Written by Martin Harrison, director of Vozandes Community Development, HCJB Global Hands

All is well in Haiti, or to explain the play on words … all is about wells in Haiti! César Cortez, an Ecuadorian missionary with HCJB Global Hands’ community development team, is spending three weeks in Haiti, providing strategic assistance to Lifewater International, one of our long-term partners.

Cortez is working in the Cap-Haitien area of northern Haiti. This city, although not directly affected by the January 2010 earthquake, has received an estimated 30,000 refugees from the capital city of Port-au-Prince. There are no facilities for this influx of people, and most are living with family or friends in cramped and unsanitary conditions.

 The water and sanitation infrastructure is either inadequate or absent for dealing with a population crisis such as this. HCJB Global and Lifewater are playing an important role in addressing this situation, seeking to improve the water and sanitation situation and shine the light of the gospel in the process.

A typical day for Cortez—if there is a typical day in Haiti—involves visiting six or seven wells. He tests the water quality and begins repairs on them. He is able to repair one per day, but there are more than 100 that require urgent attention. Many wells have been drilled in the past but sadly have fallen into disrepair.

Our community development ministry is committed to completing projects in a different way. We find that a participatory approach—where the community owns the project from the outset—is a far more sustaining solution. Cortez is sharing this approach and other similar ideas about biblically based community development with local pastors who long to see positive and lasting transformation of their communities.

“Sanitation is another urgent need,” says Cortez. After traveling around a number of communities he concluded that although many water wells have been drilled there has been virtually no focus on sanitation and the population has little understanding about sanitation, hygiene or the spread of diseases such as cholera.

In addition to repairing water wells and hand pumps, Cortez has been able to preach on Sundays and meet Christian leaders during the week. He senses a strong desire for change amongst these peoples and the communities they represent. Christian leaders are hungry to hear more about what the Bible says about healthy living, both in the physical and spiritual sense. They want to begin to apply these concepts in their communities, yearning to see the transformation that only God can bring to reality.

The interactions among HCJB Global, Lifewater, local Christian leaders and the communities are proving to be a tremendous learning experience for all. Reflecting on this, Cortez shares, “I think God brought me here with a message that can change the way missionaries and communities can work together, but I also can see from here so many mistakes I have been making back in Ecuador that I want to change when I return.”

Where we have a question mark in our spiritual diary, God has placed a period or the beginning of something big and marvelous. The sadness that accompanied us the entire day of Mezi’s death, the little 4 year old, was large. But God is great, and today we had the opportunity to look beyond the clinical portion of our beloved one.

When the father arrived at the clinic today to retrieve his daughter’s body he asked that the pastors go to his house to pray with his mourning family. Local pastors and pastors from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association went to their home finding the mother lying on a bed sheet.  Some 40 family members were there, mourning the loss of their loved one.

The pastors explained that the medical team (ours) had done everything possible to save and help the little girl. The parents had accepted or understood this to be true since they’d witnessed it personally. We had been very concerned because the parents’ response had been very strong that night.

The pastors also shared with them the message that God had given his only Son, Jesus Christ, to save the entire world. The mother had made it known that she was not attending church and had no personal relationship with Christ. She asked the pastors to pray with her and both mother and father accepted the Lord.

Other family members had been nearby and had heard the entire message. The pastors asked if anyone else wanted to accept Christ in his or her life. Eleven of the forty lifted their hands and asked God to change their lives. It was there that we were able to look far beyond the clinic to see that God’s ways are different than our plans.

As God’s Word says in Isaiah 55:8-9, “Because my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways says the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

“O Haiti” is the song dedicated to that land and its people after the earthquake a year ago. A number of well know music artists (Miguel Bosé, Shakira and Paz Vega to name a few) and some well-known soccer players gathered to share the text: “there is love, there is love in you, and in my voice; O Haiti, you are engraved in our hearts.”

Tomorrow we arrive on a COPS flight from Panama City at 10:40 p.m. We were able check in on line to reserve our seats, because of canceled flights, there would be a lot of pressure from other passengers.

We are all glad to be able to come home. Not so for our translators, nurses and Haitian friends who fell in love with our team. It was a difficult parting with many photos, hugs and tears!

There were also tears because we had to leave behind Mezi, a little girl less than 4 years old. She was the twin sister of her brother whom her parents now mourn. She was treated at another hospital that did not diagnose her case of cholera. She arrived to us in very bad shape. In these moments that we have to understand that life is given by God the Creator.

