Hi all,
Where to start.... I am at the internet cafe where none of the punctuation marks work.... except the period. Well, I will start by saying thank you thank you thank you so much for all of your encouragement, kind words, prayers, and donations. Please forgive me to those who have not received personal thanks and emails, as I have been very limited to email access, but know you are appreciated.
As you know, we have been praying like crazy around the clock for our close friends and former roommates, Fritznel and Antoine, and the kids have been worrying like crazy, trying to make plans to drive there themselves and brainstorming nonstop on what they could do to help, especially the older boys from their house. Well, I can say now, that we got word that our dear friend Antoine was found and is okay, injured from jumping out the window of a building that was collapsing... like superman, as the kids describe. The kids told me that Fritznel too is okay, which I sobbed and sobbed with joy, but now sitting by a friend Anna at the internet cafe says she heard they are still looking for him, so that may have just been something they told the kids to settle them. Rumors fly when you live in a enclosed compound with 200 children, especially in times of this kind of panic and anxiety.
Well, with the good news of Antoine comes loads of devastating news as well. On Saturday, while driving to go meet our brother and sister in law Tim and Paola, I got the phone call from Jeanvie, our close friend and volunteer who is a former orphan from Haiti that Antoine was okay. They had just gotten phone service back in Haiti and he was trying to reach the orphanage to coordiante the truck coming back. I was so overjoyed to hear about Antoine. I asked him then, and how are you, did you find your family. Yes, I found all my neices and nephews, he answered, and they were all dead. My heart sunk like I cannot explain, and I couldn´t find words, but I´m so sorry over and over, until he interrupted with it´s okay, it´s nothing, and preceded to make plans for the trucks and continuing to help Haiti. Jeanvie, since most of you don´t know him, has volunteered at the orphanage for the past year or two and is as dedicated as anyone I have ever met. Having been an orphan himself, he understands more than anyone else ever could. While the rest of us complain about our 65 dollar a month stipend, and spend it on coca cola and pizza and weekends at the beach, he has always sent every penny to what family he had left in Haiti. I don´t deserve a single word of kindness in comparison to this person who NEVER indulges, never leaves the orphanage for fun, never does anything for himself, and gives every last penny to his family.... and now they are gone. He has a brother that is still missing. No parents, no one else. In the moment, I forgot everything else, to ask about Danny, Roselin, their families, the people at the hospital. Up until this point, I have been in work mode non stop, trying to teach, comfort the kids, move houses, raise money, not taking the time to really cry, and when I got out of the car at Paola´s house, I started to cry, especially when I saw her. This crying continued to sobbing to weeping that has not yet stopped through the weekend, and I can´t remember the last time I have felt anything so heavy or cried so hard or so much. Though it was great to see Paola safe and healthy, the stories they had were devastating. Paola came with Anna, an American teacher I stayed with two years ago when I was in Haiti. She was nine months pregnant, and due next week. She left her husband behind and teared up if I mentioned him, or anything about Haiti. I saw many more friends of Tim and Paolas and heard of their tradgedies throughout the weekend. My brother in law, Tim, we didn´t even get to see, because as soon as he got to the DR he was back to pick up friends at the border who had a 2 week baby who was sick, and then brought a doctor into Haiti and has been staying at a clinic there. He has sacrificed days of sleep and goes with hesitation to do anything he can to help the people in Haiti. Paola spoke in church on Sunday and showed a slideshow of photos she personally took and I sobbed uncontrollably through the whole thing while Dave hid his head in his knees as I am never allowed to see him hurting they way I know he was. I can´t put into words the honor I feel to have married into such incredibly compassionate family as the DeYoungs. Two of Daves cousins are also en route to Haiti, since they are medically trained and fluent in Creole.
Not sure what other news I have not yet shared.... it has been a few days and I hear so much I can´t remember what to share. The NPH doctors we sent to Haiti continue to work round the clock. In the hospital that was still standing, they are housing 700 people in a location built for 200 and treating people all over the grounds outside as well. They are doing surgeries and amputations like crazy. There are deaths, and also births. They mentioned a young girl whose skull was crushed and was missing most of her face. There are many, many, many stories like this. There are not the proper supplies to respond but people are doing everything they can. We sent out two large trucks to Port au Prince, full of supplies and it came back today full of tired volunteers, less one, Jacob, that decided to stay in Haiti and keep helping. Please pray for these volunteers, doctors, workers who literally have been working day and night without stop and seeing things beyond your wildest nightmares. Death counts are still unconfirmed, and will probably remain that way. I have heard estimations from 100,000 to 1 million but no one really knows. In the local papers here, there are photos of mountains of bodies, stacked 10 bodies high, while both children and adults climb through them searching for their loved ones. People have stopped trying to count and identify them, and are bulldozing them instead. I can´t explain the sickness I get to think about people we know and love possibly being bulldozed into those piles, I don´t even want to think about it.
Well, not sure what else to say other than please please please continue to help and send these messages to everyone you know. Now on the nph.org website you can donate directly to our office here in the DR and it will go to packing the trucks that we are taking back and forth every other day. Dave is planning to forgo his maintenance work for a while to drive these trucks in and out, so please keep him in your prayers. I told my pre teen girls that I may be sleeping over when I can´t go home to him and they were happy to have me. Please also pray for our house director Danny. He went out in the truck last Friday to look for his wife and kids and didn´t come back. The rumor from the kids is that they lost him, but this is from the kids and I will keep praying that is not true. Please keep praying. Please keep donating. Please keep telling everyone you know to do the same. I made an event on facebook too so forward it to all of your friends. I feel like I had a million other things to share in this email but I can´t think of anything else and have to get to shopping so will end here. Thank you again and keep spreading the word.
