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| ADRA- The Weight of Waiting |
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 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti--It’s happened to me before. And I’m pretty sure it’s happened to you. And boy, oh boy, do we HATE it. Waiting at the doctor’s office.
Recently, after much waiting, I was finally with the doctor when his mobile rang. He answered it, stepped out of the room, and didn’t return…for 45 minutes! That wait seemed undeniably intolerable and indecent…until today.
Today, I stood in a line for a clinic with Luciane. While waiting, she held her 7-month-old son in her arms, as a mother normally would. Her 5-year-old daughter, cloaked by her mom’s skirt, clung playfully to the purse over her little shoulder. Both children have had a fever for three days. And for three days, Luciane’s had the heavy weight of worry, feeling she had nowhere to turn for care.
But did you catch what’s abnormal? It’s a longer list. I said we “stood.” In a “line.” Primary care could not be found. The 25-meter, or 82-foot, line of people separating us from the entrance was duplicated behind and beside us. No doctor’s visit of mine has ever been like this.
Luciane is one of nearly 15,000 people who have sought refuge on the grounds of Haitian Adventist University in Carrefour. Earthquake survivors, who have lost or are very frightened to enter their heavily cemented homes, immediately flooded the open space of the university grounds, setting up makeshift homes of tarps and blankets. Without delay, ADRA began arriving with food and within hours had installed systems to provide clean drinking water. Luciane’s been here since day one.
However, since the earthquake, those in immediate critical condition absorbed all the medical care and facilities available, leaving a gap for primary care needs. So this week, in partnership with GlobalMedic, ADRA installed an inflatable field hospital in the camp to provide just that. Our clinic is meeting a dire need. Ever since the clinic opened, there’s been a line of hopeful patients stringing from the entrance. Today that line included Luciane and me.
Despite the turquoise Mickey Mouse umbrella she held up to it, the sun burnt mercilessly on us. Her wait would be counted in hours, not minutes. I found the heat unbearable and the long line in front of us discouraging, but gratefully, medical help is finally here. Calmly and patiently, Luciane waits.
Standing with her in the hot sun, I was reminded of my recent doctor’s visit and the stark contrast to her visit today. I had driven to the office. My wait was only 45 minutes, in a comfortable chair and in air-conditioning! It no longer seemed worth mentioning, much less complaining about.
But the weight on Luciane’s shoulders is so much more. “My heart is broken,” she told me, giving imagery to the personal impact of the last two weeks. Her home is destroyed, biting insects make sleep a nightly struggle, and she fears running out of food and diapers for her children. She, herself, had not eaten today.
Her four-bedroom home, that once stood two kilometers from here, no longer stands at all. “Home” has become a dry patch of grass with a makeshift tarp to provide protection. “I miss all the things from home,” she admitted. But a new home may be a long time coming. So she waits.
Added to that, her husband has lost his job. The building where he worked is pancaked, like most of the town. It will be a long time before things are rebuilt. And so he waits.
Here in this camp, with only days separating them from their earthquake horror, hope seems hard to find.
But for many families like Luciane’s, hope will be found because many ADRA supporters, when confronted with the devastating news of the Haiti Earthquake, didn’t wait. They responded with compassion right away and help was on the way—immediately!
Families like Luciane’s are benefitting daily from those who shared generous gifts with ADRA for Haiti. To you, we extend a big thank you for lessening the heavy weight of loss that the Haitians carry.
But as I tour through Port-au-Prince, bearing much the look of a bombed city, it’s easy to see that much, much more remains to be done to rebuild the people and town of Port-au-Prince.
You can help. To strengthen and encourage the people of Haiti, won’t you give a gift today? Please, don’t wait.
If you would like to support ADRA’s relief efforts, give to the Haiti Earthquake Response Fund at www.adra.org/haiti, or by phone at 1.800.424.ADRA (2372).
To donate through a mobile phone, text the word "ADRA" to 85944, reply "YES" and donate a one-time $10 gift to ADRA's Haiti response.
Follow ADRA on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest information as it happens.
ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.
For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.
Author: Michelle L. Oetman, Communications Coordinator for ADRA International, currently on the ground in Haiti.
請抓緊機會，送上您慷慨的捐款!
安澤中國聯絡方法:
Sarah Ng, 公共關係主任
電郵: sarahng@adrachina.org
電話:2838-3991
Donation Method/ 捐款方法
□ (Cheque/Money Order): $_____________(Payable to: ADRA Limited) (支票) $ ___________ (台頭請寫 ADRA Limited)
□ Online Donation/ 網上捐款: www.adrachina.org
□ PPS - Please call 18031 or visit www.ppshk.com for donation, merchant code: 9499.
繳費零: 請致電 18.33 或 瀏覽 www.psshk.com, 商戶號碼: 9499
□ Direct Transfer /直接存款
Citibank: A/C No.: 250-936-81665873 (Please mail us the original pay-in-slip with the completed donation form.)花旗銀行戶口: 250-936-81665873 (請把此表格和入數紙寄回本會)
Address/地址 : 12/F, Citimark, 28 Yuen Shun Circuit, Siu Lek Yuen, Shatin. NT. Hong Kong
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 In the hot sun, Luciane and her children wait in the queue outside of ADRA’s inflatable hospital which provides primary care for families living in the displaced persons camp in Carrefour, Haiti. Photo Credit: Michelle L. Oetman, ADRA International) |
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