Our first Haiti VIM Trip
Wednesday 16 June 2010
It was up at 6am after a restful sleep. Our beds were comfortable and some of us we were so tired having risen at 3am the day before to be at the airport at 6am.... nothing could have waken us up except an earthquake and the people we have come to serve had already endured one.
Breakfast at 7 consisted of hard boiled eggs, hot dogs ( what Haitians think visitors like to eat) delicious sliced mango, toast, cereal, (a variety of corn flakes) and an orange drink almost like Tang. Morning devotions had to be postponed because we need to leave for our work site right away. So all 10 of us were herded into the a 10 passenger Toyota van and headed off to Petit Guave and the guest house that we would be calling home for the next 5 days. It was a three and a half hour ride that afforded us the opportunity to see Haiti. Past the presidential palace in Port au Prince, we saw first hand what the news reported about the quake. Businesses, street vendors, tent cities, we saw it all as we made our way east. Rubble was everywhere you looked, along with folks attempting to rebuild their lives and their homes. Life goes on the best that it can given the circumstances of that fateful day on January 12. It was hot. The temperature reached a scorching 100 degrees and the humidity must have been 85 percent. The air conditioning in the van was no match for our heat and the heat of the day. We passed from city to city and it was the same everywhere we went. As we moved from the city to the suburbs and finally to the rural areas we noticed more tent cities. Progress to rebuild in the rural areas is slow. We picked up our interpretor, Jean Claude, and continued. Finally, non stop, we made our destination. We were greeted by Pastor Maude and her hospitality team, local young ladies who are paid to help and members of the the local Methodist Church of Petit Guave. One young girl was bringing folding chairs for us to sit on. She was about 9 years old and very eager to help. We formed a circle, made our formal introductions and waited for a time to get our room assignments. Finding our way to our rooms we rested. The guest house is typical for this part of the world. It is a two story cement structure. Very clean and comfortable. The heat w2as really debilitating. We reconvened at noon for our morning devotional before lunch. I shared a prayer and then invited Jean Claude to share about his experience of the earthquake. He was working in a medical clinic as an interpretor along with 2 British doctors and a couple of nurses. They were here treating people who had suffered eye injuries. They had finished a number of surgeries when all of a sudden the ground started to shake. Our interpretor, Jean Claude, looked up as he was about to run out of the clinic when he notice the roof collapse on top of him. After coming to and gaining his senses, he prayed, “God if you want me to die here so be it, I am yours, but if you want me to live, please help me”. At that moment, a voice inside said to him, “get our your cell phone and raise your hand”. Not knowing what that would do, he did it. He took out his cell phone and carefully raised it above his head and started to wave it. The ground for the most part stopped moving and everything was quiet. He could hear people talking. Joseph, his best friend who is also an interpretor and worked with Jean Claude at the site, was calling for him. Not hearing a response, Jean Claude could hear his friend say that he thought he was dead. But his sadness turned to joy when he saw Jean Claude's cell phone waving from beneath the rubble. “He is alive.” Joseph immediately ran to help remove Jean Claude but every attempt was greeting by more rumbles.... the aftershocks. Consequently, Joseph and others were afraid to enter the clinic in fear of it collapsing on them. Jean Claude shared that his friend Joseph promise to stay with him and try to get him out even if it cost him his own life. As Jean Claude told us this story he would stop from time to time to compose himself. It was evident that sharing the details of this harrowing experience was difficult for him to relive. Finally, Joseph was able to recover his friend and Jean Claude was removed from the rubble of a clinic that was destroyed. The two doctors survived but the nurses did not. On their way to Miami for emergency surgery that passed from us to God. God bless their souls and all who died as a result of the quake that brought our team to this beautiful country. Following his testimony we concluded our devotional and headed out for lunch. On our way we stopped at the clinic where Jean Claude almost lost his life. He agreed to stand in the very spot from where he was rescued. Needless to say, this story is only one of the 1000s of stories likes Jean Claude's that share their personal tragedy and the need for healing.
After lunch we made our way to the work site about 20 minutes from the guest house. Our mission is to help the local folk rebuild their church, the Methodist church in Fond Deuze. When the truck arrived we were greeting by a horde of cheering children. They were very glad to see us and eagerly came to say hello. We met the workers on scene and we were personally greeted by their foremen. The younger men were impressively working, mixing concrete and moving stone. The mid afternoon heat was very strong and for them to work as they did was, at least to me, very inspiring. We assessed the site and what they wanted us to do. After our bon ju's, we headed home to the guest house for our evening meal, briefing and fellowship. Lights out came early as we knew we were in for a hot and tiring day helping our brother and sisters rebuild their church. The words of the hymn, The Church is One Foundation, kept ringing in my head as we would be helping to rebuild the foundation of this rural Methodist church. We are one as church in spirit, in connectionalism and in minstry to each other in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Respectfully submitted....
Rev. Joseph Piccirillo
VIM Team 1 to Haiti