A case of the Mondays...

Last night, I laid in bed reflecting on the past year. Good times, bad times etc.  So much has happened, and it tends to happen so fast that I never really have time to think about it. One day I will probably have to write a book about my life experiences, for now I will just tell you about 1 of the last 52 Mondays I've had...

Monday, March 16th started out like most Mondays... Wake up, quick coffee, out the door to kill the power and service the generator at 7am.  After power is restored I head up front to start taking a barrage of questions from employees, trying to make sure everyone knows what they should be doing etc.  (My kreyol was not the greatest last March, so this was often a stressful time) I have a group of 20 high school volunteers down from Minnesota waiting for me, chomping at the bit to get a project started. I was a little overwhelmed before 8 am.  I had no idea how interesting my morning would get! 

As I am going over plans with the volunteer group's leader, Papito (employee that helps run our prenatal program) comes up to me looking distressed. There was an issue with a woman in our prenatal program who lived just up the mountain, and he was begging for someone to take her to the hospital.  To be honest with you, I was not interested. I had a lot going on! Papito persisted, and I eventually caved. I made him promise that I just had to pick her up and drop her off at the hospital-NOTHING ELSE. In a perfect world, or any other day than a Monday ..it should take roughly an hour. I told him to meet me at the red truck in 5 minutes.

When we arrived at the woman's home, a VERY pregnant woman was walked out to the vehicle by two other women. Patio helped her into the back seat of the truck and we were off.  We had about a 25 minute drive down bumpy mountain trails before we would get to the village of Milot where the hospital is.  About 15 seconds into our drive I could feel her knees pushing through the back of my seat, and there was some screaming.. No big deal, just a contraction, right?  About 2 minutes later- same thing... we developed a pattern. Just 3 minutes from the hospital we come off the trails and onto a paved road that we can really go fast on. Unfortunately we have to go over a speed bump first...  As I slowly drove over the speed bump, there was a deafening noise from the backseat and I could feel the force of the woman's knees in my back. Papito looks at me and says calmly "Mr. Joel, we not make it."  So, I pull over and get out of the truck.  Within seconds, there are women coming out from every hut in the area to lend a hand.  Papito and I just walk across the street and watch from a distance.  The baby was born in the back seat of my truck in a matter of minutes. By this time there is easily 20 people standing around the truck.   Mother and baby are both healthy, so after 15 minutes I am informed that she no longer wants to go to the hospital, she would just like a ride home! 

 At this point, I can't think straight. Period.  I tell Papito the only place we are going is to find someone, anyone, who will completely detail and sanitize my truck! Im not finding this birth as beautiful as everyone else! We make a deal- the woman will go take a nap in someones hut while me and Papito continue on to Milot, looking for a car wash. We would pick her up on our way back. Driving through Milot, yelling out the window, we find a man who washes cars. Unfortunately, due to some steep hills... the mess in the back of truck had found its way to my bare feet by this point.  Papito asks him how much to wash the vehicle, inside and out- they settle at 150 gds ($3). We just have to drive around the corner to the guys place. As we drive away, I ask Papito " Don't you think we should mention that a woman just gave birth inside the truck?!?"  When we arrived, we explained the situation to the man, and asked for bleach.. He thought about it for 10 seconds, raised his price to 200 gds and we had a deal.  That man and his son washed the truck for 1 hr 45 minutes.  45 minutes power washing the back seat!   We gave him a nice tip, and headed for home.

 I stopped the truck when we were in the area the of the birth. After a couple minutes, mom and grandma came out of a hut carrying the baby. They got situated in the back seat of the truck and we made our way back through the trails to their house. Those women sang hymns the whole ride, happy and healthy!  

Of course, when we returned to COTP, it was still Monday morning... and now I was running a couple hours behind!  Life just goes on........... I don't think I can ever be the same again.  

And Now- enjoy some pictures! ( none of these babies were born in my truck)

Children of the Promise has given explicit permission for the posting of photos on this site. Photos taken of children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise