Erin In Haiti – On The Move

Mike blogging for Erin.

Erin and the other members of MTW’s 14 person Disaster Response Team spent the first part of Monday packing and moving. They are moving the site of their personal camp (Quisqueya School) and the site of their medical clinic (Diquini Camp Clinic). They are moving onto the grounds of the Adventist Hospital of Haiti located alongside the Diquini Refugee Camp. They will sleep outside the hospital and work inside.

Here is why this is a great move for everyone:

• Proximity: The team will be working AND living right next to the people they are serving.
• Commute: They will save almost two hours each day in drive time.
• Facilities: The hospital affords a better quality of service for the Haitians then their tent did.
• More Time: The new facility will afford the opportunity for the team to work in day and night shifts.
• Larger Audience: The team was working with a 12,000-person block of the Diquini Refugee Camp. They will now have access to 30,000 refugees.
• Need: The Adventist Hospital is where the sickest patients are being referred by aide workers.

The first MTW aide team is scheduled to return to the U.S. on Saturday, February 6^th and the second team is scheduled to arrive in Haiti on that same day. However, no flights have yet been arranged. Erin and several other team members from the first team will stay on and serve with the second team.

The Haitian government is continuing to bus refugees out of Port-au-Prince (PAP) to areas that have fewer aide workers and fewer resources, but are less crowded. The team is prayerfully considering a future move to the city of Gonaives where nearly 50,000 refugees are located. This would put the team closer to Pastor Esaie and his church and also allow the team to serve refugees that have less access to aide then those in PAP.

The team is living on rice, beans, chicken and water. Because of the lack of resources each team member is being reduced to one hot meal a day. Erin reports the MTW team is very dirty and they all smell terrible. They are all tired, but their spirits are high.

Medical authorities report widespread prevalence of scabies, diarrhea and malaria. They also report a “dangerously low” supply of antibiotics.

Prayer needs: 1) David Hilmers, a member of the MTW team, learned that his father just passed away. David will remain in Haiti. Pray for peace for David and his family. 2) Pray that the new facility affords greater opportunity for evangelism and better quality medical service. 3) Pray for increased access to basic needs and supplies.