This is written by Molly Van Hemert, currently in Gonaives, Haiti with her husband, Kellee Van Hemert. Molly served in Cambodia for 6 years, but this is her first time in Haiti. She is a nurse and Kellee is a worship leader back in the states.
Our first lesson: Sleeping in the airport sucks. Being in Haiti rocks.
The mass grave cross.
We arrived Friday morning and headed up to Gonaives. The drive was beautiful with small glimpses of the ocean. The first thing Silentor (our contact) pointed out was a huge hill with a few crosses on top. It was a mass grave of over 250,000 bodies from the earthquake. I can’t imagine what that was like for a city or a country.The terror, the sadness, the sickness and the fact that everyday people still have deal with the consequences of the day the earth shook buildings to the ground.
We are now on our second night in Gonaives sitting in a spacious bedroom, fan pointed directly at our faces on high! It’s hot, not Cambodian hot season hot, but it’s still hot.
Molly doing check-ups for the staff and their families.
We have been spending our days in the school and community that surrounds the school. This morning Molly spent 2 hours doing a clinic with the staff. It was nice to sit down, talk, encourage and give meds out to the people who serve the children so faithfully. The most common thing: headache. It’s hard to say, “drink more water.” When you know they can’t just go to the faucet and get however much, clean, pure water they want like so many of us can do back in the states and around the world.
Bags of WaterSpeaking of water, you can buy small bags of water here. The are cheap and all over the place. You just bite off the corner of the bag and suck it down. I’ve been going through a lot of them. The only down side…there are empty little plastic bags everywhere you go. At least people are drinking water, right?
Kellee has been playing music with a group of guys. One of the guys is like a brother from another mother. They just click, they work together great and love every minute of it. It’s great to see Kellee embrace the language here, eagerly trying to learn how to sing their songs. Kellee has been impressed with the patience that the guys have for him. They even make him sing the song in Creole over and over until he gets it right.
Hardest thing:
Kellee- not being able to speak the language.
Molly- knowing what meds someone needs and not having them in my suitcase.
What has made you laugh:
Kellee- Peter John (the jolliest man in Haiti)
Molly: telling Kellee and the music boys to be quiet because I couldn’t hear people’s lung sounds, these boys sing LOUD!
Where have you seen God:
Kellee- Woody talking about the importance of teams from America walking through the village.
Molly- The witch doctor’s wife coming for medicine for her and her child.
What you look forward to tomorrow:
Kellee- Worship with the worship team.
Molly – doing more clinic time, because we had to turn so many people away today.