Today we started the day off again with our morning meeting. We reviewed what had been done and the plan for the day. Something that has been tough for everyone this week is the availability of resources to complete the projects. John told us a story about recently when Ronald (one of the guys that help out around the clinic) was riding his motorcycle into town and was stopped because his license plate was missing. The officer told him that he needed to have a license plate and they were going to have to take his bike. He responded that he tried to get a new plate, but that the government isn't issuing them right now because they have been too pre-occupied since the earthquake. They responded saying it didn't matter he had to have a license plate. So, he asked where he could get one and after arguing a little more they finally let him go. John said this is a typical scenario of the logic that happens in Haiti where it just doesn't make sense. There's nothing that Ronald could have done differently and yet he was going to be punished for it. They were also saying how 3 of the people on staff had expired drivers licenses now and the government isn't open to renew them, but if they get stopped and asked about it then they will most likely have to try to convince the officer that they have tried to renew it but couldn't. Crazy.
Today we tackled our projects again and continued to make headway on them although still slow going. There were times when we ran into the situation of 'if it will go wrong it will' making it not so fun and more time consuming to get the issues fixed. All went ok though and we are getting closer. Still more to do...
The place we are staying is the women's center/birthing center. It is where local Haitian women come during the week to learn a trade (in this case sewing primarily) and then they are able to sell what they make to people in the US and make a living. Right now they make purses and they are backlogged and selling very well in the states. It's a great opportunity for the women to be able to work and earn money. Most people in Haiti survive on about $2/day. These ladies are able to make a few hundred dollars a week making it a pretty good wage for them. It's neat to see how Heartline is helping these ladies change the course of their lives and learn a trade at the same time.
As for the birthing center piece, well this morning a women came in this morning with Beth (John's wife) and a couple of the volunteer nurses and she was in pretty active labor. Having a baby in Haiti is a little different than in the US. They took over one of the rooms in the house (note 'house' not hospital) and she has been laboring pretty much all day today...it's been probably close to 12 hours now. They don't have any pain killers or special equipment like heart-rate monitors or anything like that. It's pretty much just child-birth as it was before modern technology. Things went on as normal around the house all day with the women sewing purses outside and all of us working on our various projects around the house there and she labored away all day in the room alongside everyone. Not how most ladies would like to give birth i imagine, but this is how it is done in Haiti. Hopefully things get going soon for her tonight or else it could be a long sleepless night for all of us as our bedrooms are all right outside the room she is in.
On our walk home from dinner tonight we had an interesting talk about less is more and how 'things' can complicate life and decisions. It seems there are good and bad to both. When you don't have much and food and a place to sleep are your biggest concerns you have a lot less distractions. It seems it would give you a much stronger dependence on God and relying on him to provide for your basic needs. We are so blessed in America to really not have to worry about that even in some of the worst of situations and as a result we can be more easily distracted by things that are insignificant in comparison. It's really nice to have time this week to step back from the craziness of life and re-evaluate things as it relates to life, God and others. It is a good reminder of how good things are at home. I'm looking forward to seeing Abby, Blake and Kona later this week. I see a lot of people here who are apart from their family either because their family has died, they are too poor to live together and are all apart just trying to survive or they have been left and orphaned and it makes me appreciate my family all the more. Things are starting to feel a little more comfortable the longer we're here. It is trange to not feel completely out of place in a place where things are so different. I'm looking forward to tomorrow as we are planning to go out to Pele with the medical truck to play with the kids while the nurses do some field care.
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