February 21, 2010 | retold by Tara Celeste
We thank Ken for sharing his story. We thank him and other workers who donated their time, their expertise, their love and compassion to the people of Haiti!
Many prayer-partnered with Ken on his journey, for travel blessings for him and his team, for his wife and children who were left behind in Dallas, for the success of the medical mission work he was a part of, and for blessings to the people of Haiti!
God be praised!
Ken said that it was not an easy drive from the airport to the city when they arrived in Haiti. The ride to the city was long and tedious because of bad roads and traffic. He could see loaded trucks entering the city, and empty ones leaving and was glad that supplies were able to get in. That day and the next few days, he saw scenes such as what CNN news aired just after the earthquake showing the morbid devastation in this country. It looked like a war zone. He saw the “crumpled” hospital where 200 nurses died, some whose bodies were never recovered. He saw many “tent cities” where displaced families lived, with only a dirty creek providing them water daily. The air was infused with the smell of burning plastic, and in some instances they had to wear masks when they entered buildings because of the strong stench.
Many Haitians were homeless and lived off the street. Post earthquake tremors were common, and people did not want to sleep inside buildings which could collapse. So they slept in the street, some with mattresses, some with none. They got wet when the rain poured, as well as had to endure the heat which would go up to more than 92 degrees by day. Many families were separated, some had entire families killed. Amputations were a common occurrence, some patients losing an arm, or both legs. Many children were orphaned.
Ken worked with doctors and nurses who came from other countries. He worked with medical teams from Germany, Bangladesh, Spain and the US. The North Carolina Baptist Men (surprisingly with women workers also) were there and had put in sinks in the basement of the hospital which became its kitchen. While he was there, he saw members of the US marine unit come on their off duty days to build shelves for supplies and medicine in the hospital.
Daily, the hospital where Ken worked at, had a long line to the ER and the triage area was always crowded with patients waiting to be seen. On his 8th day, he was sent with a nurse to a clinic outside Port Au Prince. The 19 mile journey took them 2 hours because of bad roads. That day, however, the two of them saw 209 patients.
Everyday was an exhausting ordeal for the volunteer medical staff. The hours were long, the physical state of the hospital and satellite clinics were not at their best. The medical conditions of patients they saw varied. Supplies and medicine were sometimes limited, sometimes unavailable. One of Ken’s pictures showed one of the doctors lying on a gurney, being infused with IV fluids as heat and exhaustion also got the better of him.
In the hospital, Ken worked in wound care, most times tending to patients who had been brought to the burn unit. One day, a patient was brought in, with second and third degree burns on half of his body, from his chest to his thigh area. Because of the severity of his burns, and because the hospital did not have resources for this extensive of a medical problem, they knew this patient was going to die. The best they could do for him was to just make him comfortable and ease his pain. But God stepped in, because the following day, a full plastic surgery team from Atlanta arrived, complete with skin grafts, burn medicine, etc. Yeayy! This man now had a second chance.
Death was particularly not uncommon in this hospital and in this country at this time. Ken’s group could not save everyone. But in a place where life and death hung in the balance at every moment, Ken, as well as others in his team, knew with certainty that the hand of God was everywhere. God works in mysterious ways, indeed!
Mabuhay Fellowship 