We all had a very busy and long day yesterday! People were packed in the building and lines were forming outside. A total of 80 people went through the clinic yesterday which makes for a total of 220 people we have seen so far. We are in for another long day today as well. As the word spreads that we are offering free eye exams etc. we seem to be getting twice as many people showing up each day! We did not leave the clinic last night until 8:00 p.m. Almost a 12 hour day.
The plans right now are to go to Marmelade on Wednesday. This is where Living Water has recently planted a church. We will take a 2 hour bus ride and then have to get on a tap tap for another 30 miles the rest of the way. Check my Facebook pictures to see a tap tap (basically a truck with a homemade canopy coverying the bed of the truck). They are all over in Haiti and they cram around 15-20 people into the bed of a small Toyota sized truck. Should make for a good story.
Gene is an amazing cook! We all think that we are going to gain weight on the trip and we more than likely will. It was funny the other night as we finished dinner and headed to the roof to meet as a group. We had just made it up there after stuffing ourselves, plopped down on the roof and started to relax after a long day. Then Amy and Rebekah came up and said, "Guys, Gene wants us to come down to eat dessert." WHAT!! We all busted up laughing...surely we will gain weight.
Most people in Haiti are lucky to get one meal a day. The other day Living Water provided lunch and dinner for the men hired to do the concrete roof. After they had got there huge plate of rice and beans, there were 5-10 kids who came up to them. The men then began putting some of their food onto a plate so that these kids could have something to eat as they had not eaten all day. The kids grabbed the plate and ran over to a nearby bus and sat down underneath it and began to ate. After they finished one plate, they ran back and begged for more.
Salonique and his family only eat 2 meals a day because they don't want to live way over their countrymen's standard of living. Found this very interesting and wise as it might cause problems amongst them.
Yesterday after lunch, we left to head back to the clinic and there was a women waiting outside of Salonique's house. She had a spot on her eye and somehow found out where we were staying and wanted to ask the doctor about her eye. Tom glanced at it real quick and told her it was just a bruise and that it would heal over time...nothing serious to worry about.
We had been working at the clinic for a few hours and we looked over and noticed that there sat this same women who Tom just told she was fine a little earlier. Somehow, she sneaked through the system and sat in one of the three chairs in our room to wait for Tom (There is a huge room that they all wait in. We then take them and do the basic eye test where afterwards they go into another room where we are, and wait for Tom. We only do three people at a time in the room). She snuck through the whole system in two rooms and managed to sit in the seat. Her turn came to see the doc however she didn't have a Consultation form and she hadn't had the basic test done. Tom told her again that it was just a bruise and that it would heal over time. She was persisting that she go in and that he would check her eyes.
We couldn't let her just cut the line like that and get in...there would be a riot if that happened. So we told her she would have to get in line and wait like the rest. Later on in the evening, Salonique told her she needed to go home and come back in the morning. Of course, she didn't listen and got a paper and sat down. Awhile later, Salonique came into the clinic for the first time that day (around 7 p.m.) and his eyes fell on her. He became frustrated that this lady was not listening. However he just let her stay so that she would be seen and hopefully leave.
She made it through, got a pair of glasses and sunglasses and finally went on her way. Each night we go sit on the roof and talk about the day...stories we have or something that hit us that day. Salonique brought up the story of this lady and compared it to the women in Luke 18....how true.
We saw a lady yesterday who was 77 years old and had never seen an eye doctor and probably never seen any doctor at all. She was very joyful as she got glasses that helped her see better. There was also a lady and her son who we saw around 6 or 7 p.m. They had been waiting in line since 5 a.m. They waited over 12 hours to get in!! And they didn't complain even one time! Crazy how when we go see a doctor in the states and wait 10 or 20 minutes longer and we think the world is about to end.
We're off to another busy day at the clinic and then off to Marmelade tomorrow. Keep us in your prayers!
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