Erika's Story...

We got up a little bit later than usual today at 5:30am for another distribution site. This was the same tent camp that we went to assess with the U.S. army yesterday. Once again, U.S. army escorted us to and from the compound. (and once again it was still super cool :) ) When we got to the tent camp, all the people were gathered around the front entrance already. All the little kids poked their heads out of the tents to see what all the commotion was. We quickly set up the areas for our giving ceremony. The people were very intense when they saw the huge bags of rice, flour, corn starch, blankets, and waterproof tarps. The speeches were given and songs were sung and everything seemed to go smoothly. Well, that was until the Si Guo started passing out color pencils and colorful crayons/markers to all the children in the middle of the mob of people waiting for relief goods. Oh boy was that not a great move....yeah so the children came rushing down and had no where to exit and the people were getting restless. Then the army started getting worried and put on their "we need to stop all this riot" face. Yeah, when the military gives you that face you know something is going down. So before I know it we were all being rushed out by military personnel and things started getting chaotic. People were grabbing people and yelling. Then finally the military people lined up on the sides and made a small pathway for us to get through the crowd, while yelling "Go Go Go, we gotta go NOW!" Yeah....it got interesting for sure. So we left the compound way earlier than expected. Lesson learned I guess. I was a little bit sad when I saw the little children that I had bonded with so well run out after our van just to wave goodbye to me. It was hard to leave behind the little ones. Initially, when we first got to the compound, since I spoke French, I went around to all the curious little ones and introduced myself. I asked each one of them their names and age and they were all super happy to see us there. ::sigh:: safety first I guess...things were out of hand due to chaotic distribution situations. Better luck next time.

We got back to the compound quite early and I actually had the time to sit down and eat a bowl of rice porridge. It was very yummy. At around 9am I went out to help out with the clinic areas. Once again I ran from place to place to help translate for the doctors. It was a very heartwarming morning for me today due to all the children that came to see the doctor. There were many injuries today related directly to the Earthquake, especially the little ones. Before we would see many people who have emotional scars that cannot sleep and cannot eat due to anxiety and stress, but today it was all actual physical trauma. A family of three, which I later found out was actually 13, parents with 11 children all sleeping in one big tent. There was a little girl of 8 years old and her little brother of 6 years old that came to see the doctor. The little boy was first and he had open sores all over both of his legs. When asked why they were here today, the mother told me that it was for his legs. The little boy was hurting badly and the mother really wanted some help. I asked them what exactly happened to cause the wounds and she responded with that both of her children were stuck under the rubble during the earthquake and couldn't get out. The little boy's legs were caught under a big cement block and were bleeding when he was eventually pulled out. The little girl was hit on the back of the head and back with blocks of concrete that fell from the ceiling structure and was force to fall down flat on her face. She had scars all over her face and body. The little girl was very lucky, because she did not sustain internal head injuries, just exterior injuries, which are healing nicely after a month and a half since the earthquake. The little boy's wounds were treated on-site and he was in a lot of pain. He held my hand the whole time and squeezed tight when he was in pain. He was definitely a very tough boy to have gone through that ordeal. Just seeing his little body with all those injuries completely broke my heart. When the little girl was interviewed by Da Ai channel, she said that she was very scared at the time of the earthquake and that all she wanted to know was where was her mother. She was trapped under the rubble with many of her siblings, but couldn't move at all. Eventually her parents came running home to pull them out from the rubble. I cannot even begin to imagine what that little girl was and has gone through. The resiliency of these children are just so amazing...

