photos - student strike

Periodically the medical students and other supporters will set up burning tires in the area near General Hospital and Rue Oswald Durand. Traffic can not pass through the area when these activities go on.

The students set fire to this vehicle inside one of the school campuses.

In anger the students set fire to this UN police vehicle. The 2 UN policemen escaped unharmed.

The haitian police and UN use tear gas to send the students off of the streets and back to their campus compound where they are staying. The UN and the haitian police have been instructed by the government not to enter onto the campus compound to remove the students. Pray for an end to the student strike as the state General Hospital is not able to function because of it. These photos were all taken from the internet.

photos - jean juste funeral

As a symbolic gesture Father Jean Juste's casket was laid in front of the gates of the Palais National. He was considered a "champion of the people".The casket was then loaded onto a hearse and traveled to Cavaillon for burial. These photos were taken from the internet.

The UN is helping to provide security to the country but I think that they should have kept at a distance for the funeral and let the Haitian police be in the front.

Brazilian soldiers arrested one of the people at the funeral. Rocks were thrown at the soldiers and they then shot in the air.

In the chaos after the shooting, a man was found on the ground with a wound to the head. In anger the people who were at the funeral carried the body to the gates of the Palais National and left him there. Police later removed his body and brought it to the morgue. Rocks were thrown and several vehicles had their windows broken by the angry people. The UN announced the next day that this man died of a wound to the head caused by an object like a rock.

