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Roberta Preston gives a frontline report of what happens in the lives of crisis responders as she represented Aglow in March on Crisis Response International’s (CRI) emergency response team in Haiti. Roberta is medically trained and serves as Aglow’s Emergency Response Coordinator for North Central Wisconsin.

Haiti in Crisis

When I went to Haiti I was expecting/hoping to do some search and rescue. Instead, we, as members of Crisis Response International’s team helped to get a rendezvous point together for other rescuers who come and go from other nations.

It was at Quesqueya Christian School in downtown Port au Prince. It is a large facility on 4-5 acres whose buildings survived the 7.0 quake.  It has a 10 ft wall around it with razor wire on top.  The Lord moved in the southern division of the U.S. Army onto the grounds and they became our immediate live-in protection. The school has armed guards at the gates so we were very safe in there.

Outside the compound was a different world. The owner of the school cautioned us, "If you go out after dark, we will not go out to find you. You are on your own!”
 
We built the crisis rendezvous infrastructure: We built showers, did dishes, served food, brainstormed, played muscle to move supplies around and sort them, did communications, made IDs, did praise and worship, and worked in the Incident Command Center. It was a lot of hard work.  After about 3 days of this, when everything was going well, we were allowed to go out and help the people. We were excited!

We helped spiritually (with prayer over Haiti), physically (as prayerful medics), and prayed for the souls of individuals and their salvation: We know of around 650 who gave their hearts to the Lord while we were there. Some saw instant miracles by the hand of the Lord.

Each morning the medical teams would meet at the parking lot and pick teams.  I went out with Heart 2 Heart Ministries for 2 days. They had 2 doctors, 2 nurses, a pharmacist, a vet tech, an EMT, 2 chaplains and some others to help with translation and other jobs.

We set up in an outdoor gazebo and people lined up for medical help and prayer.  We prayed for many salvations and did a lot of wound care. Their stories are horrific, their wounds unbelievable. Many were already Christians and cried in humble gratefulness as we prayed for them.

Then I went out with a team of Haitian & U.S. doctors and nurses. SO much need!

I was doing IVs, breathing treatments, eye washes, rehydration, injections, wound care and dressing, assisting the docs with exams, and many other things. I dealt with TB, Malaria, and a lot of dehydration.

We gave out a lot of vitamins and iron. I was rehydrating babies with syringes because we kept the IVs for the extremely dehydrated cases, of which there were multiples each day. Many on the team got to help with baby deliveries. I was not in the right place at the right time to get to experience that, but will be someday, I hope.  
 
The Haitian people we dealt with were very patient and gracious. They would even faint in line waiting for medical assistance, yet never tell us they were hurting. I did not hear complaints in 11 days from anyone: rescuers or “rescuees.”  All rescuers were thankful to be there; all rescuees thankful to receive help.

The Haitians were very clean and their clothes were bright and colorful. Their whites were absolutely dazzling! How do they do it?
 
We saw the collapsed presidential palace. People and tents were everywhere! In front of a church that was devastated a statue of Jesus crucified stood, untouched,  as a monument!
 
Children walked the streets alone. Many were adapting, and even seemed happy, amazing, just 12 days after the horrific earthquake that took so many lives. 

People were still trapped at that time and they were still trying to get them out. Other teams from CRI did searches and rescued many people from the rubble. The traffic was constant and full.  Many trucks, busses, motorcycles, and "tap-taps," (taxis) were on the roads. 

It was important to pray for protection every day: The dust from the roads was full of bacteria; I got a respiratory infection about 8 days in. The school had a Norovirus going around (virus transmitted by contaminated food, water, and person-to-person contact) and 6 of the 15 CRI people got it bad, diarrhea and vomiting.  Many of the medical teams had it, too.

The water is very dangerous to foreigners, full of bacteria. The local people have built up immunities to protect them from it. Some of our staff got sick just from the water. I was very careful just to use bottled water. Many of the Haitians took baths/showers in the street - they just take a large pan with them and take it wherever they can find water. 

Sanitation is very primitive. Some places had toilets,but no paper, and sometimes no seat. Pigs ran in the streets, garbage and sewage was everywhere.  But I hear this is typical anyway, not just from the earthquake.
 
Food was usually red beans and rice with chicken. I ate so much of it I am having trouble eating chicken at home.  Their way of thawing and cooking would make you not want to eat for the next month!  I finally resorted to MREs near the end of my deployment, and I found a couple of free cans of Chef Boyardee spaghetti & meatballs.What a treasure! 

One doctor gave us a big bag of Sugar Frosted Flakes. It picked us up after a long day of physical and emotional exhaustion.
 
I am still adjusting emotionally but am getting better as each day passes, though I believe I will never be the same. I am fortunate and honored to have been able to deploy with Crisis Response International -- an End Time Army of Mercy Missionaries!