Pilgrimage to Sai in Haiti (Part 2)
Following is part 2 of Rajen Ghayal’s reflections on his trip to Haiti with the Sai Medical Camp.
In Port Au Prince, former president of the Sai Center, brother Rony Joseph’s house did not incur any damage. It became the hub for Sai devotees from different countries who stayed there and worked together to render help. It was like a mini Prasanthi Nilayam.
Brother Rony, Sister Benita, and Brother DeJesus, the local Sai devotees, had committed and dedicated their lives to selflessly serve Sai in Haiti with the earthquake relief efforts. They helped, guided, and reassured us all the time. Their devotion to Swami was impeccable!
The 16 humble devotees who shared the facilities that included just two bathrooms were very caring, loving, and courteous. During the day, there was no electricity. At night when the electricity was sporadic, the lights, fans, telephones, and computers use was maximized. Without fans, we would sweat profusely and we had to drink water, lemonade, or electrolyte fluids constantly to hydrate ourselves.
The daily chain of events
The daily schedule of activities entailed:
– Wake up between 4:30 and 6:30 a.m.
– Take care of personal duties—brushing teeth, shaving, bath, etc.
– Bhajans or devotional singing at 7 a.m. followed by Aarti [waving the light].
– Prepare sandwiches for lunch and help with breakfast.
– Eat the hearty and wholesome breakfast.
– At about 8:30 a.m. load the truck with medicines.
– Leave for the “big” church that was an hour away in downtown Port Au Prince.
– Take pictures of different buildings and sites in the streets of Port Au Prince.
– Unload medicines from the truck and take them to the pharmacy inside the church.
– Greet 200 waiting patients with “Bon Jour” (Good Morning) on entering the big church.
– Organize workstations and replenish medicines with supplies we had brought.
– Settle down at the workstations with the respective translators.
– Doctors tend to the adult patients, youth, children, and babies as per their specialty.
– Psychologists attend to patients with assistance of the translators.
– Pharmacy teams fill out the prescriptions.
– Pharmacy team captain oversees the pharmacy section, organizes and replenishes medicine supplies.
– Pharmacy captain checks all prescriptions and medicines. With the help of a translator gives instructions to the patients or the guardians of children and ensures that they understood them.
– For lunch, team or volunteers serve cooked meals to the waiting patients.
– For lunch, the team and the volunteers eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and snacks.
– Clean up from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
– Return to Brother Rony Joseph’s house in the open truck.
– On the way buy groceries, fruits, juices, and soft drinks at the local supermarket.
– Unwind or take a cold-water bath.
– Prepare for dinner or the next day’s lunch.
– Pack the medical supplies for the next day.
– Bhajans from 7:30 to 8 pm.
– Have dinner at about 8 pm.
– Satsang—sharing Sai stories and experiences or bhajan learning.
– At about 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. daily team overview of activities and plans to serve the patients better.
– Arrange mattresses and go to sleep.
Some events that touched us
The power of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s love and compassion was felt even in the midst of devastation and rubble on the streets in Port Au Prince.
Following are a few incidents that touched our hearts, and few examples of the ways by which we tried to help:
A Sathya Sai Baba devotee, sister Benita, in Creole (similar to French) language narrated the entire experience of how Swami saved her in a collapsing building during the earthquake. She called Swami shouting “Sai Ram” several times and the collapsed concrete formed a small encasement around her saving her from bodily injury. She was trapped in the rubble. She reminisced that she was in tune with Sai by constantly chanting the mantra [formula] “Om Sri Sai Asahay Sahayay Namah” (Salutations to Sai, the helper of the helpless). It is sloka # 40 in the 108 names of Sathya Sai Baba. Immediately she saw a source of light and proceeded in that direction to the outside of the building and to freedom and safety.
After the earthquake, one of the Sai brothers, Carlos from Argentina, decided to stay permanently in Haiti and serve Swami. He would cook in the mornings and humbly serve the meal in the afternoon to the needy in the community. What a wonderful Narayana Seva [service to the Lord]!
Actually, he distributed all the “Walk for Value” shirts and other T-shirts that we had taken with us. He also gave the small tent that we had donated to a homeless family.
Our region contributed tote bags that were distributed to the patients in the “big” (Franciscan Saint Alexandra Chapel) church and the “small” (Christian Assembly of Bobin) church for carrying their medicines. This was the 21st box of Sai love—a gift from God to God!
We tended to all kinds of patients. We met one patient who had lost eight members of her family and was extremely distraught. However, she was very brave and put everything behind her and moved on with her life.
We gave a tent to another lady patient whose mother was dying and was living on the streets. She lost everything in the earthquake calamity.
We observed that some Haitians were depressed and completely devastated, while the majority got used to the prevailing conditions and moved on with their lives hoping that someday the sun would shine on them again.
On Thursday, our team was divided into 2 groups. Half of the team went to serve in the “small” church that was in a very poor area closer to the residence. Folks in this area were living in wretched conditions and did not know when and where their next meal was coming from. However, suffice it to say that our team as well as other teams made arrangements for food at the small and big churches.
How can I help?
Many teams comprised of Sai devotees, both medical and non-medical volunteers, have been to Haiti and are still going every week.
Serve as volunteers
Anyone who is interested in serving in the Sai Medical Camp in Haiti should register on the Web site:
http://sathyasaihumanitarianrelief.org/updates/
The young adults are encouraged to volunteer for such humanitarian causes, as it is an opportunity to realize Sai through pure, selfless service activities that are done with love.
Donations of artifacts
Typically a variety of items are needed include medicines, vitamins, creams for itch, rash, and skin infections, Advil, Tylenol, clothes, toiletry items, tents, school or class room related items, stationery, books, pencils, crayons, text books, canned or dry food items, constructions items, etc.
Please refer to the above Web site for the latest updates on requirements of medical and non-medical items.
For those who are really interested and motivated, there is a wide scope of seva [service] activities available. Take one step to Sai and He will do the rest.
Pray for the victims
Those who cannot volunteer can also assist by holding or participating in the bhajans or namasmarana [taking the name of the Lord] type of devotional programs and pray for the well being of the victims of the catastrophe.
When family, relatives, friends, and community members join in prayer during times of tragedy, it helps and uplifts the spirit of the victims. God’s grace and blessings give them the strength and courage to face and overcome the suffering and the challenges.
Conclusion
As Sai devotees we have learned about the five main Human Values [truth, right-action, peace, love, and non-violence] and Swami’s other teachings. All we have to do is simply just send pure Sai love to the victims. When I saw the psychologist hug the depressed, suffering victims, it brought tears to my eyes. The pure selfless Sai love pouring from our hearts was all that was needed to uplift the spirits of the needy!
I will conclude with a small prayer by B.N. Narasimha Murthy from his book “Helpline for Sathya Sai Path.”
Om Sri Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba…
May I experience Your presence at all times and at all places.
May I enjoy the blessedness of being Your instrument always.
May I be aware every moment that all things go on according to Your will.
May I accept, trust, and surrender to Your will at every step.
Jai Sri Sai Ram
~Rajen Ghayal, New York, USA
