Heroes

It's easy to idolize medical professionals, especially in international relief work. And it's understandable: They have arguably the most tangible connection with the poor, the sick and the marginalized, and their work produces the most immediate results in those people. Bodies are healed, lives are saved.

We must be careful not to put hands-on service on a pedestal above other forms of ministry, just as we must be careful not to heap superstar status on any Christian who occupies a prominent position in teaching, evangelism or pastoral work.

That said, I love hanging with medical folks. They do amazing work, they always have great stories, and they tend to lead me to interesting photos.

The patients who come to our clinic often encapsulate all the harsh realities of life in Haiti. Our doctors and nurses do what they can, but sometimes treatment seems like a Band-Aid because the conditions that led to their ailment have not changed. I think I speak for everyone at NWHCM when I say that if we had the resources to change those conditions, we would. But unfortunately, we do not. So for now we move on, helping where we're able and entrusting God with the rest.

This past week, I met two people whose stories moved me and also made me feel helpless. In each case, the staff treated them as best they could and also did something perhaps even more powerful: befriended them. This is where the heroism of medicine lies for me - not in treating a patient, but in suffering alongside the patient and loving them, believing that their life is in greater hands than those of some doctor or nurse, even when that life slips away.

I'll just post cutlines here. For more background, please check out the wonderful blog maintained by Melissa Curtice, NWHCM's assistant medical director.



Above: Jesner Fragilis, 36, holds his 13-month-old daughter, Cassandra, in a recovery room at Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. Jesner is HIV positive, as was his first wife, who died of AIDS nearly five years ago. One of his sons died a few months later. Cassandra is being treated at the clinic for pneumonia and double ear infections. She is most likely HIV positive. Jesner's current wife is sick in Port-au-Prince, leaving the unemployed father to care for three children on his own. Shot Monday, February 9, 2009. Andy Olsen / NWHCM Staff



Above: NWHCM medical staff Maureen Moore, Melissa Curtice, and Vickie Cox pray with Widley, 6, and his mother. Widley is at the Centre Medical Beraca, a hospital in La Pointe (near Saint Louis du Nord), suffering from a probable intestinal obstruction. His belly is swollen and he will likely die without surgery. Missionaries affiliated with the hospital say there are no pediatric surgeons in Haiti, and there are no doctors at the hospital willing to operate on such a young child. Shot Friday, February 13, 2009. Andy Olsen / NWHCM Staff