From Sherry's Journal

Day One in Despeezo

May 13-19, 2014

A Creole proverb…

“Bondye fe san di.”
“God acts and doesn’t talk.”

Bobby-sitting-with-lady-in-crowd

We met around 6:30 the first morning of the Despeezo Mobile Medical Clinic. We all gathered and prayed for the day.

Team-praying

Then, everyone jumped into our vehicles and we headed to Despeezo.

Before getting too far, we stopped because the ambulance’s tire was low on air. Putting air in the tire didn’t take too long, and soon our convoy was again traveling to the village. Just a few minutes later, Bobby radioed and said that his vehicle had a flat tire too. A few of the guys worked together and changed the tire quickly. We were off again and the whole group was intense and thinking about the upcoming clinic. We turned off the paved road onto a very bumpy and muddy dirt road. At first, it wasn’t too bad, but the closer we got to the village, the muddier the road became. We needed four-wheel drive and I wasn’t sure if even that would get us there.

We were following the ambulance when all of a sudden it came to a stop. I asked Philemon, “What is going on?” He replied simply that a sugar cane cart was blocking the road.

Road-blocked

Someone with a tractor soon came to move the cart and we all hurried around it.

Cars-passing-sugar-cane-cart

We arrived in the village of Despeezo and had to determine where to set up the clinic.

 Setting-up-clinic-May-14

It rained the night before so we were dealing with lots of slippery mud. A couple of men in the village thought they would help us by pulling up some sections of grass and placing it in the muddy patches. It was a very good idea and really helped us out.

Putting-grass-on-the-mud

Pastor Mark is a huge help in getting the clinic set up and ready to go quickly. He was right there in the middle of it all setting up the canopies and tarps.

Clinic-set-up

We were extra blessed on this trip because Pastor Mark’s wife Evie was there to help us during the clinic.

Mark-and-Evie-putting-up-tarp

Durkje set up an eyeglass area. We soon noticed that every person coming to the clinic wanted eyeglasses, but we were only able to give them to the older people in need.

Durkje-setting-up-eye-glass-area

Once we had the basic “set up,” we started building our pharmacy.

Setting-up-pharmacy

We all jumped in to hang shoe bags filled with many life-saving medicines.

 

Sherry and volunteer unpack medicines

Soon the clinic was  set up and ready to go and the crowd kept growing.

Despeezo-Medical-Clinic-under-voodoo-tree

We prayed with those waiting for medical care.

Village-people-praying-before-clinic

I worked in the wound care area with Evie and Kaeli.

Sherry-treats-burned-mans-leg2

We treated a poor Haitian man that had a terribly burned leg. His leg was in awful shape and we had to really work to remove all of the debris from the burn. The Haitian man didn’t flinch, he just kept saying, “Please clean it out and do whatever you need to do.”

Sherry-treats-burned-man

Our sweet Micheline, from our Love A Child Orphanage, helped us with translating during the entire clinic. Our orphans love to help us with outreaches to the poorest of the poor.

Michlene-works-with-volunteer-team-member

Sarah Jerrell worked many long hours examining lots of patients.

Volunteer-team-member-examines-baby

We had two very good Haitian doctors working with us as well this time.

Haitian-doctor-examines-patients

They were a huge blessing and helped us treat many people.

Haitian-doctor-2-examines-patients

Our Haitian nurses carefully explained all the medicines.

Haitian-nurses-explain-meds

We saw patients all day long and the clinic ran very smoothly.

Despeezo-medical-clinic-05-14

 One of our volunteers, Jordanie Mertil, prayed for each person before leaving the clinic.

Volunteer-team-member-prays-for-family

 

While we were treating patients, two Haitian ladies were cooking up large pots of food to share.

Ladies-cooking

Late in the afternoon, we shared plates of “ti pa nou.”

Haitian-boy-with-food

This mom along with her daughters ate while sitting on some rocks.

Haitian-family-with-food

This little boy was happy to get a plate of food.

Haitian-boy-2-with-food

Make sure you keep checking Sherry’s Journal for more updates about the Despeezo Medical Clinic.

Love,
Sherry

P.S. Your gifts help toward sponsoring Mobile Medical Clinics for entire villages just like Despeezo. A gift of any amount will help us provide emergency care, like sending someone to the hospital. The funds are also used to buy medicine, vitamins and other supplies. Please consider how you can improve the life of someone in Haiti. Call our office at 239-210-6107 to find out how you can help.

Posted in Sherry's Journal