photos - various children

Guerdson Charles is a 16-month-old baby boy who has hydrocephalus that came to visit us this week with his father. He will be added to the list of patients to see the neurosurgeon at the next evaluations.

Shouby Barionette is a 13-month-old baby boy who has hydrocephalus. He is also on the list for the upcoming evaluations.

Lucson Jean just got discharged from Grace Children's Hospital after being hospitalized for tuberculosis of the spine. The disease is called "Potts Syndrome". He will need surgery to correct his spinal problems caused by this disease. He is part of our medical search list. Pray we can find a hospital to help him.

Iverson Louis is a 7-year-old boy who came with his father to get examined for a possible heart problem. They live in the Soleil 17 area of Cite Soleil. This boy has lost his grandfather and an uncle due to gunshots.

Hosanna is a grandmother who took in Woodlainy Samedy. She also lost her husband to a gunshot and was also threatened by gang members due to speaking out against the gangs on television.

photos - coram deo clinic - part 1

This is the medical team that did 2 clinics at Coram Deo on Tuesday and Wednesday and one clinic in Cite Soleil on Friday. We give the Lord thanks for their efforts.

Some students from Quisqueya Christian School helped with the translating as part of their community service works.

The patients waited in the shade waiting to be seen.

It was great that medications were provided as well.

An evangelist from Sheri's mission evangelized to the people while they were waiting to be seen.

photos - coram deo clinic - part 2

Santanio Edmond is a 3 year old boy who was born tongue tied. He needs an operation to release his tongue so that he will be able to have better speech. It is a simple procedure. Pray we can find a doctor who can do this for him.

This little girl is Marie's niece. She came to the clinic day to get help for her skin problems. This girls' sister died Sunday after having a fever and then seizure. The family did not have access to fever medicine. This girl and her family live in the Bois Neuf area of Cite Soleil.

Paulna's mother came to the clinic as well with her youngest brother Zachary. He is a happy boy.

This father came to the clinic with his son.

This young boy is looking serious!

photos - cite soleil clinic - part 1

This is Eglise Maranatha. It is located on the main road to Cite Soleil. We held the medical clinic inside the church.

I have known Joel and Willy for 10 years. They have a couple of schools in Cite Soleil and are always finding ways to help the people who live here. Part of the grafitti on the wall says "Aba Minustah, viv retour Aristide". This is translated in english as "Down with Minustah (UN), long living for the return of Aristide".

Lukner helped at keeping an eye at the front door of the church.

The patients were able to wait on the church pews and didn't have to wait in the sun.

There were a lot of patients who had high blood pressure and medications were provided to treat this.

photos - cite soleil clinic - part 2

The pharmacy table was at the back corner of the church.

The other back corner was the consultation area.

This is a view of the main road in Cite Soleil that runs past the church. The top of this street is Rte. Nationale #1.

A lot of people also make a living running a small boutique.

This is a view of the street which leads down to the wharf. Garbage always clogs up the canals.

photos - cite soleil clinic - part 3

This young boy was standing in front of the church. He is 9 years old and has never been to school. He's trying to look cool for the picture.

These shacks are right at the water's edge.

The children who live around here enjoyed meeting the visitors.

The children make their own toys. This boy has made a kite out of a piece of plastic and some twigs. He is preparing to launch his kite.

Here he is showing the visitors his home-made kite flying in the air.

