Haiti -- Firsthand Reports

Wednesday, January 20 2010 11:00

Haiti--Firsth-and-Reports

Firsthand Reports from Dr. Marlo Hodnett and the NAPS team in Leogane, Haiti

God sent us to Leogane, which was the epicenter of the earthquake. More than 90% of the buildings are flat. There is no aid here because the media is focused in Port-au-Prince, so that is where aid goes. We came upon a different place (Leogane) because they welcomed us. So, we just continued to follow God's lead, collected more supplies and returned to the field. We continued to care for the people. They were so grateful.

There is a large group of people living outside in a stadium under the mercy of the weather. They have made makeshift homes of sticks, cloth, or whatever they can find to cover themselves at night. The people welcomed us and we were swamped with injured people who needed medical care.

Many kids have lost their parents and many parents have lost their children. As I am writing this testimony, we are on the streets trying to buy petrol so we can move to other areas.

A Mother’s Agony—Diquini, Haiti

When we entered the Diquini hospital, it was chaotic. There were thousands of injured people and the doctors were overwhelmed. There was one lady by the name of Paula. She was directing physicians and staff on their duties. You could tell she had been up all night trying to organize things. Then she stopped and said, "I lost everything, my house is completely flat. I only have one child and when the house collapsed, he was yelling my name but there was nothing I could do. Then the bulldozers came to clear the street and pushed the debris and my son was no longer talking. He was dead. They had pushed more debris on him. I lost my son, my nieces, and nephews. But I have to keep working. I cannot stop.” All we could do was pray for her. Our sacrifice was small in comparison to hers. She lost everything, yet and still she is working day and night at the hospital. Three days later we were leaving the hospital grounds and she ran to us pleading, "Pray, please pray. They heard a child crying out this morning from under my house. The French and Columbian teams with the UN are going there now with search and rescue dogs. So we joined the team. We prayed and prayed. The search went on for an hour and a half, until the search team said they had to leave because it was getting dark and it is dangerous to be out in the streets at night. So they left. But Paula said, “I will get my own team together and we will remove the stones with our bare hands, Jezu, Jezu, Jezu!!!”

Previous articles on NAPS Haiti Relief 2010:

-Haitian Students Depart to Provide Relief to Earthquake Victims http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-390416