haiti update - june 20, 2009

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

Hi! This week was busy with the medical and school programs. Exam week began on Monday for the school children here at Coram Deo and finished on Thursday. The school children will now be on summer vacation. Next Friday morning there will be a meeting with the parents to hand out the report cards. We give the Lord thanks that we were able to have a school program this year. Jakenmy Milien is the teacher of the handicapped class. He is writing the Philo state exams at the end of this month. If he passes these exams he will be finished with secondary school and will be part of the 10% of students who graduate school in Haiti. Pray that he studies well and is able to pass his exams.
Another malnourished child came down from the Kenscoff mountain area with her mother. She is around 2 years of age and her body was starting to swell with kwashiorkor malnutrition. The family lives in the area of Pastor Pierre’s “far church”. The father died a few months ago after being struck on the head with a tree branch. He was co-pastor of this church. Since that time the family has suffered. The other members of the church have been helping the pastor’s wife and family with food but they too are poor and don’t have much to share. We asked the Missionaries of Charity if they could accept the girl in their malnutrition program and they did this on Monday morning. Pray for this girl and those who are helping her. Pray too for those in outlying areas who are struggling to feed their families.
The medical students and their supporters continue to cause problems in the downtown area near General Hospital with their rock throwing and tire burning. This has made things difficult for people who work in the downtown area. President Preval has decided to object to the minimum wage laws passed by the parliament and senate for further study. Wednesday afternoon the students stopped a UN police vehicle that passed by their compound and they burned it. The 2 UN policemen got away unharmed. The funeral for Father Jean Juste was held on Thursday morning. He was much loved by the Haitian people and was considered as a “champion of the poor”. He had the same charisma that ex-president Aristide (he was a former priest too) had. A lot of people packed the large Cathedral and surrounding area that is located downtown near the Palais National. Because he was a Lavalas supporter people were concerned that there would be problems at the funeral. We had to go that morning with Donna of Feed the Child and a family from the Jacmel area to see a surgeon whose office was located one block up from the large public park downtown. Rene is an 11-year-old boy who has suffered a lot. 2 years ago his belly swelled and he was hospitalized. A fistula opened up in his abdomen and feces started to come out of his belly button. The boy’s mother had died and their grandmother was raising him and his twin brother. She was poor and didn’t have the money to afford the surgery to repair this problem. Instead she took him back home and left it up to God. Feces continued to pass through his belly button for 8 months after which it finally stopped and he was able to stool normally again. He still has abdominal pains from time to time and has missed school several times when the pain was too much for him. Right now he is doing alright. Dr. Philippe Rouseau is a Haitian surgeon whose specialty is pediatric abdominal surgery and he is an excellent surgeon. He ordered a few tests to be done but it is possible that Rene will not need surgery. Scarring in the intestines may cause the abdominal pain. The fistula may have healed by itself. Pray for Rene and that the tests will help the surgeon decide how to proceed. While we were in the medical clinic Lukner stayed on the street to keep an eye on things. He started to see a lot of people running up the street from the downtown area. The word was that someone had gotten shot by the UN at Father Jean Juste’s funeral. He moved with the people to find out where the trouble area was and kept in contact with me on the cell phone. He was able to keep safe and move out of the area but I was concerned for Kimosabee. There was nowhere to hide him and I had no choice but to leave him parked where he was. I was hoping that people wouldn’t smash his windows. Street vendors were packing up and leaving the area and businesses were closing their doors. Lukner went up Ave. John Brown to the area in front of Haitian Immigration. Some people wanted to enter into the Civil Etat compound and into Immigration for shelter but workers there had closed the gates. Several motorcycles were driving fast up John Brown to get away from the area. Lukner continued to move up John Brown and he stopped by the Prophalab pharmacy. A few Haitian policemen showed up and were telling vendors to pack up and leave and that there was trouble on the streets. Lukner was standing near the police and heard what was being said over the police radio. The area from the Capitol cinema to the Palais National had a lot of activity. He then moved further up the road and called to tell me where to pick him up. The street was quiet when we left the doctor’s office and Kimosabee’s windows were intact! I drove over to where Lukner was waiting and we then drove home. Later I found out more of what had happened. There were no problems at the funeral. The church was packed with people and when the service was over the funeral procession transported Father Jean Juste’s casket to the gates in front of the Palais National. He was then loaded onto a hearse for the voyage to his hometown of Cavaillon to be buried. While everyone was leaving the cathedral and the funeral procession was on its way some Brazilian soldiers showed up. They arrested an individual. Some people were throwing rocks at them and they fired into the air. After things settled it was noticed that there was a body on the ground with a head wound. People were angry with the UN and picked up the body and carried it towards the Palais National. At the gates of the Palais National the people deposited the body there. In anger people were smashing windows of vehicles in the area. Police removed the body and brought it to the morgue at General Hospital. The situation calmed down after a while. The next day the UN made a statement that the head wound was not caused by a bullet but by something blunt like a rock.
The area where the students are striking is right where General Hospital is located. As a result the hospital is not able to function. Doctors and nurses are not coming to work and the patients who stay there are stuck in their beds. When the students are active with their rock throwing and tire burning the police and UN are active with firing tear gas. The tear gas affects people in the area and patients in the hospital as well. On Friday a mother came with her 3-year-old girl to Coram Deo. They live in Cite Soleil. On Tuesday the girl tripped and fell into hot oil. She burned her right arm, hand, and stomach. The mother was not able to find care for her. She had first gone to the Missionaries of Charity on Delmas 31 and they told her that they couldn’t help her. She then came to our place. The skin needed to be debrided and we brought her over to Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs Hospital. I spoke with the doctor there and they told the mother to wait and then I went to another appointment with another child. Later the mother called me to say that the doctor told her that they couldn’t help her and told her to go to General Hospital. She went to General Hospital to find no doctor there. Saturday morning she was finally able to get care for her at a clinic being held at St. Joseph’s. Pray for this girl; that her burns heal without infection and also that the student strike would be settled soon and that General Hospital can function once again.
My nephew John had his surgery on his left foot on Wednesday. The procedure took 5 hours. John likes to sing. While being wheeled to the operating room he was singing with the nurses. He was singing right up to when they made him go to sleep. When he was back in his room after surgery the nurses would check the circulation in his toes every couple of hours. He noticed that they never looked at his other foot. He than lifted up his other foot and asked the nurse why doesn’t she check the other foot too. She then checked the other foot too. I don’t think the people at the hospital will forget John! He was discharged from the hospital today. He is doing well. Pray for his continued recovery. In another month’s time he will get a second surgery on his other foot. Maybe one day he will be able to stand!
That is all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - medical cases

Angelo Lafortune is now in the United States for a post-op check-up with his neurosurgeon. He needs to be monitored every year to determine if his brain tumor is growing back. He's a friendly boy who has a good family.

Daphka Saintvil has been in the United States for several months already for orthopedic surgery on a deformed lower leg. This is her and her host mother. It is great how these families open up their homes to provide a home away from home for children in need of medical care.

Daphka recently had an additional surgery on her leg. She has an external fixator in place. Pray the bone heals well.

Solyvien Favra had a fractured ankle that was never set and this resulted in a deformity for him.