haiti update - january 31, 2009

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Hi! This week was a busy week with the medical program. We started out the week making arrangements for a cat scan for the young boy who had the eye tumor. When I arrived at the hospital Sister Genevieve told me that the boy had suddenly died on Sunday. Sunday morning he developed breathing problems, which was quickly followed by seizures. The tumor must have been in the brain already. He was doing well on Friday when I last saw him. The mother was looking forward to him getting the cat scan. The Lord called him home and the cat scan was not necessary. Keep his mother in prayer as she mourns the loss of her son. She did everything possible for him that she could.
We had 3 medical clinics this week led by Kezia, an American nurse and a medical team staying at Sheri’s. We closed the school program on Tuesday and Wednesday in order to hold the clinics. 69 patients were seen on Tuesday and 105 patients were seen on Wednesday. The team provided medicines as well. On Friday we went to Cite Soleil and had a clinic in the church Eglise Maranatha. Willy and Joel were the hosts of this clinic. 55 patients were seen. After the clinic was done we visited Ti Haiti and the wharf area so that the team could see the areas where the patients came from. We give the Lord thanks for the opportunity to hold these clinics. It is a blessing to see a lot of people get some medical help.
This week was also a week of seeing the effects of gangs. A father brought his son to the house. Iverson Louis is 7 years old and the father told me that he had a heart problem. He was examined by the medical team and they found his heart to be functioning well. They live in the Soleil 17 area of Cite Soleil. A lot of people living there have been affected by the gang violence a few years ago. The father, Jackson, showed me a photo he keeps in his wallet of his father. It is not a nice photo because it is one showing him dead with a bullet wound to the head. This is the reminder he carries along with him to remember his father. His father was killed in the Soleil 17 area in 2007. He went on to tell me that his brother was shot and killed in 2008 by a bullet to the heart in the same area. Keep this father in prayer as he struggles to provide for his family.
A grandmother came to the house with a 2-year-old girl. The mother died and the father couldn’t look after her. She has been looking after Woodlainy since May 2008. She has been doing her best to look after her but she is having difficulty too and wants to see her put into an orphanage. She comes from the Boston area of Cite Soleil. The situation she is currently in is difficult and I don’t want people I know who have orphanages to be stuck in a possibly difficult situation as well so we will instead be going to the Haitian social services department to see what they can do to help out this grandmother. By how she describes the father, he is a gang member. I asked her if he had given his permission to put the child in an orphanage and she told me that he doesn’t care about her. She showed me a photo of when she first took in Woodlainy and she was severely malnourished at the time. The grandmother is a strong person. Her husband was shot and killed in a robbery a few years ago in Cite Soleil. She was interviewed on television. A reporter asked her a question about what the government and UN needs to do in Cite Soleil and she made a comment against the gangs. Gang members living in Cite Soleil saw what she had said on the news broadcast and threatened her. A gang leader sent word to her and forced her to come to the gang base. Over the next 3 days they ordered her to clean their house. The third day the gang leader pointed his gun at her to shoot her and the gun for some reason wouldn’t fire. 3 times he tried to fire his gun and every time it wouldn’t fire. He let her go and ordered her to come back to the house the next day. Fortunately for her, the next day the UN conducted an operation and the gang was broken up. Pray for this grandmother and that a way can be found to help her grandchild. The grandmother is a Christian and she also has a good name. Her name is Hosanna! The gangs don’t have the presence they used to have in Cite Soleil and this makes development possible. Pray for the development that is currently taking place in Cite Soleil.
Cite Soleil is what everyone talks about when you mention gangs but there are gangs established in other areas of the city that cause problems. Last week a Haitian lawyer was kidnapped in front of his residence in the Delmas 31 area. His body was found a few days later wrapped in plastic in the Delmas 75 area. Kidnapping is not as bad as it used to be but is still a source of income for gangs and Haitian professionals and business people are the prime targets. The result of this kidnapping has been that the police are focusing on the Delmas 31 area. On Monday and Tuesday police conducted operations in our neighborhood in the Cite Aux Cayes area targeting a gang called “Tete Mur” (Top of the Wall). I guess the gang like climbing over people’s walls. I found out that 2 members of this gang are people that I know. They managed to avoid getting arrested. “Wendy” is on the police search list as a person that they want to arrest. Years ago we had helped him with his schooling as well as a few younger brothers and sisters as part of the school program that we had at Coram Deo during that time. The father left the family and the mother wasn’t able to afford the rent in this area. The family moved to Cite Soleil and the family dropped out of the school program. It looks like Wendy came under the influence of the gangs. He is now back in this area as a member of the “Tete Mur” gang. I hope that these guys were not a part of this lawyer’s death. This afternoon the children came up to me to say that the police were arresting people on our corner. I went outside and watched them take away 3 motorcycles and arrest their drivers due to not having the proper papers. It is good to see the police actively working in the neighborhood. Pray for the training of the police force and the efforts being made to improve the justice system in Haiti.
Friday evening I found out that my nephew was involved in a serious vehicle accident caused by black ice in my hometown of London, Ontario. He is Tanya’s son. Currently he is in intensive care in the hospital. His best friend was a passenger in the vehicle and the doctor’s do not think that his friend will survive. Please keep them and the families in prayer.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - medical cases - part 1

Here is Chrisno Jeudi back with his mother. We give the Lord thanks for a successful surgery to treat his hydrocephalus.

