Wee, small voice

The team made our way to Bois Neuf Malour today, a good sized village down the coast in the direction of Port au Prince.  It is good road (relatively speaking!) and offers some lovely views of rural Haiti.  This was to be our last mobile medical but, before the day was over, another village in need of some medical attention has asked for our help, and so we will try on Thursday.

We brought along 3 Haitian Doctors, a Haitian Dentist, and 5 Haitian nurses. . .plus our indefatiguable "ground crew"!.  Our two mid-size pick-ups were groaning under the weight of 10 people each, PLUS tables/folding chairs/8-9 duffel bags/coolers/bottled water/back-packs, etc.  A big shout-out to GM de Mexico for their vehicle donation following Hurricane Matthew. . .without that truck, the rebuilt church in Chiraque would still be a distant dream, and a big chunk of the +1100 Haitians that have been seen and treated in our mobile medical events would have gone without.

Through yesterday, we had seen and treated 796 folks, and helped another 340 today.  Medical, dental, ear cleanings, eye glass fittings and teeth varnishing from 10 am - 4 pm.  Pretty warm, pretty sweaty, but pretty satisfying.  We open our clinics with prayer, and instruction about process.  Sometimes, like today, the local pastor. . .who let's us use the church for the clinic, and is usually the titular head of the village. . .asked his elders to join him in thanking us for coming (again), singing a verse or two from a favorite hymn, and closed with a prayer.  

It was a touching gesture at the end of a long day, and we've felt the same sentiment in unspoken ways throughout our time here.  Jackie noted that it doesn't matter than we

don't know Creole, we still know what's being said.  We are one people in many ways, certainly here when we extend a helping hand.  They don't have much but they seem to share with those having even less.

That said, there are moments of contradictions. . .we all say a little boy, wearing nothing. . .repeat, nothing. .but a too-large and soiled polo shirt.  He was alone all day, and always around our team.  Maybe it was for food, maybe it was to be closer to the mobile medical "happening". . .and maybe it was a plea for a kind of help that, sadly, we're not able to give.

It is a reminder of the depth of desperation here, and the fact that the wee, small voice inside knows that despite all of your best efforts you're not going to help everyone now. . .and that's the hook, compelling you to come back and do more.

First batch of pictures below, since I've finally figured out what I did last year!