photos - various children - part 1

This is Monique and her family. This lady was the person who found Grace Hope, a baby that was abandoned in the Delmas 31 area. She is a caring mother with 5 children, none of whom are able to attend school. Vanessa of Angel Missions is trying to help them with schooling in the Cite Soleil area.

Widmirtha Mervil has been in the Bernard Mevs Hospital for the last week. This is a picture of pain, hunger and suffering. Keep her in prayer.

Daphka Saint-Vil got approved for her medical visa this week at the US Consulate. She will now be traveling soon to get her lower left leg operated on.

This is Baby Rose who was born with a cleft lip. Here she is at one week of age doing well. Dixie of God's Littlest Angels showed the father how to feed his child for the first time only 6 hours after the baby was born.

This is Biocharla Felix and her mother. The mothers of hydrocephalus children do what they can to help their children but it is very difficult for them to watch their children suffer as their head circumferences increase from fluid build-up in the brain.

photos - various children - part 2

Miliane Pierre is a 1-month-old baby that was born without an anus. Right now she poops and pees from the same place. Pray we can find medical care for her in the United States to repair this deformity.

Dieuna Philippe is the hydrocephalus baby who suddenly died at the clinic she was staying in last week. Here she is with her mother. The shunt surgery reduced the pressure significantly in her brain. You can notice how the bones in her head had been pushed aside due to the large amount of excess fluid in her brain. She is now with the Lord.

Kervens Guerrier will soon get his opportunity for medical care. His left foot is clubbed only. Hopefully we will be able to get his passport paperwork completed this week.

John Charles was abandoned by his family here at Coram Deo. He is now at the Food for the Poor orphanage in Bon Repos. Continue to keep John in prayer.

Vanessa Jules is a baby from the Fond Verrettes area. She is a happy child and high functioning neurologically. Pray we can find medical care for her.

