Jeremy's update from Haiti

Jeremy was able to get phone last week so we have been able to chat daily since then. I’ll do my best to share what he’s told me so far. He has lots of stories to tell and hopefully he be able to share those himself soon.

His first week was absolutely packed. Each day his team was traveling to a different area of Port au Prince and setting up a clinic. Many days they were seeing more than 500 people in need. He said there were a lot of people who had lost medicines they needed daily for chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes. They had an elderly lady who had come to the clinic because she had a stroke. She was dehydrated so they put her on an IV. He said it was hard to send her back home (probably a make-shift tent now) knowing that she really should be admitted to a hospital but under the circumstances her situation wasn’t life threatening so there wasn’t room for her in a hospital. He said they were also seeing a lot of people suffering form posttraumatic stress. They gave out lots of donated glasses to people who had lost theirs in the earthquake too. He had a follow-up visit with a child whose ear had been torn off a sewn back on. There were more follow-up visits like dressing changes from serious wounds.

Many of you have asked what his living conditions were like. He is staying in a compound that’s a school and church combined. They having a real toilet and running water to bathe in. And while the bath water is cold he is fine because it’s hot all the time. He has been sleeping under a mosquito that he is very grateful for (Thanks Karen!).

Jeremy said his Creole was a bit rusty but it’s come back to him pretty quickly. Knowing the language has been a huge asset because doesn’t need an interpreter most times.

The devastation is shocking. He said there no exposed bodies because they have all been buried—mostly in mass graves. It was hard to look around the city and see building completely collapsed knowing that they were still bodies inside. One school, full of children and teachers, completely collapsed. They lost everyone—about 1,000 people. Lots of people are living in the streets. Tent communities have sprung up everywhere. He said most were 1,000 to 5,000 tents but he’d heard there is one that is 20,000.

It’s clear that Haiti will need our support and prayers for years to come.

That’s it for now. I hope to have more information soon. Thanks for all your love and support!

Jessica