It is time to tell our story.
We are all OK. Our house still stands. That is a blessing. If that were not the case, we would not have been able to help so many after the quake hit.
I was in the kitchen, my son Grayden was in his room. Bridgely was in the house but close to the door. We think one of the twins was in her bedroom and one was on the porch. Teagan and Laurens were on the porch. It started as a low hum and shake, then it grew….
My mind thought, “that is strange”, then my mind thought, “what is that?”. In a matter of seconds the house came alive and I was at the end of my kitchen table. The shaking was incredible. I remember seeing the concrete walls moving violently in a wave like at a wave pool. One to my right, one to my left and then one in front of me moving in a different direction. I also remember the ceiling was moving in a wave above me. The floor beneath my feet did not feel attached to me.
Grayden ran to me screaming. Hysterical screams and I clung him tight to me and instinctively semi crouched. All of this may have only taken a few seconds..i don’t know. The next thing I remember was Laurens running in the house yelling “get out, get out, get out…RUN” As he grabbed my arm, I went into full action. Still clinging to Grayden, I ran to the door grabbing as many of my children as I could. Yelling myself, “RUN, RUN, RUN, GO, GO”. We reached the steps to the garden and I remember how difficult it was to run down them as the concrete steps were moving. I remember running through the front drive with the land still moving. Laurens was still yelling to run further to get away from the building. The dog followed us all. When I got to the end of the driveway, I looked around and counted kids, I could not see Bridgely. I turned back to the building and screamed “BRIDGELY, BRIDGELY, BRIDGELY” as I thought he was still on the upper level at our neighbours. Then there he was in front of me. He had been holding my hand the whole time.
Somewhere between the driveway and the road, the movement stopped. For a moment….. then it started again, smaller but almost as big as the first and long as well. I gathered the kids and instructed them to sit and we huddled until it stopped. Then it started again…….Finally the earth rested for a while.
Then I stood up and turned around……From our rural hill not far from Port au Prince, we have a few of the whole city. As I looked out towards the city and the ocean, that is when I realized what had just happened. The entire city went up in dust. One huge even dust cloud arose from the entire massive city. It was like a bomb had gone off and it was the smoke rising. I looked to the right and saw a similar smaller cloud over our local village Source Matlas. I looked to the left and saw a large cloud of dust and smoke from the flour factory. I was speechless regarding what all this may have meant.
That may have been enough to deal with except that we realized that we had a team of 53 Canadian’s visiting on a short term mission trip. We went into leader mode. Laurens went to check on a few things and I gathered the team. Grant went to get the ambulance and I gathered the visiting nurses and doc. We jumped into the ambulance and headed down to the clinic. Grant took the team in and I rushed to the front gate of our mission. By the time I got there, the injured started arriving. They came in tap tap (pick up truck taxi) after tap tap. Children, woman and men.
Their arms and legs were crushed, their bones sticking out of their bodies, their heads gashed open. Some crying in pain, some barely alive. 5, 6, 7, people per truck.
After a few minutes I left the gate and security took over letting them all in and I rushed back to the hospital. For the next 33 hours straight we worked on the traumatic cases that lie before us. It looked like war. We did not know the integrity of the clinic yet so we could not go inside. The aftershocks started to come and were frequent but less in intensity. We had to get supplies in side but ran back out every aftershock we got. The injured were lying all over our outside walk way. Grant, our visiting nurses and myself worked on triaging the worst patients. We are not a full service hospital, we are just a clinic…..we started to get reports that the biggest hospital in PAP, General hospital had crashed down, Doctors without Borders had crashed (the only 2 main ER’s in the entire city!). We got further reports that other hospitals were down. We started to realize, that we were all there was for miles and miles and miles.
At the 20th hour, we told the gate we could not accept anymore patients as we still had to get through many many more. We sent our nurses (except for a few) and our helpers to work in shifts and Grant and I worked on. We reduced (tractioned bones back in place) open compound fractures…….putting tibia bones, back into people’s legs that were sticking out. We reduced and set many many femur fractures, lower leg fractures, arm fractures. We sutured arms, legs, heads. We put scalps back together and we cleaned concrete out of wounds for hours. We stabilized pelvic fractures and we helped babies with head trauma breath on oxygen.
We had 3 die. 1 baby, 1 two year old and 1 ten year old. We had 4 others on the brink of death. We saved a lot. Because we had no other choice (as there was no where to send them), at the end of 33 hours, we had discharged all but 5 to follow up. The last few we attempted to take to hospitals. 3 refused and wanted to go home to die.