haiti update - september 27, 2008

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.” Psalm 67:1,2

Hi! This week was a busy week with the medical program. We were able to get 3 medical visas done this week at the US Consulate. Neyssa and Marklein are 2 children with clubbed feet. I helped Angel Missions get the medical visas for them.
Daphka Saint-Vil was born with a broken lower leg, which was never set. This caused a lower leg deformity. She too was able to get a medical visa and will be traveling to Ohio to get this surgery done. Pray for traveling mercies for these children as they will soon all be traveling to get the medical care to enable them to walk normally.
Chrisno Jeudi is recovering well after having neurosurgery for his hydrocephalus in the United States. The couple, who is his host family, are both physical therapists, so he is getting physical therapy every day. He is now rolling over from his stomach to his back and back again. That is a big accomplishment for this baby considering the size of his head. It is a real blessing that he gets this intensive physical therapy opportunity. Pray for this host family’s efforts.
Kervens Guerrier is a young boy who has only one clubbed foot. He just got approved for medical care in the United States. We will be working on his passport next week.
Miliane Pierre is a 1-month-old baby girl who was born without an anus. We are moving quickly in finding medical care for her and also in preparing all her passport paperwork. Please pray that we will be able to find care for her. The mother is young and is only 17 years old. Hopefully it won’t be a problem getting a passport application for a minor with a mother who is a minor. Pray that we don’t run into too much red tape because of this situation.
Widmirtha Mervil continues in hospital at Bernard Mevs. She is showing a slight improvement. Continue to pray that the antibiotics she is receiving will cure the infection and that her malnutrition status improves. The mother still hasn’t gone into labor, which is good. The people at the hospital are hoping that Widmirtha will improve to the point of being able to be discharged from the hospital and also that the mother doesn’t go into labor while in the hospital. The family situation in this case is terrible. The pregnant mother is on her own. I spoke with an orphanage about possibly taking in Widmirtha once she is discharged on a temporary basis while she recovers from her malnutrition state or dies. God has a plan for her life. The mother was more relaxed when I told her that I found someone who could give her a helping hand in looking after Widmirtha. The neurosurgery team from the University of Miami will be coming to Haiti on October 11th to evaluate new cases and to do post-op checks on previous surgical cases. Hopefully they can determine if an infected shunt is the cause of Widmirtha’s health problems.
We were surprised this week when John Charles family took off and abandoned him here at Coram Deo. I made Paulna babysitter for the day and asked Tony of Holy Angels if they could take him in until we found a permanent location for him. Sister Genevieve who is a Colombian nurse working at Bernard Mevs Hospital contacted Food for the Poor and they accepted John into their handicapped orphanage. Pray for their efforts. I still haven’t given up on finding help for John. Hopefully the doctors can evaluate John and decide to operate on him during their visit in October. The abandonment of children continues in Haiti. At the Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs Hospital on Tabarre Road they are averaging 2 abandoned children a week! This week in the Canape Vert area of Port-au-Prince someone abandoned a 4-month-old baby by the side of the road. Concerned citizens gave the baby something to drink, changed its diaper and a policeman stood by its side while waiting for the social service department to come and remove the child. The press was there as well. People are upset with this practice but the incidents of child abandonment are increasing as parents are becoming more desperate. Continue to pray for stability in Haiti.
This week I met a nun from the Cardinal Leger Hospital in Leogane. This hospital is a leprosy hospital. She told me that leprosy is increasing. They treated 24 cases last year coming from different areas of the country (areas such as Cite Soleil, Martissant and the north). Pray for their efforts as they work to help eliminate this ancient disease from Haiti.
A mother from Fond Verrette came by this week with her hydrocephalus child. This child has a big head but is very good neurologically. Mentally and physically (other than her head size) she is normal. She will be a good candidate for surgery and we are going to get her registered at Healing Hands on Monday morning to be included on the evaluation list. The child’s name is Vanessa Jules and she is one of a family of 8 children. The Fond Verrette area was heavily damaged during the recent tropical storms. This family had the roof lifted off of their home and their crops were destroyed. They had a cow, donkey, goats and pigs that all died during the storm. This family now struggles to rebuild what was lost. 4 people died in the Fond Verrette area during the tropical storms and last week during a thunderstorm another 7 were killed (2 men, 2 women and 3 children) when struck by lightning. Pray for all the regions in the country that suffered damage. It is estimated that 60% of this year’s food harvest has been destroyed by the tropical storms, which hit as farmers were preparing to harvest corn, plantains, rice and yams from their fields. The Artibonite region is the rice growing area of Haiti and it suffered heavy damage. It will take time for another crop to grow and now the country will have to rely even more on expensive imports and also humanitarian aid. The agricultural minister estimates that the damage to Haiti’s agricultural sector is 180 million US$. 9,000 metric tons of discounted fertilizer that had been distributed to farmers washed away in the flood. Over 90,000 heads of cattle, pigs, goats etc. died during the storms. The UN and missions are struggling to help the people affected by the flooding. It is estimated that 800,000 people are in need of help with over 100,000 people in shelters. Now that the water levels are receding the massive clean-up and repair work continues. The government is negotiating with countries and companies to repair damaged and destroyed bridges. A spokesman with AHEC (Association Haitienne des Entreprises de Construction) spoke on problems of flooding especially in the Miragoane area. He stated that the flooding in Miragoane and Lac Azuei could have been prevented with maintenance. The Etang Miragoane has outlets that lead to the sea but these were blocked because of growths of seaweed. That resulted in the transforming of a section of Highway 2 into a canoe route because of the flooding.
Some of the food aid has been diverted and instead of reaching the flooded areas it is being sold in the markets of Port-au-Prince. Corruption continues to be a major problem in Haiti. In the recently released Transparency International Report for 2008 Haiti is number 4 on the corruption list with a score of 1.4 out of 10. The other 3 countries are Somalia, Burma and Irak. Continue to keep the people of Haiti in prayer.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - chrisno's surgery, various children

Chrisno Jeudi is a hydrocephalus baby that traveled last weekend to the United States for surgery. Vanessa Carpenter of Angel Missions made the arrangements for his surgery and was his escort on the plane ride to Virginia.

Chrisno had his surgery on Tuesday morning and is bouncing back quickly. He is a happy boy and has already captured the hearts of everyone who has met him.

We give the Lord thanks that medical care could be found for him. With this surgery his head will now not grow any larger and over time his body will start to grow to enable him to support his head.

This 4 year old girl was abandoned here at Coram Deo. Holy Angels has taken her into their care. Pray for Tony and Linda's efforts in providing care for her.

Johnly Stelle is a clubbed foot baby that died of a fever during the time of the tropical storms. He is now with the Lord. His father did the best he could to look after his son after the mother died shortly after giving birth to Johnly.

photos - bonnette - part 1

We made a visit with Paulna last weekend to see her family and the other people we know that live in Bonnett. Before the entrance to the village is where the crops are planted. The people of the village grow sugar cane, beans and "pitimi" (millet). This horse is feeding off the grass. There is a nearby "sous" (spring) which causes this land to be fertile. Fortunately the heavy rains didn't affect the crops here.

The road to the village is now a swamp so we parked the pick-up truck and enjoyed a walk to the village. Common transportation for the people living in this village are donkeys.

It was a good day for a walk. I went with the older guys who are part of Coram Deo and Paulna.

We needed to cut through the sugar cane field to bypass the mud.

There was already a path cut through the sugar cane that we followed.

photos - bonnett - part 2

The man sitting on the ground is Paulna's father. He is a very hard working man. Here he is working on a handle that he is making for his hoe.

The children are happy in this village and are eager to have their picture taken.

These women are preparing their food. Bonnette is a friendly village. Most of the people living in this village are related.

Evnelson is a young boy who is starting to battle malnutrition. He is now starting to stagger a bit when he walks. His face is dirty because he was eating dirt. This is a common thing for children to do when they are not getting proper nutrition. Keep him in prayer. If he gets worse we are going to suggest to his mother to maybe put him into an orphanage so that he can get proper care. His older brother Evnerson is at Deedee's home and doing well there now. Within a month he was standing and walking.

This lady is known as "Radio Grandma". When we got close to her home she was singing and dancing with this baby in her arms. She was singing the name Remika to get our attention. Remika is a baby that we brought to Holy Angels that was suffering from malnutrition. This woman is Remika's grandmother. Paulna told me her nickname is "Radio Grandma" because she is always entertaining the village with her singing and dancing. She is a jolly woman despite her poverty.

photos - bonnette - part 3

Mud huts don't take much to damage. The hut in the background shows damage to the thatch roof and mud/stick walls. The village of Bonnette held up well during all the rains. The girl that won't look at the camera is Doudeleimy. She recently came back from the United States after surgery to correct her clubbed feet.

Williamise is a young girl who lives in this village. She has hydrocephalus. The family out of superstition believe that if she is operated on she will not be able to walk. She is doing alright but is starting to have seizures probably due to the pressure on her brain.

Paulna is showing off riding on a friends donkey.

This is me sitting on the back end of a donkey.

A herd of sheep walked by near the back part of the village. You would never have known that there was rain in this area. It is already back to being dusty.

haiti update - september 20, 2008

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6”