Because his foot is twisted he walks on the top of his foot. He will need a couple of reconstructive surgeries to set the ankle properly. His father was happy with the news that a doctor and hospital have been found that are donating this care free of charge.

photos - various

This is a picture from the last time that I saw Phara Simeon which was in January 2009. Her hair was turning an orange color from malnutrition. We heard from her family that she died in the province at her family's home. Her mother did the best she could to look after her.

Ketline Andre is a young woman who has one leg that never developed normally. As a result her good leg became crooked to compensate for the differences in leg length. Her spine also developed scoliosis because of the imbalance in leg lengths. She now gets around the best she can.

Manu went shopping downtown the other week for used clothing with Jn. Eddy. The children have worn out most of their clothes and the mice have chewed up a few too! Here he is modeling one of his outfits he picked out.

We received a food donation from Love a Child of Feed My Starving Children rice meals through being part of ODEO. We use these meals to feed the children in the school program here at Coram Deo.

Marie is cooking on a haitian stove.

VIDEO - Praise You In The Storm

Casting Crowns has a song/video entitled "Praise You In The Storm". Our walk with God is not always on easy roads but He is there with us even through the stormiest of storms. Follow the link to:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw

haiti update - june 14, 2009

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” John 14:1

Hi! My nephew John is finally getting the opportunity to have surgery for clubbed feet caused by his hydrocephalus. John is 13 years old now. We found him in the abandoned room at General Hospital when he was only a month old. Doctors and other people here in Haiti wrote off John as having no brain and not helpable. My sister Tanya contacted a neurosurgeon in London, Ontario and he was willing to perform surgery to install a shunt and remove the pressure on his brain. This surgeon believes the brain of an infant is very adaptable. At 6 months of age John’s head circumference was 83 cm when he had his first surgery. Now, after a few surgeries his head is around 67 cm and will stay this size. The Shriners are sponsoring his surgery and Tanya, John and my mother travel to Montreal Sunday afternoon by train. The Shriners are paying for transportation, hotel and meals. On Monday he will meet the doctors and Wednesday will be his surgery. Pray that all goes well. John is a talkative boy and enjoys being around people. He has been a part of my sister Tanya’s family since his arrival in Canada 13 years ago.
Daphka Saintvil is a young girl who is currently in Ohio for orthopedic treatment of a deformed leg. She just recently had another operation and now has an external fixator in place. Pray the leg heals well.
The Smile Train plastic surgery team conducted 35 cleft lip/palette surgeries at Bernard Mevs Hospital. On Tuesday one of the plastic surgeons examined Magalie Toussaint. Roberta is trying to find someone to help Magalie. She is a 2-year-old girl with an encephalocele growing between her eyes. This is causing her eyes to be pushed to the side. The plastic surgeon has a contact in Dallas who specializes in this type of surgery. Pray he will agree to do the surgery. The University of Miami plastic surgery team also performed around 30 cleft lip/palette, burn scar surgeries. We give the Lord thanks for this bountiful harvest of surgeries! Another Smile Train team is coming to Haiti in September to the Baptist Mission Hospital. The University of Miami plastic surgery team will be planning another round of surgeries at Hopital La Paix sometime in December coordinated by Project Medishare.
Friday morning was busy making a couple of trips with people who had surgery on the USNS Comfort Hospital ship to the Angel Missions Surgical Center. A team from Maine made post-op evaluations. This Maine medical team was co-ordinated by Angel Missions. On Saturday they did a medical clinic at Roberta’s mission and saw about 100 patients.
Phara Simeon is a young hydrocephalus child and she died at her family’s home in the countryside. She was one of the children who went to the United States for surgery. When she came back to Haiti her head circumference continued to increase and she had a second surgery at Hopital La Paix when the University of Miami Neurosurgery team came in May 2008. When I last saw Phara, her hair was turning an orange color (which is an indicator of malnutrition). Her mother is a good mother who loved her. I am sure that she did her best in taking care of Phara.
Ganna and Aldai are 2 brothers who are friends of the children here at Coram Deo. I usually have to make them leave the yard every evening. Their 21-year-old cousin was robbed downtown and the thief stabbed him in the chest. He died right there on the street. This happened in the middle of the morning and there were people who saw what happened. The onlookers grabbed the thief and held onto him until the police arrived. He is now in prison. Pray for Ganna, Aldai, and the rest of the family.