The other 2 Grant and Laurens tried to find somewhere that would take them in Port Au Prince. It was true, most hospital’s were not functioning and those that were, were full of bodies, inside and out. Everywhere, some alive and some dead. Bodies were pilled up in the parking lots as there was no where to put them. Most of the doctors that used to work at the hospital’s were dead or not heard of. Families had no where to take their loved one’s bodies because their houses were crashed down, they still were missing family members or the funeral homes were destroyed….so they left them.
We went home and slept 6 hours. Then opened the clinic again. We worked another 10 hours, seeing the same things. Finally it stopped. There were no more tap tap’s running as there was no more diesel for their vehicles.
That same night, our president of Mission of Hope arrived. We started into disaster relief planing with some partner organizations. By this time reports of what the damage in the country looked like were becoming clear. We had US and CAN doctors start to come in through the dominican to help. We have had doctors coming now since Sat. We have been coordinating a grand scale disaster relief plan for the 100’s of thousands of people that have not yet got into the hospital and for food distribution. It is to say the least, no small task.
We have hardly slept, we have not been able to communicate with you. Tonight it was time.
The capital is devastated. The national palace is on the ground (white house), the ministry of transportation is on the ground, the huge justice palace (the whole judicial system) is on the ground, the ministry of health is on the ground, the ministry of finance is not down but destroyed, the entire downtown core has almost every building down to rubble, the insurance bureau is on the ground, every national bank headquarters are crashed to the ground except one that stands severely damaged, the head police headquarters is in rubble, the hospital that Laurens was in after his accident (the best in the country) is severely damaged and non functional, the building that has all the adoption papers in the country is destroyed, the only grocery store that all the missionaries shop at (that I almost was at that day) is rubble on the ground killing and trapping everyone inside, the Montana hotel where we had lunch not so long ago is completely rubble killing everyone inside, many collages and schools and crashed down, Digicel world headquarters (cell phone) and the tallest building in PAP is to the ground (hence we have no cell communications and on…..and on…..and on.
We have 160 staff on our mission and we already know of one that has died and we still have not heard from about 100 staff. Everyday that someone shows up is joyous to see that they are alive. Most everyone has a family member that has died. One security guard has 4 children that died. Many of our Haitian staff suffer severe post traumatic stress after what they have been through or seen. One of our friends was trapped in his school next to 50 of his classmates that were crushed by the building. He heard them screaming but could not save them. He watched them die, as he was trapped inside for 3 hours with a dead man on his chest. He was pulled out eventually.
Every time a plane passes over, or a car drives up, we all brace ourselves and jump until we realize that it is not another quake. Aftershocks are stressful. We often have a false sense that the ground is moving. People have a fear to go in buildings. Our building is structurally OK but I do not like to be in my bedroom for long….it is too far from the door. Laurens sleeps on the couch. A protective move I know to be closer to the kids for evacuation. We sleep with the front door open for quick escape…baby steps. It is better than the tents we slept in at first to make sure the building was safe.
This earthquake was like no other. Mainly because it hit a country with such poor infrastructure. It was completely unexpected. It is like kicking a baby down before it knows how to stand.
But we are moving on. We are alive and our house is fine. Mission of Hope is an oasis compared to the city. The kids are good. They are resilient and they started back to school today. Diana has been amazing and the Canadian team was amazing being there for them too. We have a great team on staff at Mission of Hope.
Despite the destruction, we are seeing hope, we know that God will use this to show his light. We know many people that have come to Christ already because of this event and now is the body of Christ’s time to shine. So many things destroyed….yet most of the Christian missions survived. God has big things planned for this country. God has used us in mighty ways this past week. He has used us for the Haitian people, He has used us in the media, He has used us to bond with each other and He will continue to use us mightily.
I have learned more in one week than most in a lifetime. I now know how to reduce compound open wound fractures, I know how to cast, I know how to suture and have become proficient enough that I sutured the flap of someone’s nose back on (quite good too I might add 
), I know how to handle cases when there is no other option, I know how to stab an attempt at coordinating disaster relief and to run functional field clinics. I have been on TV and am part of meetings at the UN logistic base with the World Health Organization, UN, military and other NGO’s. I am one of the few North American doc’s on the ground right now that lived in Haiti and I am visiting and coordinating inside many field and broken down hospital set ups. It is strange. It is surreal.
