Healing

Jan 15, continued

Once we deplane and our suitcases have been offloaded, it’s time to head through Ft. Pierce’s US Customs and Border Patrol. Having many negative experiences with the US border crossings, I am in for a pleasant surprise. Since it is only our group going through and the MFI pilots explain our situation in advance, we are treated like fragile vases that might shatter at any moment. A few basic questions are asked and we are treated with love and compassion. Our suitcases go through the airport scanner, but they don’t even require us to go through any metal detectors and Jayden is allowed to stay sitting in his stroller. As we head through the glass sliding doors we are met by Rick and Teresa Dickson, our MAF Regional Director and his wife. They welcome us with open arms and give us cell phones to call our families back home. Since our family is in Canada and it’s a US Cell phone we figure out later how to make calls with it. A nice charter bus is waiting and once all the families are on board, we are given our choice of drinks and cheese burgers. What a treat! After a 45 minute drive we arrive at a place called “The Manor” a former old folks home where we will be housed for the weekend. Having our own room with a clean bed and a bathroom with a shower is a real blessing. The first thing I do once our suitcases are inside is take off my filthy clothes and step under the hot shower. Scrubbing the dirt from my face and from under my finger nails I begin to feel more human again. Jayden is next, but cries because showers scare him. After putting clean clothes on him he feels better too. That night after a supper of pizza we crawl exhausted under the covers. Before we fall asleep we pray for our friends in Haiti and thank God for His provision for us. How great is our God.

January 16

I wake up to Jayden’s coughing. He sounds worse and I help him sit up. My ears are still bothering me and Jason’s cough has grown worse as well. After breakfast Rick calls a Nurse practitioner who arrives soon after to check up on all three of us. We find out that Jason has some kind of infection in his lungs and Jayden and I have ear infections in both ears. All three of us have bad colds as well. She prescribes antibiotics and Rick and Jason head over to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions filled. At 10:00 I lay Jayden down and he finally falls into a restless sleep. An hour and a half later he wakes up crying and continues to cough. A Chinese lady in the community has volunteered to prepare a lunch for us and it’s wonderful, but Jayden hardly eats. I try to feed him bananas and cheerios but even that doesn’t interest him. I finally give up and just let him drink fruit juices and water. After lunch I lay him down again and he once more dozes off. It’s time for our debrief meeting now. Sitting in a circle on chairs in the kitchen and taking turns sharing what happened and what we felt is healing. Hearing everyone’s stories and the cycle of emotions they went through makes me feel more normal. I’m not the only one who felt the way I did, and talking and crying with one other is a balm to my soul. Not comfortable speaking in a larger group and not great at expressing my feeling with talk, I record everything in my mind and when I have a spare minute I continue to write. Writing is my outlet and it comes easy for me. The things I can’t say out loud flow out naturally as I write. It’s my way to categorize, organize and reflect on what’s happened. It’s my memory, so I can forget. Once the meeting is over, Jason spends time working with MAF Canada, MAF US and Rick Dickson to formulate a plan for his return. Jason is a doer, and not being in Haiti and helping the people there is difficult for him. Having a plan and setting it in motion is the balm for his soul and he starts feeling more and more like himself. Recognizing that he is weak and sick at the moment, MAF decides to give him a two week recovery period, which includes time to visit MAF Canada headquarters and see family and friends in Chilliwack. From there, if he is well, he will be sent back to Haiti, to relieve the other MAF Haiti pilots and start working a rotational schedule with them. Knowing that he will be able to go back soon, and that he will be able to check up on Anoud and Denise and our friends is a relief for me as well. Although my primary concern at the moment is Jayden, Haiti is in my heart, and giving up Jason so that he can help there is a sacrifice I’m willing to make.