Report...

August 8, 2011 – 1 a.m.

Greetings to all from a CTC in the beautiful mountains of Haiti! All is quiet and peaceful here as I write this, at a few minutes past 1 a.m. The crickets are chirping a happy song, our one patient is sound asleep, and Thea (my shift partner) is dozing too. The CTC shifts currently are more relaxed than they were with a lot of patients (at least that’s what I hear). J It’s been a lot of fun getting to know Thea and the others down here…. The fellowship & companionship during long hours at the CTC are quite enjoyable. J Like someone said… “Who would have known cholera could be this fun?”. I suppose our patients don’t enjoy it quite as much, but it’s wonderful to see them get well and be ready to go home after coming here quite sick.

Just a few thoughts about my shift so far….

- Tonight there is just one patient, and he seems to be doing fairly well. All week things at the CTC have been a bit slow, with never more than 5 patients, and often just one or two. There were several shifts that we didn’t have to work, since no one was here. I was perfectly happy about that the first time we were supposed to work the “graveyard shift” and got to sleep all night. J

- A few minutes ago there was a tarantula just outside the CTC… those critters are not my favorite, but I squashed the fear enough to sneak close and get a picture.

-For anyone who might be coming down in the future or wondering what it’s like to dump buckets of diarrhea, etc…. it’s not as bad as I would have thought. J It takes a bit of humility and grace at times, but I would highly recommend it to anyone! J

-One really fun thing has been learning to do IVs. I got to practice for the first time here, and got a couple in successfully…. Poor Jesse was my pincushion! J I now also have a nice purple bruise on my arm from the one that was done on me… never knew a simple IV could make a person look so beat up!!

 -5:30 p.m.

Just an update as I go to send in this report…One more lady showed up this morning shortly after 3 a.m…. she was treated in the fishtank and released. Also, the man that we had overnight was discharged earlier today, so there is no one currently in the CTC. I was able to get a little sleep today and help around the house…. It IS a bit rough to work that midnight-8a.m. shift! We appreciate your prayers….. pray that we would daily walk close to Jesus and let Him shine through us to touch the hearts of the people all around us.

~Sharon Swartzentruber

p.s. In the pictures you have me & Thea (after we survived our long night shift), the tarantula from last night, and laundry drying on the CTC roof in the sunshine this morning.... it was beautiful up there!!