The student protests continued again this week. Several students were arrested at the end of the prior week and the students concentrated their efforts by protesting near the courthouse area to demand their release. Most of the actions happened during the beginning of the week. On Tuesday afternoon, around the hour when students are heading home after the end of the school day, the state university medical students and their supporters started throwing rocks. A UN vehicle had their windshield damaged and the UN and police were firing tear gas back at the students. This all happened when the streets near General Hospital are the busiest with pedestrian traffic. Young school children and others were in the middle of the tear gas. A journalism student was found dead on the street after being shot by someone. The end of the week was calmer than the beginning of the week. The UN soldiers from India were in front of the Palais National on Friday with their water cannon truck but they didn’t need to use it that day. The students never held a protest in front of the Prime Minister’s residence at the beginning of the week. They stayed downtown protesting for the release of arrested students instead. We saw UN police from China protecting the prime minister’s residence. The Chinese have these personnel vehicles that are very small. There were 5 of them, lined up one after the other, and each one had a UN policeman standing guard in the hatch opening of these small box-like vehicles. There was a photographer taking a picture. It looked like a lineup of “jack-in-the-boxes”! I wish I had a working camera. This would have been a funny photo! The president wants to consult with the business sector first before officially authorizing the new minimum wage laws. Pray for an end to the student protests.
June 14th is the International Day of the Child. Amnesty International reports that there are 500,000 children living in Haiti as domestic servants and living in poor conditions. These children are known as “restaveks” and are modern day slaves. Many poor families will send a child to live with someone with the promise that in return for housekeeping duties they will get an education and regular meals. Instead these children aren’t allowed to go to school and are mistreated. Pray for the plight of the “restaveks” and that this form of slavery will one day end here in Haiti.
Thursday was a national holiday here in Haiti. “Fete Dieu” (God’s Day) is a special “birthday” for God held every year. I think that Haiti is the only country who has this day. Businesses and schools were closed that day.
Exam week officially started Friday but most of the schools will be commencing exam week on Monday (we are too). Coram Deo has been a busy place in the afternoons lately. Between 50 and 70 students outside of Coram Deo come into the yard to use the chalkboards preparing for upcoming exams and also for state exams every day. There are state exams for 6th grade (last year of elementary school), 3rd year of secondary school and also Rheto and Philo, which are the last years of secondary school. Study groups of all these levels get together to prepare for exams. The students themselves form these groups. A few Christian schools in the neighborhood have students in these groups. In the elementary study groups are children from Adoration, Chima and Fraternite Christian schools. In the elementary study groups older student mentors from the secondary levels work with these children to help prepare them for end of year and 6th grade exams. It is great that the grounds can be used to help out other Christian schools in the neighborhood. I hope all this extra studying helps the children get good marks so that they can advance to the next level! We give the Lord thanks for having a large yard to be able to host these study groups and for student mentors willing to work with their peers.
This week I saw how God can touch someone’s heart. One evening this week a Haitian Christian woman who is very active in her church went to sleep and had a dream. In this dream she was told to go to Coram Deo and pray. She woke up in the morning and this was on her heart. She had never heard of Coram Deo and didn’t know who it was and she started asking around. Eventually she found out from someone that Coram Deo was a mission and where it was located. Thursday morning she prepared a letter and came to the gate and the people here at the house brought it to me. She was asking if she could bring a group of people over for prayer. This was set up for Saturday afternoon. 6 members of this church group came over and we got everyone together here at Coram Deo for a prayer service. This was the first time that we met. The service lasted around 1-½ hours. The evangelist spoke and his sermon was about not letting your heart be troubled by what you see and hear and not to be discouraged. Jesus has the last word and He will control everything. They sang some Creole songs with the children too. Before leaving they told us that they would be willing to come over again if we wanted. This might be a good thing to do in the school program for next year. The song that was sang after the message was “To God be the Glory.”
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

VIDEO - Smile Train - Cleft Lips/Palettes

The Smile Train has a team of plastic surgeons working at Bernard Mevs Hospital on Airport Rd. They started surgeries on Monday. It is great to see a changed face! Here are a few videos about the Smile Train. These videos show how remarkable the change is to a child's face. Please follow the link to the following sites:

SMILE TRAIN: HAITI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym4VjW8NGUM&feature=channel

SMILE TRAIN MUSIC VIDEO - 2ND CHANCE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSelMBXK9zo

SMILE TRAIN - SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5lMG7NyiTY

Pray for the work of this organization here in Haiti as they have the goal of providing surgeries and giving children a better future and also providing surgeon training so that one day Haiti will have surgeons who will perform these surgeries.

