|
Authorities in Haiti now
estimate 200,000 people have been killed by last week's
7.0 magnitude earthquake. That would make the
catastrophe one of the deadliest ever. More than 1.5
million people are believed homeless. Many are streaming
out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, reports MNN.
However, the suffering continues in the city a s the
cries of anguish echo through the streets from those who
have still gone untreated for their injuries.
HCJB Global sent a medical team in to Port-au-Prince
last Friday. President of the organization Wayne
Pederson says, "They've done about 70 major surgeries,
but they've treated hundreds of others. It's almost
impossible to count the number of people they've
treated.”
The team was working at the Baptist Haiti Mission
Hospital, one of the only standing hospitals in the
region.
Pederson says there have been many heartbreaking stories
of parents losing six or seven of their children --
entire families being wiped out.
But Pederson says there have been encouraging stories,
too, like the girl who was treated for a serious
infection. "As the doctors went away from treating her,
she began to sing. First she sang low. Then she sang
louder and louder. She was singing in Creole, so the
doctors didn't understand what she was singing, but she
was singing, 'I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved.'”
That's not the only good news story from the hospital.
Pederson says, "We were thrilled when about 20 Billy
Graham chaplains arrived at the hospital earlier this
week. And they are having devotions with the patients
and sharing Christ. We heard Monday morning that on
Sunday, 20 people prayed to receive Christ in the
hospital.”
However, there are still many more questions than
answers. "What do they do with the people after they're
treated? 100-percent of the people have no homes to go
to. Our doctors have asked, 'Where will you go after
your treatment?' They have nowhere to go, so they're
staying around the hospital.”
The smell of death is almost unbearable. "Yesterday, our
community development director dug a grave, and the
staff began to bury people that have no next of kin, or
maybe other family members were killed in the earthquake
-- so, they began burying the dead.”
While this team is getting ready to head home to Quito,
Ecuador, Pederson says, "We will be sending in a second
wave of medical professionals by the end of the week.
This will be an ongoing process where we bring new
personnel in and send others home for rest and renewal."
|