Photos - Haiti Wildlife

All the hydrocephalus children have now been discharged from the hospital. Now the only kid left in the empty pediatrics room is the one eyed goat.

It has been a busy time lately with visitors and everyone here wanted to make sure that we didn't scare them off. I went hunting with the children around the house and yard and we had a bountiful harvest! Here is Manu holding his pet rat.
We did a lot of mice chasing and here is the fruit of our efforts.
When one of the visitors was here they asked about tarantulas and where they went when it rained. I told them they found somewhere dry to hide. Here is one of them.

Photos - New Hydrocephalus Patients

This baby has something growing out of the back of her head. A cat scan was done and we are waiting for the doctors opinion of what this is.

This hydrocephalus child has never been operated on but has good neurological function. It's amazing to see a case like this.

This baby was not very happy getting her picture taken.

Photos - Dad in Haiti

My father is in Haiti and I am keeping him busy. Sunday afternoon we brought Maudlin Thomas and his mother to their home. Maudlin has recovered from his bout of meningitis. His mother out of thanks gave us this gift of coconuts.

He brought another laptop computer with him to replace the one that was stolen. The computer also comes with a big stick as a security accessory.

Photos - Hydrocephalus Children Still in Hospital

There are still 3 children still in hospital recovering from post-op problems. This is Maudlin Thomas. He had fever and seizures for a week due to meningitis and finally was put on iv antibiotics and he is starting to improve.

This is Jeannot Manasseh and his mother. He was originally discharged but was readmitted with fluid from the brain leaking from the incision site in his head and also with fever and seizures. He is now doing good and the mother is waiting for the doctor to discharge him once again.

This is Sammie Bernier a one month old baby who was operated on for spina bifida and associated hydrocephalus. Both incision sites are infected and she is currently leaking fluid from the incision site in her abdomen. This fluid I think is from the brain. She has a shunt and it looks like she will have to get it removed. She is on iv antibiotics as well. The children are not getting much attention from hospital staff and much prayer is needed for them. Pray for Sammie's mother as she is getting discouraged from the lack of medical attention.

Photos - Cite Soleil - Ti-Ayiti district

Cite Soleil is a large slum of around 300,000 people which starts at Rte. Nationale #1 and stretches out to the sea. It is separated into 34 districts. Ti-Ayiti is one of these districts. One side is bordered by a canal. Water and garbage flow down the streets of Port-au-Prince and end up in canals leading to the sea. It doesn't make for healthy living for the people residing in this area.

The canal is full and covered in garbage. When it rains the canals overflow to where people build their homes. The people in this area are very poor and sewage waste gets dumped into this area as well.

The majority of the houses are tin shacks in poor condition

This is another shot of the canal leading to the sea. In the distance are fisherman who are ready to set out to lay down their crab traps.

photos - Canadian Visitors - November 12, 2007

We made a little excursion to Paulna's village while the visitors were here. Because of all the recent rains the road was one big mud bowl so we parked the pick-up and walked in. Up ahead are the cane fields that we had to detour through to avoid most of the mud. It was a fun walk. The name of the village is Bonnette.

Inside the village were a lot of resting sheep and some healthy looking turkeys. It would have been nice to take one home to eat.

The visitors brought along a big sack of clothing, toys and candy. Right here everything looks quite orderly but it didn't last for long!

That night everyone was treated to smores. When they first arrived Manu had asked Marlene if they were going to have marmalade. She bought some at the store the next day but he was surprised to see it. What he really meant was smores. They got to stuff their faces with smores the last evening. Everyone enjoyed them.