Hi! Coram Deo now has a school program again! We opened on Monday and 7 children showed up. We are starting with 2 classes, one for handicapped children and 1 for children who have not had the opportunity to go to school. The majority of the children will start attending in October. The only problem we had this week with the school program was on the first day when I asked the cook to prepare an extra 10 plates of food for lunch. She refused saying that that was too much work and that I would have to pay her more money. It ended up that we now need another cook. Marie has cooking duties right now. The vision I have for the school program is to provide children with a Christian education and to show the community that handicapped children should be integrated into the regular school system. It was frustrating when I found out that a local school removed all the handicapped children saying that they needed special teachers in a special school setting. Haitian society and culture believe handicapped children are separate from regular society. Pray that we can once again work in the community and show the community how handicapped children can learn in a regular school setting with other children and that they can contribute and be respected by those around them.
This week was also a busy week with the medical program. We had to deal with a few emergencies this week. Late Sunday night I got a call from the clinic where Dieuna Philippe was staying at for a temporary basis before her family would take her home. Dr. Joey had said that she had suddenly died. I took a few of the guys with me and we drove over to the clinic, which is located in the Mais Gate region between the top of Delmas 31 and Airport Road. Because it was late at night, we kept the truck in a more open area that we could get away from easier. We had to do a little bit of walking through the neighborhood and the only people out were local drinkers at a few street-side bars. Walking through the neighborhood I had to pretend that I was carrying a sick baby. Nobody noticed and we walked to where the truck was parked. We were able to travel quickly to the downtown morgue at General Hospital because the streetlights don’t work late at night and there were only a couple of vehicles on the road. It is good to see the police providing better security at night now. At one time they used to never be outside on the streets after dark. They stopped us on the way home and asked what we were doing. I didn’t want to say that we had brought a body to the morgue and told them that I brought someone to General Hospital. He asked me where this person was and I told him that she was still there. He let us drive on after that and we made it back home. Pray for Dieuna’s family during this time of loss. God had a different plan for her than living in Cite Soleil.
On Thursday morning a man came to Coram Deo holding a cleft lip baby in his arms. His wife had given birth by caesarian section at the state Chancerelles hospital 6 hours earlier. He didn’t know what to do. The child had not yet received any liquids. We ended up going to see Dixie Bickel over at God’s Littlest Angels and she examined her. She was able to get her to suck with a cleft lip nipple and bottle. The new father was relieved to see his baby drink from a baby bottle. We will keep contact with the family and hopefully one day this baby girl will get surgery to correct this deformity. People in Haiti are superstitious about what causes cleft lips. I have heard people tell me it is caused because the mother was startled, or fell down or ate some crabs while she was pregnant. That day I heard another reason. A Haitian woman told the father that his child was this way because the mother must have eaten cows feet while she was pregnant. We returned the family to the hospital so that the father could show his wife that their baby girl could still drink. It’s good to see happy endings!
It took us 3 days this week to get help for Widmirtha Mervil, a 3-year-old hydrocephalus girl. She has been sick since July and the mother couldn’t find help for her. The child was operated on in the May hydrocephalus surgeries. She came to Coram Deo on Monday and we finally found a hospital that would admit her on Friday afternoon. She is severely malnourished and can no longer eat as well as having an infection. She is now on iv’s and will be tube fed. This little girl has suffered much. Her mother is 8 months pregnant with her second child. Pray that Widmirtha can recover from her illness and also that her mother doesn’t go into labor before her other child is released from the hospital. The mother says that she doesn’t have any family living in Port-au-Prince that can help her out.
Dieunette Lormintus who just recently returned from the United States after having surgery to remove an encepholocele growing at the back of her head has gone through a lot lately. Dieunette came back to Haiti after Tropical Storms Fay and Gustav had hit. Her mother is from a place called Nan Remy, which is in the Gonaives area. The mother was eager to leave Port-au-Prince and get back home to Nan Remy before the arrival of Tropical Storm Hannah so we dropped her off at the bus station in Port-au-Prince that would take her back to her home on that Saturday morning. She was home only a couple of days before Tropical Storm Hannah hit. This was the storm that caused a lot of damage and flooding in Gonaives. We got word later in the week that Dieunette was very sick and the mother had also contacted an orphanage telling them that she didn’t know how she was going to look after her. Because of the damage in Gonaives and the upcoming Hurricane Ike that was going to start affecting Haiti the decision was made by the orphanage to send Lisa to meet the mother and get back to Port-au-Prince as quickly as possible. Because the road was flooded at Gonaives, Lisa needed to travel partly by foot. She reached Dieunette and her mother on Friday. We were able to keep in cell phone contact with Lisa until she took a stumble in a river and dropped the phone in the water. There was also a back up plan for getting back to Port-au-Prince. If she couldn’t get through the Gonaives region there was a helicopter being used by a mission that offered to help out. They were able to make it back through the Gonaives region and into Port-au-Prince. She was treated for an ear infection and we took her for a cat scan the next day. The cat scan results show she has a slight enlargement of the ventricles in her brain, which could indicate a developing hydrocephalus. The neurosurgeon that operated on her in the United States has reviewed her cat scan and said this week that she may need to have another brain surgery. Right now she is living in the orphanage that her mother put her in. Keep Dieunette in prayer during this time and also her mother as she returned back to Nan Remy.
Chrisno Jeudi traveled to the United States on Sunday morning with Vanessa and had his surgery for hydrocephalus on Tuesday morning. He came through surgery well and is enjoying living without all that pressure in his brain. He is very active and playful. He still has a large head but over time will be able to adapt to it as his body grows. We give the Lord thanks for His healing mercies.
Continue to pray for all those still suffering from the flooding. Food aid is coming in but there are many people that need assistance.
That is all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - floods

Gonaives is one of the largest cities in Haiti. It has a population of around 300,000 people. The entire city was flooded as this city sits in a valley area surrounded by mountains.