Rachel (missionary here) and I were just saying today that if someone had told us that this is what we would have had to do this week prior to this event, we would have “quit”. We would have said no way God! I can’t do all of that. We would have underestimated our abilities based on what we were comfortable with. We have learned that God knows more than we do, that He knows what we can handle and He has more faith in us than we have in ourselves.
We thank you for your prayers this past week. This is not over, it is a long road ahead. Please pray for the Haitian people. Every person was affected by this. Please pray for supply chains to open up, pray for the port to be fixed, pray for timely food and water distributions, pray for organization of relief organizations and military. Pray that now eyes will be opened to the need we had prior to this earthquake…our clinic and hospital, and that funding will come in. Pray for our family and the other staff.
Cheryl
Tags: haiti earthquake, spiritual
My son showed everyone a video of a card trick that he was fascinated by. He was continually amazed that the person watching the video always guessed the card that the magician picked.
I slowed it down for him.
The card that everyone picked was the last one they saw and the one he held for just half a second longer than the other cards he flipped through. It looked like magic. Everyone got the card they wanted.
In life, it works the same way.
You get what you hold in your thoughts for just a moment longer than anything else, and what you hold on to last.
This is not news. The Secret brought this to the forefront and it has become part of most people’s understanding.
Then why don’t I have everything that I focus on? Because you are not aware of the card that comes up last. It is the whisper after the thought. It the whisper of “No, you don’t” that you get after you affirm “I have all the money I need” or “No, you’re not” after “I am rich beyond my wildest dream.”
That whisper is the last thought we have. I was reading in The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind of how affirmations can be difficult for some people because it is hard for them to suspend their disbelief long enough to make the affirmation true.
Instead of stating an affirmation, make a declaration. The declaration does not discount reality, it enhances it by saying that we intend to do or be something. Declare “I am creating an abundant life.” There is no little voice that can contradict that.
Declare yourself and get the card you want, and more.
Tags: success
Insight is everywhere on the Internet. Here is some:
What Matters Now
Tags: Leadership, what matters now
Reading No Water No Moon, Osho presented the following story:
Once it happened, a great prime minister of a very great emperor died. The prime minister was rare, very intelligent, almost wise, very cunning, shrewd, a great diplomat, and it was very difficult to find a substitute. The whole kingdom was searched. All the minsters were sent to find at least three people; then the final decision will be taken and one of them will be chosen.
For months the search was on. The whole kingdom was searched; every nook and corner was searched. The three persons were found. One was a great scientist, a great mathematician. He could solve any mathematical problem, and mathematics is really the only positive science–all sciences are its branches–so he was at the root.
Another was a great philosopher, he was a great system-maker; out of nothing he could create all. Just out of words, he could create such beautiful systems–it is a miracle, only philosophers can do it. They have noting in their hands; they are the greatest magicians. They create God, they create the theory of creating, they create everything–and nothing is there in their hands. But they are clever artisans of words: they join words together in such a way that they give you a feeling of substance–and nothing is there.
And the third one was a religious man, a man of faith, prayer, devotion. And the people who were searching for these three men must have been very wise, because they found three.
The three represent the three dimensions of consciousness. These are the only possibilities: a man of science, a man of philosophy and a man of religion–these are the basis. A man of science is concerned with experiments: unless something is proved through experiment, it is not proved. He is empirical, experimental; his truth is the truth of experiment.
A man of philosophy is a man of logic, not of experiments; experiment is not the question; just through logic he proves, disproves. He is a pure man, purer than that scientist, because the scientist has to bring experiments in, then the laboratory comes in. A man of philosophy works without a lab–just in the mind, with logic, with mathematics. His whole lab is in his mind. He can prove and disprove just through logical arguments. He can solve any riddle or he can create any type of riddle.
And the third is the religious dimension. This man does not look at life as a problem. Life is not a problem for the religious man. It is nothing to be solved, it is something to be lived.
The religious man is the man of experience, the scientist is the man of experiment, the philosopher is that man of thinking. The religious man is the 
man of experience, he looks at life as something to be lived. If there is any solution, it will come through experience, it will come through living. Nothing can be decided beforehand through logic, because life is greater than logic. Logic is just a bubble in the vast ocean of life, so it cannot explain all. And experiments can be done only when yo are detached, experiments can be done only with objects.
Life is not an object, it is the very core of subjectivity. When you experiment you are different; when you live you are one. So the religious man says, “Unless you are one with life, you can never know it.” How can you know it from the outside? You may go about and about, and round and around, but you will never hit the target. So neither experiment, nor thinking, but experience; simple, trusting–a man of faith.
They searched and they found these three men, and then they were called to the capital for the final judgment. The king said, “For three days you rest and get ready. On the morning of the fourth day will be the examination, the final. One of you will be chosen and he will become my prime minister–the one who is proved to be most wise.”
…
They arrived. The emperor made a very special device. They were taken into a room where he had fixed a lock, mathematical puzzle. Many figure were on the lock, but there was no key. Those figure were to be fixed in a certain way: the secret was there, but one had to search for it and find it. If those figures were fixed in a certain way the door would open. The emperor took them in and said, “This is a mathematical puzzle, one of the greatest ever known. Now you have to find the clue–there is no key. If you can find the clue, the answer to this mathematical problem, the lock will open. And the person who comes out of this room first will be chosen. So now start.” He closed the door and went out.
Immediately the scientist started working out many experiments, many things, many problems on paper. He looked–observed the figures on the lock. There was no time to lose, it was a question of life and death. The philosopher closed his eyes, started thinking in mathematical terms what to do, how this puzzle can be solved. The puzzle was absolutely new.
That is the problem with the mind: if something is old the answer can be found, but if something is absolutely new, how can you work it out through the mind: The mind is quite efficient with the old, the known, the routine. Mind is absolutely inefficient when the unknown faces it.
The religious man never went to the lock, because what can he do? He does not know any mathematics, he does not know any experimental science. What can he do? He just sat in a corner. He sang a little, prayed to God, closed his eyes. Those two other were thinking that he is not a competitor at all. “In a way it is good, because the thing has to be decided between us two.” Then suddenly, they became aware that he had left the room, he was not there. The door was open.
The emperor came in and he said, “What are you doing now? It is finished. The third man is out.”
But they asked, “How?…because he never did anything.”
So they asked the religious man. He said, “I was just sitting. I prayed and I was just sitting and a voice said within me, ‘You fool. Just go and see. The door is not locked.’ And I just went to the door; it was not locked. There was no problem at all to be solved, so I went out.”
How often do we puzzle over a locked door that really isn’t locked? Life is not a problem to be solved. It is to be lived. Get up and do. Trust and allow yourself to walk through the door. The reward is on the other side.
I am stuck. I am resisting writing new articles for my blog. In an interesting twist of synchronicity, I found myself reading The Little Rules of Action from Zen Habits. The opening quote is “The shortest answer is doing.”
In the interest of doing, I am presenting Zen Habits, rules to get unstuck:
1. Don’t overthink. Too much thinking often results in getting stuck, in going in circles. Some thinking is good — it’s good to have a clear picture of 
where you’re going or why you’re doing this — but don’t get stuck thinking. Just do.
2. Just start. All the planning in the world will get you nowhere. You need to take that first step, no matter how small or how shaky. My rule for motivating myself to run is: Just lace up your shoes and get out the door. The rest takes care of itself.
3. Forget perfection. Perfectionism is the enemy of action. Kill it, immediately. You can’t let perfect stop you from doing. You can turn a bad draft into a good one, but you can’t turn no draft into a good draft. So get going.
4. Don’t mistake motion for action. A common mistake. A fury of activity doesn’t mean you’re doing anything. When you find yourself moving too quickly, doing too many things at once, this is a good reminder to stop. Slow down. Focus.
5. Focus on the important actions. Clear the distractions. Pick the one most important thing you must do today, and focus on that. Exclusively. When you’re done with that, repeat the process.
6. Move slowly, consciously. Be deliberate. Action doesn’t need to be done fast. In fact, that often leads to mistakes, and while perfection isn’t at all necessary, neither is making a ridiculous amount of mistakes that could be avoided with a bit of consciousness.
7. Take small steps. Biting off more than you can chew will kill the action. Maybe because of choking, I dunno. But small steps always works. Little tiny blows that will eventually break down that mountain. And each step is a victory, that will compel you to further victories.
8. Negative thinking gets you nowhere. Seriously, stop doing that. Self doubt? The urge to quit? Telling yourself that it’s OK to be distracted and that you can always get to it later? Squash those thoughts. Well, OK, you can be distracted for a little bit, but you get the idea. Positive thinking, as corny as it sounds, really works. It’s self-talk, and what we tell ourselves has a funny habit of turning into reality.
9. Meetings aren’t action. This is a common mistake in management. They hold meetings to get things done. Meetings, unfortunately, almost always get in the way of actual doing. Stop holding those meetings!
