Earth shakes at 1.30 a.m.; Père Puck sleeps


A night at the Good Samaritan Clinic in Carrefour is the event of a lifetime. Roosters in Carrefour crow all night; the volunteers' chorus of sleep noises defies rhythm, reason, and rhyme; the singing of Haitians keeping vigil lifts the night spirits; the occasional truck or UN helicopter overhead rattles the cool air. 


Eventually morning comes and I'm challenged to get creaky bones vertical, kneeling on my bad knees to push up. But, it's so worth it to be here. Last night we sat at table eating a delicious meal and talking about all manner of things, including how the children here call Bill Grace Papa Nöel. In certain ways, everything seems so normal--except there was no electricity because the Guest House generator was broken and the city power was off, as usual--good friends sharing a night of pleasant company.


Time can be told by the sound of children and their mothers, fathers and other youngsters, a grandparent-aged two or three gathering at 6 a.m. to wait for the clinic to open at 9 a.m. We shared a breakfast of a porridge, hard boiled eggs, and that thick Haitian coffee I like so much. Then Mona brought me to the outer door where Jean-Elie patiently and firmly allowed the first phalanx of patients in. In the process, he needed to calm an agitated older woman who was told to wait even longer. 


With the outer door closed, Jean-Elie lead the assembled patients in song and prayer. Once finished, I greeted almost every person, a touch on the hand, a smile, a blessing on a child's head. I came to one 6 year old girl and touched her nose. She put her head down. I invited her to touch my nose by touching it myself. No Way. I tried again. No Way. Everybody was watching intently. So, I took her index finger and brought it to my nose. As the little finger touched me, I Quacked. Of course, she yanked her hand back while everybody else laughed. I asked her to try again and she timidly reached out to get another mighty Quack. This time she laughed.

So, this day has begun. Luc & Stephanie are off to pick up Team 5 at the Embassy in a big, old school bus with Isaac Jean-Pierre. Riene Boyer will go along to see if she can make progress with the Embassy allowing her husband's step-sister to come to the US. We're hopeful. Bill Grace is working on the battery charger-inverter which broke the other day. Joanne Kimball and Mona are tasked with distributing humanitarian aid--diapers, clothes, small bags of food. Erika Dayton is helping Carol Keith, George Momplaisir, and Jean-Elie in the clinic. I will return to the School for another look around and to think more about how we might move forward.