Haiti Update - November 12, 2007

… The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galations 5:6

Hi! It’s been awhile since I was able to write an update. It hasn’t been because things have been busy here but because my laptop computer and cash box with all the money and my identification broke out of my room and fled to parts unknown. This all happened last Sunday morning while everyone was at church. We have a gatekeeper for Sunday and 3 individuals got into the yard with a lie. My sister Tanya stayed home from church because she was feeling sick and I was at the hospital. At 10:00 am there was a knock at the gate and the gatekeeper saw a young person who said that she came to speak with us about papers for a medical visa and that she was waiting for another young man whose name I will change to Judas. He told her he couldn’t open the gate for her but she begged to be let in and said that she would sit and wait for everyone to come back from church. He was just shutting the door when Judas pushed through and shoved past the gatekeeper. They were in the yard awhile and Judas got up to head toward the kitchen door. The gatekeeper told him he couldn’t approach the house and he replied that he was only going to wash his feet. My sister was at the door to the house and saw him and talked with him. The 3 people in the yard were all known at Coram Deo because in the past they all were helped with medical and/or education needs. Tanya asked Judas why he was there at that time (it was the time people in Haiti are in church). He replied he was there to see the visitors. She talked with him a little while and then eventually the 3 young people in the yard left. They never did wait until the visitors came back. I arrived back home at 11:30 from the hospital and saw that the laptop computer was missing. The file cabinet was also smashed open and the cash box was missing. This proves that the persons who committed the crime knew exactly where to find the stuff. I contacted the police and they are now in the process of conducting an investigation. They believe that as many as 5 people were involved in this theft. Tanya was able to identify Judas and when the police questioned him he supplied the names of the other two. It is frustrating when people bite the hand that fed them but God will judge in the end. Pray for Judas and his buddies that they change their hearts and mend their ways and for the police as they conduct their investigation.
One of the things that the thieves didn’t steal was my old Windows 98 computer. It was sitting on top of the kitchen cupboard with a broken power button. The fact that this computer wasn’t taken as well only goes to prove that the thieves knew it wasn’t working and shows that the thieves knew the house. I took it over this week to the computer repair shop and they removed the broken power button. You just have to stick something inside the open space to push the contact area to turn on the computer. I use a Qtip because it is softer than other things that I could use. I figure that I have designed a new model. I call it the Compa-Qtip. After you power up the computer you can use the Qtip to clean out your ears! It’s great to email and surf the web again!
Recently 25 children received operations for their hydrocephalus. Things went well until the medical team left. That afternoon the hospital director said that there was only a 4 day contract signed with the Ministry of Health and there would no longer be nurses assigned to the childrens care. We ended up on Wednesday to hire nurses so that the children would get care. It was also a real blessing the my sister and the rest of the crew were there to help. Without them things would have really fallen apart. The doctors at the hospital refused to look at the children who had post-op problems. The haitian neurosurgeon came in and discharged patients that could go home but he was battling hospital bureaucracy too. He went to the Ministry of Health and the Minister of Health himself came to the hospital last Thursday to order the hospital staff to look after the children. A couple of times the hospital staff shut off the water so that the mothers had no water to bathe themselves or their children. There was one evening when a hospital worker came in and told the mothers to leave the room because they were not allowed to rest on the extra beds in the room. He told them that they had to sleep on the floor. The mothers didn’t listen and I told them if they tried it again to call me on the phone. There was some iv antibiotic medicines left by the team to be used for the post-op treatment of the children. A nurse got them from the storage room and put them on the desk in the room. Within a couple of minutes other nurses came by and stole them all. I went into the other pediatric room and told the nurse there that I knew that nurses came in and took the medicine away for "safekeeping" and asked for a vial. She told me that she would give me one this one time only and pulled one out of the cabinet. On Sunday we needed more so I went back to the room and didn’t ask this time. I just walked up to the medicine cabinet and told the resident doctor that I needed the antibiotic and took it. She looked angry but didn’t stop me. During the surgeries the medical team had problems finding iv poles to hang up the fluids after the children came back to their beds from surgery. The nurse that I talked too said that I would have to talk with administration and ask them. There was nobody in administration so I went on a search to other areas of the hospital and took some from the other rooms. I made sure that it wasn’t already in use though before it was removed. It was great fun sneaking down the hallways with iv poles under my arm. I did this several times and never got caught once! There are 3 children still hospitalized, Maudlin, Manasseh and Sammie. Keep them in prayer and pray for healing mercies as they deal with post-op infections. No matter what the problems that are here in Haiti it is great to help these kids and families with Christian love. Here is a poem that explains what it is and how we should serve God with it. Have a good day!

Karen

An ardent spirit dwells with Christian love,
The eagle’s vigour in the pitying dove.
‘Tis not enough that we with sorrow sigh.
That we the wants of pleading man supply,
That we in sympathy with sufferers feel,
Nor hear a grief without a wish to heal;
Not these suffice – to sickness, pain and woe,
The Christian spirit loves with aid to go;
Will not be sought, waits not for want to plead,
But seeks the duty – nay, prevents the need;
Her utmost aid to every ill applies,
And plants relief for coming miseries.

George Crabbe 1754-1832

Route 9-Cite Soleil - November 1, 2007

Here is a photo with the crew and the Brazilian UN at the Lycee in Cite Soleil. Elizabeth speaks portuguese so she talked with them and the soldiers invited everyone to join them on their patrol. Marlene was the driver and Elizabeth directed the troops.

We went down Route 9 where the flooding was and the banana crops were damaged. Over 1200 people took refuge from the flooding at the state secondary school (Lycee) that we visited. We talked with the people and heard their stories of what they went through. They just want the rains to stop and everything to dry up.

Erosion from the waters ate away at part of this path. Houses were also destroyed.

This family is trying to channel away the water from in front of their home. They had been doing this since dawn working with the hope of redirecting the flow of water away from their home.