so it could heal better.  If she had the surgery this afternoon, I imagine she’s in a lot of pain.  My friend Rita was there, too.  She’s holding up OK but is also in a lot of pain.  She’s in a partial body cast.  I hadn’t seen the torso part until today.  My friend Peterson was there as well.  His head is still quite swollen and painful but his arm appears to be going down a little bit.  The Dr. told his mom there was no internal head injury so there was nothing they could do but wait. 

Lots of food and medicine is still coming into the area and its gone almost as quickly as it comes in.    There’s so much need, its hard to comprehend and I’m sitting here somewhere in the middle of it all.

I was going to try and go to bed early tonight.  Looks like that could still happen.  Actually, I think I’ll make it happen.  I’ll try again tomorrow with more news from the past few days activities. 

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.  They are coveted beyond my ability to express that to you.   God bless. Or as they say in creole; Bondye beni ou.