The mother is a couple of months pregnant and worries that she can't look after Chrisno. She would like to see him adopted.

Vanessa Jules came with her mother to visit us. Vanessa and her mother are now sleeping in a church as she can't go home to her husband. He told her to abandon her and the mother couldn't do it.

Since her surgery in November, she is now able to sit and hold her head. She also is a talkative little girl!

This little boy has an eye tumor. The tumor pushed the eye out of the socket. The bandage is covering the tumor. The results of a cat scan will show if the tumor has entered the brain. Keep this boy and his mother in prayer. She is doing the best she can to look after her child.

photos - medical cases - part 2

This mother lives in the Bel-Air area and came searching for help for her 7-month-old son, Jackenlove.

He has kwashiorkor malnutrition and is currently in the Missionaries of Charity Hospice receiving medical care for his malnutrition. Once he is released the mother will be placing him into an orphanage. His legs are swollen from the effects of the malnutrition.

This is his twin brother. He is not quite as sick. The mother can not look after both of them and has decided to place one of them, Jackenlove into an orphanage. The father died while the mother was 4 months pregant in an accident on Morne Cabrit.

Taina Senat is a young girl with osteogenesis imperfecta. She has already had several fractures. She hasn't had any fractures in the last couple of years though.

Her leg bones are bowed because of the fractures. She doesn't stand or walk. Pray for strength for her.

photos - incidents

There was a large "manifestation" of people going up Delmas to support one of the candidates while he was registering as a candidate for the upcoming senatorial elections in Haiti. A mob of people were beating a couple of thieves in front of us.

When they were done everyone headed back up Delmas.

The mayor of Delmas has been busy enforcing the law of building homes in designated areas. A family I know had there house built on the street in front of this wall. The poor will build wherever they can find a place to build. The mayor sent workers to destroy illegally built houses in the streets of our neighborhood. I don't know where this family is now living.

Here is where a bar and music stand was built. On these 2 corners street parties would be held. It made for some noisy evenings during holiday times!

Since the new year there has been a change in administration at Grace Children's Hospital. They now have a new director but a private security company was hired. There is some conflict in the changeover and as a result the clinics are not functioning and the gates are locked. The TB and HIV programs are affected by this turmoil. Current patients are lining up in front of the gate to get their TB and HIV medicine refills. New patients will have to wait until the conflict is resolved. Pray that the problems will be resolved soon and that these clinics can continue to see many patients again.

