Two Haitian doctor sisters work faithfully alongside Baptist disaster relief volunteers
Story and photos by William Haun
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TITANYEN, Haiti – The heat index is 115 degrees. Two Baptist volunteer physicians from North Carolina have spent the last seven hours working with Haitian Dr. Francise Milien to see more than 150 patients in a sweltering clinic.
Each one has only taken one five-minute break to eat a melting peanut butter jelly sandwich.
When asked how she feels at the end of the day, Milien replies with a tired smile.
“I’m happy,” she said. “We saw everybody who has come.”
Titanyen, a small village on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, has seen more than 250 volunteers from North Carolina Baptist Men (NCBM) come and go since the earthquake. Francise and her older sister Dr. Merline Milien have worked with every single one of the 22 teams.
Every weekday they split the volunteers into two teams, Alpha and Omega, and lead them to different locations to hold a medical clinics. They set up in churches, school houses, orphanages, and outside in tent cities using whatever is available: pews, desks, buckets, and tattered tarps.
They have seen over 15,000 patients with ailments ranging from general aches to malaria to elephantiasis.
“What we are doing now is very hard. But it is something we wanted to do six years ago.” Merline said.
Six years ago Merline was in her first year of medical school in Port-au-Prince. Her father, a Baptist pastor in Les Cayes, took $50 a month from his meager salary to pay for her tuition, leaving only $12 a month to cover the rest of the family’s living expenses.
The following year, Francise also felt God calling her to serve the Haitian people as a doctor. She was accepted into medical school, but it was impossible for her parents to pay both sisters’ tuition at the same time.
The sisters give their father credit for teaching them to rely on God – and Francise put that into action when she decided to attend medical school anyway. She prayed daily that God would provide a way to pay off her the mounting bills.
God did provide – through a sponsor in Indiana who gave them both full scholarships to finish medical school.
After they graduated, the two sisters were ready to serve the neediest in their community.
“We really wanted to do free community clinics,” said Merline. They volunteered 7 days a week at a clinic in Titanyen and when they would raise enough money, they would hold free clinics at their father’s church.
When the earthquake hit on Jan. 12, the two immediately rushed to help. Their clinic was destroyed, but the burn center across the street run by Global Outreach International was still intact. They worked tirelessly for nearly three days straight attending to hundreds of critically injured earthquake survivors.
On Jan. 15, the sisters joined the first Baptist medical team that arrived from North Carolina. They worked alongside the American doctors and nurses, helping them to overcome language, cultural, and logistical barriers in the chaotic aftermath of the earthquake.
Five months and 22 teams later, the two are still going strong.
Dr. Fred Loper, Executive Director of the Baptist Medical-Dental Fellowship, worked with the Miliens in mid-May as part of the 22nd NCBM team. That medical team saw a record 1,516 patients in a mere four days – proving that the demand for medical care has not abated six months after the quake.
“They are a source of personal encouragement. They are professional, competent, and highly committed to their people.” said Dr. Loper. “We get to go home at the end of the week, but they continue working.”
Merline admits, “Sometimes I am so tired when I wake up in the morning that I feel I want to cry. I think ‘I cannot do it,’ but I just pray and God gives me the strength to continue.”
The Milien sisters are not the only Haitians joining the Baptist disaster relief volunteers to help rebuild their communities. The construction workers on the 22nd NCBM team were amazed at the number of Haitian believers joining them in their work.
“Every single day 20-25 local volunteers come out to help us build these houses. They aren’t even getting paid!” said volunteer Eder Dadul, a member of First Baptist Church in Mayodan, North Carolina. “It’s a beautiful thing seeing a village come together to rebuild and sing the praises of the Lord.”
Despite the immense need surrounding them, Francise and Merline are also praising God for the help He has sent via the Baptist volunteers.
“We are so grateful for the American volunteers’ help. There is a big job ahead and we need help to help ourselves.”
But Merline hasn’t forgotten a lesson she learned about the true Helper when she had an opportunity to shadow doctors in a hospital in the US.
“They took us into the emergency room,” she recalls. “While we were there a man came in and the doctors tried to save his life. I thought ‘They have all the machines you need to save a person’s life and this man still died!’ God is in control. He decides who lives and who dies.”
She smiles and adds, “I don’t have any machines. All I have is my stethoscope and my two hands. But I am willing to serve and God can use me.”
Get Involved
Want to help Haitian believers like Merline and Francise make a difference in Haiti? Find out how you can get involved through these reputable Baptist organizations:
Baptist Global Response – http://www.gobgr.org/
North Carolina Baptist Men – http://www.baptistsonmission.org/
Baptist Medical-Dental Fellowship – http://www.bmdf.org/
