Minnesota
Hey Friends,
How is everyone?! I can't thank my Minnesota/South Dakota friends enough for supporting my decision to go on a medical mission trip to Haiti. I'm SO proud to be part of this community. I recieved tons of, "How can I help?," emails. It's sad, my friends and some family members gave me political grief. But, the TER community was eager to help out. By the way, ALL 50lbs of supplies were sent with me. Believe it or not, we ran out the last day. So, I'll be shipping another 50lbs of supplies within the next 2-3 weeks. There are groups of 12-20 that visit weekly through this organization, they'll be bringing more supplies down as well.
The brutal truth: I saw Red Cross volunteers from France, Uruguay, Germany, UN, Japan, Chile, and a few other countries. But, I didn't see anyone from the US. There were many mission groups and military folks. In case you didn't know, the US just bought land from Haiti and played it off as helping. But, that is where the US plans to drill for oil and gold. Fantastic...
I want to share my experience with you and the best way I can do that is through my diary:
March 11, 2010 "The Drive"
"Today was great! We drove for five hours to a town that was never visited before. I woke up at 5:16, suprisingly it's 10pm and I'm still going strong! When we arrived, my heart re-broke. Yes, re-broke. Over 150 children and 80 community members at the orphanage. The drive was so worth it! I did temp under the sun and have a nasty rash on my nose. But, the heat felt so dang good! ANYWAYS, there were many babies dehydrated, fevers, and malnutrition. Again, STDS (syph/chlam) were severe. One baby stuck out today. There was excess fluid in the babies head. The only cure is surgery, therefore the baby may die within weeks. The line between life and death runs thin here. I'm not God, we can't play God..."
Love & Peace,
Anya
