Wednesday and Thursday

Just got into Santo Domingo after a 8 hour drive.

Wedenesday 6 am - I awoke thinking that someone shaking the car I was sleeping in. It was a large 15 second tremor. There were yells, "get out of the house" and screams of fear. The 100 Haitians in tents were up and out. I was filled with memories of the earthquake 11 years ago in Colombia.

To be more effective we joined agreat medical team that cam in 3 days earlier. Great group that were thankful for our help and our SUV. We wondered how we could help but it worked out well.

We drove through the rubble of the city to the Main Hospital taht was still standing. Because all of the patients had been moved out of the hospital in fear, everything was outside. The sun was hot and we could not go inside until 2:30 pm

I led the team setting up the tarps for a shelter 40 X 30 feet, using scrounged rope, boards and and tarps. We set it up on a sidewalk as the triage ward for new incoming patients. The doctors started working. One was delivering a baby, another setting bones, others cleaning wounds....

I also carried a corpse on a door to the morgue with one of the fireman. That was hard as we had to cross over 100 yards of slimy road way.We figured it was from body fluids. We later heard over 900 had been piled there.. We also saw maybe 20 in varying states of decay, and causes of death. I hope I don't have nightmares about it.

It was 35 by midmorning. I had to sit down with heat exhaustion - many of us had troubles with that, but I drank over 15 bottles of water, many with oral rehydration crystals. I feel great now.

A doctor asked me to drive back to the Jesuit compound with him. We ran out of IV, pediatric medicines etc. We got them and raced back. We had to drive through the city and saw at least 3 tent cities of 1000+ tents, tarps, or sheets housing families.

At 6pm I went on a 1.5 hour search for gasoline with our interpreter. The city is totally dark. There are no lights except the occasional garbage fire. Where someone had a generator and a light there were great crowds o people. In some neighbourhoods, they have closed of roads and everyone sleeps on the street. My heart boke for these men and wonen and their kids.

Our interpreter is a gem. His wife runs a small used clothing business. When their house collapsed she lost all her inventory and savings. They were safe but devastated....

Pat was in her element in triage and the emergency room. Fixing broken femurs with Colleen, cleaning wound, prepping patients for surgery, doing infusions etc.

Sheila ran the Pharmacy and was also in her element. She immediately got involved organizing the pharmacy at the hospital, then distributing meds and IVs, then help ing doctors.

Colleen was helping everyone, doing errands, delivering supplies, helping with tarps.holding patients while Pat fixed femurs.

Alex is doing well. It was hard for him as he saw the journalists and videographers - lots of them looking for the worst cases. Jesse Jackson Anderson Cooper and lots of others. Sticking their cameras almost down patients throats they were so close. It was embarrassing. He will have more to say about that later. We have worked out well.

By the end of the day the hospital was full of every agency under the sun. they no longer needed our help.

Thursday the team was going to go to new untouched neighbourhoods where no one had helped.

When we got back to the Jesuit facility 4 big rigs were being unloaded including the one this team funded. 40 feet of protein - cheese and sausage. Wow. Its being delivered as we speak. Thanks donors.

Thursday morning we leave by 7 to get to Santo Domingo, to pick up Rey and get some desparately needed supplies, plus get medicine for the L'Arche community in Carrefour. We will go there Saturday with supplies. Pat, Colleen and Sheila are staying behind in the very good care of this team and the Jesuit priest will be watching out for them.

We are now in Santo Domingo. It took 1.5 hours to get across the border. Thousands are trying to cross the border.

Pick up Rey, supplies and then back....