I just got back from Cateel and cannot put into words the devastation I saw there. This is a community of 28,000 people. The entire town is destroyed. There are no buildings with roofs left on them. I’m guessing that 80% of the homes are destroyed and what buildings are left have no roofs! There is no water, no electricity, no communication. All of the cell phone towers and utility poles are snapped like twigs.
The hospital was stripped from the inside out and there is no roof left. When we arrived, there was only one doctor in the whole town and she was working in the hospital. Her house was mostly destroyed and she was working non-stop in a hospital devoid of even basic supplies. Patients are lying on wooden benches and there is no medicine available. Even the hospital beds were blown out of the building into the unknown. I was honored to help drive the midwives and nurses from Mercy Maternity Clinic into this disaster area. The doctor was so thankful to have some help that she cried.
The Cateel Hospital with no roof!
The smell of dead bodies permeates from the rubble that was once homes. The churches are destroyed beyond recognition. When we arrived, it was only four days since the category 5 storm annihilated this town. The government school where the people went to evacuate and wait out the storm was totally destroyed. The official death toll from Typhoon Bopha (Pablo) is now 902 with 635 missing.
During our first trip, we had 40 people with us and we helped support the hospital with medics and supplies. We did children’s ministry including a worship concert and a movie (with a projector and big sheet). We cut and folded tarpaulins late into the night to provide shelter for people.
I made the mistake of sleeping in one of the vehicles. At about 2am, my teammate Manny woke we up and kicked me out of my “bedroom” because a little girl was born and he needed to drive the father to get some things for her. I was happy to hear the news, but groggily and homelessly walked over to one of the other vehicles with my backpack. After a couple of minutes, I saw one of the midwives groping in the dark looking for hot water. I helped her find some and carried it into the hospital where I got to see the new little girl and another woman in difficult labor. After feeling useful again, I made my way back to the basketball court where I found Manny’s bed and went to sleep. A few minutes later, Manny returned, woke me up, and I moved back into the Toyota FX.
At about 3:30am my teammate Dan woke me up to pray for an expectant mother in labor and things were going poorly. The laboring woman was already wounded from the storm and too tired to push anymore. We prayed for about 30 minutes when the downcast midwife came out to us and told us that she could not find any heart tones on the baby and the baby was probably dead. It was quite upsetting to hear this and I finally went to sleep on the basketball court. Shortly after I woke up, I heard that they had found the baby’s heartbeat and that the mother was pushing again! Her little boy was born shortly after that! He was weak and floppy, but he recovered and was healthy. That was such a great miracle. Praise God!
The Mercy Maternity Clinic Midwives and Medical Team.
The next day, we went to the town hall and sorted and loaded relief goods (80 pound bags) into dump trucks and any vehicle we could find for the Army to distribute.
Before we left we swept through the hospital counseling and praying for people. I have to say that this was the hardest thing that I did the whole time. There were two little babies there who survived the storm convulsing with every breath because they nearly drowned during the storm. I prayed for them and one seemed to be improving as I prayed. As a new father I could not imagine the grief and difficulty these parents must be going through. It makes me cry as I type this. I also prayed for many children who were hospitalized with diarrhea from drinking the water. I just heard yesterday that one child died from the same symptoms. I cannot explain the grief that I am feeling, but I cannot stay away from helping these people.
We are going back right now for our second trip into this devastated area. It is a 8 hour drive over terrible roads to get there. We will arrive 10 days after the storm, this time with the sole purpose of setting up camp and ministering at the hospital and supporting the medical volunteers. The plan is to help the ministries we are partnering with (Global Impact and Mercy Maternity Clinic) to establish a full time camp rotating volunteers in and out of here for the next 6 months to a year funds permitting.
We will be bringing donated generators, medical supplies, and transporting more medics over the next 24 hours. We plan to stay in this area for 4 or 5 days and come home well before Christmas, spend time with our families, and go back again within a week, God willing. Please pray for us as the roads are quite treacherous and the conditions are worsening on the ground. Please also consider giving to help us. Your financial gifts can literally save lives during this crucial time.
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Extreme Mercy International P.O. Box 72266 Phoenix, Arizona 85050 U.S.A.Thank you and God bless you,
Matthew Triggs Executive Director Extreme Mercy International