Transportation Strike Day - Cleaning and Organizing

Our living room is now painted back to the colour it was. Yesterday was a transportation strike day and the schools were closed. It was good that the participation by drivers and protesters wasn't strong. Public vehicles and private vehicles were able to drive unhindered on the streets of Port-au-Prince. We spent the day cleaning and organizing the living room and medical supplies/school supplies into the cabinets. It feels a whole lot more comfortable now that we have a place to put everything and not have everything crammed together in a small space. Everybody pitched in to scrub the floor and clean organize the cabinets. Today the transportation strike was canceled and activities are returning to normal. We are cleaning and organizing the 2 bedrooms for today's project :)

Roudy - Our New Security Guard :)

Rudy is cancer free now for 5 years! He continues to take Gleevec daily to keep him in remission. The pharmaceutical company that manufactures the drug donates his medicine. The yearly cost if we would have to pay for it would be 95,000 US$ per year. The program 60 minutes one evening had as one of their topics the drug Gleevec and its consideration as a miracle drug in the treatment of leukemia. They discussed the cost of the medicine in the United States, Canada and in Europe. Rudy's father goes up to the hospital in Cange every month to pick up a month's supply of the drug. It is amazing to see how healthy Rudy is now from when the video Roudy's Rescue was made 5 years ago. Rudy is our "million dollar man! ( with the costs of all of his medical care being donated). We feel blessed to have Rudy as our new gatekeeper. He is a caring, compassionate person. The 3rd photo shows Rudy with Emmanuel and Jackenson. You can see that Jackenson is feeling better now too. He is the one making a funny face in the background :)

Roudy's Rescue

Roudy's Rescue is the story of one of our Coram Deo family members. After the earthquake his family sought refuge in our yard. When Dr. Karen came to hold a clinic she examined him. We then brought him over to Love A Child where a mobile hospital was set up. They sent him by ambulance across into the Dominican Republic. Doctors there said that they couldn't help him. We then brought him to the Project Medishare tent hospital that was set up on the grounds of the airport. From here on God brought people into Roudy's path to heal him. This video is a testament to the providence of God. With Reginald graduating to the working world Roudy now steps into Reginalds' shoes as our new gatekeeper here at Coram Deo. Please continue to keep Roudy in prayer as he serves the Haitian people and God here at Coram Deo.

Coram Deo Graduates - Reginald, Louisnel, Yvens

This weekend a few of our Coram Deo family members graduated to finding work in Haiti.  Reginald, Louinel (pictured together in the first picture) and Yvens are going to be guardians at Kens' mission. Reginald has been a part of Coram Deo since he was 5-years-old. He had behavioral problems and was visually handicapped. He was part of our first student class 14 years ago. His first day of school was spent screaming and running around the yard. When he sat on the bench and a pencil was handed to him he would break it, rip up his paper and walk around the yard. For that first year he never once sat or participated in a class. I told the people here to let him adjust at his own pace and explained that he had behavioral issues. Slowly he settled down. Due to his learning/visual disability he could never advance in his schooling but being in our yard he started developing socially. The years have gone by and Reginald is now an adult. After Yonel had his stroke Reginald stepped into the gatekeeper role and he has done a good job. Now he is graduating from our mission and entered into the working world like any other young adult. It is great to see the life of a person develop from a child into an adult, especially with the problems that Reginald overcame. Louisnel started helping us out a couple of years ago. He is a friend of the other guys in the yard. He would always be one of the first people to help out in helping another person as part of our outreach efforts to the Haitian community. Yvens came originally as a student of our Coram Deo program. When we transferred our school program to Adoration School in 2007 he continued on as a student there. His mother is very poor and Yvens lived with us. He was always helpful to both our mission and the Adoration mission when they had projects to do. Now as an adult he is going to help Ken's mission. We give the Lord thanks for letting us be a part in the development of these 3 young men. They are now Coram Deo graduates! May they always live their lives Coram Deo (before the face of God).

Jackenson's Family Transfer Out To Canaan

Yesterday we transported Jackenson's family belongings out to their new home that was built for them out in Canaan. Since the death of their husband/father during the earthquake they have been living in a tarp home on the street in the Cite Aux Cayes neighbourhood. The mother makes ends meet by selling charcoal or vegetables on the street. Her new home has been built for a few months already but it was tough for her to make the decision to leave the neighbourhood she knows for Canaan. The mayor has been threatening to bulldoze down the shelters and she approached us to help her move this week. Canaan is a settlement area out by Rte 9 and Rte National #1. Canaan began after the earthquake when families were looking for a place to live. As refuge camps have been closing Canaan has been growing and now there are over 250,000 people living there. Canaan is a city! Imagine the entire city of London, Ontario moving out to an open area. Now Jackenson's family has a small home and yard for their own and don't have to find a place to rent. Thank you to all those who were involved in providing a new home for Jackenson's family.

Love A Child / Feed My Starving Children - Food Distribution

This morning we drove to Fond Parisien to the Love A Child Mission to pick up a food donation of 36 boxes of Feed My Starving Children Manna Packs. Each month we receive a blessing of food assistance. With this food we feed ourselves, the school students, some poor families in need and for bringing meals to the hospital for the cleft lip/palette and hydrocephalus surgery programs. Thank you Love A Child and Feed My Starving Children for helping us out and being a blessing to others as well!