The lack of sleep is starting to take its toll. Plenty of time to sleep when I get home though. Another incredibly productive day yesterday. I went to Jacmel with David Belle to demonstrate our program to his network. The leader of this group used to be the Minister of Agriculture and has a lot of influence within the communities. He runs a network, called KROS, that helps manage all sorts of humanitarian aid projects. He is the guy!

On the way to Jacmel, we stopped by the town of Leoganne – epicenter of the quake. David had been working for a few days on getting a young girl transported from the makeshift tent hospital there to a proper one in the states. She needed urgent care due to a completely shattered pelvis. She had been laying on a funky mattress in the medic tents, which have been enduring 100 degree temperatures for two weeks now.

We found some Israeli medics in P-A-P that agreed to take her, so we had them follow us to Leoganne. When we got there the local medics in charge said we couldn’t take any of their stretchers…making it awfully difficult to transport someone with a shattered pelvis. The Israeli medic and I had to carry the girl in a blanket to the bed of a small pickup truck. Though we had to keep the tailgate down, we were able to place a crusty old mattress in the truck-bed. I fastened some rope around the end of the mattress and secured the bed so she wouldn’t slide out on the bumpy 2 hr long drive back to P-A-P. She was in immense pain because there were very few pain meds left in Leoganne. The Israeli medic gave her some morphine so she could handle the long ride.

When she left we all felt good about our efforts, but that brief highlight was quickly overshadowed with thoughts of all the people in the camp we couldn’t help — a reality that makes it very hard to ever feel satisfied. In 30 minutes I saw the human life cycle in its simplest form. Case in point – just after we moved our girl to the truck I witnessed an elderly women start throwing up blood and cry out her last cry. Her body lay motionless and peaceful. Right now, everything happening here is on a very concentrated level. Like I said, in just a half hour we saved one life, just to watch another pass. Intense!

In Jacmel I gave a very organized demonstration of our water program to the leaders of KROS. After I was done they asked two things. “How many are you giving us?” I said, “3000!”. They answered with, “Can we get 10,000?” That was a great sign that my demonstration was well-received. I answered, “Yes! Over time, with the help of the American people, we will get you 10,000!”.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support. It IS making a difference.

Cheers!   Jon,   Sent from my iPhone