Wednesday, January 27, 2010

What a day this was. I arrived in Santiago Dominican Republic at about 4 a.m. local time and we headed to the airport for the first mission at 7:00. It was clear on the first flight into Les Cayes, Haiti that the work that Randy and Zach have been doing for the last few days is incredibly important and completely appreciated by the people they're helping. We flew two flights into Les Cayes, which is a town on the southwestern tip of the country and the site of a large hospital for evacuees from the port au prince area. The "hospital" is much more like a refugee camp. We were able to deliver large amounts of food and water, and also removed empty oxygen tanks and brought them back to Santiago for refilling. According to the surgeons we spoke with, the lack of oxygen for patients is an extremely important need, and it was great to be able to get the tanks back to Santiago to get them filled. We'll deliver them back to Les Cayes first thing in the morning. When we were packing up for our third trip to Les Cayes, we were told that we needed to deliver food and money to a guy who is running an orphanage for two thousand children in Port au Prince. It was amazing to see Port au Prince first hand, and great to be able to help a guy who is responsible for feeding thousands of children. When we got back to Santiago, we weighed out our cargo for the morning, and offloaded truckloads of beans and produce into the warehouse for tomorrow. It has been great to be here, and I can't be more humbled by the incredible amount of work that so many people are doing here from so many different countries. It's really been an incredible experience.

4 comments:

  1. Hi... I am so thankful you are doing this. My name is Lauri Amandus and I am a friend of Ericka's who is a cousin. She told me what you are doing. We have dear friends in Port Au Prince that are trying to help about 3000 people on a school campus. They are in Bolosse and have not gotten food aid yet. They are getting desperate. I am hoping that by the time you read this they will have recieved some help. We are thankful for people like you doing what you are able to do in this horrible situation. Be safe! Thank-you

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  2. Love you Randy. I am really proud of what yuo are doing, and thinking about you all the time. Be safe, and keep up the great work. hugs, Ann

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  3. Thank you so much for the blog updates. I feel so deeply for these poor, almost-hopeless humans. It is work such as you two are doing that bolsters my belief in humanity.

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  4. Keep up the great work. What an awesome thing you are doing. It is so great to hear first hand about these missions. You are blessing many lives, there as well as here! Gail

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