By Livi Stanford

A woman with a broken arm sat in agony waiting to be taken care of in Haiti as volunteer and Lunenburg native Janet Mayo did her best to treat her injuries with the little medical supplies she had.

    “She was in a lot of pain,” Mayo said, adding that Haitians are very stoic and most wouldn’t make a noise or cry out. “I was with her and said I ‘will pray with you.’”

    After the woman was taken care of, she hugged Mayo and thanked her for her help.

    “This is when it hit,” Mayo said. “I just felt such grief, such love for these people. They had to deal with all of (this) and had so little help. It was overwhelming because you felt so helpless. It broke my heart.”

    Mayo was one of 37 volunteers who traveled to Haiti with Mission E4, a charitable organization that works “to connect the US church with churches around the world in need of financial support. Currently, (the organization has work) going on in Haiti, Kosova, Albania, and the USA,” according to its Web site.

    The group had initially come to Haiti to aid in building the foundation for a third school building in Leogane, which would be a high school. They also worked to help open a medical clinic and be of assistance to the children in the orphanage that was built there.

    “We were registering another 70 children into our schools,” Lunenburg High School special education teacher Barbara “Bobbie” Curtis said. “We were taking pictures and getting background information.”

    This occurred a mere 45 minutes before the earthquake struck on Jan. 12. Driving back to their accommodations in Carrefour, the group had no idea they would experience an earthquake that devastated one of the poorest countries in the world.

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To read more about Mission E4's experiences in Haiti, pick up a copy of The Lunenburg Ledger in stores now or call (978) 582-8200 to subscribe today.