On the other hand we will not forget the many happy faces that arrived with death written on them and were able to not only regain their heath but also able to hear God’s message of salvation. That’s what happened to a 21-year-old young lady and her sister. Both were very grateful that life had been given back to them, and the new life they now take into the future. We are estimating that we cared for 25o patients who were treated for cholera during our time.

As team leader, I want to thank you in the name of HCJB that you allowed your loved ones to be members of our team and to travel for two weeks in Haiti to help so many people that live under very difficult circumstances.

A giant hug from all of us!

Guest blogger: Dr. Joe Martin

As we began seeing patients for the second week in a row, the team had a feeling of confidence and pride in that no one had died from cholera while we were taking care of them. There had been several patients that had arrived in dire straits and were only saved through quick intervention by the team.

That arrogance was quickly shattered when we received a 70-year-old man with cholera during our last overnight shift. The shift, which had begun at 7 p.m., had been relatively uneventful until about an hour before his arrival when we began seeing patient after patient that had to be carried in. There had been heavy rains for the past several days so we expected to see a few more patients than normal. What had seemed to be different about these patients is that they seemed to be much sicker than those that we had seen previously. Many were in shock.

As we started placing IV lines and giving him fluid, we all confidently felt that within a matter of minutes that he would respond as many of the previous patients had. He would open his eyes, be more alert and start moving more and more. Within 15 minutes and despite already having received several liters of IV fluid, his blood pressure was very low and his pulse was very weak.

Nonetheless, we believed that he would quickly turn the corner. After his next assessment a few minutes later it was clear that he had stopped breathing and did not have a pulse. We continued giving him fluid as we desperately searched for a heartbeat. We soon pronounced him dead and had to break the news to his son who’d brought him in.

I must say that I was still somewhat stunned that we hadn’t saved him. Those thoughts had to quickly be placed in the back of my mind as person after person arrived in a worse state than the last one. By the end of the shift we had increased our census of patients receiving IV care to 66 from 38, had the one death and admitted three others to the wards whom we felt were within minutes of death.

We left the Bercy treatment center exhausted. I personally left with a grim respect for cholera and much less arrogant about the plans that we make!

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).

By Hermann Schirmacher

First of all, let me assure you that we are in very good hands, because we’re trusting God who is caring for us so that in a week’s time we’ll be able to embrace you. On the other hand, we are with an organization that has a good track record and has a good understanding of the situation in the country including contacts with the higher leadership of the military who could evacuate us if such action became necessary. God does not want that to happen because we would lose many patients currently receiving treatment and many more who would come and not find the treatment they need. So please keep praying for us but worry less.

Every night we’re going to Bercy which means we’re outside of Port-au-Prince. So far we have not seen any violence near us. But we are always ready to stay in Bercy if we can’t return to the base because the roads are blocked.

This morning, after returning to the base and before going to sleep, I spoke with Tiffany who is responsible for the coordination of our activities with Samaritan’s Purse and ask if our work schedule could be reduced to 15 from 12 hours a day. After getting up at 3 p.m. we were told that we could head out at 5:30 p.m. instead of 4:30 p.m. This gave us time to eat a good meal in the dining area. The previous schedule had made lunch very complicated because we wanted to sleep, and we had to leave before supper was served.

In the dining hall we met Dr. Richard Furman, who along with his brother, founded World Medical Mission, an arm of Samaritan’s Purse that works around the world. We met him and introduced our excellent team to him. He had come to prepare the way for the visit of Franklin Graham and Sarah Palin

Today a child broke my heart. I try not to get emotionally involved with the patients as it can affect your work. But Emilien’s case was different. He’s 7 months old. His father brought him to the clinic more dead than alive. His pulse was very weak and he had cholera. His mother died when he was 5 months old and his father was left alone with three children.

His father doesn’t want to keep Emilien because he can’t support him. He said, “I’m going to write a letter so that the baby can be given to someone who can care for him. I can only care for the 4-year-old and the 7-year-old.” What mother or father wouldn’t want to immediately take Emilien; give him a home, love and a future? So what will Emilien’s future be? This is a scene that is repeated over and over in Haiti. The orphanages are full of children who have lost their parents o part of the family in the earthquake or the cholera epidemic.

The string around the foot of two patients caught my attention yesterday. They tie it firmly around the big toe to subdue the desire to have diarrhea. I’d never seen that before! Another photo I’ve sent is showing the training of Haitian nurses working with us. In every tent there’s always a nurse ready to change the intravenous and make sure the location doesn’t go interstitial.

