It’s probably the closest thing I’ve experienced to a war zone, says Sharon Ambler, a staff member of Youth With A Mission, Tyler. Sharon, who is a Registered Respiratory Therapist, had lived in Haiti with her husband for seven years. She returned to the nation as part of a MercyWorks first response team, arriving only six days after the horrific earthquake devastated Haiti.

Soon after the earthquake, a group of Dominican pastors backed by Youth With A Mission set up a clinic in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. Sharon says, “The best way to describe what we saw when we first reached the clinic, was controlled chaos. A few people overrun with tons of patients needing medical attention. When we got there with more medical staff and supplies they were thrilled.”

The clinic was housed in what used to be the National Police Headquarters, directly opposite the National Palace. Much of the building was destroyed when the earthquake hit, leaving just a few rooms. Paint was peeling off the walls and the team used what had been the police chief’s desk as a surgical table, while medical supplies were kept under a tarpaulin outside. However, as Sharon says, “It was a strategic place for the clinic to be located, as all the people were living right outside in a tent city.”