I was abruptly pulled out from the clinic rotations to go do another assessment of a possible new site. We took the van all the way to Tabar today for the new assessment. We looked at a school that was built for adoptive children to poor families. There were a total of 250 children in the neighborhood. The school was destroyed in the neighborhood and the founder needed our help. We also went to look at the local church where most of the families went to. The church's roof was completely destroyed in the earthquake and people were pretty much just sitting in an open space. It was decided that the distribution was going to take place at that church, since the space was a lot bigger. We needed to accommodate for 800 families on ceremony day. After getting back from the site assessment, I continued to help translate at the clinic. Half way during the afternoon, the U.S. army came by to talk with us about some priority sites that they found. We will look into it in the following days. This time the army wanted to take photos with us, it was funny. haha. Then not long after, the Medicines du monde group came by, who only spoke French, and I was once again pulled over to help speak with them. It turns out that they have a list of 10 orphanages they need a lot of help and they wanted to collaborate with us to do distributions. We will also assess the sites in the following days. I am hoping we can go to all those orphanages, since those are the places that I love to help out in. Let's keep our fingers crossed for this one shall we?

When the clinic was done, just right before dinner, I saw another van pull up at the lot with a group of people. I asked where they were going and they said, "we are doing a home visit, get in." So not knowing any of the situation, I hopped in the van. It turns out we were going to one of the local Tzu Chi volunteers home. Her name is Erika and she is pretty amazing. She helps out at the compound 6 days a week as a translator and dental assistant. We drove her back to her home, which took about an hour with traffic. It turns out she has to walk 10 minutes to go get "tub tub" (which are like the equivalent of taxis in America, except with like anywhere from 6 to 15 people in one small pick-up truck). She has to take three "tub tubs" every day just to get to the Tzu Chi compound, which is at least an hour and a half. It was very hard to get to her place because the road conditions were just horrendous. Driving was so hard on it and I am sure walking is not any better. When we finally got to her door, we realized that she was sharing the same quarters as the chickens. It was a chicken house, not that many chickens left, but it sure still smelled like chickens. There were three thin and broken up mattresses on the ground with a hole in the roof and no real coverings around. She started to talk about how they take showers just outside with everyone watching and no real soap. They have to walk 15 to 20 minutes to go get water for the shower and they just go to the bathroom anywhere that is discrete in public. She started to talk about all of this and broke down. She told me that they have been at this new place for about two months now and before the earthquake they lives with their grandmother, whom now is under the basement rubble of what is left of their old house now. She said that her little sister is so afraid to stay indoors that many days they just sleep on a thin tarp outside in the grass. hearing her store it just broke my heart. I just wanted to swoop her up and take her with me and tell her that everything is going to okay. I cannot do that though and everything is not going to be okay. Instead I told her that she has been so strong and keep on going with that. That things will get better. We gave her some donations and we will go back to give her some tents, so at least they can have some shelter areas of their own.

When we got back to the compound, everyone hurried to go get dinner. I was hesitant to eat. I was still thinking back to what Erika told me. It resonated very deep within me to not only hear her story, but to see it, as well. Maybe it had a greater impact on me because she was speaking French directly to me or maybe because she is one of the volunteers that I have been bonding with during shifts. I am not sure, but what I am sure of is that she has such a big heart, and this is exactly the message that Tzu Chi gives. She really embodies, "you receive more in return when you give to others." She herself is struggling and has gone through such a traumatic experience, but she still finds it in her heart to travel high and low to come volunteer for the betterment of her people. That is what we call unconditional love.

Tomorrow morning we will go assess two different orphanages with the Jordan Tzu Chi team, and possibly the Jordan UN army, not sure yet. And in the afternoon, I will be going to the General Hospital here to get some trauma training. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I hope everything works out tomorrow. Oh yeah, I switched rooms, into a new room with actual beds. Feels kind of weird. I actually like the hospital stretchers better (yes I know I am weird). I moved because the last rotation of volunteers just left today for Dominican Republic. The rest of us, all 21 people, are the smallest group yet since January. This is going to be a challenge.

As I sit here in my mosquito net typing this note...I cannot help but wonder how are all the people outside in their tents doing? It just started raining here, I'm really worried about the Haitians....flooding has already started outside my door....but it is not nearly close to the amount of water running down my cheeks...