So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-6
Christians the world over celebrate Christmas by remembering God’s gift to us of a savior, Jesus Christ. This past week Manu and Jacob and the children of Christian Light School, which is a mission school directed by Sheri put on a Christmas program. Each class sang Christmas songs that they had learned. The kids enjoyed putting on the program and the parents enjoyed watching them. Now there is Christmas break for all the schools until January 7th. I’ll have to think up some things to keep them occupied until then!
I helped another organization get a medical visa this week for Brenda who is a baby with hydrocephalus. She will be leaving for the United States after Christmas.
Emerson Simplice had his cleft lip/reconstructive surgery and is now recuperating at the home of his host family. The surgery took all day and he was only in the hospital for 2 days. We don’t have a photo yet of what his new face looks like but we are eagerly awaiting one. His family is happy that the operation went well.
Junior Pierre’s hands are healing well. Dr. Ed came over this week and removed a damaged fingernail and that morning Junior removed the last large crust connected to his thumb. He now helps around the house by raking the yard early in the morning. He is enjoying being able to use his hands and told me that he wants to be an artist. We give the Lord thanks that now that his hands are healing he will be able to pursue this dream.
We found out this week that another of the hydrocephalus children recently operated on died at home. The child’s name was Betlove Jean Pierre. From what was told to me the suture site from the ventriculoscopy opened up and the CSF fluid from the brain leaked out quickly. The family didn’t know enough to put pressure on the site and he then died from the loss of CSF fluid.
Emmanuella saw the neurosurgeon who was in charge of the post-op process but he told the mother that she needed to see a pediatrician first. She was in bad shape so we went in search of a hospital Like Mary’s search for a place to deliver her child we searched for a hospital. Hydrocephalus is a medical problem that hospitals are not eager to see. Because the surgery was done by the Miami medical team the state hospital downtown won’t accept the case. The state hospital on Delmas 33 where the surgeries were done was not an eager participant in the surgical and post-op process. Doctors, nurses and even the administration did not want anything to do with these kids so we couldn’t go there either. We then went to a children’s mission hospital on Tabarre and this hospital said no as well. Our last option was Bernard Mevs Hospital on Airport Rd. I spoke with the 2 doctors who run the hospital and explained the problems with the post-op process and they had already heard about them. I told them that the people involved with the state hospital didn’t want anything to do with helping these kids and the doctors kindly said that they would give the green light to any hydrocephalus children in need of post-op care. Emmanuella was admitted and the shunt was removed later in the afternoon. Now Emmanuella is receiving antibiotics and can hopefully recover from this ordeal. We give the Lord thanks that there are caring medical people who are willing to help hydrocephalus children.
My sister Tanya just received confirmation that her adopted Haitian son John got his immigration papers issued after waiting 11 years. John went to Canada 11 years ago for surgery to treat his hydrocephalus. His head circumference then was 83 cm. He has had a few surgeries since that time and has grown to be a big boy! Because of the wait to get his first surgery there was some neurological damage and he has some handicaps because of this but he is very vocal and the class clown! Handicapped people face a challenge of immigrating to Canada. They are basically not welcome and their files are flagged with the same code as dangerous criminals and terrorists. It took 11 years of battling government bureaucracy and red tape between Haiti and Canada but John can now officially be a resident of Canada! Because Canada has a public health system all his medical care had to be paid for and we give the Lord thanks for the generous donations over the years for John’s care. He will be able to receive a public health card in 3 months. The problem is that this week he started vomiting and it was determined on Thursday that the shunt was blocked. An emergency surgery was done on Friday afternoon and he is now recovering in the hospital. They measured the pressure in his brain on Thursday and it was in the 30’s level and normal is around 12. This is why he had the vomiting. Periodically during the day on Friday they removed fluid from the shunt valve as his respirations were starting to be affected by the pressure. He is a very cooperative patient. Every time the doctors used a needle he always said “thank-you” when they were done. He is making everyone laugh. He even tells the hospital staff when a word is said that he thinks is bad. They asked him who taught him about the “bad words” and he proudly said “my grandfather!”. Pray that the public health card 3-month waiting period can be waived. Looks like the red tape isn’t finished yet! Pray for healing mercies for John and that he can continue with his spirit of encouragement to all those around him.
The Haitian government has been pushing the problems of handicapped people living in Haiti since President Preval’s speech of May 17, 2007. Dr. Michel Pean, who is Secretary of State for the Integration of Handicapped People is happy that the problems of exclusion that the handicapped are faced with are being considered by the state. On December 14th there was an honor ceremony put on by the Ministry of Education in recognition of the handicapped who successfully passed the state exams at the 6eme AF, 9emeAF, rheto and philo levels. In the newspaper there was a photo on the front page of a girl writing her exam using her foot as she had no arms. Pray for continued government action for the rights of the handicapped. Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Beyond Borders) announced on December 17th that they are ending their operations in Cite Soleil at the St. Catherine Hospital because of the improvement in the security. Responsibility for this hospital will be handed back to the Haiti Ministry of Health at the end of the year. During the time that Medecins Sans Frontieres ran the hospital they treated over 100,000 cases and delivered more than 1,500 babies. They will focus on other parts of the city now and are calling on other organizations to step in and continue funding treatment within Cite Soleil. We at Coram Deo would like to thank everyone for their support this year and wish everyone a Blessed Christmas!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo
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