1st Haiti Trip

Janet and I heard of the earthquake in Haiti while we were in Honduras in January. We returned home on January 20th and heard about the request for tents and shelter from the Haitian government. We talked with Len Suzette Clevenger who had taken us to Haiti in 2003 about what could be done to help Haiti. Janet and I immediately began buying tents and camping gear to be shipped as quickly as possible to Haiti. Watered Gardens, a homeless shelter in Joplin, donated sheets, blankets, crutches, and walkers. Terry Gribble, a nurse, rounded up thousands of dollars worth of medicine.

Janet, Bill, and Terry loading tents into a trailer

On Feb. 3rd, Terry, my son Jesse, cousin Max, and I headed to Florida with all the supplies. They were dropped off at an aviation mission to be flown to Haiti the first of the next week.

Terry and Jesse flew out of Tampa the next day to the Dominican Republic where they rented a vehicle and drove to Fonds-Parisien in Haiti. Max and I drove back home after putting 100 gallons of cooking oil on a sailboat flotilla that was going to deliver groceries to Haiti. On Feb. 10th, we flew into the DR. We were met there by Omar, a Dominican pastor, who facilitated buying supplies and a pick-up for us to use in Haiti which took three to four days, a story in itself. We then drove to Haiti.

We had expected our shipment of tents, equipment, and medicine to be waiting for us in. Unfortunately, the supplies we gathered were put on a container to be shipped to Haiti instead of flown. They arrived in four days but because of a labeling error, the container had been held up in customs.

Since we did not have our equipment, I spent time looking for places to put the tents once they were released. We made several trips into the mountains to small villages there. On my first trip, I was able to buy some rice up on the mountain and distribute it to people who had nothing to eat. We saw so much poverty and misery. The depravation, lack of sanitation and good hygiene, and need was overwhelming.

Terry and Jesse had been working at the HCM clinic in Fonds-Parisien for over two weeks now. I’ve been told that Jesse had become the “go to” guy for numerous things! He had transported critical patients numerous times from the clinic to other hospitals who could better deal with their care. He was the one the doctors would call when they needed equipment and couldn’t find it. He brought refugees into the clinic when they couldn’t get there. The medical personnel he worked with said he accomplished more than three people could. He loved it!

Mobile Medical Clinic with Terry and Dr. Ty Adcock

On our second trip into the mountains, we took Terry & Jesse, Dr. Ty Adcock from Joplin, Max, a translator, and some other Haitians on a mobile medical mission. We stopped at a little village called Toma where they treated severe cases of scabies and passed out dewormer to the children, and treated numerous other complaints.

The population of Fonds-Parisien had swollen with refugees from the earthquake. Many families had taken in relatives from Port au Prince as this area had not sustained damage from the quake. We became very well acquainted with one family whose numbers had gone from eight to over 20 in their small home. Two of the young ladies were sleeping in the back of a pick-up and one in a car.

One afternoon, some of the young ladies of the family saw me tired and over heated and insisted I rest on their front porch on a cot. I noticed over next to me in another room just off the porch two elderly ladies lying on a piece of cardboard on the concrete floor. I felt bad that I was lying on a cot while they were on the hard floor. But I fell asleep and woke up to these two ladies singing Amazing Grace! Unbelievable! It actually brought tears to my eyes! We often saw people who had been through horrendous things praising God!

The young ladies had been on one of my trips up the mountain. As we came down off the mountain, I started singing some hymns. The girls joined in. They recognized the hymns and knew most of them in Creole. It was so beautiful! I started asking questions, delving into their spiritual lives and getting to know them. When I asked them what their vision of the future was or what their plan was, they had none. They had no choices except trying to live from day to day. No dreams, no goals for the future, and couldn’t imagine that tomorrow would be any different from today.

We had all seen the poverty and sickness that day in the mountains. I asked them, if we could get them some basic medical training, the medications they needed where they could treat things like worms, scabies, etc., and a vehicle to take them to the mountains, would they be willing to go to the mountain villages and help some of their people. They all thought that would be absolutely wonderful!!! All the Haitians I’ve talked to about this LOVE the idea!!!

I was privileged to speak to 4-500 people at a church in Port au Prince one Sunday. I was able to talk with them about the personal grief I have experienced though I can hardly comprehend what they must feel after losing at least 1 in 10 of the population of PAP.

The longer I stayed in Haiti, the more I felt that there was something we could do there. I found some property we could lease and some we could buy for places to put the tents and erect more permanent housing in the future. The equipment we had sent was never released while we were in Haiti.

We were scheduled to fly back home March 8th. Several of the Haitians insisted on coming to the airport with us. The young ladies who call me “Dada” and are always asking about “Mama Janet” cried and cried about us leaving. It was hard to do so!
There were so many amazing experiences in Haiti. We came to love so many of the people. We are making a serious plan for long term help for the folks we met. We can’t help the millions of people that have been devastated by the earthquake and now are facing the rainy season living under sheets. But we can help some of the people that we met personally, refugees from PAP, who are trying to carry on with their lives.
We will be sending more information about that tomorrow. Jesse and I have tickets to return to Haiti next Thursday. We ask that you keep us in your prayers and we pray that the Lord guides our steps as we continue on this path.