10. Talking (usually) isn’t action. Well, unless the action you need to take is a presentation or speech or something. Or you’re a television broadcaster. But usually, talking is just talking. Communication is necessary, but don’t mistake it for actual action.
11. Planning isn’t action. Sure, you need to plan. Do it, so you’re clear about what you’re doing. Just do it quickly, and get to the actual action as quickly as you can.
12. Reading about it isn’t action. You’re reading an article about action. Ironic, I know. But let this be the last one. Now get to work!
13. Sometimes, inaction is better. This might be the most ironic thing on the list, but really, if you find yourself spinning your wheels, or you find you’re doing more harm than good, rethink whether the action is even necessary. Or better yet, do this from the beginning — is it necessary? Only do the action if it is.
I will let you know if I can abide by these rules and put myself into action.
Tags: procrastination, time
Andy Dooley sends out some great art/messages that are meant to inspire you, or at least get you thinking. Last week, I got this message in my inbox, from his blog:
Then I forgot about it for 2 days, and realized I needed a daily
I put it on my bathroom mirror, every time I saw that piece of
Then I forgot about it completely.
SIDE NOTE: Years ago, Shannon and her best friend tore apart
Okay, occasionally I’ll have my Mom’s pumpkin pie. Oh wait, I do
I tell Shannon my story and she can’t believe it, because
I want you to manifest a BLUEBERRY MUFFIN! Now if a blueberry
Write down on a piece of paper I want a Blueberry muffin or
aka Mr. Blueberry Fancy Pants
PS - WHY YOU WANT TO DO THIS!!!
- Builds your confidence up for your bigger desires.
- Because manifesting is supposed to be FUN!!!
- It will make you gorgeous and sexy. (Forgot you already are.)
- Creates a stronger overall vibration of attraction within you.
- Powerful reminder of how easy it is to manifest.
- Children in 3rd world countries are counting on you.
- Larry King and Oprah will want to interview you and hear your Blueberry Muffin Story!
So I’m thinking, I don’t need a blueberry muffin. If I want one, I will just go buy one. And poof, a manifesting miracle. So, I decide to go for the cactus. I wrote out “I want a cactus! Thank you.” and put it on my computer. And I am waiting.
On Sunday, my son’s hockey game was delayed an hour and we were missing dinner. So, my husband wouldn’t get grumpy, I told him I would get him a snack. Hockey rink snack bars are not known for their nutritious fare, so I scanned the Doritos, hot dogs, french fries, and decided on a muffin. I asked if I could buy a banana muffin (might as well try for a fruit serving). Guess what the only kind of muffin they had left. A blueberry muffin.
I actually didn’t think anything of it until I came into my office this morning and saw my cactus note. Maybe I really did want a blueberry muffin. I am still waiting for the cactus.
Tags: manifesting
This melody lives on for those whose sacrifice to their country took the ultimate toll. Thank you for your courage!
You need to watch this brilliant video from TED.com by Itay Talgam on creating harmony from within and leading without saying a word.
Tags: Leadership, TED
From Productive Flourishing, I was led to Seth Godin’s Blog: Chai Wallah, which says
It’s so tempting to do a little bit of everything. All the tools are there, a click away. You can be the designer, the copywriter, the head of customer service. Hey, you can even do the manufacturing or easily outsource it to a commodity producer. One benefit of diversification is that you can average out your risk.
Or you can be a wallah. Someone who does only that one thing.
And that led me to Chris Guillebeau’s blog, The Art of Non-Conformity, which writes
I think that the “say no to almost everything” advice is good for masters. If you’re at the height of your career or skill, it makes sense to be highly selective. If Tiger Woods says no to everything but practicing his swing every day, I get it. If Serena Williams never wants to leave the court, I understand.
But most of us are not Tigers or Serenas yet. Not all of us know what we want to do; not everyone is single-minded towards the pursuit of only one goal. Some of us have more than one passion.
So who is right? What should we do? Focus or diversify?
Both gentlemen talk about passion. The Chai Wallah’s are passionate about their drink and, if you have that much passion, go for it. Many of us have many passions, some you can make a living at, and some you can’t.
As a serial wallah, I find that I can be passionate and focused on one path, and that path can lead to another cool path. Being masterful of one thing does not limit you, if perfects you.
It is possible to experiment with your passions: is it better to add a dash of instant coffee or cardamon on your chai? Once you decide, master it. Marcus Buckingham, of The One Thing You Need To Know, states that you should stop doing the things that you don’t like doing, so that you can focus more of your time on the activities you are passionate about. Find out what gets your juice running and focus.