VIDEO - In Focus Haiti: House Call in Hell

An american doctor regularly makes visits to the National Penitentiary. The overcrowding of the prison is pretty bad and the conditions not good. This video shows one of his visits to the National Penitentiary. If you would like to watch it follow the link to:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w16InFSd2vc

haiti update - june 7, 2009

“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” Proverbs 15:3

Hi! This week was busy with the medical program. We went to the US Consulate to get a medical visa for Angelo Lafortune. He is the young boy who went to the United States a couple of years ago for surgery to remove a brain tumor. He needs to go for follow-up visits every year. His mother will also be traveling with him. They will travel on Monday morning. Pray for traveling mercies and that Angelo has a good checkup! He is a happy boy and enjoys going to school.
There are 2 plastic surgery teams in Port-au-Prince this weekend performing cleft lip and palette surgeries. One of the teams is from the University of Miami and the surgeries are being coordinated by Project Medishare at Hopital La Paix, on Delmas 33. The second is a Smile Train team and they will be operating out of Bernard Mevs Hospital on Airport Road. This is a double blessing! Pray that lots of children get help. We have been providing the breakfast and supper meals for the parents at Hopital La Paix this weekend. It’s great to see children getting their faces changed! This team will also be doing plastic surgeries on burn scars as well. A couple of people cannot extend their elbow because of scar tissue and after surgery will have a fully functional arm again. Handley Lelain is a 4-year-old boy and he will have his cleft palate repaired. We visited Cite Soleil yesterday when we heard that there was a cleft lip case there and some children in the Wharf area of Cite Soleil led us to where the family lived. This young girl is being helped by the surgical team at Bernard Mevs Hospital next Thursday. We had also heard of some people in the Petionville area but haven’t been able to make contact with them yet. Hopefully we can locate them and they can get some help in a future surgery.
We picked up Vanessa of Angel Missions from the airport this week. Next week the surgical cases from the USNS Comfort hospital ship will get post-op evaluations by some visiting doctors at the Angel Missions Surgical Center. The surgical center is still under construction. Pray that construction can be finished and that visiting surgical teams will be able to use this center to help more patients.
Near the end of this month a medical team will be holding 4 medical clinics in different locations. There will be a clinic day held here at Coram Deo, in Cite Soleil, at Pastor Leny’s church on Delmas 19 and at Sherri’s Christian Light Mission. We went with Jim of Christian Light Foundation and Sherri to visit the clinic sites. The team will have 21 members, which means that lots of patients can be seen at the clinic sites. The total mission team has around 50 members. The rest will be organizing vacation bible school and a pastor-training seminar at Pastor Leny’s. They hope to work with 100 Haitian pastors. Pray for all the plans being put in place by this Christian Light team.
This week we saw the determination of a family in seeking out medical care for their children. Tuesday at midnight a father and mother started their walk with their 2 children from a place far in the mountains. They reached our house the next day at 3:00pm. When I went outside they were waiting on the bench and I told them that it was too late to do anything that day. They responded that it was okay. They would wait until the next morning. This family were our visitors for that evening! It is good that our house is a flophouse as well! The father explained that his youngest daughter has been suffering from swelling and this is caused by kwashiorkor (wet malnutrition). It is caused by lack of protein in the diet. Another family had told them about us and this is why they made the journey. This girl is now in the Missionaries of Charity Hospice being treated for malnutrition. Pray for those providing for her care. We gave the family a ride to Petionville and they started back on their return journey home. This family set out on the journey for medical care because they knew of a place to go to for help. But there are many families who don’t know where they can go or where all the missions are that can help them. Sometimes the children in those families die because of malnutrition and/or no medical care. Seeing the family that came to the house this week and reading something a couple of weeks ago in a news magazine from Canada made me think. If a child dies in the situation that is currently going on in Haiti, should the family suffer the judgment of God? Should they be charged with negligence or an investigation launched? I don’t think so. Haiti has such extreme poverty. If a crop is destroyed because of a hurricane, as is often the case here it takes time before another crop can be grown. In the meantime the family doesn’t have funds to purchase food. When their neighbors are also in the same situation they cannot help either. Missions and foreign aid cannot provide 100% of the needs of the people here. There is not enough to go around. Missionaries cannot help every single person who comes to their gate. God sees all and knows the situations of the families living here in Haiti. From afar I don’t think that we have the right to pass judgment on a Haitian family because one of their own dies; especially when the person who is passing judgment lives in a first world country and Haiti is a third world country. Pray for Haiti that one day the country can feed itself and provide medical care for those in need.
We got some good news this week! The electricity sub-station on Delmas is generating electricity again after only one week of blackouts!
The medical students started protesting recently because of curriculum changes. Things have deteriorated in these demonstrations and some of the other students of other faculties have joined them in their protests. It started out as sit-ins at the rectorate demanding that the dean be replaced and curriculum changes be reversed. They started with tire burnings but the last couple of days have been more disorderly. They have been throwing stones at vehicles and they also burned a state vehicle. The police in turn have been firing tear gas and shooting in the air to control them. These demonstrations are primarily taking place in the downtown area near the state hospital. The demands of the students have also grown. Now they are primarily protesting to pressure the government to implement the new minimum wage rates that have been passed by the parliament and senate. The daily minimum wage is to rise from 70gourdes per day ($1.75US) to 200 gourdes per day ($5US). Businesses are against this almost 200% increase in the wage rate. Now these student protests are not really student issues but political issues and others are now involved. The students are throwing rocks at vehicle windshields and at the police and the street children pick them up and toss them back to the students so that they in turn can smash more windows. In this way the students have a continuous supply of rocks. Other people than students are amongst the protesters. One man in the Delmas 31 area usually spends his days passing time by playing dominoes. Now he is no longer in his usual spot but is involved as one of the protesters. He is boasting that he is going to be there with them until everything stops. I guess protesting is more fun than playing dominoes! Hopefully the government can stop the protests from increasing and becoming more troublesome. On Monday protesters plan to walk to the Prime Ministers residence on Bourdon to protest so this will probably cause traffic problems in that area as well. Pray that the government can resolve these issues.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - part 1 - coram deo clinic

