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On Tuesday afternoon, January 12th, at precisely 4:53 PM EST, the worst natural disaster in more than 200 years struck the country of Haiti. One third of Haiti's 9,000,000 population was directly affected as a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the entire country. The city of Port-au-Prince and the south of Haiti were affected the most. More than 250,000 people died. A million became homeless.
Mission To Haiti's campus is located just outside the International airport in Port-au-Prince. We have a complex of buildings. The first thing we heard was something that sounded like an explosion. We thought that a plane had crashed into the compound. The noise level continued to increase and the buildings began to shake violently. The quake lasted only a few seconds but still, it devastated the region.
The medical team, which had been at a rural site, was just coming to the campus. The bus rocked back and forth violently but it didn't turn over. Men working on the tops buildings, held on. One man told us that a 'hand' pulled him back from the edge of the roof. Men working on a new clinic were thrown off the scaffolding. By God's grace and protection, the mission team, which was near the epicenter, was kept safe. It was, as if angels were dispatched to protect us.
As dust arose from the community, we realized that many of the houses were destroyed, burying hundreds of people in debris. Our folks began pulling injured people from the collapsed buildings that were at our doorsteps. The medical team quickly set us a 'triage' in the yard. By this time it was getting dark. The city electricity had gone off and it would soon be dark.
We were sure that our electrical system in the compound had been damaged, but we started the large generator and soon we had light. People with every injury imaginable were brought to the camp. By this time darkness had fallen. Hundreds of people, with no place to go made their way into the camp and were sitting in little groups away from buildings.
Children died as they lay in their parent's arms. One young boy, whose parents had died at home, made his way to the camp. His ribs were broken, his lungs were punctured and filling with fluid. As hard as the doctors worked, they could not save his life. Death surrounded us.
By the next morning, we began shuttling the worst cases to nearby clinics. As our crew drove through the city, they reported that it looked like a war zone with refugees fleeing in every direction.
Medical supplies, which we had brought to last a week, were now exhausted. The next step was to deal with the dead left in the compound. Especially heartbreaking were the babies and small children. One father asked for a sheet of plywood so that he could make little coffins for his children. Our carpenters began making coffins so that we could bury the dead. The last group was 5 little children laid out in a row in our yard. We will never forget.
Mission To Haiti continues to serve the Lord and the people of Haiti. We must rebuild. Your support and prayers are important and greatly appreciated.
These pictures where taken by the Boston Globe.
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