Many houses are destroyed along with the people living in them. It will take time for the waters to recede completely. This is the second major flood in this city. The last flood in 2004 killed around 3000 people.

This photo shows the flooding in the low-lying areas.

The Miragoane area is flooded. The Miragoane region is in the southern part of the country. This is Highway 2 which is no longer open to vehicular traffic. This southern highway leads to Port-au-Prince. You need to take a canoe to go down this highway. The charge is 50 gourdes or about $1.25 per person. The canoe travels to where the flooded area ends and then people board regular public transportation.

Cabaret suffered a lot of damage from the flooding of Hurricane Ike. Most of the people who died were children. These photos were all taken from the internet.

photos - floods - evacuations

Once the water levels started to recede people came down from the rooftops and started heading out looking for food or just to escape the flooding in the city of Gonaives.

The UN military helped in rescuing people from the flooded areas.

It is difficult for the handicapped to move through the flooded areas.

People had to wade through the flood waters. This man is carrying a child on his shoulders.

Many elderly and children died when they couldn't move fast enough to get away from the flood waters. These series of photos were all taken from the internet

photos - floods - international assistance

The USS Kearsage from the American Navy is providing assistance for transporting humanitarian aid. The helicopters from this ship are being used to fly in food to the flooded areas of the country. Several bodies were found in the sea.

Drinking water is in short supply as well as food. Here a shipment of water is unloaded to prepare for distribution to the people.

The UN is providing food assistance and securing the food distribution sites.

People are desperate and people push their way through to find food first at the distribution sites.

Barbed wire is set up to control the hungry people. These series of photos were all taken from the internet

photos - floods - people

These photos were taken from the internet showing the people involved by the flooding. There are many people who have lost homes and roads are flooded causing food to be in rare supply.

People are desperate for whatever food that they can get.

There are large line-ups at distribution sights.

People use whatever areas they can find to cook their food.