Their level of training is very limited. I learned a few months ago about a place in Port-au-Prince that trained hundreds of nurses had collapsed during the earthquake and that many nurses had been killed.

Maria Elena, the nursing director in our emergency room in Quito, is stationed in the triage area, where patients are first seen. When there are times when new patients are not being received, she trains the nurses on intravenous placement techniques. Maxi, the one beside Maria Isabel, has now learned and does a good job and now trains other fellow nurses. But it’s a big challenge to do it well. Maria Isabel says it’s a greater challenge because their skin is tougher than us ‘pale faces’. Our Latin American gals didn’t know they were so white until they had treated our black Haitians, but there are always surprises and exceptions like the albino man who had almost red skin or the woman with 12 toes!

Around us there is plenty of well-planned logistical support … generators running all night, providing light … tanks of chlorinated water where everyone has to wash their hands and step on sponges soaked with it in basins in order to be disinfected. There are outhouses, storage sheds for medicines, bandages, gasoline, chickens. The roosters, when they crow, have a different voice. I think their crowing is in “Creole”!. It’s very entertaining.

I’m going to stop now, My colleagues are asking me to get the coffee ready and I’ve only got two minutes left, maybe less. Hugs to everyone, we love you very much. Thanks for your prayers, support, encouragement and love.

As told by Maria Isabel Manguia:

This morning was very special to me. At 3:40 a.m. I attended to a little girl whose dark brown body was flaccid and malnourished. She was brought to me by an anguished mother who (despite not being able to communicate with me since I do not know her language, Creole) was able to transmit through the expression of despair in her face and her gestures her desire that I save this piece of her heart.

There was this little girl on a green cot, completely exposed. At first I thought she was dead. Her skin was so cold—as cold as ice. She was rigid and unresponsive even to pain. But when I listened for a heartbeat I heard an almost imperceptible pulse that gave me hope.

I proceeded to start an intravenous needle in her fragile little right hand and began a dose of 350 cc of fluids. I was happy to see that little spark of life that still remained began to increase rapidly. Her sunken eyes and her skull-like face was transforming. Her body began once again to move as she raised her hand and sought her mother’s arm. In that moment I could see anew how wonderfully loving is our divine Creator!

Lord, you can do anything. Nothing is impossible for you. I am incredibly thankful for allowing me to be your hands in this work. I will never grow tired of thanking you for giving me the opportunity to save so many lives.

My dearest daughter Genesis, I am doing what you asked: “Save the dark-skinned people, Mommy. Save a whole bunch of them!”

The tent with the 24 beds that we that we prepared on the last day together (Friday) with our medical team was ready and perfect. That same night the first four patients arrived, three of them being from the same family. The mother and two children were in serious condition and would not have survived the night without intravenous hydration. God knew they were going to arrive. His timing is perfect. Samaritan's Purse did not let us leave without a debriefing time with pastors from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Yes, we were able to leave on our flights on Saturday. The skies were partially cloudy. Dr. Nelson left at 9 a.m. in order to catch his American Airlines flight to the U.S. He reported that there were large numbers of passengers that had canceled flights from the day before, so the three of us left early to go to the airport. On our way there we saw areas that were flooded. Various tent cities were impacted by the floods with water running down the streets and rivers much larger than normal. But it appeared that most of the tents withstood the storm without major damage.

Everything is different at the Port-au-Prince airport. First they made us wait outside and a few men for an additional fee could take us to the security area. I told them it was nice, but we weren't going to pay tips. It's almost impossible to carry your suitcases without three or four helpers trying to take them from you. Poor Dr. Nina, being the smallest member of our team, everybody wanted to carry his suitcase and he seemed like the perfect victim.

At last we were able to pass through the two security gates without incident. This time there was at least a ship selling drinks and hot dogs. This was new. The last time there was nothing like that. When I was in the bathroom, two airport workers came in and I saw that they were secretly dividing up some dollars that they had taken from some passenger.

In Panama City we were met by a team from the Ministry of Health before we could enter the airport asking for forms or declarations about any possible contact with cholera and our state of health. Since Dr. Nina and I were the first in line, we told them that we had not received any such forms and that we knew nothing about them. They let us two go, but the others were detained for an hour while being interrogated until at last they could proceed.

We arrived in Quito at 10:30 p.m. without incident, giving thanks to God for His protection. Dr. Mark Nelson also arrived safely at his destination.