Short Stories

This will weave and jump around, I apologize.

- At the US Embassy there was a woman with three children. She and one child held USA passports. Two of her children had passports from some other Caribbean nation. (I don't remember which one.) She thought I was an Embassy employee and pleaded her case to me. I explained what I knew and that anyone leaving at this time had to have a valid US Passport. She then asked me if I would take her two kids so she and the one child could leave.

- After I left the Embassy a young man helped me get the bags our kids had to leave behind out of the gate and into the car. He then accepted a fair amount of money for his help and we asked him if he wanted a baby stroller that was left behind (just the wheels and not the car-seat part - the car seat part was given away in the night) -- you have never seen anyone so thankful to be given a little cart with four wheels. Troy got in the car and cried based on that man's gratitude for such a tiny little thing.

- A phone call came that a man had been walking since Tuesday night from the south part of the island. They asked if he could come to us for medical help or help getting to the US Embassy. They said he had been vomiting and walking for days without much rest. He never showed up here.

- Mass graves are being used, the bodies are seen stacked in trucks and around town. Many people will be buried without their families ever knowing where they were when they died.

- Plans are underway to open a clinic to serve our area. We need prayers that the plane is allowed to land with our people and supplies. They are supposed to be able to get in in the next 36 hours but we pray that it actually comes to pass. We cannot begin without them.

- Water purification in the form of a safe chlorine product is being made around the clock and will be distributed for people to add to their dirty water source and be able to make it safe to drink.

- Logistically speaking - things are beyond imaginable. We are considering things like "where do we put medical waste, amputated parts, etc.? "Where do people who need IV's around the clock to kill bad infection need to be housed?" We know the world is praying and we thank you and ask you to continue to do so for weeks and months to come.

- There will be people specifically in place to pray with and comfort the dying. Once I know who is doing that I will ask you to pray for them by name. That task is of incredible importance.

With love and gratitude for the support,
tara