Amanda's Tremendous Haiti Experience, pt. 3

Editor's Note: This is a continuation of Amanda's story from inside Haiti.  Amanda is a young nurse from the Baptist College of Nursing in Memphis.  We are presenting here messages as received, except in a few cases where typing errors were corrected for the sake of clear meaning. The messages are divided into three parts.  Although these messages are from two months, ago, I know that they communicate a lot about the situation on the ground in the aftermath of the earthquake. They also speak about the overwhelming feeling of attempting to make an impact in that place and the feeling of being changed more yourself. Please read and enjoy Amanda's letters and leave your own thoughts as comments. We will attempt to pass on any comments on these posts to Amanda in Memphis. We applaud her for her work in Haiti and are proud to present her memories here.

Stephen Nelson

Last one!

Yesterday was a busy busy day. The next team behind us arrived on Friday night so Saturday morning we oriented them to the hospital and all of the surroundings.  It seemed like I have been here for 6 months when I was teaching them about the hospital and where to find the things that they needed.  I officially won the award got most hours worked on the team.. They added it up and I worked 108 hours in 7 days exactly. WOW!! I won the "Haitian SuperNurse Award" award for the group. Ha. One thing is for sure... I am absolutely pooped. I'm going to need a knee replacement from bending down to change dressings on peoples legs for sure.

We then got to leave and drive in towards the epicenter... I cannot describe in words how the destruction was so much greater even than that that we had already seen. I thought that the other was bad. The best way that I can describe it is to imagine the twin towers collapsing and the mess from that and multiply times 200... It went on for miles and miles. Roads were blocked still, people fighting in the streets, digging for bodies in the rubble, etc. It was unimaginable!!

I honestly do not see this city rebuilding for decades to come... They should just pick up and move out to the country side and move the city on the map... The destruction is just too much.

One interesting thing that we have been seeing more and more of is post traumatic stress type situations.  Also, the government (or someone) is telling the people that there is going to be another quake on feb 12 that is even bigger than the 1st. They are so stressed out trying to pick up and move, run away, etc. They are also all hungry and thirsty and things are getting worse. I wouldn't be surprised if there is an uprising of the people against the government within the next month or so... Of course.. This is my little prediction with all of my non-news watching, naïve self. If you know me very well, you know that I know nothing about everything such as world/ current events.  The only reason that I even knew that there was an earthquake in the 1st place was almost 48 hours post quake and one of my patients in the ICU told me! I don't know much about governmental things especially..

We also have felt 3 aftershocks over the last couple of days.... Definitely something that I will never forget. Its not like they make it look on the movies at all. (But what is really???) Almost like standing on a boat and feeling the ground unsteady under your feet.

We are on the bus now and back in the DR [Dominican Republic]. We are going to dinner tonight and then flying out tomorrow. I arrive back in Memphis I think around 9ish tomorrow night.

I can't believe that I have already been here as long as I have and that it is all over... I'm definitely planning a return trip... As soon as I can save up some more PTO [Paid Time Off]... I'm on it.

Thank you all so much for all of the love, support, and most importantly prayers!! I am finding more and more that I don't know a lot of the people getting my emails. Many of you have emailed, texted or facebooked me and I apologize for not getting back in touch, but as you can see, I've been very busy.

If anyone is interested in a trip down, let me know!

Thank you all!!

Love,
Amanda

Amanda is from the Baptist College of Nursing in Memphis

*Hibiscus is the national flower of Haiti; 
photo used under FREE USE License from FreeFoto.com