haiti update - september 13, 2008

“For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.” Psalm 72:12-14

Hi! This week was busy with medical visas at the US Consulate for John Charles and Chrisno Jeudi who both have hydrocephalus. We also went with Naphtalie Joseph, Dieuna Philippe and Dieunette Lormintus to the US Consulate to show that the children have returned to Haiti after completing their medical treatment in the United States. We give the Lord thanks for opening doors to enable these children to get medical care.
We also worked on the passport paperwork for Daphka Saintvil. She is a 5-year-old girl who has a deformed lower leg. She already has a hospital waiting for her in the United States. Pray that we can now get a medical visa for her soon. Pray for other children on our medical search list who are still waiting for a hospital to be found to help them. The Miami Neurosurgery Team will be coming to Haiti in October to perform hydrocephalus surgeries again. Pray for all the plans being made for these surgeries to happen. They will be held at Hopital La Paix on Delmas 33.
One of the hydrocephalus children we were trying to find help for was placed into an orphanage on Delmas 75. I found this info out from one of the workers here at Coram Deo. In reality though this baby wasn’t placed in the orphanage. The mother left the baby in front of the gate at Hal and Chris’s orphanage and then she walked away. Pray for their efforts in looking after her.
We also found out that one of the hydrocephalus babies recently died. This is the baby who we met in the Malpasse area that lived across the lake and that came to us in a sailboat. Johnley Stelle, a clubbed foot baby also died after a fever. During the time of the hurricanes the father wasn’t able to travel to seek medical care.
Grace Hope, the baby who was abandoned in the Delmas 31 area a few weeks ago is now discharged from the hospital after recovering from her infections and has now been admitted to His Home for Children run by Hal and Chris Nungester. Pray for continuing health for her and that an adoptive family can be found for Grace.
This morning somebody abandoned a cerebral palsy girl at Coram Deo. I called Linda at Holy Angels and she took in the child. She is very skinny and because of her brain damage can’t move very much. Pray that people don’t dump children by abandoning them somewhere.
The Minister of Education has delayed the opening of the school year until October 6, 2008 due to all the damage around the country because of the recent hurricanes and because many of the schools in outlying areas are being used as shelters by the flood victims. Some private schools and mission schools are open here in Port-au-Prince.
On Thursday we had an interesting walk to school. Manu starts school earlier than the other children. I was walking with him and when we got to the top of our street I noticed that there were several people looking down the next street. I heard only part of their conversation. One was saying something about a thief and taking something in front of the Missionary of Charities house. When I got close to them I asked them what was going on and they responded that nothing was going on. I looked where they were looking and saw a woman walking quickly and every now and then running. I got curious and told Manu to go on to school and then I followed this woman. She turned at a side street and then I heard an angry discussion. She had caught up to a young man who was carrying a large sac. Other people came and watched what was going on. The man denied that he took the sac and the woman kept insisting that he stole it. What happened next didn’t make much sense. After arguing for a while the woman told the man that she would split the contents of the sac with him and she started removing items from his sac and putting them into her sac. I didn’t understand why this woman would share the contents of the sac with a thief. It didn’t take long before someone else came into the picture. Another woman came stomping down the road with a couple of guys. She yelled out to everyone to stop the thief and started walking up the street shaking her fist. Then I found out that the guy was a “sac snatcher” and the first woman was an “opportunity thief”. The woman who had been separating the contents of the sac hurriedly put everything back into the one sac and gave it to the real owner of the sac. The real owner told everyone that this man had snatched the sac from the top of her head while she was carrying her child. The real owner then placed the sac on her head and walked off. The “opportunity thief” went along with the other woman and showed her the sweat on her forehead from running after the “sac snatcher”. Hopefully the owner of the sac doesn’t decide to reward the “opportunity thief”. The “sac snatcher” was left standing empty handed.
Another of the shooting victims from the incident at Food For the Poor has died in hospital. This person had been shot in the chest. This now means that the security guard has killed 3 people and injured 17 others. There is no news of this incident in the press but hopefully the security guard will be held responsible for this act and that the whole incident will not be ignored.
The country is trying to recover from the hurricanes but there is a lot of damage. On Sunday, Hurricane Ike passed off the north coast of Haiti and dumped a lot of rain onto Haiti once again. In a place called Cabaret there was flooding and people were swept away by the flooding, many of whom were children. Bridges were destroyed in several areas of the country. The bridge in Montrouis can no longer be crossed. This is an important bridge because it is one of the routes that lead to the north and to Gonaives. In Miragoane the road is flooded. This is a route from the south into Port-au-Prince. People are now traveling part of this national highway by canoe. Boats haul people from the flooded area to the unflooded part of the road where transportation awaits for the journey to Port-au-Prince. The Haitian people are determined and resourceful. The people in the flooded areas of the country are hungry. Aid is starting to come in by the best route available, which is by helicopter and boat, but there are thousands of people to feed. It is near riot conditions for food distributions sometimes. The strong push themselves to be first and the weak get knocked aside. A navy ship from the United States is now being used to help in the relief effort. The helicopters from this ship are being used to fly in aid to the flooded areas. Canada is sending in a Canadian Armed Forces DART team (Disaster Assistance Response Team) as well as a navy ship. The United Nations is seeking 110 million dollars in aid from donor countries to help with the relief effort. Because of the dirty flood waters that people are walking in health problems are occurring. Skin infections and diarrhea are complications of these dirty waters. Animal carcasses and bodies are being buried as they are found so there is no accurate death toll from these storms. Some were swept out to sea and some are buried in the mud. Pray for all those residing in the flooded areas and for the relief effort. Many missions are helping to bring aid to the people and helping people affected by the floods. Pray for the recovery efforts of the government. On Friday we saw a protest in front of the prime minister’s residence. The people will be expecting immediate action by the government. Some are angry that infrastructure projects planned after the last major Gonaives flooding in 2004 were never carried out and some people are just hungry.
That is all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - tropical storm hannah - part 1

This is the Riviere Grise that passes in the Duvivier area which is a district off of Route 9. The river ate land on both sides of the river.

First the river ate the land on the far side swallowing land and houses in its path. Then it shifted over and started swallowing the other side. The empty area shows the land that the river removed.

The river worked quickly eroding the sides of the lands.

This man is removing the rebar from his house that collapsed into the river. The house was not on the rivers' edge. All the land in front of it was taken away by the river before his house collapsed.

Lukner's aunt is standing beside him. One of his nieces is pointing out where in the river their house used to be. Even a tractor was swallowed up by the river. It is amazing how strong water is!