Whew...

Wow, talk about craziness! From aftershocks to evacuations to saving kids lives, things just get crazier and crazier. However, I have a few minutes, so I can maybe write down a few things. First thing, we were able to get that baby stabilized and out. Not sure where she ended up going - first it was on the flight to Miami, then they thought the hospital ship in Port, and last plan was to a community hospital where there's American surgeons that will take a look at her - they're suspecting an acute abdomen, so the faster she can have surgery, the better. When I say we stabilized her, I want you to know it was tenuous at best, and they took all resus equipment along with for the ride. Of us 4 nurses, the other 3 went with her, and I was elected to stay behind to help in the NICU here. From relatively non-critical rural nursing to NICU nurse is a huge jump, and quite intimidating at that. There are some skills that I simply do not have because we just don't see really, really sick babies by us. Thankfully the babies left here are not too sick, and actually, the staff here are more than competent to handle it. The 83 kids going to the States got off okay, along with pretty much everyone else to take care of them, so it's remarkably quiet here. We have only some left - the kids going to Canada (22 I think) and the kids going to France (16 I think). We got word that some doctors we are in contact with us have a baby that has been abandoned, and this baby might be coming in tonight. Otherwise, I think they're going to start bringing us kids tomorrow, and they will all be very sick.

For those who know about our F-baby, he left today for his new family as well. It was awesome to have an opportunity to love him up before leaving, and saying goodbye wasn't as hard knowing that he had a family. He took a bit to warm up to us again, but was soon smiling and laughing and running into my arms. :) So cool to get to see him walking, and he has teeth! :)

Hmmm, trying to go backwards in time to remember everything.... Yesterday was incredible. We got the kids all ready and waited for the Dutch marines to show up - we were sure glad to see them! We transported everyone out to the nearest road that was big enough for the bus and loaded them all on. I think the Dutch soldiers were taking more pictures than we were! They were so excited to be a part of this. As we drove down the streets of Petionville, it was amazing and surreal to be on this bus, with military men with big guns, search and rescue guys and all those kids. Then the kids began to sing praises. I confess I had a bit of an "emotional moment" sitting on that bus with guns and singing. It was quite possibly the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. It was one of those moments you want to remember forever and ever, because it was so good. I really felt like I was part of something huge, doing something REAL. Then we got down into PAP, and the joy began to leach away as we got our first really good look at the damage. (It had been dark when we drove up from the airport) Devastation doesn't begin to describe. Some places were still standing and functional, some cracked, some places half up and half down. Lots were completely devasted. Seeing it for real is not like seeing the pictures. You have to line up all the pictures together to get an idea. We passed one intersection and looked down a street where nothing was standing at all - piles and piles of rubble.
We finally made it down to the airport, where there is only one access road. ("road" I should say....) We entered into a war zone. Planes are taking off and landing every few minutes. Military helicopters are flying in and out. There are military and search and rescue camps everywhere, all flying the flag of their respective country. There are 30 different countries here, all lending aid! I wanted to find the Canadian camp, just to say hi, but I'm pretty sure wandering around through these camps is frowned upon. :P We drove between camps til we got to the Dutch camp, where we were met by a bunch of search and rescue people applauding our arrival. They took us to a large camp where we settled for the long wait and fed the kids. We spent 8 hrs-ish in that tent, entertaining kids, feeding kids, changing kids, etc. Some of the Dutch guys were right in there, playing with the kids and even changing some diapers! We got an awesome shot of one of them asleep, with a little guy in nothing but a diaper sprawled across his belly on his back, also sound asleep. Media came through all day, and we were heavily featured on the Holland news that night. Keep an eye on CNN as well - you never know who's wandering around in the background! I don't doubt the American media was all over today's operation, so watch for Garn! :) It was incredibly hot down in PAP, possibly about 35+ degrees (that's really hot when you come from an Alberta January!!). We opened the tent flaps to get the breeze through, and were so grateful for the tent to keep us out of the hot sun. The kids were so sweaty and we tried to keep them hydrated. I had to laugh, though - you know you're in the Dutch camp when they come around in the heat and still offer coffee!! LOL!!! No, thank you. Water? Yes, please!!
After many adventures and misadventures (ask me some day about the latrines...) we finally were able to get the kids off.

Well, I think you're just about caught up now. So many other stories, but I think this is getting long enough for one day!! :P The plane coming in to take these kids away should be carrying our supplies that didn't make it when we came, so that's good. Thank you all for your comments and emails, we read them all and mentally send you love for them, but we just have not had time to reply, and I'm not sure if we will. Please know we appreciate it so much, we feel your prayers and think of you all supporting us back home. I hope one of these days we'll be able to post some pictures!!