Hunkered down in the strong tent provided for members of the Utah Hospital Task Force, Henderson could hear the deluge as it pounded from the heavens onto the thick tent canvas keeping her safe from the elements.
“All I could think of was the wonderful people of Haiti that we had been here helping,” said Henderson, an emergency room nurse from Kaysville. “It was really pouring outside, and we’d seen the tent cities where most of the people were living — and the tents they had were in many cases just sheets with poles.
“Not something that would help much against the rainy season that was upon Haiti.”
A country already decimated by the earthquake that rocked the tiny nation to its foundation on Jan. 12 will now be forced to endure its annual rainy season.
“The rain will make things even worse than they already are,” Henderson said.
“Most of these tents are built on dirt fields, and when the rains come the ground just becomes mud. The rains will bring even more disease and problems for Haiti.”
Henderson arrived in Haiti with a group of 130 people on Jan. 27 and returned home on Feb. 12.
The group from Utah included doctors, nurses, EMTs, construction workers and 70 returned missionaries who could speak Creole, the common tongue of the region.
“The people of Haiti are so full of hope, even in such a hopeless situation,” Henderson said. “They are so sweet.”
The translators would hit the ground, and you could see the love they have for the people of Haiti, according to Henderson. The translators would beam with excitement as they talked to the Haitian people, and their affection was contagious.
“These people who had served missions in Haiti had automatic love for the people, and you could feed off it,” Henderson said. “ It was beautiful.”
Jordan Staples, a Davis High graduate who served an LDS mission to Haiti from 2001-2003, is one of those translators.
This latest trip was his third humanitarian visit back to the land he loves.
“It was sad to see such devastation,” Staples said. “But we were there to do an important job and sort of went right into work mode.”
Staples worked in operating rooms with Henderson and Dr. Steve Huish of Bountiful.
“The job of translators is to literally explain to people what the other is saying.”
Even though Staples had worked in operating rooms in the past, the first few days were a little overwhelming for this veteran.
“There were some pretty bad things,” Staples said. “Burn victims, people with just chunks of flesh ripped out. But you just have to focus on the work you have to do.
“It was such a fast-paced environment that you just keep moving. The medical staff was amazing. They just go and go and go.”
As an ER nurse, Henderson worked side-by-side with locals who currently live on the streets in front of their destroyed homes. Most are hungry all of the time. Still, the surgeries continued, mostly amputations due to limbs being crushed in the quake. The difference between conducting such surgeries in Utah and in Haiti could not be more different.
“There are no pain medications in Haiti,” Henderson said. “These are tough people.”
Huish worked almost around the clock in the make- shift operating rooms and has been left to wonder and worry about those people left behind in Haiti.
“We did a lot of skin grafting,” Huish said. “Moving skin from one part of the body to cover serious injuries on other parts of the body and a lot of amputation.
“Then you have to discharge these patients. But it’s not like discharging a patient here where you know they are probably going home where they will be able to take medicine for pain and antibiotics,” Huish said.
“Down there, many people would first stay in these big tents where there are hundreds of cots and that’s it. Eventually the people are discharged and they really have nowhere to go.
“You are trying to explain about coming back for follow-up appointments and you know they will not see you. There are no real medical records. It’s just sad.”
The locals were given MREs (Military Meals Ready to Eat) each day and two granola bars.
“One day I found a can of Pringles,” Huish said. “I don’t like Pringles but I was hungry and ate it and it hit me that I was going to be able to go home to my family and enjoy great meals. It was sad.”
Now that he’s home, Huish acknowledges the people of Haiti are the last thing on his mind as he drifts off to sleep and the first thoughts of each morning.
“I worry a lot about the people back there,” Huish said. “They have nothing and yet they are so kind and loving.”
Staples’s concerns go beyond the here and now.
“I hope people continue to support Haiti because this is something that will continue for a long time. There is the whole rebuilding process.”
Huish believes if anything positive came out of the earthquake it was the way he has experienced the kindness of the world.
“There are constant acts of love and kindness I saw while I was there,” Huish said. “People using private jets to bring supplies in and out.
“People from different organizations from all over the world all coming together to help. As sad as it is it has given me hope about humanity.”
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