In terms of the social status of those that I have been mixing with today, it has been a day of extremes. This morning I attended an NGO coordination meeting organised by the US military at the forward operating base of the White Falcon unit of the 82nd Airborn. After parking our vehicle we were met, very courteously welcomed by the duty soldiers (who very politely addressed the 3 of us Salvation Army Majors as 'sir') and personally escorted to the tent where the meeting was taking place. We were the first team to arrive. The only person in the tent was a brigade Colonel - the senior officer in charge - who welcomed me warmly and greeted me by name. I have to say that he and his soldiers have been absolutely key in the delivery of our relief programme and we have developed a good working relationship.
The meeting was not well attended - a number had phoned ahead blaming the traffic, others admitted they had other things to do. So as the Colonel commenced the meeting there were just 3 organisations present. The guest at the meeting was the Mayor of Port au Prince - the most senior official in the city. He asked me to talk with him individually - to discuss our programme and update him on our capacity. I did my best to speak on behalf of our organisation and assured the Mayor that our group was at his disposal and would offer whatever support and assistance we could. We left and I followed up with a personal email to the Mayor to confirm our discussion points. We felt honoured to have been given a personal meeting.
When I returned to the office a young man was waiting for me. He showed me his credentials. He had been a school headmaster prior to the earthquake. His school was no more. He had sent his wife and children to stay with relatives in the countryside while he returned to the city to try to find work. He was hoping that The Salvation Army might hire him as a translator - a job which pays a casual labour rate of US$5 per day. I politely explained that we were not in need of additional translators at this time - but he continued to sit by our office door for the remainder of the day in the hope I might hire him. Every now and again he would try to catch my eye - I would try to avoid his!
After lunch 2 very polite young men asked to see me. They are living in a camp not far from the new DHQ office. They claimed to represent their community and had registered the families living there. They told me that their camp has received no assistance from anyone and they pleaded for food - or any help we might be able to offer. I took their details and, without making any promises, told them I would try to get someone to see if we might be able to help. They thanked me profusely - despite the fact that I have done nothing at all for them.
Today our clinic accepted a small child for treatment. The little boy was probably 18 months old. Since the earthquake he had been seen in the road by the market. People had been feeding him - but someone had noticed his stomach had become much distended. It appeared he had no parents and was just surviving in the street. Evelyn, our chaplain, took him on her lap and cuddled him as she quiet sung to him the words, 'blessed assurance, Jesus is mine' - as she sang he drifted off to sleep. Perhaps the first time he had slept peacefully in 4 weeks. No one knows who he belongs to or whether his parents were killed in the earthquake.
Judged by the world's standards it is easy to think that my most important meeting was with the Colonel and the Mayor. Scripture tells me otherwise - and the Bible sometimes has an uncomfortable way of turning things on their head. Psalm 82:3 says, 'Defend the weak, the poor and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed'.
It's hard to get the right perspective sometimes - and even harder to fulfil the teaching of Scripture. Since coming back to the hotel I've taken another call from someone who wants to know if we can help 85 families living in a camp. My prayer this evening is that we will keep our focus right, remember who is truly important and not forget who God has called us to serve.
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