Pastor Pierre came down from Kenscoff to help watch the gate.

We had plenty of benches this time for the people to sit on while they waited.

This is the registration station.

Patients are waiting in line to see a doctor.

3 haitian doctors donated their time to help out at the clinic. We give the Lord thanks for those willing to help put on a medical clinic.

photos - part 2 - coram deo clinic

Dr. Charles volunteered to come help out at the clinic. He is sitting at the far end of the table.

The pharmacy table was well stocked with medicines.

Before registering each patient was prayed over by a couple members of the team.

Their spiritual health is just as important as physical health

One of the visitors told the children and other patients waiting a story that he wrote.

photos - part 3 - coram deo clinic

One station that was set up was the "balloon station". The children loved them.

This little boy has balloons bigger than him.

Some wore them as a necklace.

This girl came to the clinic with a bad head fungus.

This mother brought her 2 young children to the clinic.

photos - part 4 - coram deo clinic

In 2005 Samuel Lewis fell onto his back from a roof and broke his back. In 2008 he had surgery to put in a steel rod and now it is causing him problems. He came to the clinic asking for help in finding an orthopedic surgeon to remove the rod.

This mother has 4 children and is living with friends as she lost her home. Her youngest child has malnutrition. She came to the clinic asking for help for her child as well as a home. Pray for this woman and her family, that they could find a home.

The rains came early in the afternoon. The children and younger visitors continued on playing in the rain.

Manu's favorite sport is soccer.

Reginald's favorite sport is basketball.

photos - school help - visitors

It didn't take long for this wall to be painted. The visitors purchased enough paint to paint the walls of the house as well! This will be a project that a future team can finish.

This visitor is an author and evangelist. Here he is telling the school children a story that he wrote.

One of the visitors taught the children some english phrases as well. They enjoyed this lesson!

The mother of this young visitor made bible puzzles for the children. Here she is showing the children how to put them together.

The children were attentive at doing it right.

photos - various

The guys are watching an afternoon soccer game on the television set. When the game was over everyone got back to doing their homework in preparation for end of year school exams.

This is what the ravine looks like during heavy rains in the Cite Jeremie area. You can see part of the ravine wall sloughing off into the ravine. The waters were moving quickly!

On the right hand side the water is eating away under the foundation of this house. The pig walking on the left hand side later entered the waters and was swept away.

