A letter from Sharyn and Rodney Babe in Haiti
February 2010
The 7.0 Earthquake hit Port-au-Prince at 4:55 p.m. on January 12, 2010.
Dear Friends,
Where to start? Obviously it needs to be with thanks.
It's a slow start; thanking the people of God. The cards and flowers and visits and medical care wove a web of security, strength, peace
Last night we had a hospital bed delivered to the home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where we will be staying. Sharyn and I moved from youth to old age in about a month. Twenty years ago we left the United States with friends and family near the high point of their physical lives. A few minor personal surgeries but really limited contact with the American medical system. Then, three parents passed on. Again, sheltered by family and distance we remained relatively unaffected. Intentionally isolated by busy-ness, we slowly bled off a tiny bit of personal loss and grief; hopefully Sharyn did so better than I. We lived in a land where people didn't linger around waiting for death. But again, many of our Haitian friends were much younger, near the high point of their physical lives. We had (until now) escaped the intimate, closeness of the presence of Death and its usual gradual run-up. The hospital bed has become the reminder. Death beaten once again, but not beaten.
Our family has always been incredibly strong. In each of the medical crises we managed to avoid — they were there: different members as needed for that moment but always their strong, take-responsibility presence showed. I sensed and knew a tiny bit of the hurt and loss they felt and dealt with, but was too weak to step up and do more.
So it starts once again. This time my sister, Nancy, has moved forward. I do not know how she has been able to deal with vacation time to be physically present, but she has helped Sharyn through the confusion of pain and medicines, doctors and instructions, care, housing, needs, and yes, insurance.
The violence and trauma defy description or understanding. Even the word "earthquake" has no meaning so I'll just adapt others' nomenclature: EQ. The EQ lasted 39 seconds. Enough time to turn soil into liquid, buildings into rubble, life into death. Lower Port-au-Prince was 60-80 percent destroyed in less than a minute. Our community, part of the poorer end, was 100 percent trashed and our apartment leveled. You've all seen buildings imploded on TV. Well, that is exactly what happened to our four story building only Sharyn was sitting on the top floor finishing homework from a class she had left a couple hours earlier.
The proper parlance is, the building pancaked. Between the slabs of concrete, the crushed walls and squashed debris of a lifetime was a series of tiny connected air-pockets and cracks. After squirming and crawling 40 yards, Sharyn eventually resurfaced. Dozens of hands dragged her to a safer location. Most of our neighbors were not as fortunate. There are a lot more details and experiences and terror that don't need to be shared.
Sharyn was med-evaced to Cuba, then Ft. Lauderdale. She has a broken back, ribs, a still open gash on her leg, and some smaller cuts and scars that hopefully will lessen with time. She is physically more fragile than I could have imagined. Trauma injuries have taken on a new understanding. She will be coming "home" to a stranger's apartment and a rented hospital bed in a city we have twice passed through many years ago.
Unable to move much or travel at all, she will probably be here for several months. You have helped carry us both through an unimaginable journey and period. It is a bit early to make any plans for tomorrow. But your prayers and cards and visits have strengthened us greatly. Please do not let up; and thank you.
Sincerely,
Rodney (for both of us)
The 2010 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 287
