Tent Camp

May 22, 2010
Today we went to a small tent camp, more commonly called and IDP (Internally Displaced People) Camp.
The camp is made up of 60 tents inside a cement fence. Goats were roaming around the enclosure as well. At best guess, Pastor Pierre thought there were about 5 people per tent for 300 people in the camp. When we first drove into the camp, we received more than a few stares—a small bus full of white people is an event to be sure!
When we first arrived, Pastor Pierre spoke with the camp “boss”—the man who was in charge of order. I would probably call him the mayor. So the mayor helped set up the tent and arranged the waiting line. Two other camps down the road were also invited to come and receive medical attention.
The line was small at first but continued to build up throughout the day. Mostly women and children, but a few men sought treatment, too.
I spoke with a man named Wilma Lapoint. He sat on a board under one of two shade trees for the camp. His first sentence to me was, “I have a great sadness in my heart because our country is crushed.”
Wilma lives in the tent camp with his seven young boys. They lost their house in they earthquake. He owns a dump truck and tries to make a living, but it is not enough to keep his family alive.
The night before, a hard rain had made the ground a soggy mess. “When I see people in the tent camp in the rain, it breaks my heart,” Wilma said. “After the rains, the government is supposed to check on us to see if we are OK, but no one ever comes. It is like we have no government.”
I asked Wilma where he gets water. “It is not easy,” he said. “You must walk far.” That was all he would say. In the intense heat of the day, all of the Americans would board the bus and drink pure water from stainless steel bottles to keep from dehydrating. I never saw any of the Haitians drink while we were there. I was faint for water. I am not sure I can look at water the same way again.
I asked another man—much younger one—how he was doing. He said, “I feel nothing. I have no money and no food. What do I do?”
Later, I was watching a boy who was playing on a gravel pile and watching us. His flip-flop fell off his foot and I saw the heel had worn through. There was only a hole where the heel was.
The medical team saw 170 patients including cases of dehydration, infections, a possible case of malaria, a bad tooth, a perforated ear drum and more. Some of the children had worms, so every child and adult received a deworming medicine. Each patient was also given a glass of oral rehydration fluids. Those moms with small babies were given baby food that was donated by GAiN Germany as well as a bottle of formula.
As the children gathered around me, several of them wrote their names in my notebook—Dina, Bibi, Jorenka, Meika, Raymond, Dafney, and many more. Each name a little child living in the camp trying to survive. Pray for them!