Haiti Update - July 31, 2012

“But You, O Lord, are a shield, for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.” (Psalm 3:3,4)

Hi! I just got back from a vacation to Canada to visit family. Some days the weather was just as warm as it gets here in Haiti! It was great to enjoy air conditioning during those days.

Michelle is recuperating from her 2 surgeries one week apart to remove most of her liver, which was cancerous. She now has healthy liver that is growing back. It has been a difficult time for her with the recuperation from the surgeries, especially when she had to have a tube inserted between a couple of ribs to drain an abscess near her diaphragm. The week that I left Canada she was starting to get her appetite back again. Her next surgery is scheduled for August 13th, when she will have further surgery to remove the tumour in her colon. She will also be getting a temporary colostomy. The good news is that when a colonoscopy was done the doctor couldn’t even detect the tumour. The surgery will still go ahead as the surgeon doesn’t want to take any chances. The cancer levels in her blood have also gone down from 74 to 1.4. We give the Lord thanks for this measure of healing. Please keep Michelle in prayer as she prepares for her next surgery.

My nephew John was also in the hospital while I was in Canada. He was brought to hospital in an ambulance after having seizures and vomiting. Because he has a shunt the first thought of everyone was that he had problems with the shunt. After testing and IV’s to rehydrate him, it was determined that he had a bad migraine headache attack. He recovered quickly and a week later he was able to attend the Easter Seals Camp for 10 days. The care they receive there is amazing and so are the facilities. Imagine zip lining in a wheelchair and that is one of the many activities geared to specials needs children! Pray for John, that his shunt continues to work properly and that his seizures stay under control.

We have experienced a few bad accidents here at Coram Deo in the last 6 months and I hope that no more happen. Back in December we planned an outing to Sous Zabette to go swimming with everyone here at Coram Deo. It took 2 vehicles to make this possible. Amos was driving a rented tap-tap and lost control when trying to avoid a vehicle that had suddenly slowed down. As a result the tap-tap rolled twice. Everyone was banged up and Benson and Reginald were the most seriously hurt. Benson suffered a broken leg when the tap-tap rolled on his leg and Reginald had some severe lacerations on his head. The visitors from Canada who were with us had brought truck tire inner tubes with them and they were inside the tap-tap between the 2 rows of people. They acted as air bags during the accident. We think it was a miracle that no lives were lost. It is amazing that a vehicle rolling 2 times and that 19 people wearing no seatbelts all survived. We give the Lord thanks for his protection during the accident.

In May we were bringing Marie’s sister Chrismanie who was in labour to the Medecin Sans Frontieres Maternity Hospital, early on a Sunday morning. We were stopped on Delmas 33 waiting to turn left into the gates of the hospital when a bus drove into the back of us. Poor Kimosabee, his left back end was crumpled like a piece of paper! 3 friends and family members of Chrismanie were sitting in the box of the truck. They were thrown in the box of the truck but again everyone came through the accident well accept for some bruises and soreness. Chrismanie’s baby was born 1 hour later. We followed the Haitian Insurance process and the company which the bus belonged to was ordered to pay for the repairs. The driver of the bus had been drinking and it was the second accident of the bus that weekend. The driver got fired by the company after the insurance hearings were completed. While I was in Canada the garage which is located on our street put Kimosabee back in one piece again and he now looks as good as new. Pray we don’t get any more accidents and also pray for a new truck. Kimosabee is getting battered and old and we are having more expensive truck repairs now.

Being back in Haiti, it was a quick introduction again to how the people here struggle to make a living. Pachico’s mother is a street vendor in the large market area in downtown Port-au-Prince. Early yesterday morning she went downtown to prepare for a day of sitting in the heat trying to make a sale. Gunmen approached her and others in the market area and ordered them to give them their money. They were lined up against a wall at gunpoint and were searched by the gunmen. Anything of value was taken. One woman who refused to hand over her money was shot and killed. Later in the day Pachico asked if he could bring some medicine to his mother because she had a headache. Pray for those in Haiti who every day try to make a living on the streets of Port-au-Prince. Pray too for the police as they attempt to keep security on the streets. I still can’t figure out why the UN doesn’t maintain regular patrols in the downtown area.

Haiti is a country that is susceptible to natural disasters. In the mountains of Kenscoff, where Pastor Pierre’s church is located there was a landslide in June. Suddenly part of the mountain just slid away. Pastor Pierre called me and said that an earthquake had happened. It didn’t make sense at the time because we had felt no tremor. Families in the area suddenly lost their fields and in certain areas other ground is cracked, susceptible to another landslide. Scientists have studied what caused this sudden collapse and the theory is that the earthquake of 2010 unsettled the rock and ground, and the rains of April and May contributed to the collapse. To lose a home is one thing. But these mountain farmers have not only lost their homes but also their fields. The government is finding a way to help these people. The mountain area is located 25km from the epicentre of the 2010 earthquake. Pray for Pastor Pierre, the church and the people living in the area of the landslide.

That’s all the news for today. Have a good week!