Love and prayers,
Kristin
Where to start.... I am at the internet cafe where none of the punctuation marks work.... except the period. Well, I will start by saying thank you thank you thank you so much for all of your encouragement, kind words, prayers, and donations. Please forgive me to those who have not received personal thanks and emails, as I have been very limited to email access, but know you are appreciated.
As you know, we have been praying like crazy around the clock for our close friends and former roommates, Fritznel and Antoine, and the kids have been worrying like crazy, trying to make plans to drive there themselves and brainstorming nonstop on what they could do to help, especially the older boys from their house. Well, I can say now, that we got word that our dear friend Antoine was found and is okay, injured from jumping out the window of a building that was collapsing... like superman, as the kids describe. The kids told me that Fritznel too is okay, which I sobbed and sobbed with joy, but now sitting by a friend Anna at the internet cafe says she heard they are still looking for him, so that may have just been something they told the kids to settle them. Rumors fly when you live in a enclosed compound with 200 children, especially in times of this kind of panic and anxiety.
Well, with the good news of Antoine comes loads of devastating news as well. On Saturday, while driving to go meet our brother and sister in law Tim and Paola, I got the phone call from Jeanvie, our close friend and volunteer who is a former orphan from Haiti that Antoine was okay. They had just gotten phone service back in Haiti and he was trying to reach the orphanage to coordiante the truck coming back. I was so overjoyed to hear about Antoine. I asked him then, and how are you, did you find your family. Yes, I found all my neices and nephews, he answered, and they were all dead. My heart sunk like I cannot explain, and I couldn´t find words, but I´m so sorry over and over, until he interrupted with it´s okay, it´s nothing, and preceded to make plans for the trucks and continuing to help Haiti. Jeanvie, since most of you don´t know him, has volunteered at the orphanage for the past year or two and is as dedicated as anyone I have ever met. Having been an orphan himself, he understands more than anyone else ever could. While the rest of us complain about our 65 dollar a month stipend, and spend it on coca cola and pizza and weekends at the beach, he has always sent every penny to what family he had left in Haiti. I don´t deserve a single word of kindness in comparison to this person who NEVER indulges, never leaves the orphanage for fun, never does anything for himself, and gives every last penny to his family.... and now they are gone. He has a brother that is still missing. No parents, no one else. In the moment, I forgot everything else, to ask about Danny, Roselin, their families, the people at the hospital. Up until this point, I have been in work mode non stop, trying to teach, comfort the kids, move houses, raise money, not taking the time to really cry, and when I got out of the car at Paola´s house, I started to cry, especially when I saw her. This crying continued to sobbing to weeping that has not yet stopped through the weekend, and I can´t remember the last time I have felt anything so heavy or cried so hard or so much. Though it was great to see Paola safe and healthy, the stories they had were devastating. Paola came with Anna, an American teacher I stayed with two years ago when I was in Haiti. She was nine months pregnant, and due next week. She left her husband behind and teared up if I mentioned him, or anything about Haiti. I saw many more friends of Tim and Paolas and heard of their tradgedies throughout the weekend. My brother in law, Tim, we didn´t even get to see, because as soon as he got to the DR he was back to pick up friends at the border who had a 2 week baby who was sick, and then brought a doctor into Haiti and has been staying at a clinic there. He has sacrificed days of sleep and goes with hesitation to do anything he can to help the people in Haiti. Paola spoke in church on Sunday and showed a slideshow of photos she personally took and I sobbed uncontrollably through the whole thing while Dave hid his head in his knees as I am never allowed to see him hurting they way I know he was. I can´t put into words the honor I feel to have married into such incredibly compassionate family as the DeYoungs. Two of Daves cousins are also en route to Haiti, since they are medically trained and fluent in Creole.
Not sure what other news I have not yet shared.... it has been a few days and I hear so much I can´t remember what to share. The NPH doctors we sent to Haiti continue to work round the clock. In the hospital that was still standing, they are housing 700 people in a location built for 200 and treating people all over the grounds outside as well. They are doing surgeries and amputations like crazy. There are deaths, and also births. They mentioned a young girl whose skull was crushed and was missing most of her face. There are many, many, many stories like this. There are not the proper supplies to respond but people are doing everything they can. We sent out two large trucks to Port au Prince, full of supplies and it came back today full of tired volunteers, less one, Jacob, that decided to stay in Haiti and keep helping. Please pray for these volunteers, doctors, workers who literally have been working day and night without stop and seeing things beyond your wildest nightmares. Death counts are still unconfirmed, and will probably remain that way. I have heard estimations from 100,000 to 1 million but no one really knows. In the local papers here, there are photos of mountains of bodies, stacked 10 bodies high, while both children and adults climb through them searching for their loved ones. People have stopped trying to count and identify them, and are bulldozing them instead. I can´t explain the sickness I get to think about people we know and love possibly being bulldozed into those piles, I don´t even want to think about it.
Well, not sure what else to say other than please please please continue to help and send these messages to everyone you know. Now on the nph.org website you can donate directly to our office here in the DR and it will go to packing the trucks that we are taking back and forth every other day. Dave is planning to forgo his maintenance work for a while to drive these trucks in and out, so please keep him in your prayers. I told my pre teen girls that I may be sleeping over when I can´t go home to him and they were happy to have me. Please also pray for our house director Danny. He went out in the truck last Friday to look for his wife and kids and didn´t come back. The rumor from the kids is that they lost him, but this is from the kids and I will keep praying that is not true. Please keep praying. Please keep donating. Please keep telling everyone you know to do the same. I made an event on facebook too so forward it to all of your friends. I feel like I had a million other things to share in this email but I can´t think of anything else and have to get to shopping so will end here. Thank you again and keep spreading the word.
Love and prayers,
Kristin
No comments:
Post a Comment