Yvens St. Hilaire is a 4-month-old baby boy who was born without an anus. At 3 days of age he had an emergency colostomy performed. Now the family can not afford any further surgeries. His name is on our medical search list. Please keep him in prayer.

Yvens is a twin. His brother's name is Yvenson.

haiti update - may 31, 2009

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35,36

Hi! The medical team from Kentucky held a clinic on the grounds of Coram Deo on Monday. Once again they provided medicines for the patients and at the end of the day 217 patients were seen. There were 3 Haitian doctors who were volunteering their time to see patients. One of the doctors was Dr. Charles who I met on Saturday at the Kenscoff clinic for the first time. He also works at General Hospital and offered to help us. It was great that he took time out of his schedule to help at the clinic. The doctors saw the patients quickly and we were already done by around 1:30pm. The timing worked out well as the rains came then too. There were some young people on the team and they planned activities for the children. And when it rained they continued to play soccer and basketball. A couple of the team members prayed with each patient as they registered and one of the team members told a story and skit with the children and people waiting. He is an author and left us with some of his materials. 3 of the people who attended the clinic need surgeries and we added their names to our medical search list. The extra benches that were built by a team in February came in handy for the clinic day. We didn’t have a problem for seating. We give the Lord thanks for the opportunity to host another clinic again here on the grounds of Coram Deo. The team came back on Wednesday morning to help out with the school program and to do some painting. Enough paint was purchased by them to finish painting the house. This will be a project for when another team visits Haiti. The school children enjoyed having visitors!
Late Wednesday afternoon I brought Macdonald home and noticed a crowd of people standing on the bridge into Cite Jeremie. It was raining at the time and the Haitian people usually avoid standing in the rain if they can. I stopped the truck to see what was going on and people were watching the rushing waters going through the ravine. The people in this area let their pigs roam the ravine to eat the garbage that gets thrown in. The water came through so quickly that people couldn’t get the pigs out fast enough. Many pigs were swept away. One man managed to tie up one of his pigs but the other one walked in the opposite direction and later entered the water and got swept away as well. People were basically watching the ravine to see what was getting swept away. One large sow was swept under the bridge and people were saying how that was a shame and I looked behind further downstream to see it manage to stand up in some shallower water. I told everyone that the pig was standing and everyone started to cheer for the pig’s efforts at getting out of the water. That sow was determined and managed to pull herself out of the water. This pig was the only one to beat the waters. These pigs are a form of investment for the owners. When the pigs get bigger their meat is sold or baby pigs are sold or added to the owners’ holdings. The waters rushing through the ravine destroyed a lot of investments that day.
“Mac” of the Judas Gang knocked at the gate this past week. When I went outside to talk to him I was surprised to see a different hairstyle. His hair was sticking straight out like you would see in a static electricity experiment at the Science Center in Toronto! It sure was a funny sight and he sure has a lot of hair! He asked me if I had a spare suitcase that he could have because he was moving. Two members of the Judas Gang are living in the Dominican Republic. Maybe he is deciding to join his buddies? He also said something else that was pretty funny too. I think the fall on his head from his venture at escaping over someone’s wall affected him. He said “Yeah mun” do you have any English books? I don’t want to lose my English”. I told him no but after he left I wished that I had given him a suitcase and a book just to get a funny photo of him! A couple of days later I asked Lukner if he had seen “Mac” and if his hair was still standing on end but he told me that it was back to being braided again. I told Lukner that “Mac” must have been on his way to the beauty shop then when he came by the house looking for a suitcase and an English book. Pray for “Mac” and that his heart would be changed to follow the Lord as well as for the rest of the members of the Judas Gang.
This week the back bumper and defense got adjusted on the pickup truck. It has been drooping since the last accident and over time drooped more. It was almost falling off this week and I had no choice but to spend some money and get it fixed. Now it is in its proper position and two days after getting fixed I got rear ended again on Delmas 31 and it held! I asked the driver why they ran into the back of the truck and they replied that they were trying to make room for a motorcycle. That makes the 15th time that Kimosabee has been rear-ended!
We are relying totally on invertor and solar power right now. The electrical sub-station for Delmas had a fire. Word on the Haitian grapevine is that it will take anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months to get fixed. If the invertor runs down and we can’t run the fans we’ll just sleep on the roof. It’s nice and cool up there during the evening.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo