The numbing effects of trauma

Haitians continue with their daily lives which are seeming to take on a bit more of a routine of sorts. They have come to accept the fact that their lives may never be quite the same again and that stress is a real issue which must be kept at bay even more so in these days than ever before.

There are thousands of people from the international community who are coordinating food and medical distributions on a massive scale. Missionaries are doing a lot of little things behind the scenes which help make their people’s lives a bit more bearable in the face of the enormous crisis which seems to never end.

People are still digging out from under the rubble. In some areas there are groups of people who are being paid to dig and other areas where they are not. It seems that almost
everywhere though that the shock of this event has finally passed and people are realizing that unless they dig themselves out it may never be done and so slowly people are trying to get it done.

One thing that I have to stress is that everyone in Haiti is a victim. Whether they lost everything or not, they suffered the trauma of the quake. Everyone knows the taste of blood in the back of their throats, what absolute fear of being crushed is like
but particularly those who were inside of large concrete structures which bounced around with them inside the buildings and who couldn’t walk, run, or even crawl to an exit because the ground was groaning and roaring, and rolling all around them.

The Haitian people all seem to do things much slower than before. Tempers flare in some, while others have gotten very quiet. Some wander the streets after having “checked out” from life. At the end of the day a person wonders what he did and why. It’s
often hard for them to remember what they did at all or the names of who they did it with.

Fortunately for most, it seems that the “down” days don’t last quite as long and things are starting to pick up a little. They no longer ask about people whom they haven’t seen for the past 5 months; if it is meant for them to see them again, they will discover them anew, and if not, it’s best left alone. They have all grieved beyond words and most can cry at the drop of a name or the telling of a fond memory of one no longer with them.

People are working through it slowly. Some travel to the Dominican Republic to buy hard-to-find supplies to bring back.

Please continue praying for Haiti and the Haitian people as they all work through this together. Tremors continue and people are still traumatized but they are moving forward.

One missionary reports that a further tremor opened new cracks in the mission home, including the cistern, which contained 3000 gallons of water they had just purchased – now all gone.

Haitians are grateful beyond words for the help sent by international communities and help provided by missionaries.

If you have not seen it yet, I urge you to view the great video produced by the Mennonite Central Committee, regarding Haiti's future. Watch Disaster to Decentralization now!