Another earthquake...

This morning at 1:27 am there was another earthquake. This time I woke up. Ten minutes later there was another shake. This made me sit up in bed, in my tent. I heard the cries of children from my tent and decided I needed to go over to the post-op ward, to make sure all the children were okay. I knew physically they were not injured, because all the buildings were still upright, but I knew emotionally this would be a difficult night.

As I approached the ward there were already some children sitting outside. Crying. Shaking. Some moms and dads were out there too. I went inside and there were more children crying and afraid. I tried to comfort them; holding them, cuddling them. I can't even imagine the thoughts that were going through their minds. The memories of the 7.0 quake 6 weeks ago. The vivid images of being trapped in buildings or having walls fall on them. How scary. And here they were in a building, with yet another earthquake occurring.

We had to decide what to do. Let them sleep outside, knowing that they would then not want to sleep inside again for the nights to come? Make them sleep inside, knowing they were terrified and also not knowing if another quake would take place and possibly bring the building down. We decided to give them the option and in the end only 1 patient and a few caretakers stayed inside. The rest moved out to under the mango tree. Of course, this was not the safest place, since mangoes were falling out of the tree hitting people through the night. But I think most of the children slept well out there. I went back to my tent at 3:00 am.

Today the children were outside most of the day. They did come inside for wound care, one by one, which seemed to be fine. At least during the day you can see everything and get out quickly if need be (hopefully at least). They had lunch inside. We spent the afternoon setting up tents for them and moving all of the beds and belongings outside into the tents. It's a bit of a strange set up now, with the patients in 5 different tents. But they all seem very happy and I think they will sleep better tonight. We put on a worship dvd for them in the building tonight- we figured it is good for them to be inside now and then to slowly get over their fears but there was one child who was still pretty scared so we took her back to the tent. How long will it take for the people to overcome their fears of being inside buildings?

Overall it was a busy but productive day. It is a privilege to work with these children. They are awesome. Thanks again to all of those who have made this possible. Please continue praying for the people in Haiti- for safety, protection, wisdom, health, shelter, and open hearts for God.