thefieldjournal

Earthquake Relief Team Blog #3: Face to Face with Earthquake Victims

March 2, 2010 by Beth

The relief team is happy to report that everyone on the team is well and they are gelling together nicely. Saturday was all about scouting out the situation to determine the greatest needs and ways to meet those needs. The relief team came across an enclosed gym close to the Mont Joli Hotel that was being used to triage earthquake victims from Port-au-Prince. There was one doctor from the USA helping these victims by treating their minor injuries.

Part of the relief team stayed at the gym while Twilla and Dr. Rizor went to a local hospital to determine ways to help the efforts there. They found a major obstacle in treating patients is getting the critically wounded out of Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitien, so Twilla arranged for two charter buses to go to Port-au-Prince and bring victims to Cap Haitien. Twilla was also able to make inroads with the local Cap Hatien officials to open more doors for the relief team to provide aid in various ways.

In the meantime, the relief team at the gym was struck with the deep psychological impact the earthquake had on these precious souls. While the minor injuries were important to treat, they found the greatest need of the victims was to be prayed over and held. There was Diaula, a 19 or 20 year old student from Port-au-Prince. She lost her only sister in the earthquake and was so traumatized that she had not slept since the earthquake. Susie was able to give her comfort through prayer and affection. Wilfred, a regular helper on Twilla’s trips to Haiti, was able to tell two victims about the love of Jesus. Another victim described the horror of his experience in Port-au-Prince by stating that “death was in my face”.

Today’s Wall Street Journal (January 23) profiled a few victims who lost their lives in the earthquake. One of the victims profiled was Dr. Zilda Arns Neumann, who founded Pastoral da Crianca which is an organization that has cut child mortalities in half in the communities in which it operates. The article included a quote from Dr. Arns made at the time she was asked to start her children’s health outreach as follows: “Like the birds that take care of their children by building a nest high up in the trees and the mountains, far from predators’ threats and dangers and nearer God, we should watch over our children as something sacred, promote and respect their rights and protect them.”

All of the victims at the gym have names, and through that simple reality, the realness of the horrific events came front and center to the relief team. And the team took Dr. Arns’ charge to heart by watching over God’s children and drawing them closer to God through prayer, comforting words, and affection.

Zephaniah 3:17 – The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.