Well this is my first time writing a post and my mind went blank! I’ll try to see if I can up with some things…
It has been rather slow here at CTC. In the past week, there were a total count of 5 admitted patients. We had 3 at one time right after I arrived. After that, it’s been one here and there. Right at this moment we have one man here. he happens to be related to a couple other patients we’ve had in the recent past. Yesterday we had a young boy for a couple hours. His dad left him and went back home to get some food. This poor little guy was terrified of us “whites”. He cried and cried for his dad and really wanted to leave. His dad took a long time in returning… and we weren’t sure what to do. It was all we could do to keep him from running around the trail alone. Finally his dad showed up with food… and it didn’t take long to release the little fellow!
My shift mostly consists of changing IV bags, emptying buckets, refilling drinking bottles and trying to persuade them they need to drink, and helping with whatever needs to be done. The other day, Jared brought in several loads of stone to spread around where it was kinda muddy. Then him, Virginia, one of the guards and I dug out a little area right in front of the steps. Then we filled it in with stone. Now the amount of mud tracked in isn’t near as much.
One of the days I also got to help with PD. It wasn’t as bad as I had thought. Sure, it’s kinda gross… but it’s nice to get a short break and relieve the stress that can build. Or in the case of the past couple days, boredom.
One blessing is getting to know the Haitians. Some of the local children know me by name, and although my Creole is almost nonexistent we can still communicate a little bit. Smiles go a long way, and hand motions sometimes helps. Yesterday I was doing laundry at the wringer washer. There was a Haitian lady standing there watching me. She was quite fascinated with the way the wringer worked; she tried helping and when her fingers would nearly get squashed, she yanked them back and giggled at me. I was a little worried at first, but it turned out ok. I let her help me put things through, then as soon as I got hangers in my dresses she ran them over to the clothes line. Neither of us could understand a word of the other, but we were enjoying ourselves! She had a blast helping me and I didn’t mind. It was neat to be able to work side by side….
Yesterday afternoon, we didn’t have any patients so some of us went on a hike. We hiked to the top of a local mountain. The view was really neat and it always amazes me to see what our God has created for His children to enjoy. The steep, rugged mountains… the sunshine filtering down… the breeze!! The little river rolling at the bottom… the noises… the fresh air… the beautiful clouds. Praise to the Lord on high who has the whole world in the palm of his hand! Yet he cares about each of us and all the dear people that surround us.
I’m writing this on Sunday evening. This morning was my first service in Haiti… and I really enjoyed it! A couple of the songs I knew by heart already, a few of the others were repeated in good ol’ Haitian style enough times I could sing along. And sometimes Shana explained to me what was being said. The seating is a little tight and it is a blessing to watch everybody work together to make room for one more. This evening we enjoyed spending time with other missionary friends singing… on the way back, singing in the back of Grandpa’s truck is a blessing! Maybe a bit of a song could touch somebody’s heart tonight as we drove past…
Looks like I did manage to find something to write about! Hope I didn’t bore everybody too bad. Thank you all for your support and prayers! They are felt… God’s hand is over us here.
Blessings in Christ our Father,
Amanda Cook
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