When we arrived to Haiti I was so overtaken! The drive up was a little scary though, 13 of us piled in the pack of a truck, on the path that we had no idea where we were going. It was dark and extremely bumpy and you had to duck so you wouldn’t get smacked in the face with a tree branch! It was seriously like a scene out of Jurasic Park!
After 3.5 hours of driving, we arrived at our destination. I couldn’t believe it…I walked in and heard something that sounded like the ocean….yep the ocean is our front yard. I walk out of the house to hear the beautiful sound of ocean waves! We have beds to sleep in, running water, showers, and meals prepared for us. Thank you Jesus!! I really do feel so blessed. It’s almost like I’m on a tropical getaway. I always tell my team that we are on our honeymoon this month! Some days I truly feel that we are!
I was prepared to do construction this month which I was excited about because last month my team and I had so much fun working on the farm in Dominican. I have turned into a different Karen! I actually like doing labor, I like digging holes, I like shoveling cow poop, I like planting seeds, I like watering plants, and I like using heavy tools!! I somehow picked up the name “the strongest woman in the world” last month from our contact Miguel. I think it’s because I forget I’m a little person and I try to lift very heavy objects haha.
My team and I heard this month we were going to be helping build a school that was destroyed during the earthquake. We had a orientation with our contact Angela, she works for Missions of Hope(it’s a christian organization here in Haiti) and is such a amazing person. She is a nurse as well which made me very excited to hear! She mentioned that she runs a free clinic down at the school that is open to the school, workers, and community. She said she was really in need of help this month and would love for me to work with her. Can I just say that my heart filled with so much joy!! I came on the World Race hoping I would get to use my nursing skills but I didn’t want to have that expectation, so I let them go. So you can understand why my world lit up when I found out I would get to truly be nurse Karen this month!! Somewhere along the way my team started calling me “Nurse Karen” and this month I get to live up to my name:) Not only do I get to be a nurse, but I am seeing my own patients. Back in the states, we go to doctors for orders, but here I make my own decisions on what kind of care and medications this patient needs. It’s scary having this much autonomy and lack of resources. I know that God placed me here for a reason and if he didn’t think I was capable then he wouldn’t have given me this opportunity.
So here I am, working in a clinic in Haiti doing what I love most! I not only get to care for their medical needs, but I am able to bring God into my care more than I ever felt I had freedom to do before. When I can’t figure out what is wrong with my patient, I turn to God first.
It’s so amazing how many people I care for in one day who have so many health problems but yet still have hope. I remember this very sweet lady. She was about 75 years old, couldn’t see very well, had very high blood pressure, was very weak and walked with a limp because her right leg hurts her so bad from a past fall. There wasn’t much I could do for her except to give her pain medication and test her vision and educate her on healthy ways to lower blood pressure. She didn’t reply with anger, instead she kept saying “mesi Jayz”. This means “thank you Jesus” in creole. She started to shout out all the things she was thankful for. She brought tears to my eyes and truly softened my heart! It was so encouraging! This woman appeared to have nothing, but yet she had everything. The joy of the Lord was in her heart!
God opened my eyes to see that it’s not just about getting people healthy and making sure they are fed, or giving them shelter. It’s about bringing the gospel and the joy of the Lord to these places to give them hope. I am missionary who just so happens to love to care for the sick. God blessed me with this gift and I will continue to use it for his glory. Although I do miss construction and working with my team this month, I know it is all apart of his plan! I am so excited to see God at work over these next couple weeks! stay tuned…more blogs to come! love ya’ll!
