Haiti

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the tragedy in Haiti. Trying to wrap my head around my experiences is very difficult. When I responded to the tragedy in Sri Lanka after the tsunami, then to the tragedy in Haiti, they seemed very different indeed. In one city alone, Port au Prince, more people were killed then were collectively killed in all the countries during the tsunami. This is not to belittle the anguish that was caused in either situation, just puts things into perspective for me. Sri Lanka had a profound effect on me, but Haiti stuck down deep into my soul. It was a long "recovery" when I returned from Haiti. Mike would often find me staring off into the distance as I remembered specific faces and events.

Of one of our translators yelled to me as we were driving off our last day, "remember me...please remember me." Of the pregnant woman we had to stick tubesinto her stomach to suction out the blood that was accumulating there, and all she kept saying was "merci beaucoup, merci beaucoup. (thank you very much, thank you very much)." To the 18 month old who died while I was doing CPR on her, to the old woman who never had a chance. But also to the young woman who came into the hospital in active labor, and on the dirt floor, by myself, I delivered new life into the world. During all this time I was able to pray with people, love on people, and bring some hope into this dark place. It was hard, emotionally draining, and I would do it again without thinking about it.

The baby I delivered.