CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/31068
g hree a.m. wake-up calls are not typically welcomed in the middle of the night, but on February 2 those wake-up calls came with a powerful message for 22 members of our community. The calls signaled the start of an eight day mission trip to Haiti, organized by iving DELIVERING HOPE T A team of volunteers from Fayetteville worked to bring healing and comfort in Haiti | By Mitch Guy Fast Facts: 1 LANGUAGE First Presbyterian Church, to improve lives through evangelism, encouragement and hard work. The group was divided into two teams: A construction team and a medical team. Both sets of skills are direly needed to address Haiti’s unwavering poverty and myriad of health issues. The diverse backgrounds and personalities that converged to make up the mission team was something to behold. Members ranged from 20 to 79 years old and were Fayetteville natives and transplants, sports fans, animal lovers, doctors with varied specialities, Presbyterians, Baptists & Methodists, veterans of different branches of the military and an aspiring Marine. A devoted team of church staff and volunteers worked tirelessly to plan, prepare and coordinate every detail of the trip and, when alarms started ringing at 3 a.m.or earlier, everyone knew the time had come to start the journey to the third world. First Presbyterian Church, with pastor Dr. Jay Coker and physician Dr. Chris Aul, has taken mission groups to Haiti for over a decade and currently work with Haiti Outreach Ministries (HOM), throughout the Port-Au-Prince area. HOM’s director, Pastor Leon Dorleans, and a team of drivers and interpreters gave the anxious team from NC a warm welcome at the airport and constantly guided the relief efforts during the trip. Just a few hours after landing in Port-Au-Prince the crew began looking for ways to help in the community of Repatriote. They assembled a plan to examine, treat and fill prescriptions for hundreds of patients each day. A handful of doctors, half a dozen nurses and a patient pharmacy staff used local interpreters to navigate the language barrier. Seemingly every patient described symptoms of dry eyes, headache and stomach pain; and serious conditions were treated nearly every day, The primary language spoken is Haitian Creole, a variation of French. The country was formed as a French colony in 1697 and remained under French rule until 1804. 2 MEDICAL Cholera, malaria and hepatitis are a few of the serious medical risks associated with visiting Haiti. Tap water is unsafe to drink and ample use of sunscreen is recommended. 3 POPULATION Haiti is home to nearly 10 million people and has an estimated annual per capita income of $1,338. 4 GEOGRAPHY Haiti has a land area of 10,700 square miles and shares the island of Hispanola with the Dominican Republic. 5 VOLUNTEERS The team of 22 volunteers carried 44 large duffel bags filled with medical and construction supplies. Over 1200 people filled the sanctuaries for the group’s Sunday services. 6 FAITH CityViewNC.com | 61