haiti update - january 24, 2009

“Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.” Psalm 35:1

Hi! This week was a busy week with the medical program. The fuel shortage is over now and the gas stations are functioning normally again. Lukner arrived in Cayes and met up with Chrisno’s mother, Joanna late Saturday afternoon. They ended up leaving Cayes on the midnight bus to Port-au-Prince. One of the passengers that was on that bus with them ended up traveling without his shoes. He got on the wrong motorcycle to go to the bus station and ended up getting robbed. The thief took the money that he had and liked the guy’s shoes so much that he ended up going to the bus station in his bare feet. As part of Michaelle Jean’s visit to the Cayes area the government of Canada presented the Haitian police force in this area with 24 brand new 4x4 pickup trucks and 22 motorcycles. Maybe the police will be able to catch more thieves now. Canada is also going to construct/rehabilitate 14 police stations in the south with an investment of 3.2 million dollars so that there will be more places to put thieves. Canada will be helping Haiti with 555 million dollars in assistance over the next 5 years.
We picked up Vanessa and Chrisno at the airport on Sunday and Joanna was able to see how much her son has improved. Joanna is pregnant with her second child and told me that she doesn’t know how she is going to look after Chrisno. She wants to see him adopted and live a better life in the United States. We are making arrangements with Angel Missions to see how this could be done. Pray for Chrisno’s health now that he is back in Haiti and also for his family. Pray for plans being made to help Chrisno and his family.
That same day, Vanessa Jules and her mother came by the house to say hello. Vanessa is a 2-year-old girl who was operated on here in Haiti in November for her hydrocephalus. She is now able to sit and hold her head up. She is a happy and bright girl who talks well. Her mother has been sleeping at a church in the Croix-des-Bouquets area since being discharged from the hospital. She is also pregnant with her 10th child. The reason that she is now sleeping at the church instead of her home is because she wouldn’t listen to her husband’s order to abandon Vanessa. Now Vanessa and her mother are suffering the consequences. Pray for them as they struggle to survive.
A mother from the Bel-Air area of Port-au-Prince came to the gate this week looking for help for her sick baby. Jackenlove is a 7-month-old baby who has kwashiorkor malnutrition. She told me that she wants to put her baby in an orphanage. Right now Jackenlove is too sick to be in an orphanage and we brought him to the Missionaries of Charity where he will be treated for his malnutrition. Jackenlove has a twin brother who is also sick. We saw him the next day and he is not in as bad shape. The mother told me that she could look after one baby but not two. The mother is also handicapped and has only one functioning hand. The other was burned off in a fire when she was a baby. Pray for Jackenlove and the plans being made for him as well as his twin brother and his mother as she does the best she can to look after her family.
There is a young child in the Bernard Mevs hospital who has a large tumor growing out of his right eye socket. The eye was pushed out by the growing tumor. A visiting eye surgeon from the United States examined him on Friday at General Hospital where he has been performing surgeries for a week. Dr. Branson and his wife have done eye surgeries in 45 different countries. His vision is to train national eye surgeons in their own countries to become better eye surgeons. He has a lot of patience. 4 times he has left surgical tools at General Hospital and every time he has come back to find them gone. He believes in the “teach a man to fish” principle. I told his wife about the lack of ear/nose/throat surgeons in Haiti and she told me that maybe one day they could talk an ENT surgeon into coming to Haiti. Dr. Branson and his wife are both Christians and know that the changes they would like to see in eye surgery will be long-term and in God’s time. Pray for their efforts in “teaching a man to fish”. We will be taking the child to get a cat scan done on Monday to see if the tumor has metastasized to the brain. If it has there is nothing that can be done to help him but if the tumor is contained to the eye socket region, he may be able to benefit from surgery in the United States. Pray for this child and the mother who does whatever she can to help him. Sister Genevieve, the Colombian nun who works at Bernard Mevs told me that when she told her that her child needed a blood transfusion she went out to the streets and begged for the $50H ($6US) needed for the transfusion.
Friday morning we were driving down Delmas when a large crowd of people were walking up Delmas. There were rara music bands and a float. It was a political “manifestation” for one of the candidates in the upcoming senatorial elections in Haiti. Friday was officially the last day for candidates to deposit their registrations at the electoral office on Delmas. These candidates were accompanied by their supporters as they went to register. It was a festive environment but it made circulation of vehicles on Delmas difficult. The manifestation that passed us had a few thousand people in it. Things were orderly until we saw a group of people turn around and starting to run back down Delmas. We were near the Econotire business when we heard some people shouting and pointing at a couple of guys standing near the entrance of Econotire and calling them thieves. A “hockey fight” with fists and sticks broke out in front of the pickup truck and we turned into the Econotire parking lot to get away from it. The mob of people beat up these thieves badly and when they were done they carried them away and headed back up Delmas with them. I guess they were looking for police to hand the thieves to. We didn’t see any police or UN in sight. One of the people in the mob came to me with his broken stick and told me that they couldn’t let thieves into the manifestation. Then someone else called out that there was another thief across the street by the gas station and this man then ran across the street to help beat up this thief as well. I don’t know how they can tell who is a thief and who isn’t with so many people around. I had my camera with me and was able to sneak a photo.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - various children

Chrisno Jeudi is with his host mother getting physical therapy. He has grown a lot and while in Virginia he was able to get a lot of physical therapy. Here they are working on standing. Pray that one day he will be able to walk. He is a determined boy.

In this baby walker he gets to use his legs and develop leg strength with the goal of one day being able to stand and to walk. He travels back home to Haiti on Sunday. We give the Lord thanks for the surgery that he received.

Phara Simeon came with her mother. She is one of the babies who had surgery in November. She hasn't been eating well and had a fever. Her nourishment is not good as well. Pray the medicine helps. With a shunt in place, infections need to be monitored.

Jimmy Jean and his mother came with a gift basket. When the mother said she had a surprise I thought for sure it was another abandoned baby. She came with several bunches of tasty bananas! They are both thankful for the surgery he received.

This father came with his one year old daughter. The mother died and he can not look after his daughter. He came asking for help to find an orphanage and would like to see his daughter adopted. I will talk with a couple of orphanages who deal in adoptions next week and see if any can help out the father.

photos - bonnette

Anita examined some of the children we met on our way through the village. This baby has a heart problem.

The baby is 10 months old but is the size of a one month old. Due to the heart problem all the energy is used by the heart to keep pumping and the baby is not able to grow.

This 3 year old girl is sick and malnourished. I am going to try and find an orphanage that can help her before she gets worse.

This is Remika and her grandmother. She is back with her family after being cared for by Holy Angels for several months. We were checking up on her to see how she was doing and she is doing well! Having proper nutrition is a blessing for a baby.

Here is Remika at 7 months of age a few months ago. She was malnourished due to her mother dying after an infection and the grandmother not being able to provide for her needs.

photos - Bonnette, Cite Soleil

Evnelson is the younger brother of Ednerson. Ednerson is doing well at Deedee's. We need to keep an eye out for Evnelson and his nutritional status. His mother is pregnant and will probably have her baby at the end of January. Many times the new baby will result in the next youngest child falling into malnutrition.

The diet of the poor lacks protein and the red hair is a sign of protein deficiency.

This child is carrying back straw from the fields.

In Cite Soleil the poor struggle to find food for the day. These children are taking the small discarded fish that the fishermen discard from their nets. We were in Cite Soleil in the morning. None of these children are able to attend school. Pray that one day every child will have the opportunity for an education.

A lot of the men in Cite Soleil rely on fishing to provide for their families. The baskets you see in the boats are used to catch crabs. The man on the shore is repairing his net.

photos - various

Grace Hope is doing well at HIS Home for Children. She is a happy and content baby who will one day be living in the United States once her adoption is finalized.

This is a picture of Grace in the hospital after being abandoned in the Delmas 31 area a few months ago.

With the clothing that we got from Love a Child the children have new Sunday shirts. This is after we got home from church and they are not as neat anymore. Manu decided to wear a tie that day!

Each boy in the school program received a shirt as well. I told them they can wear it as a uniform for school.

Since the end of the year there has been a shortage of gas and lineups are common at the pumps. A lot of people come with empty gallon jugs to fill up with gas.

photos - children studying

Fedner is part of a study group preparing for the state exams for 4eme Secondaire which will be held in June. Students need to pass these state exams in order to move up to the next level.

Jn. Eddy tutors some elementary children in the afternoons.

This girl is being helped with her homework at the chalkboard.

Manu is doing some reading. He would rather play soccer.

The Haitian people know the importance of education. A child today may one day be a president.

haiti update - january 17, 2009

“Like a bad tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in times of trouble.” Proverbs 25:19

Hi! This has been a challenging week to find fuel for the pickup truck! There is a fuel shortage in Haiti since the end of the year. There are a lot of theories as to why but the results are long lineups at gas pumps by those seeking to purchase fuel. It is a challenge to find the gas pump that has fuel. The fuel in the truck was almost empty and we had made plans to visit a couple of places with some visitors from the United States and Canada. Monday afternoon nothing was open and I talked with an attendant at a gas station in the Delmas 19 area. He told me to get there early Tuesday morning and he would make sure I got diesel. I went out at 5:30 in the morning on Tuesday and there was already a large lineup at the pumps for vehicles waiting for gas. We went up to the attendant with our containers and the manager specially opened the pump just for us and after a couple of trips back to the vehicle we were able to get the truck filled with diesel fuel. It is good to have contacts in Haiti! The other people waiting weren’t pleased with us and some of them told me to go back to my own country but I showed them the container and said it was diesel we were after and not gas. A Haitian pastor that was in line that knew us told the people that we use the pickup truck to help people get medical care and then the insults quieted down. Some people are blaming Venezuela because they aren’t sending fuel tankers to Haiti quick enough, some people are saying the government is low on funds and can’t pay for the tanker and others say that the low gas prices are too low for the owners and they don’t want to sell at the lower price and more money is being made on the black market. Hopefully the fuel shortage stops soon.
We visited Cite Soleil on Tuesday morning. One of the visitors, Anita, is a pediatric resident and she examined a few children from Willy and Joel’s school who had medical problems. Cite Soleil has 34 districts. The school is in the wharf area. We also visited the Ti-Haiti district. This area is along the shore and the people live in tin shacks. One woman showed an area where her burnt out shack was. She is staying with friends until she can build another shack again. The children there were happy to see the visitors. Pray for the people who live in Cite Soleil in difficult circumstances.
In the afternoon we visited Bonnett, the village that Paulna is from. We checked up on a couple of families that we knew to see how they were doing. Instead of tin shacks the visitors got to see how the rural Haitian people live. Most of the houses in Bonnett are “kay pays” (mud/stick houses with thatch roofs). There were some children with malnutrition in the village. Anita examined a few of the children in this village as well. We left the village late in the afternoon.
Chrisno Jeudi is returning to Haiti this weekend after his surgery in Virginia for hydrocephalus several months ago. He has made good progress. A custom designed brace was designed for him to help him support his head and back. This will also help him in building strength in his legs for standing and eventually walking. We give the Lord thanks for these healing mercies. There were a couple of news stories this week about Chrisno. If you want to see a couple of news videos they are at the following sites: www.wset.com/news/stories/0109/586419.html and at www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=9689016. Chrisno is a happy little boy! Today Lukner is on his way to get Chrisno’s parents to Port-au-Prince. They are in Camp Perrin, which is in the Southwest area of the country. The last time I spoke with Lukner the bus was in a gas line at a fuel pump so it might take him a while to get there. Pray for traveling mercies for Lukner, Chrisno’s family and Vanessa, who is escorting Chrisno back to Haiti.
The Smile Train will be co-coordinating cleft lip/palette surgeries at the Baptist Mission Hospital in Fermathe at the end of February. Patient evaluations will be done on February 28th and surgeries will be performed by a plastic surgery medical team on the following days. Pray for the plans being put in place by this team and that lots of patients can be helped. We will register Samuel Jean and Yvenson Joseph for these surgeries. They missed out on the last plastic surgeries because of ill health.
A father came to the house this week with his one-year-old girl. The mother died a couple of months ago and he is not able to raise her. He asked for help in finding an orphanage and wants to put her up for adoption. Pray we can find an orphanage that can help this father out. Jimmy Jean and his mother visited the house this week and brought something for me. Jimmy was the boy who recently had plastic surgery on a burn scar on his upper chest and shoulder. He has more mobility in his shoulder now and the surgical site is healing well. When I came out of the house to see her she showed me a basket covered in a cloth. She said that she had a surprise. The first thing I thought was that it was another abandoned baby but when she pulled back the cloth it was several bunches of bananas that she had brought as a gift of thanks. Everybody enjoyed eating them!
This week I was at HIS Home for Children to give Chris a package from an adoptive parent and I was able to see Grace Hope, the baby who was abandoned in the Delmas 31 area a few months ago. She is a healthy and content baby and has a great smile. Chris also has found an adoptive family for her in the United States. Pray for Grace Hope and the other children at the orphanage and that the adoption process goes well for the adoptive family.
The school program at Coram Deo has started the second semester again and the afternoons are also busy with outside students being tutored and study groups using the chalkboards. The yard finally empties out when evening comes.
The Governor General of Canada, Michaelle Jean is in Haiti right now for a 4-day visit. Haiti is Canada’s biggest development assistance beneficiary in the Americas, and the second largest in the world after Afghanistan. Haiti is in a continuing need of assistance. Haiti’s economy shrank 15% in 2008.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - new years - part 1

January 2nd is a holiday in Haiti. Everyone woke up in a working mood! Here is Manu helping to do laundry by scrubbing the pants.

Everybody worked together to get the laundry done.

They even had fun!

The big surprise of the day was when they all decided to haul buckets of water to the upstairs reservoir. They were chanting "Coka - Gateau (cake)". I think they wanted a party!

The older guys were on the stairwell to the roof and the younger children helped slide buckets along.

photos - new years - part 2

Manu had fun sliding the buckets of water forward.

Every project needs a supervisor. William is the supervisor of the bucket brigade. He is the only one wearing a shirt.

Kiki doesn't have the arms to lend a hand with the buckets so he decided to give himself a pedicure!

Even Shilo helped out at doing some sweeping!

Here is the Rat Patrol!. Jn. Eddy is trying to hide his face. Baseball bats in Haiti are necessary tools for fighting rats and thieves.

photos - various children

Samson has been living with his aunt in the same village that Paulna is from. The mother is crazy and can't look after him. Linda of Holy Angels is going to look after him for a few months so that he can receive better care.

Manouchka Baptiste is a young deaf woman who was one of our first sponsor children for the school program 10 years ago. She is the niece of Mdm. Lukner who worked here at Coram Deo for several years. She came by to say hello.

Davidson Francois is a young hydrocephalus boy who was on our medical search list. He died this week.

Maxon Marcelin is a young hydrocephalus baby who was on our search list. All his passport paperwork was completed but a hospital couldn't be found for him. He is now with the Lord.

Peterson Lamy is a young spina bifida baby who died this week after an illness. So many children die here in Haiti without the opportunity of finding medical care.

haiti update - january 3, 2009

“But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.” Psalm 68:3

Hi! This week was a quiet week. A lot of offices are closed in between Christmas and New Years. In Haiti, January 1st and 2nd are both celebrated as holidays. On New Years Eve people celebrate the new year by setting off fireworks and there were a lot going off. We got some firecrackers and joined in the fun too! Instead of setting off the whole packet at once we set it off in individual pieces. That way there is more “bang for the buck!” Manu was my assistant and he had a lot of fun. The dog though doesn’t like fireworks. When people in the neighborhood started setting off fireworks the dog ran inside and hid. When we wanted to start, the dog tried to keep on interfering by trying to grab the firecracker before I lit it so it became Jacob’s job to hold back the dog. The dog ended up spending the rest of the night hiding under Manu’s bed.
On January 2nd it was not a normal day around here. The first surprise was when I went outside to see what everyone was up to and they were all washing the clothes by hand together. They usually have to be told to wash their clothes so it was nice to see. A little bit later I called Manu to tell him that there was a snack and he replied by saying not right now because they were busy working. That wasn’t like Manu at all! The city water has been coming down the lines regularly and our reservoir was full to the overflow pipe. The water pump has also not been working for the last while and we haven’t been pumping water to the roof as a result; instead we just carry water into the house with buckets. Everyone decided that they would like to fill up the water reservoir on the roof, so a line was formed to carry buckets to the roof. This is what interested Manu more than a snack! While they were doing this though they kept repeating over and over “Coca – Gateau (cake) – Coca – Gateau. I think that they wanted a party. Later in the afternoon Marie made a cake and we also had snacks and Coca Cola. While everyone was hauling buckets Kiki kept himself busy giving himself a pedicure. He’s a determined guy. I took photos of these things and put them on my blog site
The “Rat Patrol” was also busy this day too! Shilo, the dog caught a large rat in the yard first thing in the morning. Later he was in my room and he started barking to get my attention. There was a large rat on one of the shelves hiding behind a box. Everybody in the rat patrol got together and took care of it. Jacob is the youngest member of this group. It was good that 2 rats in one day were taken care of! Besides fixing the water pump the team that is coming in February will also address the broken screen problems. The rats usually climb in through the open windows. One of the team members is a mechanic and he will fix the pickup truck as well. A little while ago we had an accident with a motorcycle. The guy driving the motorcycle says he didn’t see our vehicle and drove right into the front left tire. He wasn’t hurt and he apologized. The people watching on the street thought it was funny and were laughing. The truck seems to shake a little at higher speeds and I notice it more on the smooth roads. I kicked the tire and it seems to be solidly in place. I am going to take it easy with Kimosabee though and avoid using the higher gears for the time being until the team gets here. With the funding problems that we have we aren’t able to make repairs, so it is a blessing when a team comes down to fix things!
Benson visited his aunt for the Christmas/New Years vacation and had a good visit. He was able to spend some time with his older brother who lives with his aunt. He also saw his mother there after she made a visit to the family. She still lives on the streets and is crazy but Benson keeps praying for her. Benson also turned 8 years old over Christmas. Paulna also spent the vacation time with her family and will come back to Coram Deo when the schools open again on January 5th.
Someone from Paulna’s village came to the house with a baby boy. His name is Samson. The mother is crazy and can’t look after him. The aunt was looking after him as best as she could but couldn’t afford to buy formula for him. I contacted Linda of Holy Angels and they will take him in for a few months to give him better nutrition. Pray for their efforts.
A few children on our medical search list died this week. Davidson Francois, a hydrocephalus child died after an illness. Maxon Marcelin, whose passport was just recently obtained, died in hospital. We were hoping to send him to the United States for surgery but God had other plans for him. He had hydrocephalus as well. Peterson Lamy is a baby boy who was born with spina bifida. He died at home after an illness. Pray for the families of these children.
On January 5th classes begin here again at Coram Deo. Pray for the teachers as they teach the children.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo