“Had another good day. We took a team out to a couple different villages to asses the needs. It’s expensive but there is no other way to figure out who needs the most help. We landed at two coastal villages that where really pretty. If I had more time we would stop and swim several times a day. I only fly 2-3 hours a day (if that) but I don’t know how much more I would want to fly. The heat and continuous stress takes it out of you.Today we got kicked out of our little landing site at the airport. It was commandeered by mortuary affairs; they are the people that deal with the dead bodies being shipped to the states. They had hundreds of caskets stacked in my landing site when I got back from one of the flights-kinda grim. Its about 10000 degrees in this room, I gotta get out of here and take a shower. “
Day (7)
“We did medical flights today andgot done early so I tried to help out in the hospital a little bit.
Definetly not what I am cut out for. It doesn’t bother me in passing but I
don’t know how the doctors work on these patients all day long.Today we brought a 2-5 year old boy out, his parents had been killed in the
earthquake and the poor little guy was dehydrated and starving. We don’t
know his age because he is so stunted in his growth. He is here at the
orphanage now and his life should improve drastically. It is emotionally
draining, I just hope we can continue to help the people that need it the most.”
“Today had a little different feel in the air, a little less frenzied and chaotic. We actually got back to the orphanage at 4:00 and ate a proper dinner. Its sad to say but everyone in Port-Au-Prince has either died or found a hospital at this point. One notable exception is yesterday they found a 16 year old girl alive in the rubble. She was trapped in a shower so she had water and was able to survive. Very likely that she is the last survivor. I think I will stay until the 14th of Feb. there is plenty to do but it has changed from trauma victims to more long term care. Here’s and interesting one; the farmers are really hurting now because of all the free food around. Isn’t that sad, it seems there are always unintended consequences to everything we do.The little boy in the picture is the one whose parents died.”
So that is the most recent report from my brother. I had not heard from Zach in a couple of days because he had been so busy. It is good to see him doing what he was born to do. My brother is the most capable person I know. He has flown with Mike and I for the last several years in the Super Cubs and Cessna-185. He is also the mechanic who completely rebuilt our Cessna 185 when it got back from the Philippines. He is gifted in so many areas, andhe has an unbelievable family. I told my sister-in-law, and good friend, Jane that it would be great if she updated her blog so folks could read about their family. If you are interested in reading about where Zach and his family are headed and what they are doing click here.